He Has Risen - 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 (Sermon)
Welcome:
Thank you for joining us! Maybe this is your first time at Sawyer Highlands. Maybe you are visiting friends and family. I love that! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Easter gives us an opportunity to enjoy each other, food, and fun. However, Easter is more than the Easter bunny, egg hunts, pastel colors, and stylish clothes. This is the greatest day of the year for another reason! Why do I say that? Why do we celebrate this day? Let me answer that in a roundabout way with an in-depth look at 1 Corinthians 15.
TEXT
I am going to have P. & K. K. read for us. Would you please stand with me, if you are able?
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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 toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:1–19, ESV)
LET’S PRAY
Thank you. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you God for friends and family. Thank you for holiday food and gatherings. And thank you for your Word that points us to a greater reason for celebration. Open our eyes to see you. Open our ears to hear you. Open our minds to know you. Help us treasure the day as would have us. In Jesus’s name, we pray, amen. You may be seated.
STRUCTURE MAIN IDEA
Here at church, we like to break down Bible passages into bite-sized pieces and try to understand God’s heart behind them. We don’t want to superimpose our Western, modern American mindset on the Bible. We want to discover what God was saying and what he wants from us. As we look at these verses, we see a,
15:1–2 A PREAMBLE TO THE GOSPEL
15:3–11 A DEFINITION OF THE GOSPEL
15:12–19 AND A RESPONSE TO A DENIAL
The main point God was making in these verses was to remind God’s people of the most important truth, that Jesus died for our sins and rose as the Bible said he would. In our passage, a heresy of the day was that people don’t rise from the dead. That is understandable to some extent. Whom have you met who has risen from the dead? Anyone here? Yet, this denial is centrally wrong. Let me show you why, and consequently, why Easter is so important.
15:1–2 PREAMBLE TO THE GOSPEL
If you haven’t already, turn to 1 Corinthians 15 in your Bibles as I go back through these verses. Verse 1,
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1–2, ESV)
This passage was written by the Apostle Paul, 2000 years ago. Likely, he was in what is now Turkey, in the town of Ephesus, in the 50s. His audience was the church in Corinth, Greece. Here is a picture of the area:
The church was, and is, the people of God, not a building. And the people of Corinth had major problems. Admittedly, all churches have problems. Some are more aware of them. The church can’t be perfect in this life. In fact, the church is more of a rehab clinic than a country club, and I say that, well aware that I am part of those who need rehabbing. I am a work in progress. Katie, my wife, has been working on me for twenty-four years, and God has been working on me for forty-two.
What were the issues of this church that Paul addressed?
Their practice of the spiritual gifts,
Their view of sexuality,
Their divisions,
And some people’s denial of the resurrection.
If you moved to Southwest Michigan and asked a pastor, “What are the areas your church needs to work on?” and he openly acknowledged the issues Paul mentioned in this letter, I am pretty sure you would start looking elsewhere. I would. But hold on. All was not lost. Paul recognized their faith. He saw there was hope. And if there was hope for them, friends, there is hope for us. So, Paul began his letter, thanking God for the grace he knew was at work, writing, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:4, ESV). He considered the Corinthians part of his family. Paul had spent a year and a half with them. He helped plant the church, and in Chapter 15, he reminded them that he had preached the gospel to them.
GOSPEL
What did he mean? He was not referring to the form of music developed by the African American community in the last hundred years. Nor was he referencing the first four books of the New Testament. What did he mean? The Greek word for gospel means good news. Paul’s message wasn’t hell-fire and brimstone. It was a message of spiritual deliverance. And in this message, the church found footing, salvation, and help. Paul hoped things hadn’t changed, even though he heard reports of their problems.
15:3–11 DEFINING THE GOSPEL
But what was (and is) this gospel, and how does it relate to Easter? Let’s look at Verses 3 through 11.
15:1–2 A PREAMBLE TO THE GOSPEL
15:3–11 A DEFINITION OF THE GOSPEL
15:12–19 AND A RESPONSE TO A DENIAL
Verse 3,
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received” (1 Corinthians 15:3, ESV).
Before he defined it, he prioritized it. What is of first importance to you? Your,
Family,
Bank balance,
Home,
Car,
Or yourself?
We have many good things in life that vie for first importance, but the gospel rose to the top of Paul’s list.
DEFINING THE GOOD NEWS
So what is the gospel? Look back at verse 3. What did he write?
“That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared” (1 Corinthians 15:3–5, ESV).
Do you see the good news? Jesus died for our sins, and death didn’t hold him back. The Bible tells us that we have three enemies: the Devil, the world, and our flesh. The cost of our fleshly indulgence, selfish pride, and sin is death, physical and spiritual death. However, the good news is that Jesus died and rose, conquering death for us who believe. He defeated the curse of sin through his death and resurrection. This is the good news, abbreviated. Friends, all of us have a pathogen resident in our DNA that will kill us. Like an IED, we are a trigger wire away from meeting our maker. We are born broken, yet there is a cure. God the Father sent a man, the God-man, to reverse what the first man, Adam, did. Jesus righted the wrong. Adam brought death. Jesus brought life, abundant life, eternal life. Jesus was, and is, the answer to our deepest longings. And Paul was on a mission to share this message. Before becoming a Christian, he was a Jewish scholar who opposed Christianity. He knew his Bible inside and out. And then God opened his eyes to see who Jesus truly was, and is.
ISAIAH 53
One of the key Scriptures Paul would be familiar with that predicted Jesus’s death, including the surrounding details, is Isaiah 53:
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; (1)
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth. (2)
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people? (3)
And they made his grave with the wicked (4)
and with a rich man in his death, (5)
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:4–9, ESV)
Friends, there are over 300 prophecies like this one. Jesus fits the bill, and Paul got it. In Isaiah 53, at least five details about Jesus came true 700 years later.
He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was silent before his accusers,
He was cut off from the land of the living,
He was killed among the wicked,
And he was buried in a rich man’s tomb.
(https://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/301-prophecies-fulfilled-by-jesus.htm)
If we were to add three more prophecies of Jesus and see how they line up with the probabilities, it would be something like 1 times 1017.
I went online to create an illustration of what that would look like. And it came up with a trip to the star Epsilon Eridani, which is approximately 10.5 light-years away. Do you recall how far a light year is? A light year is 5.88 trillion miles.
That is 10.5 of those light-years, the distance between Earth and Epsilon Eridani. We are talking far, far, far away. “If you stretched a string from Earth to that [same] star and marked a single 1-meter segment somewhere along that string, the chance of a person pointing to a random spot and hitting that exact meter” is the probability we are talking about when Jesus fulfills eight prophecies.
Jesus didn’t just fulfill eight prophecies, but over 300. He was and is the Savior of the world just as the Scriptures predicted. He is the Lord. He is the Son of God, begotten not created. Eternally one with the Father and Holy Spirit. He spoke the world into existence. He upholds the Universe, including Epsilon Eridani and Earth, by the word of his power. If he stopped speaking, it would all collapse, including you and me. The will of God holds our molecules together. And this very same God-man rose from the dead as the Scriptures said he would.
How can we not strongly believe this? In a 2021 study of 3001 US adults, only 45% strongly believed in the resurrection. That means 55 % didn’t. Too often, in our society, Jesus has been relegated to an endearing teacher, a social revolutionary, a buddy, or a human hero like Mother Teresa and Abraham Lincoln. He was and is way more than that. He was and is the God-Man who rose from the dead just as the Scriptures predicted!
15:12–19 A THEOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO A REFUTATION OF THE RESURRECTION (6 Reasons)
Paul then went on to respond to those who would deny it:
15:1–2 A PREAMBLE TO THE GOSPEL
15:3–11 A DEFINITION OF THE GOSPEL
15:12–19 AND A RESPONSE TO A DENIAL
Look at verse 12:
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:1–19, ESV)
Paul gave basically seven responses to this denial:
First, if resurrection isn’t real, then Jesus was not raised. If a person denies that God can raise the dead, then he or she is denying that Jesus rose from the dead.
Second, if Jesus didn’t rise, then Paul’s preaching was off.
Third, if there is no resurrection, our faith is in fiction.
Fourth, if there is no resurrection, then when we share our faith, we misrepresent God. We are wrong.
Fifth, if there is no resurrection, then we are still in our sins. All those things we have done that make us feel guilty and gross, all those actions that hurt, all those things we should have done, but didn’t, and all that shame remains. Our ghosts and demons are in control.
Sixth, if we are still in our sins. Then, those who die die, and that is it. It is over. There is no justice for the wicked. There is no heaven for the redeemed. All we have is here and now. Depressing.
And finally, Paul summed it up: if there is no resurrection, then we should be pitied. But we shouldn’t because he has risen. He has risen indeed.
Here are seven more reasons I came up with:
First, a lack of proof doesn’t mean a lack of truth. Simply because we can’t prove something doesn’t mean it is false. I can’t explain to you how the sky is blue, but it is. I can’t prove to you that we are soulish beings, but we are. Look at a corpse at the next funeral you attend. The body is a shell, not the soul. We are embodied souls.
Second, God can do anything he wants. He created the world and gives life. He can raise the dead. We love to believe in the supernatural. Why not accept the Bible?
Third, the Holy Spirit gives conviction and witnesses to the truth of this reality.
Fourth, Scripture predicted many events well before they occurred.
Fifth, the Bible is trustworthy. I didn’t read verse 20. But it says, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.” (1 Corinthians 15:20a, ESV). The resurrection is a fact. And the Bible has more evidence for its veracity than any other book in antiquity. If we deny the resurrection, we can’t hold any of the Bible as true. It is all suspect.
Sixth, witnesses corroborate it. Jesus kept appearing post-mortem. Paul listed many witnesses in 1 Corinthians. There were over five hundred! And likely many still were alive when Paul wrote to Corinth. So his readers, if they doubted, could travel to Jerusalem to obtain confirmation. Some of those witnesses were his closest followers, including both men and women. He appeared to his family, who knew him perhaps even better. And later, Paul tells us that he appeared to him. Many who testified to his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension suffered greatly for their convictions. They didn’t profit materially from it. All the apostles were martyred for their faith, barring John. Paul, after his conversion, died as well. Eyewitnesses substantiate the truth of the resurrection. Even Jesus’s enemies did not deny that he died or that his tomb was empty, which leads to one last reason for the truth of the resurrection.
Jesus’s body was never found, and an alternative grave or tomb was never identified by those who denied it. The Christians were not in power. They were the minority with scant resources. If someone wanted to prove them wrong, there was motive, power, wealth, and witnesses at the time to squash this movement. Such attempts failed because they were not built on reality. What was real was that Jesus rose from the dead. He was who the Bible said he was. He is the risen Lord.
Friends, those are fourteen reasons that the resurrection is real and why we celebrate. Jesus goes before us and demonstrates for us what our future holds. God created the world as good. And one day God will redeem this broken, imperfect world. And we, like Jesus, will have glorified bodies that won’t experience pain, sickness, or suffering. We will never have to deal with cataracts or cancer, no more headaches or heart attacks, no more sadness or sin. Jesus’s resurrection demonstrates the validity of his ministry and our hope for eternity. If he conquered death, then surely he conquered our sin. All those reasons and more are why we celebrate.
Friends, let’s not be deniers, inventing our own narratives that will prove vain on the day of Judgment. Rather, let us celebrate the truth that, for two millennia, people worldwide have given their lives to share. Let us celebrate the truth that assures us of a loving God who died and rose that we might live with new bodies and forgiven hearts.
APPLICATION
Visitor: If you are a visitor, join us in faith and celebrate the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.
Struggler: If you struggle, I encourage you to tell God. He knows already. It is okay to wrestle. People in the Bible did. Let us be intellectually honest with our doubts, fears, pain, and hurts. You can go to God with it all. And he will be there to listen, and if you listen back, God can speak today. Look at God’s Word, the Bible, to speak to you.
Regular: For the regular attender, enjoy this reality of a conquering God who loved you to death, forgives your sins, and rose to give you a foretaste of the future reality where death is no more.
Student: Children and students, listen up. Celebrate this truth for yourself. Believe the Bible. It is true, and God is good. Jesus rose. And if you have questions, talk to your parents.
LET’S PRAY
Dear God help us. We believe, help our unbelief. Meet us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, where we are at. Help us to feel in our hearts the joy of knowing you have conquered our sin and death 2000 years ago. Thank you for sending your One and only Son, Jesus, to live and die in our place. Thank you for your power. Thank you for your Word. Help us now as we continue on in worship. In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.
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