The Spiritual Essence Of The Resurrection by Apostle Michael Orokpo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Foundation of the Christian Faith

What is being examined here is the foundation of the Christian faith. If you do not understand it, you may be part of a religion — but you are not part of Christ.

Paul, with the precision of an apostolic lawyer, builds an airtight case for the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:13–22:

"If there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith also vain. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ — whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not."

Paul continues: "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain and you are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."

"But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept." (1 Corinthians 15:20)

Five Critical Realities Tied to the Resurrection

1. Valid Preaching and Witness

   If Christ is not risen, every sermon ever preached in His name is empty speech. Every book written about Him is fiction. Every life surrendered to Him was wasted. But because He is risen, the preaching of the gospel carries the weight of verified truth. The testimony is not mythology — it is eyewitness report of a historical, verified resurrection. Acts 1:3: He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs. The preaching stands on unshakeable ground.

2. Living, Effective Faith

   Faith without a risen Christ is faith in a dead man — which is no faith at all. But the resurrection means your faith is directed toward One who is alive, who hears, who acts, who is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you. Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Faith in the resurrection is saving faith.

3. Forgiven Sin

   Romans 4:25: "He was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification." The resurrection is God's public declaration that the payment Jesus made at the cross was accepted. The resurrection is the receipt. If He had remained in the grave, sin would still hold its claim. But the empty tomb is the proof that sin's penalty has been fully paid and justification has been granted to all who believe.

4. The Hope of Our Own Resurrection

   1 Corinthians 15:20: He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The firstfruits is the guarantee of the full harvest. Because He rose, those who are in Him will also rise. Death does not have the final word over the believer. 1 Thessalonians 4:14: "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus."

5. Victorious Living Now

   Romans 6:4: "Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." The resurrection is not only a future hope — it is a present power. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in every believer (Romans 8:11). Resurrection life is meant to be lived now — in victory over sin, in authority over darkness, in the newness of life that the Spirit of God produces.

As in Adam All Die — In Christ All Are Made Alive

1 Corinthians 15:22: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

This is the great exchange at the heart of the gospel. Adam brought death into the human race — but Christ brought resurrection life. The solidarity that connected all humanity to Adam's fall is the same solidarity that connects all who believe to Christ's resurrection.

You are not an Adam person anymore. You are a Christ person. The life that operates in you is not natural life ending in death — it is resurrection life that cannot be permanently held by the grave, by disease, by defeat, or by darkness.