The Real Deal

Christ rose again the third day. . . [and] was seen by over five hundred brethren.
1 Corinthians 15:4-6

Sometimes cleaning out Grandpa's attic pay's off. For an Ohio man, it pays off in the discovery of a more than 100 year old set of mint- condition baseball cards. Appraisers placed the cards value at $ 3 million.
   One key to the high value of those cards was the fact that they were well preserved. But beyond that, the true worth of the cards rested in the fact that they were authentic. If they had been fakes or counterfeit no matter how good they look tiled they wouldn't have been worth the cardboard they were printed on.
    The apostle Paul had something similar to say about  Christianity: He said that our faith would be completely  worthless and counterfeit if Jesus' resurrection were not the real deal. It took bravery and confidence in God's plan for Paul to say, if Christ is not risen,  then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty (1 Corinthians 5:14) and if Christ is not risen,  your faith is futile; are still in your sins! (Verse 17).
    The Christian faith rests on the authenticity of this story: Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead. Praise God for the clear evidence of Jesus' death and resurrection (vv.3-8). It"s  the real deal, and we can stake our eternity and our total dependence on God on its truth.