Was Jesus literally and physically dead, and did God raise Him on the third day?
Yes. The eternal Creator God took on human flesh, died, shed His blood, and was buried three days and three nights as proof positive He was really dead. He was literally, physically dead, and God raised Him from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures.
Les explains that without resurrection power there is no eternal life. If Christ stayed in the tomb, faith is vain, believers are yet in sin, and those fallen asleep in Christ are doomed. The gospel's threefold aspect is that the eternal Creator God took on human flesh, died, shed His blood, and was buried three days and three nights as proof positive He was really dead. Though some liberal and modernistic preachers claim He was only unconscious and brought back to life, He was literally, physically dead, and God raised Him from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
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Was Jesus literally and physically dead?
Les teaches from this passage that the resurrection proves the reality of Christ’s death. If Christ was not raised, faith is vain, believers are yet in sin, and those fallen asleep in Christ are doomed, because without resurrection power there is no eternal life. The gospel includes that the eternal Creator God took on human flesh, died, shed His blood, and was buried three days and three nights as proof positive He was really dead. Les contrasts this with liberal, modernistic preachers who claim that if He raised, He was not really dead but only unconscious. The text insists He was literally, physically dead, and God raised Him the third day according to the Scriptures. Verse 19 adds that if hope in Christ is only for this life, we are of all men most miserable.