Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

Passage for Sunday, March 23^rd, 2008

I Corinthians 15:1-26:  “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.”

Basic Christianity

If you are a 21^st century disciple of Christ Jesus, how can today not be the best day of the year?

He IS Risen!

We celebrate today, Resurrection Sunday, Christ Jesus’ victory over death, which is, according to our text, the “last enemy to be destroyed”.  What an amazing thought for us to consider this morning!   Jesus conquered death!  The tomb is empty!  This may well be the single most important doctrine of the Christian faith, for as Paul so eloquently tells us here, if this isn’t true, we’re wasting our time!  Now it’s true that death is still our enemy, but because we share in Christ’s victory it no longer has any more than a “physical” meaning for us.  We may fear the manner of our dying, but should no longer fear death!  I think the second-greatest resurrection story in scripture is that of Lazarus.  We won’t take the time this morning to look at the whole story, but Jesus makes a great point in His conversation with Lazarus’ sister Martha.  John 11:21-27:  “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”  I love that part of the story!  But as great as it is, it’s my second-favorite for a very important reason.  Of all the people recorded in scripture who were resurrected, Jesus is the only one who never had to die a second time.  Jesus rose to live forever!  He conquered death.  And because He did, we no longer need fear it.  As Paul stated in Philippians 1:23-24 all death does is usher us into the presence of the Lord!  In Revelation 20, at the Great White Throne judgment, we see that in the end Christ’s victory will be fully complete, and death too will be thrown into the lake of fire.  For the Believer, Resurrection Sunday is a great day!  For the non-believer, it should serve as a warning of what lies ahead.  Paul lays it out for us.

I Corinthians 15:1-2:  “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”  Paul was writing this letter to the Church in Corinth.  He was writing to believers, “Brothers” he called them, people who had heard the good news of Jesus Christ, believed it, and taken their stand on it.  But there were in the church those who professed belief, but their actions denied it.  That’s what he is alluding to here in this last sentence, not that having once believed they could lose their salvation.  “Holding firmly” means living in obedience to the Word of God; that is your mark of authenticity.  If you are not persevering in the Christian faith, it is an evidence that you did not have saving faith in the first place (cf. Judas Iscariot, who eventually demonstrated that he was not a true believer by betraying the Lord for 30 pieces of silver).  Paul then gives them that “reminder” of the Gospel he preached:

Verses 3-11:  “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,”  (We looked at that, He was sinless, yet he died in our place, so that by believing, we would not have to die for our own sins.  And He did it according to the Scriptures.  Isaiah 53, remember?”  Listen just to verses 5-11: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.  He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.  After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” It sounds like Isaiah was there at the cross! Paul continues with his basic presentation of the Gospel) “that he was buried, (A very important point, by the way.  It means Christ was dead.) that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (Jesus pointed out that no sign would be given to unbeliever’s except the sign of Jonah. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” He told the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law who asked Him for a sign in Matthew 12:40) and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”  The resurrection took place about twenty years before this letter was written.  Paul names witnesses to Jesus resurrection, noting that while some had died, many of them were still alive and could be questioned!  Paul places himself last in the list of witnesses.  Although he was not one of the original apostles, he was a genuine Apostle of Jesus Christ.  “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (God’s grace had not only saved him, but also made him, the least worthy apostle, the apostle whom God used powerfully to bring the gospel to so many.  What a contrast between Paul’s gratitude and humility, and the self-righteous prayer of another Pharisee, the one in Luke 18:10-12: “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’). “Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”  The plain gospel.  Jesus Christ died for our sin, was buried, and was raised again on the third day.  That‘s what they preached, and that’s what the Corinthians believed.  Paul then addresses the “question of the day,” so to speak.  There were some at Corinth who were saying that there was no resurrection of the body, and Paul addresses this false contention.

Verses 12-19:  “But, if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead.  But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”  Having just given proof of Christ’s resurrection, Paul points out the absurdity of the doctrine that there was no resurrection.  Go back to the Garden for a moment.  Matthew 28:11-15  “While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.  When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, `His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’  If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”  So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.  And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”  If there had been no resurrection, there would have been no reason to fabricate the lie to cover up the truth.  All they would have had to do was produce the body.    Paul also points out what hopeless and wasted lives we would be living if that false teaching were true.  If the dead do not rise from the grave, then (1) “not even Christ has been raised”; (2) “our preaching is useless”; (3) “so is your faith”; (4) we are “false witnesses” that God raised Christ from the dead; (5) “your faith is futile”; (6) “you are still in your sins” and as a result still carry the guilt and condemnation of your sin; (7) “those who have died “in Christ” are lost; and ( we are to be pitied more than all other men if only for this life we have hope in Christ and put up with persecution and hardship for His name.  We missed all the “fun” of sin for nothing!  Paul then reminds them of the results of the evidence:

Verses 20-26:  “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ  all (all who place their faith in Christ that is) will be made alive.  But each in his own turn: (there is a proper sequence) Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.  Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.   The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  I like Adam Clarke’s comment: “Death shall be destroyed; shall be counter-worked, subverted, and finally overturned.  But death cannot be destroyed by there being simply no farther death; death can only be destroyed and annihilated by a general resurrection; if there be no general resurrection, it is most evident that death will still retain his empire. Therefore, the fact that death shall be destroyed assures the fact that there shall be a general resurrection; and this is a proof, also, that after the resurrection there shall be no more death.” 

The doctrine of a bodily resurrection has been a source of contention for thousands of years.  In fact, this denial was a cardinal doctrine of the sect of the Sadducees at the time of Christ, according to Matthew 22:23.  Scripture, however, makes it clear that the people of God have always known of this promise.  Long before Isaiah’s time, Job had said in arguably one of the oldest stories in the Bible: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes–I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”  (Job 19:25-27).  After the time of Isaiah, the promise was still known.  Daniel records the words of the Angel telling him about end times in Daniel 12:1-3 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.  There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.  But at that time your people–everyone whose name is found written in the book–will be delivered.  Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”  

These promises were not referring to some vague “immortality of the soul,” as some pagan religions taught, but to the resurrection of the body!  The question then is which resurrection will you take part in?  You will take part in a bodily resurrection.  Daniel got the word straight from the Angel sent from God to instruct him.  Paul talks about it, and John mentions it in the last Book of the Bible.  Jesus went as the “firstfruits” which gives promise to Believers of participating in a like resurrection, a resurrection to everlasting life with the Lord!  Those who refuse to believe will also experience a bodily resurrection, but to judgment and eternal punishment in the lake of fire.  Faced with the truth this “Resurrection” Sunday, the choice is yours.  I’m reminded of the words of Moses as he spoke to the Israelites just before he died.  Deuteronomy 30:19-20: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  For the LORD is your life,”  He plainly told them what God expected, and what would be the results of obedience and of disobedience, then called them to make a choice. 

We too see the stark difference between obedience, believing the truth of the Gospel, and disobedience, rejecting God’s offer.  Jesus said it clearly in John 3:14-18:  “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”  Listen one more time to the fate of those who choose not to believe, those who, according to Jesus, stand condemned already.  Revelation 20:11-15:  “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.  Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” 

Why would anyone choose the lake of fire over life eternal?  If you have never taken that step of faith, placed your faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus, today would be a great day to make that decision!  Follow Paul’s counsel given in Romans 10:9-10: “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”  Take that step today if you never have.  Share the resurrection joy and promise.  Accept the truth of Basic Christianity; Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and was He raised to life the third day, according to the Scriptures.

He is Risen!

P.S. In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph.  He didn’t profess to be a born-again Christian, but it seems Paul’s teaching of the resurrection of the body must have influenced him.  Here’s what he wrote:

“The Body of B. Franklin, Printer like the cover of an old Book, its contents torn out, and stripped of its Lettering and Gilding, lies here, food for Worms, but the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the Author.”