In an Easter sermon, Ralph Douglas West observes, “The message of the resurrection was the theme of apostolic preaching. To deny Christ’s resurrection is to go against all the pertinent evidence that was available to the early church. Our preaching would be useless. If Christ is not raised, our preaching is senseless. If Christ is still in the tomb, preaching is nothing but empty words.
“A resurrectionless Christianity is empty and the Christian faith is vacuous. The message that we preach would have as much validity as Alice in Wonderland. Or our faith would be as real as Humpty Dumpty. And the cross would carry the significance of Harry Potter.
“Christian preaching throughout the ages would be senseless if Christ is not raised. The faith delivered to the church would be hollow.”
