Back in the early 2000s there was even a TV trivia show with an iconic British host telling the losing member “you are the weakest link.” (And if you remember the show, you just said that in your head with a little British accent.)

What is the “weakest link” within Christianity? On this Easter weekend, many will go to churches and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Ironically, this very event that we will celebrate is what the Apostle Paul calls the weakest link within the Christian belief system.

After spending most of the letter to a young church focusing on specific issues that they are dealing with and how the church should be operating, Paul turns a corner towards the end of the letter and goes back to the basics of the gospel message that the rest of his letter rests on. Paul tells this young church, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15.17).

Paul starts with that little word “if.” If Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins.

We use the word “if” a lot in our world. Parents use it with kids: “if you don’t do this, then the consequences will be….”

In sports, we will hear people say “If my team could have hit that buzzer beater 3-pointer then my team would have won that game.” Musicians will say: “If the singer’s voice didn’t crack, then maybe she would have been on American Idol.”

The concept of the “if… then…” statements are intended to show what would be (the then… portion) if the first part is true or is false. In the case of the empty tomb, Paul is giving the conditions for which our faith would be worthless. For “if Christ has not been raised….” Effectively, Paul is clearly giving the “weakest link” for Christianity!

He is giving the playbook to the opponents. It is like the Trojans telling the Greeks: “the way to defeat our impenetrable wall is for you to fake us out, give us a giant gift horse with some hidden men in it who will open the gates for your army in the middle of the night.”

Or it is like Achilles wearing a t-shirt going into battle with a saying of “aim for my heel.” Or it is like putting any team on the field against Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers (although there may be more than one weak link there).

Paul is confidently telling the world — “Look here! This is the weakest link in Christianity! Try to prove this wrong and you will see that Christ is Risen and we are NOT dead in our sins!” Paul is drawing attention to the empty tomb. He is inviting people to search and they will see that there is no body bound in burial clothes, but rather it is an empty tomb where our risen King used to lay.

The entire gospel message hinges on this one fact, and Paul knows that there is nothing to worry about with exposing the weakest link because there is no weakness in this link. Paul is confident that God raised Jesus from that tomb.

He is confident that Jesus walked out of that grave. He is confident that Jesus is standing at the right hand of God the Father. And he is confident that Jesus is inviting us into a relationship with Him.

If you are reading this and this concept of the empty tomb is new to you, or you don’t know who Jesus is or even that He walked out of the grave, then I would challenge you to look at the empty tomb this Easter weekend. Look to the empty tomb and you will see that Jesus did not stay dead.

You will see that He conquered death and now He is offering you new life in Him. He is offering you freedom from a life set with oppressive sin and separation from a loving Father. He is offering you eternal life and a place with Him.

For those reading who have already surrendered their lives to Jesus, I would ask you to reflect on this truth this weekend. Don’t skim over the depth of this rich fact that we serve a Risen King! Remember the sacrifice made for you on Good Friday. And always remember the Good News that Jesus lives.

You see — because He walked out of that grave, we can confidently put our trust and faith in Christ and know that we are no longer dead in our sins, but that we are instead raised to new life with Christ. Have a Happy Easter and let the name of Jesus be praised today!

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Steve Bensema is the lead pastor

at mosaic church.