Resurrection Gospel - 1 Cor. 15:1-11

[0:00] Bible, it's in page 1155. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1.

[0:16] Now, I will 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.

[0:34] For I deliver to you, as of first importance, what I have 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.

[0:57] Then he appeared to more than five thousand brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

[1:09] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely bond, he appeared also to me.

[1:22] 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 towards me was not in vain.

[1:38] On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though I was not, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

[1:52] Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believe. Thank you, Kevin.

[2:09] Well, let's keep our Bibles there in 1 Corinthians, and let's pray. Father, would you, by your Holy Spirit, teach us afresh the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ.

[2:36] May it be for us not just what we believe, but the very foundation of our life. And Father, may it give us a grounding and an assurance that what we believe is true.

[2:58] And not only that, but it is a word that can change us, change our lives today, and for all eternity.

[3:11] So help us now, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, I think we need to face facts.

[3:27] There is no resurrection. Think about it. How many people have you met that have been raised from the dead?

[3:39] Or how many funerals have you been to when the person just came alive again? It simply doesn't happen. Christians, of course, claim there is a resurrection, but that's not true.

[3:55] Jesus existed, that's true, but the story that he came alive again, well, that's not credible. And the suggestion that all those who believe in him will rise again is just a work of fiction.

[4:10] We need to face facts. There is no resurrection. Well, that's what some people believed at the church in Corinth.

[4:24] About 30 years after the bodily resurrection of Jesus, people were claiming, it's just not true. And many people today think the same.

[4:37] This idea of Jesus rising again is just all lies. It's a myth. Look at the end of verse 12. This is what some people were thinking in the church.

[4:50] How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? In fact, some even mocked the idea of a bodily resurrection.

[5:02] So if you look at verse 35. Someone may ask, how are the dead raised?

[5:13] With what kind of body will they come? You don't expect us to believe this kind of nonsense, do you? Well, let's suppose for a minute that these people are right.

[5:29] What if Jesus never raised from the dead? What if it's all just a big hoax? What if we've just been sold a lie? That there is no future hope.

[5:42] That there is no eternal life. That there is no bodily resurrection. Well, if that's true, look at verse 19.

[5:52] If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people.

[6:05] If the resurrection is not true, then we're just wasting our time. Gathering here like this is just a nonsense. We might as well just pack our bags, go home, and live life however we want.

[6:18] Well, as we start into chapter 15, we will see that the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is credible, it's reliable, and it is the foundation for our life.

[6:36] So, first, remember the gospel that you have believed in. Look at verse 1 of chapter 15.

[6:50] Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel that I preached to you. I know you know it. I know you've heard it, but I want to remind you of the gospel.

[7:07] The gospel, that word gospel, simply means good news. Essentially, it is good news that must be announced or declared.

[7:19] And perhaps the most famous illustration is the story of Pheidippides. I think that's the right pronunciation. But in 490 BC, 490 years before Christ, the Persians, that great empire, came and invaded the Greeks.

[7:36] And they had a great big battle at a place which was called Marathon. The Greeks won, and because of the victory, Pheidippides was sent by the generals to go back to the city of Athens to announce the good news to the people.

[7:53] And he ran all the way from the battlefield in Marathon all the way to Athens, which was 26 miles, which is where we get our modern day marathon from. And there to the people of Athens, he announced to them, we win!

[8:08] Hail! We are the winners! And then he fell down and died. That's another part of the story. Well, that's the idea that's behind the word gospel.

[8:22] It's the announcement of good news. It's the declaration of a victory. So as Paul comes to Corinth, he's reminding them, I preach to you the gospel.

[8:34] I proclaim to you the good news. A victory has taken place. He tells us what that good news is. We were reading and singing about it earlier.

[8:47] Look at verse 3. For what I received, I passed on to you as first importance. And here it is. That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

[8:59] That he was buried. That he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve.

[9:12] Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, his resurrection from the grave, has defeated our greatest enemies ever, sin and death.

[9:25] And so at the end of the chapter, as he concludes his big lesson about the resurrection, Paul can reassure us and say this. Have a look at verse 54.

[9:37] At the end of the chapter, he makes this great declaration and gives us this great assurance. Look at the very end of verse 54. He says, Death has been swallowed up in victory.

[9:52] Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[10:09] So he proclaims good news. Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, has won a victory over sin and death for you.

[10:20] And so we today can say, we are victorious because of what Christ has done. Now this is the same gospel, the good news that has been preached to us.

[10:35] It's like a relay race through the course of history. The gospel has been faithfully preached and announced and passed on to each generation, one after the other.

[10:47] And it is passed down to every generation. And here we are today as people who've heard the good news. This gospel victory has been announced to us.

[11:01] But it is more than just simply good news. It is the foundation of our life. Let's read verse 1 again.

[11:12] Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel, this good news, this victory that I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

[11:30] Foundations are critical for any building, even this building in which we're in. If the foundation is not right, then the house you're living in is just going to come crashing down.

[11:42] Well, this gospel, this good news about Jesus is our foundation. At the end of verse 1, it says, it's on this that we have taken our stand.

[11:54] It's foundational. It's what we place our confidence in. It's who we trust when we face the reality of judgment and death. We place all our hope and our certainty of Jesus in his death and resurrection.

[12:12] This is our rock. This is what we believe in. Verse 2, by this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word that I preach to you.

[12:30] If you hold firmly to this word. Some of you will know that on the north coast of this island there's a famous rope bridge called Carragoreed.

[12:41] It spans two great immovable cliffs. They're 20 metres apart, so what about the width maybe a bit wider of this room here.

[12:54] It's about 30 metres high, so what could be double the height of this ceiling here. 30 metres above rocks and sea.

[13:07] And at each end of this rope bridge is anchored to the rock face. It's tied in to the foundation of these rocks. And as long as these connections are in place you can walk backwards and forwards.

[13:21] You're not going to fall. No matter what the wind or the weather it remains firm. The bridge stands. But you remove either anchor and it will either come crashing down this way or it will come crashing down that way.

[13:38] Well in the same way these truths, these two great pillars of the faith, the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus are these two great anchor points, the foundation of our life.

[13:54] And you let go of either one or you remove either anchor and your life will come crashing down. Otherwise, as it says at the end of verse 2, you have believed in vain.

[14:11] Without the foundation of the death and the resurrection of Jesus we are believing in nothing. It would be like trying to stand on thin air.

[14:23] You will come falling down to the ground with a bang. So let's remember, let's remind ourselves afresh of this good news, this victory that has been achieved for us is our life foundation.

[14:42] This is what I stand on. This is what I believe. Second, we must know the gospel that we have received is true.

[14:57] You see, it's all very well to sit here and say, believe the gospel. Stand on the foundation of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ. But how do we know it's true?

[15:11] How do we know it's not just made up or just some story inventive from some myth? Well, there's three reasons why we know it's true.

[15:23] First, first it comes from God. Look at verse three. Paul is saying what I received this message, this gospel, I received and I passed on to you as of first importance.

[15:41] So, Paul is making it very clear, look, this isn't my own idea. This isn't just something I made up, but I've received it from God. Keep your finger there in 1 Corinthians and just keep going forward.

[15:56] Turn a page or two, you come to 2 Corinthians and then at the end of 2 Corinthians you come to Galatians. So, Galatians chapter 1 verse 11.

[16:13] Galatians 1 verse 11. So, here again he's reminding another church of the gospel that they believed in and he says to them there, he says, I want you to know, verse 11, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.

[16:31] I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

[16:44] So, this revelation that Paul has received isn't just some idea or some philosophy that's just come up with his own thinking, but these are truths, these are historical events that can be verified that Christ died, that Christ was raised and now Paul is passing these truths on to other people and they're recorded for us here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

[17:14] Let's go back to chapter 15 and verse 3. And here he spells it out in four very clear statements. He says, what I passed on to you, this is what I received of first importance.

[17:29] This is primary, this is foundational. One, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Two, that he was buried. How do we know he died?

[17:41] He was buried. Three, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And four, how do we know he was raised? That he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve.

[17:57] He received these truths by revelation, but not just these facts, but also what it meant. Part of this revelation was an unpacking of what these things meant.

[18:11] So we're told that Christ died for our sins. By faith, our sins are transferred to Christ, who when he was on the cross takes the punishment that we deserve for our sins.

[18:29] He tells us that Christ was raised on the third day, and that by faith in Christ we believe that when Christ was raised from the dead, he was also raised for us so that we too will rise to eternal life.

[18:48] So he's saying believe it, because God has revealed it to us. Well, you might say to that, well, that's well and good, God passed it on.

[19:02] How do we know that's true? Where did that come from? Well, two, it's according to Scripture. Long before the death and resurrection of Jesus happened, it was announced in Scripture in the Old Testament.

[19:19] So look at verse 3 again, we've got this repeated phrase and in verse 4 that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Verse 4, that he was buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

[19:38] Before these events happened, hundreds of years before it happened, it was already spoken about and already talked about.

[19:50] Again, keep your finger in 1 Corinthians 15 and go all the way back to Isaiah chapter 53. I haven't got a page number, I'm sorry, so if somebody's got that, they can call it out.

[20:08] Isaiah chapter 53. 740. Isaiah chapter 53.

[20:29] So here this prophet Isaiah, it's about 700 years before the coming of Christ. chapter 53. And as he writes, he doesn't name Christ, but here he is talking and thinking and looking forward to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[20:49] So look how he talks about the death of Christ. Look at verse 5. that he was pierced for our transgressions.

[21:06] He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.

[21:20] We all like sheep have gone astray. each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him, on Christ, when he died on the cross, he laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[21:41] Christ died according to the scriptures, the message that was proclaimed and announced hundreds of years before Christ ever died.

[21:51] what about his resurrection? Well, have a look at verse 10. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.

[22:08] And through the Lord, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days.

[22:22] And the will of the Lord will prosper in his hands. So here he's talking about the death of Jesus, but at the one hand saying his days will go on.

[22:35] Verse 11, after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. Christ will die, but he will rise again and he will see the results of his death and his resurrection, that people have come to trust him and follow him.

[22:58] So long before Jesus came, Paul is saying this gospel message that I received by revelation was announced well in advance, hundreds of years ago.

[23:10] One, one day was going to come who would fulfil all of these truths and now it has been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. So believe it, because God has said it and because scripture announced it.

[23:27] But there's another piece of evidence, that is the resurrection itself. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 4.

[23:43] The evidence here is that the people saw the risen Jesus. So let's read verse 4 again. He was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve.

[24:03] Well you say, well that's nice and neat and very convenient. Jesus appeared to those who knew him, his disciples. Well, read on, verse 6.

[24:14] After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers, at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

[24:27] In other words, they have died. It's like Paul is laying down a challenge to anyone who doubts the truth of the resurrection. He's inviting his readers to go and check out what he is claiming and what he is saying is true.

[24:43] He's saying, go and ask all these witnesses. There's about 500 of them. Okay, some of them have died, but the vast majority of them are still alive.

[24:55] Go and ask them, go talk to them, listen to their stories, weigh it up, see what they have to say, compare it. There's no way that Paul could make such a claim without proof that it was true.

[25:11] Don't just believe what I'm saying or what I'm writing, go and check it out for yourself. And if that is not enough, verse 7, then he appeared to James, then also to the apostles.

[25:27] This is a wider group than the disciples. And last of all, he appeared to me also as to one abnormally born or as untimely born as some have it.

[25:39] It's not referring here to some physical condition, but rather to Paul's spiritual condition. Paul saw the risen Jesus when he was in opposition to Jesus.

[25:51] On his way, on the Damascus road, on his way to persecute Christians, the risen Lord Jesus appeared to him. That's what I think it's referring to here.

[26:02] The point is that Jesus appeared to individuals, to small groups, to a large group in different places and in different times.

[26:17] So he's saying it's true, go check out the stories. Now I know we're 2,000 years on from that event and we can't necessarily go to these people because they're all dead.

[26:33] But we can go to their sources. We do have their testimony. We do have their accounts. That's why Paul is writing down what he wrote down here in 1 Corinthians.

[26:45] We can check out this eyewitness record. We can check out the stories of the gospel, see what has been written down and preserved for us in scripture so that we too can believe.

[26:59] And many people have done that. I was talking to Nick just now. You can ask Nick as a student in university. One of the things that caused him to come to belief in Christ was when he was challenged to check out the truth of the resurrection in the pages of scripture.

[27:22] And that led Nick to come to a real believing faith to say this is true. I can trust it. Go talk to Nick and listen to his story or the book that he was referred to which is forgetting now the tomb.

[27:38] What was it? Who Moved the Stone. So that's a little book that somebody had written. They had went to investigate trying to prove that the resurrection wasn't true and in the course of investigating found oh it is true and came to believe.

[27:58] And as people ask you questions like I had a conversation with a friend in the car yesterday didn't believe in the resurrection a load of nonsense how would we answer that?

[28:11] Be sure that you have a reason for the hope in which you believe. So know that the gospel you have received is true. The foundation that we stand on is real.

[28:24] It's credible. And third experience the gospel that has power to change your life.

[28:36] You see at the end of the day the ultimate test that this is true is to experience the gospel in your own life. Not just a message that's out there that we can read about that that's impersonal.

[28:51] But something that you can believe yourself and trust with your very own life. First we can see that it changed Paul's life.

[29:03] Look at verse 9. He says I am the least of the apostles. An apostle was one who had seen the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[29:16] So he says I am the least of the apostles. Well why would he say that? It's almost like saying I'm the bottom of the pile. I do not even deserve to be called an apostle.

[29:27] Why? Because I persecuted the church of God. Paul is asking us to look at his life saying look at what my life was like.

[29:38] Not only did I not believe in the resurrection but I actually went around persecuting those who did believe in the resurrection. I oversaw their murder, their execution.

[29:50] I put them in prison. But, verse 10, by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace to me was not without effect.

[30:04] As we mentioned earlier as Paul was on a journey, on his way to persecute Christians and kill them or imprison them, the risen Lord Jesus graciously intervened in Paul's life, stopped him literally in his tracks.

[30:20] He didn't deserve it, he didn't earn it, but God changed him and Paul came to believe this gospel that this Christ who he was opposed to and against had died for his sins.

[30:36] And the Christians that he persecuted who believed in the resurrection was true and that by trusting in him he could have life.

[30:48] And the effects were clear to see in Paul's life. He was changed from a persecutor to a preacher, from an antagonist to an apostle. And as a result, Paul now gave his life for the cause of the gospel.

[31:04] He could say that he worked harder, the end of verse 10, harder than any of the other apostles. The gospel had radically changed his life.

[31:17] Now the point of all of this is, it is a gospel message that changes you and me. This is a gospel that has power to change us.

[31:30] So let me show you very briefly two ways the gospel has power to change our life. First, it gives us a brand new identity.

[31:43] Look at verse 10 again. By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

[31:57] You see, God no longer looks at Paul through the lens of the past, the past, a persecutor and a murderer. God now looks at Paul through the lens of the gospel, through Jesus Christ.

[32:15] I am what I am, says Paul, by the grace of God. Because Christ died for our sins, our past no longer defines us.

[32:27] Our failures are no longer held against us. We have a brand new identity. I am what I am because of what Jesus has done for me. Now, perhaps you are here today, whether you are a believer or not a believer, and you're troubled with your past.

[32:47] You're conscious of some secret sin that no one else knows about, and it keeps coming back time and time again. or maybe people don't let you forget your past, and they keep reminding you of what you said or how you behaved or what you did.

[33:08] Well, because of Christ, people no longer define you. The world doesn't define you. You don't even get to define yourself.

[33:20] Christ defines you. If you trust in him, just as Paul was, we are forgiven people, accepted people.

[33:31] You are a child of God, welcomed, loved, and treasured, so we're no longer defined by what everybody else thinks. We now have a brand new identity to live as the children of God.

[33:44] By the grace of God, I am what I am. Do not let anybody else define you. Let Christ define you and live out your new identity in him.

[34:00] The past is put away. You have a brand new life to live. But not just a new identity, we also have a new priority.

[34:14] Look at the end of verse 10. Not only was Paul changed, he said, I could work harder than all of them. Yet not I, but the grace of God that was at work in me.

[34:33] We can read all about Paul's work in the book of Acts and in other letters, the places he preached, the churches that he planted. In fact, on many occasions as he went about his work, he nearly lost his life in the process.

[34:47] Wild animals attacked him, people stoned him, he was beaten, he was imprisoned, he endured shipwrecks, he almost died on numerous occasions.

[35:01] But as he looks at his life and all that he accomplished, look again at the end of verse 10. He says, it wasn't me who did all this, but the grace of God that was with me.

[35:16] Paul could give his life, literally he could pour out his life for the work of Christ because of the grace of God, because of the truth of the resurrection, because Christ had defeated death.

[35:30] Paul knew that if he died in the process of doing this work, that wasn't it. He too would rise to be with Christ forever, which was better by far.

[35:42] He now had a new priority in life and he could give his life to it 100%. Well, again, maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking that this life, this 70 years or however many years we might live, that this is all there is from the day we are born to the day we die and that's it.

[36:08] So you spend your time investing in stuff that doesn't last, trying to do everything now, going on this place and going over here and doing this and doing that because, well, we've only got this certain length of time and we've got to do everything and have everything now.

[36:26] you can be a Christian and live like that. Or maybe you fear losing your own life so you don't do anything, you don't commit to anything because of fear of what might happen, I'll not move, I'll not change this, I'll not leave this country because who knows what's going to happen.

[36:51] Well, if you believe, if you truly believe the resurrection as Paul did, it frees your life to live for Christ. You don't need everything now because the best is yet to come.

[37:05] You don't need to fear for your life now because eternal life is yet to come. Christ changes you completely and gives you a new priority.

[37:18] So this gospel, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ is the foundation on which we build our life.

[37:29] It is true, 100% true and it can change you radically. So, verse 11, whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed.

[37:50] It doesn't matter who preaches the gospel to you or how you hear it, whether it's in this building or in some other place, or what we were doing when we heard the gospel.

[38:02] The point is that we believe it, that this is the sure and certain truth of the gospel, the foundation on which we build our life.

[38:16] The foundation, verse 3, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve.

[38:37] Have confidence in what you believe. It is true. Let's pray. Amen. Father, would you please help us to have that fresh confidence again in the truth of your gospel, that where other voices and other messages claim to discredit the resurrection and say it's just a myth.

[39:25] Help us to examine afresh who you are and what you have done, and that we can believe it. But more than that, just as people taught us the gospel, we pray that we would faithfully pass it on to the next generation, to our own children, to those we work with, to those we meet with.

[39:51] Father, give us opportunity to have that confidence and assurance to stand strong and proclaim your truth. Fill us with the power of your Holy Spirit, that we might do it well.

[40:09] In Jesus' name, Amen.