Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.17 – April 2006

 

The Resurrection Gospel

 

A Sermon by Rev John Haverland on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Scripture Reading:  Psalm 16; John 19:28-20:9

 

Theme: Paul testified to the truth of the resurrection of Christ which he preached and which was saving those who believed.

Purpose: To remind you of the importance of the resurrection and its witnesses and so encourage your confidence in Christ and your salvation.

 

Congregation,

For the last 100 years or so, liberal theologians and preachers have been raising doubts about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They want to retain the spiritual truth of the resurrection while at the same time denying that Jesus rose physically from the dead.

Back in April 1996 in New Zealand Professor Lloyd Geering wrote an article that publicly denied the physical resurrection of Christ. That was very controversial at the time but other ministers in the Presbyterian and Anglican churches have held a similar position, and still do.

Take, for example, the views of the Venerable Reverend Glynn Cardy, vicar of St Matthews in-the-City, in Auckland. In an article in the Herald at Easter in 2004 he acknowledged that some Christians believe that a resurrection miracle was necessary – an event needed to happen.

But others, including himself, disagreed. He wrote:

“Jesus’ coming back to life in a supernatural form didn’t happen. Simply, dead men don’t walk. The power behind the birth of the church was the power of Jesus’ life, and the spirit of that life lived on in his disciples. The resurrection was the interaction between Jesus and his disciples and the continuation of that relationship despite his execution.”

In other words, Jesus was executed. He did not rise from the dead. His followers continued the spirit of his life and upheld his ideals of “love, justice and mutuality”. This is the typical liberal “gospel”.

It is vital that we consider this because the truth of the Bible and of Christianity stands or falls by the historical realities of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ. If the Bible is wrong about the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus, then everything else is wrong. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then our faith is empty and we are wasting our time.

Questions about the resurrection of Jesus are not new – they have been around for centuries. This, after all, is one of the greatest miracles of Christianity. The believers in Corinth in the first century had some questions about the resurrection bodies of those who had died. To answer their questions and resolve their doubts, Paul took them back to the reality of the resurrection of our Lord.

In verse 1 he wrote, “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you”. These words introduce one of the greatest chapters of the Bible – a chapter about the resurrection of Christ and of believers. This was the last subject that Paul dealt with in this letter and it was a fitting conclusion because it pointed them forward to the future. It does the same for us – we, too, can look with hope to the future.

These first eleven verses reminded these believers of the central truth of the resurrection of Jesus – the gospel he preached to them. We will consider its content, its reception, its witnesses, and its messenger.

1. Let’s consider, first of all, the CONTENT of this gospel.

The word gospel means good news. It is the good news about Jesus – about his person and his work, about his ‘doing and his dying’. This is what Paul preached. The word Paul used for ‘preached’ here literally means to proclaim good news. He wanted to remind them of the good news that he had proclaimed as good news.

If you hear good news from someone, then your first response is to tell someone else – you want to pass it on – you want to share it with others. Good news is for sharing. This is what Paul had done – and this is what we need to do. We have the best news in the world and we should be eager to share it with others, bursting to tell other people about Jesus!

Then in verses 3-5 Paul explained what it was he passed on to them. New Testament scholars believe these verses were an early Christian creed – a formal statement of what the church believed, like the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed that were written later on. Paul wrote that these truths were of “first importance”. The historical facts that he explained to them here were crucial to Christian doctrine – they were fundamental.

One of these is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (vs 3).

Millions of people the world over have died. But the death of Jesus was different from the death of anyone else. His death was unique. He died “for our sins”. He died on behalf of those who believe in him. He died in our place. He did not die for his own sins, because he was perfect; he died for the sins of others who believe in him.

He died “according to the Scriptures”. The New Testament had not been written when Paul wrote this. So by “the Scriptures” he meant the Old Testament. The death of Jesus was not an accident of history but it was planned by God and foretold by the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament in passages like Isaiah 53.

This early creed also mentions that “he was buried”. This testified to the reality of his death (HC Q41). People saw him die and he was taken from the cross and placed in a tomb.

But “he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” This, too, had been prophesied in the Old Testament, in passages like Psalm 16.

“He was raised” is a passive verb which reminds us that Jesus was raised by God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is also in the perfect tense which was used to describe a continuing condition. The perfect tense of this word is used seven times in this way in this chapter and only two other times in the rest of the New Testament. Jesus was raised and he continues in his risen state. He was raised to live forever! “He lives forever with his saints to reign!” as one of our Easter hymns puts it. This is the content of the gospel.

2. Secondly, Paul described ITS RECEPTION.

In verse 1 he noted that they had “received” it. Paul himself had received this gospel (vs 3) as a revelation from the Lord himself, and he passed it on to them and they received it. No human person had invented this story – which is how the cults and sects have originated. No one discovered it for themselves through their own mental processes – which is how the other religions of the world have originated. No, this was a truth revealed by God to Paul and then passed on.

They received it, which means they accepted it as authoritative teaching. They believed it. They heard it with their ears and understood it in their minds and accepted it into their hearts. Paul reminded them of this. He appealed to their experience of conversion – they had received this message about Jesus.

This is true for every believer. If you are a Christian you know in your heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. You know this in your own experience. There must be a subjective response – a response of faith. A hymn expresses this truth by asking:

“You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart.”

That isn’t the only way we know Jesus lives, but it is part of it.

Have you received Christ? Do you believe this in your heart? Do you believe in a Risen and Living Saviour? You may have heard it with your ears – have you grasped it in your mind? Have you received him and believed in his name?

Having received it, you must hold on to this. Paul wrote that they had not only received it but also taken their stand on it. When you believe in Jesus, you have a firm place to stand. Jesus is the only foundation that can be laid, that is worth laying.

When Job was suffering his friends had long discussions with him. In one of those talks Eliphaz said to Job (in Moffat’s translation), “Your words have kept men on their feet” (Job 4:4). That is exactly what we can say about the Lord Jesus; his words of life and hope have kept us on our feet. They have supported us when we stumbled. They have strengthened us when we were weak. They have given us a place to stand in the instability of life. Take your stand on the truth about Jesus.

The apostle also turned this into an exhortation to them and urged them to “hold firmly to the word I preached to you” (vs 2). It wasn’t enough to believe, they had to continue to do so; they had to hold on; to persevere; to press forward. This is true for you, too. It’s not enough to look back to the time you believed; you need to keep on believing; you must go on in faith; you must keep a firm grip on the Lord; you need to hold fast to the gospel that has been preached to you.

Pressing on in faith and holding firmly to the Lord is evidence that you are saved.

If you give up and abandon the faith, then you were not truly converted and “you have believed in vain”. Paul doesn’t believe that this will be true of them but he recognises that this is a possibility. The letter to the Hebrews is full of strong warnings against falling away, although there, too, the writer assured them that he was confident of better things in their case. May that be true of all of us too.

For it is “by this gospel you are saved” (verse 2). The word “saved” is also worth pondering for a moment. The verb is passive – you are saved. You can’t save yourself – only God can save you. The verb is also in the present tense – you are being saved. It describes a continuous action, something that is ongoing. You have been saved, you are being saved, and you will be saved. Salvation is a progressive action by God. If you are a Christian, then God is at work in you. God is taking you from strength to strength and from glory to glory.

So far we have considered the content of the gospel and we have seen how we ought to receive it.

3. Thirdly we need to consider the WITNESSES of this gospel. (vss 5-8)

Paul described how Jesus was seen by Peter. There is only a brief mention of this in the gospel of Luke where the other disciples tell us that Jesus “appeared to Simon” (Lk 24:34). This shows us the compassion and mercy of the Lord. Peter had denied his Lord three times. After Jesus had been raised he made a special point of appearing to Peter on his own to assure him of his forgiveness.

Then he appeared to the twelve disciples as a group as they were gathered in the upper room. Then he appeared to 500 brothers at one time. Some of them had fallen asleep but most were still living. Paul emphasised this. Other believers could go and talk to these people, ask them questions, find out what they saw. Paul piled up the weight of evidence for the resurrection of Christ.

“Then he appeared to James”. James was a half brother of Jesus who did not believe during the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus. But after Jesus had risen he appeared to his brother. This appearance is not recorded in the gospels but is described here. Many think that this appearance probably led to the conversion of James and after that of his other brothers. This happened after his resurrection and before the sending of the Holy Spirit (cf Acts 1:14). After he appeared to James, he appeared to all the apostles. This is probably a reference to that final gathering of his disciples when he ascended into heaven (Acts 1).

All this evidence that Paul brings forward shows the importance he attaches to the resurrection. He shows that the evidence is reliable; belief in the risen Lord Jesus is firmly based. This is the foundation stone of Christian belief and he wants us to know that it is a solid foundation for faith.

The final witness that Paul brings forward is himself: “and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” He recalled the time when Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus road and he regarded that, too, as a resurrection appearance.

4. It was because of this that Paul became A MESSENGER of the risen Lord Jesus. He was called to be an apostle, one sent by the Lord Jesus to preach about him.

Paul had two strong convictions about his work as an apostle. One was a deep sense of humility. He regarded himself as the least of the apostles because he had persecuted the church of God. He had been there at Stephen’s death giving approval to his stoning (Acts 8:1). He had travelled from city to city hunting down the Christians and putting them into prison in Jerusalem. He had been against these believers and against the Lord. Whenever he remembered this he felt a great sense of shame.

That should be true of all of us. You cannot be a Christian unless you have a deep sense of your own sin and unworthiness before a holy and perfect God. None of us have been persecutors of the church but we are all sinful human beings who have not kept God’s law. We need to keep this sense of humility.

But Paul also had a profound understanding of God’s grace in his life. “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (vs 10). The Lord Jesus had confronted him on that Damascus Road and had converted him, changed his life. God had shown him mercy and love and grace. The Lord shows that same grace to every Christian – an “Amazing grace”. A mercy and a love that we did not earn or deserve or merit, but one given freely to God’s people.

Out of that grace Paul worked hard in the preaching of the gospel. He was thankful for the mercy of the Lord and he wanted to show that thankfulness in a life of service. So he made every effort to preach the good news about a risen Lord Jesus. He wanted people to see the evidence for the resurrection of Christ and he recalled all those who had seen Jesus.

We need to affirm this today again, especially when people attack the truth of the resurrection. You, too, need to hear this message again and believe it. You need to receive the good news about Christ, take your stand on it and hold firmly to the Word preached to you.

And you need to tell others about this risen Lord Jesus. Go out into the world with this good news so that they, too, may believe and be saved.

Amen.