THE ESSENTIAL DOCTRINE OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 17, 2019 under 2019 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; November 17, 2019 from 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Theme: When it comes to using spiritual gifts in church, we’re to do all things in an orderly way for the edification of all.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.
But I confess to you that though it is yet another problem, I very much look forward to our study of it. It’s a chapter of this letter in which Paul teaches us about a very glorious subject; and for many of us, it has been a portion of God’s word that has brought encouragement and joy to our souls.
Today, we begin our study of 1 Corinthians 15—and Paul’s treatment of the doctrine of the expectation of our resurrection in Jesus Christ.
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Now; even though this chapter contains a lot of things that should encourage us, it is nevertheless a chapter in which Paul is seeking to correct some very wrong and very harmful thinking. The problem seems to be that some people within the Corinthian church had begun to doubt the idea of the resurrection of the body altogether. And in doubting this, they also ended up doubting what they had been told about the resurrection of Jesus Himself.
You might remember that there was another group of people in the New Testament who didn’t believe in a resurrection. They were called the Sadducees. The Sadducees were members of a Jewish sect that was very active in Jewish life in the time of Jesus. They were often in conflict with another sect called the Pharisees. We read about these two groups in Acts 23:8; where we’re told,
For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both (Acts 23:8).
And it must have been that a kind of ‘Sadducean spirit’ had caught hold within the Corinthian church. Some people had entered into the church community who—as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15:34—“do not have the knowledge of God”; and they had brought a negative influence upon the thinking of some of the Corinthian believers. They had caused them to doubt the idea that there was any such thing as a bodily resurrection at all.
Now; in the passage we’ll be looking at this morning, Paul established—right at the very start—that there is indeed such a thing as a bodily resurrection. It is unquestionably shown to us by the clear evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Himself. Paul wrote;
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy 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; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed (1 Corinthians 15:1-11).
So; Paul makes it very clear to these Corinthian believers that Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the dead; and he affirmed that they, at one time, strongly believed this. But some in their midst had begun to drift from this belief. And the problem wasn’t just that they had doubted the resurrection of Jesus. Because they doubted the Lord’s resurrection, they had also lost a sense of the expectation of their own future resurrection in Him. This loss—if uncorrected—would have gone on to completely destroy the whole value of the Christian life to them altogether.
And so, Paul then told them;
Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And 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 (vv. 12-19).
Some people might be surprised that Paul would have written such strong words in the Bible. But they are there—and they are also very true! If there is no bodily resurrection at all, then Jesus Himself was not bodily raised. And if Jesus Himself was not raised from the dead, then the entire Christian faith is one, big, giant fraud—a complete waste of time!
Now; I love what Paul went on to say in verse 20; “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus did rise. And the fact of His resurrection is the guarantee to us that we who are in Him will also one day be raised from the dead along with Him. This joyful expectation is to be an ongoing, motivating force in our Christian faith. It’s to be the reason why we can confidently give our all to the service of Jesus Christ. It’s what gives us the kind of confidence Paul described in verse 58; when he wrote,
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord (v. 58).
One of my professors, Dr. John Mitchell, once said, “The church stands or comes crashing down depending on the resurrection, for it is the heart of Christianity.”1 The doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus is truly that important, dear brothers and sisters! And what Paul is telling us in this chapter is that not only does the Christian faith depend upon the resurrection of Jesus, but that if we lose our commitment to that doctrine, we also lose our motivation in the faith.
The resurrection of Jesus is something that we need to whole-heartedly believe and embrace. It’s what motivates zealous and confident service to Christ. So; let’s begin this morning by looking carefully at these opening words from the apostle Paul. And let’s learn from them, dear brothers and sisters, that we absolutely cannot do without the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! He has risen; and now, all of our life with Him, and all of our service in His name, is characterized by glorious victory and motivating purpose!
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Now; in dealing with this problem—the whole problem of how some in the Corinthian church were doubting the idea of the resurrection of the body—Paul stressed to them the resurrection of Jesus Himself. He began by showing them …
1. ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE FAITH.
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, He wrote, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” In these words, Paul let his readers know that he was about to lay out the basic, fundamental content of the gospel that he proclaimed.
Do you know what the word “gospel” means, by the way? In the original language of the New Testament, the word translated “gospel” basically means, “the proclamation of good news” or “the preaching of good tidings”. When the angel appeared to the shepherds in Luke 2, to announce the birth of Jesus to them, he basically said that he came to bring to them “a gospel of great joy”. That’s what ‘the gospel’ is. It’s the proclamation of good tidings from God about what He has done for us through His Son Jesus. And Paul was the one who first got to proclaim the good news about Jesus to the Corinthians. He preached it to them; and they received it; and it was upon that gospel that they stood—in an ongoing way—in their relationship with God. But they need to ‘hold fast’ to it; and not let one single part of it slip from their grasp. They must not lose their faith in what that plain, simple gospel had first proclaimed to them.
And let me just insert something here, dear brothers and sisters. Some of us—like those ancient Corinthian believers—can hear the gospel of Jesus Christ at some point in our lives and receive it gladly. We can believe the ‘tidings of good news’ concerning what Jesus had done for us and be saved by it. But if we’re not careful, we can lose a full hold on it. We can begin to allow false beliefs and worldly ideas to slip in and bring harm to the purity of our original faith in Jesus. I’m not talking about someone losing their salvation. Rather, I’m talking about someone who—like those Corinthian Christians—can, over time, lose their hold on the full purity of what they once heard and believed—and for their Christian devotion and service to suffer harm as a result. Don’t let that happen to you! Keep hold of the basics! Be consistent in your regular reading of God’s word. Keep on learning from it, and keep on reviewing the truths of the gospel that it teaches us. Be continually renewed in your commitment to ‘the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3). Don’t let any part of it slip away!
So then; what are those basics? What was the gospel that Paul had first preached to them? He went on to write to them in verse 3 and say, “ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received …” And that is very important to notice. Paul wanted to remind them that he did not come to them with a ‘gospel’ that he himself had created. He was a good and trustworthy ‘steward’ of the message that had been entrusted to him. He faithfully passed on to the people of God what he himself had been given. In Galatians 1:11-12, he wrote;
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).
The basic points of the gospel that he had proclaimed to them were not a product of human creativity. They constituted a divinely authoritative message from God. They constituted the whole gospel that was given to him by Jesus Himself. Paul said that the gospel can be summed up in three basic points:
First, in verse 3, he says that it’s, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures …” It’s not just the fact alone that Jesus—the Son of God in human flesh—died; but that He died “for our sins”. His death on the cross was the atoning sacrifice for our sins before a holy God. This is exactly as the Scriptures taught way back in Isaiah 53:4-5,
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Do you believe that? Do you trust in Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for your sins? If so, then you believe the first main point of the gospel by which you are saved. But there’s a second point that you must also believe. Paul went on to write, in verse 4, “and that He was buried …”
It is essential that we also believe this part of the gospel that Paul preached; that Jesus’ body was buried in the tomb. This is because His burial is the assurance to us that He truly tasted death for us. Jesus Himself testified to this. He was arguing once with the scribes and Pharisees who demanded that He show them some miraculous sign. And He told them that the only sign they would receive was the sign of the prophet Jonah;
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
So; those are two essential parts of the gospel that we must believe in order to be saved. But it is still not enough that we believe that Jesus died for our sins and that He was buried. Just those two things alone do not constitute a completely saving gospel. We’ve got to go on to embrace the third part of the gospel—that essential part that makes His death and burial such a great victory for us. Paul wrote, “and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures …” This too is what was promised in the Old Testament. In Psalm 16:9-10, it says;
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption (Psalm 16:9-10).
The apostles taught us, in Acts 2, that this Psalm of King David was really speaking a prophecy about Jesus. It spoke of the promise of His resurrection. And let me ask you again; do you believe this? Do you believe not only that Jesus died for our sins, and that He was buried, but also that He was bodily raised from the dead three days later—in the very same body that was buried in the tomb?
Some people believe that we can do without the Bible’s teaching about the resurrection of Jesus. They say that, since all of us modern people know that no one can rise from the dead, you don’t have to believe that it literally happened in order to be a Christian—that you can just believe that Jesus rose ‘spiritually’; or that every time you do good and love your neighbor, He ‘rises in your heart’; or some such sentimental thing like that. But don’t you buy it! If it doesn’t include all three things—that Jesus died for our sins, that he was buried, and that He was literally raised three days later—then what you’re hearing is not the gospel that the apostles preached! It’s not the gospel that saves! Take the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus away, and you’ve just destroyed the whole message of the Christian faith. As Paul said in Romans 10:9; “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
We absolutely cannot do without this doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus!
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So then; that’s the importance of this doctrine to our faith. But because the Corinthian Christians were being disturbed by some false teachers in their midst, Paul went on to show …
2. ITS RELIABILITY AS A FACT.
When we’re called upon to believe the whole gospel—that Jesus not only died and was buried, but also was bodily raised from the dead—we’re not being asked to believe a myth. We’re being called upon to believe—and to proclaim—something that is an actual, historical fact that was verified by reliable eyewitnesses.
After affirming the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, Paul went on to write in verse 5, “and that He was seen by Cephas …” ‘Cephas’ was another name for the apostle Simon Peter. Peter had denied our Lord at the time of His arrest, and had abandoned Him. And yet, in Luke 24:34, the apostles declared, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Apparently, the Lord Jesus made a special post-resurrection appearance to His beloved apostle who had failed Him and had denied Him. And Peter certainly went on to live as if he had met the resurrected Lord, didn’t he?
Then Paul wrote that Jesus was seen “by the twelve”. This is the name that is given to the whole group of apostles. But not all of them were together to be met by Jesus the first time. Judas was already gone; and Thomas was also not present with the group at this time. But in John 20:19-20, we’re told that on the same day that Jesus arose—later in the day,
when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord (John 20:19-20).
Then, we’re told something amazing. In verse 6, Paul wrote, “After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” Apparently—on some occasion when over 500 people were gathered together at one place—Jesus came to them and was seen by them. Paul said that some of those folks were still alive at the time of his writing—although some had died and were now awaiting their own glorious day of resurrection. But if someone had wanted to, they could have gone to some of those surviving eyewitnesses and ask them personally!
Paul then wrote in verse 7, “After that He was seen by James …” Do you know who James was? He was one of our Lord’s half-brothers—a man who was born to Mary as one of the biological sons of her husband Joseph. We’re told in the Gospel of John that, during our Lord’s earthly ministry, His own half-brothers didn’t believe in Him. But after Jesus’ resurrection, this man James wrote one of the letters we find in the New Testament; and in it, he introduced himself in this way: “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ …” (James 1:1). Now; what could have happened to James that he would call himself the bondservant, not only of God, but also of his own half-brother? What could have caused James—who at one time didn’t even believe Jesus’ claims—to then go on to become the first pastor of the first Christian church in Jerusalem? It was that the resurrected Lord Jesus had bodily appeared to him!
Finally, we’re told that Jesus was then seen “by all the apostles”. This is probably speaking of the time—eight days after His resurrection—when He appeared to all the apostles with Thomas also present. Thomas didn’t believe, at first, that Jesus had been raised and was alive. But in John 20, we’re told;
Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you! Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:26-28).
Now, you can see the point of all this; can’t you? Paul was telling these Corinthian Christians that not only is the resurrection of Jesus a vital part of the gospel—but it is also a confirmed, historic fact!
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And that leads Paul to make one more important point about Jesus’ resurrection. It was a very personal matter for him. He goes on to tell them of …
3. ITS POWER TO TRANSFORM A LIFE.
That was demonstrated in his own experience. He went on to write in verse 8; “Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” The resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to Paul—just as He had appeared to others. But Paul encountered Jesus later than those others. The other apostles knew Jesus before He went to the cross, and had heard His teaching for three-and-a-half years, and even saw Him being arrested and betrayed and crucified. They who had walked with Him for all that time also then met Him after His resurrection—before He ascended to the Father. But Paul met Him without first having walked with Him—long after all those other things had happened—like someone who was born long after the due-date.
And note carefully what Paul then goes on to say. He writes in verse 9, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” You remember that story; don’t you? Paul—back when he was known as Saul—was an aggressive, hostile persecutor of the church. He was on the road to the city of Damascus with authority from the Jewish high priest—on his way to arrest some Christians and bring them to Jerusalem in chains.
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:3-6).
And so, that’s how Saul the Persecutor became Paul the Apostle. Though he didn’t feel worthy to be counted among the apostles of our Lord, he went on to write in verse 10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” God used this man Paul greatly to advance the kingdom of Jesus in this world. He went around the known world preaching Jesus. He wrote 13 New Testament letters. One whole book of the New Testament is devoted to telling us the history of his missionary activities. He truly labored harder than them all. And his labors continue to have their effect in the world even today.
And why is Paul telling all of this to us? It’s to prove to us the life-transforming power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is simply no possible way to explain the amazing life of the apostle Paul—transformed as he was from Christianity’s greatest antagonist into Christianity’s greatest missionary—except through the fact that the resurrected Lord Jesus actually met him. Paul was transformed from that moment on; and he went everywhere that he could to preach the very same message of the gospel that the other apostles preached—including the fact of our Lord’s bodily resurrection. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians in verse 11; “Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
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Now; do you believe this? Paul does not mean for us to simply believe in Jesus’ resurrection as a mere affirmation to be checked-off on a doctrinal statement. He means for us to believe it so much that it sinks down deeply into our very being! He means for us to be utterly convinced of it; and for it to become the reason why we are absolutely assured that we—ourselves—will one day be raised from the dead! He means for this belief to become a constant, energizing motivation for us to go forward and serve the Lord Jesus—to live a holy life for Him—to take up the cross and follow Him—to give our all for Him; knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord!
So; this is an essential part of the gospel. We, dear brothers and sisters, absolutely cannot do without the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus!
1John G. Mitchell, An Everlasting Love (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1982), p. 49.
Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.
EA
