A common television trope is to imagine what life would look like if one past action were changed. Sometimes a character imagines how good life could have been if only they had made one better decision. Other times, we’re shown how changing that decision could have led to a much worse life.
In 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, Paul shows us how bleak and hopeless life would be if Christ had not risen from the dead. Spoiler Alert: it isn’t pretty. But praise God because that is not the life we live. We do not live in a world where Christ has failed but in a world where he was raised for our justification and salvation.