1 Corinthians 15:12-20

12We all speak this message: God raised Christ up after his death. But some of you say that dead people do not live again.

13Anyone who says that is wrong. If dead people do not live again, then Christ did not rise up after his death. He would still be dead.

14And if God did not raise Christ up, it does no good for us to tell God's good news to people. There would be nothing for you to believe.

15We would have been telling lies about God, because we told you that God raised Christ up after his death. But if dead people do not live again, that would not be true.

16So, if dead people never rise to a new life, then Christ himself did not rise after his death.

17And if Christ did not rise, then you have believed a false message. God would still say that you are guilty, because of your sins.

18Also, think about those people who believed in Christ but they have already died. If dead people do not rise to a new life, those people would have no life with God.

19As believers, we trust Christ to lead us into a new life after death. But if we only trust him to help us in this life, we should be very sad. Everybody should be very sorry for us, more than for anyone else.

20But it is really true that God raised Christ up after his death. He rose up to go to God in heaven. He was the first, so we know that believers who die will also rise up.