The Resurrection of Christ is the central and non-negotiable doctrine of Christianity. Paul stakes everything on it: "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:17-20). Take away the resurrection, and nothing is left of Christianity. Keep the resurrection, and everything else follows. The evidence is remarkable. (1) The empty tomb — no one produced a body; Jewish and Roman authorities would have ended Christianity overnight by displaying the corpse, and they did not. (2) The eyewitness appearances — Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20), to the disciples behind locked doors, to Thomas a week later, to the travelers on the Emmaus road (Luke 24), to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21), to "over five hundred brethren at once" (1 Corinthians 15:6), to James the brother of Jesus, and lastly to Paul on the Damascus road. (3) The transformation of the disciples — men who ran when Jesus was arrested became men who preached at risk of death within weeks. Peter, who could not face a servant girl, preached to thousands at Pentecost. Something happened. (4) The existence of the church — Jewish monotheists suddenly worshiping a crucified man on the first day of the week, not the seventh; nothing less than a resurrection accounts for it. (5) The conversion of Paul — the greatest persecutor of the church became its greatest missionary because of a personal encounter with the risen Christ. The resurrection is not a symbol or a spiritual metaphor. It is a historical, physical, bodily event. Jesus ate fish with the disciples (Luke 24:42-43). He invited Thomas to touch His wounds (John 20:27). The grave could not hold Him. And because He rose, every Christian has the sure hope of rising too: "Christ, the firstfruits; afterward those who are Christ's at His coming" (1 Corinthians 15:23).