Good News: Christ Was Raised & We Will Be Too!
1 Corinthians 15:12-34
Introduction:
Marshall discovered not only that this bug, later named H. Pylori, causes ulcers, but also that simple combinations of already existing medicines would eliminate this bacteria and bring cures to stomach ulcers, as opposed to just masking symptoms. Marshall had a diagnosis and a cure, but no one would believe him. So what did he do? Did he give up because the medical community was so critical and wouldn’t take him seriously? No, he had good news to share about a cure and wouldn’t let anyone keep him from getting his good news out.
Marshall was so committed to tell everyone about his research that he made the dramatic decision to swallow a solution containing the bug to prove it caused disease. About a week later, he started vomiting and suffering other painful symptoms of inflammation of the stomach, which is now recognized as being caused by H pylori. Barry Marshall had good news to share that would dramatically change lives in bringing a cure to a terrible medical condition and he worked hard to get the good news out.
The apostle Paul had the same kind of a commitment towards letting others know the good news that God revealed to him. We know from 1 Corinthians 15:10 that by the grace of God, Paul worked harder than any of the other apostles to share the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Similar to the way Barry Marshall encountered critics as he tried to get his message out, Paul encountered great opposition and difficulty as he shared the message God had given him, but he didn’t let these things stop him.
When we have good news to share, it is only fitting that it be shared. It would be wrong to keep it to oneself. What is the good news God has given to us?
Paul summarizes it for us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5– “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: 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.”
Good News!–Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised to life after three days, and He appeared.
Christ died for our sins.
Sin is a problem in the lives of each and everyone of us. The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Why is sin a problem we should all be concerned about? God’s Word tells us that the penalty we earn or deserve for our sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death here is not just the physical passing away of the body. It is separation from God. As sinners, we deserve to be eternally separated from God and cast into the Lake of Fire.
If the Bible stopped at the point of telling us about our sin and the punishment we deserve, we would have nothing but bad news. However, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, it doesn’t stop there. There is good news. Christ died for our sins. He took upon Himself the punishment of sin we deserve. He died in our place that we might live.
Illustration: Strong winds and pelting rain struck a small town. To protect their baby girl from the terrifying storm, a young couple laid her on the floor, and then acted as human shields on her behalf, using their bodies to guard her from the storm’s furry. The violent storm struck. Walls caved in. The next day, while digging through the mud and rubble, rescuers heard a baby’s faint cry. Lifting the lifeless bodies of the mother and father, they found the little girl alive. The parents died in the place of their little girl in order that she might live. That is exactly what Jesus did for us. The punishment for our sins fell on Christ. He died in our place.
Jesus died, but He didn’t stay dead. There is more good news:
Jesus was raised after three days
It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we celebrate this morning. Why do we celebrate? Jesus’ resurrection proves that He is the Son of God and that He has conquered sin and death for us.
There is yet more good news.
We can be delivered from sin’s penalty by simply trusting in Christ as the only way to be made right with God.
Some may be asking this morning, how can I receive the benefits of victory over sin and death that Christ has made available for people by His death and resurrection? The Bible gives a clear and simple answer to this question. You must trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to forgive your sins and give you eternal life in Him. His sacrifice alone can make you right with God.
The Bible says very clearly:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Forgiveness comes by faith or by trusting in Christ and is given by grace, God’s undeserved favor toward us. It is not something we deserve–we deserve death. It is not something we can earn–Christ earned if for us.
Illustration: In Harlem, New York, a blind girl stood on the fourth floor windowsill of a burning building. The firemen could not get a ladder truck between the buildings, nor could they persuade her to jump into a net which she could not see. Her father soon arrived and through a bullhorn shouted for her to jump. She trusted her father, jumped, and was saved. In a similar way, we need to fully rely on Christ and what He has done to deliver us from certain death, spiritual death, eternal separation from God.
Have you trusted in Christ as your personal Savior? Would you like to now? You can use a prayer like this to express your decision to trust Christ:
“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and was raised from the dead three days later. I trust in Him alone as the only way to be delivered from sin’s penalty and as the only way to get right with you. Thank you for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life I now have in Christ.”
The Corinthians had already heard Paul share the gospel. In fact, they received the gospel message, they took their stand on it, they were holding firmly to it, they responded in faith. The gospel brought the Corinthians salvation. Why then did Paul need to repeat in 1 Corinthians 15 what they already knew?
While the Corinthians believed in the resurrection of Christ, they doubted their own resurrection from the dead. Paul repeats the Gospel message in the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15 to emphasize how essential Christ’s resurrection is to the gospel. Paul understood that Christ’s resurrection is foundational to all we believe. If there is no resurrection, there is no good news.
In 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, Paul writes to challenge the Corinthians that the conclusion cannot be made that Christ’s resurrection is real, but ours isn’t. Paul demonstrates that the same view must be taken of Christ’s resurrection in the past and our resurrection in the future. It can’t be said that Jesus was resurrected and that we won’t be. Since Christ was raised, we will be too. It doesn’t make any sense logically to think otherwise.
Logical arguments for the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12-34):
The consequences if there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).
Christ is still dead.
The denial of our bodily resurrection in the future logically leads to a denial of Christ’s resurrection in the past. Our resurrection and Christ’s stand and fall together–they cannot be separated–they are two sides of the same coin. To say that there is no resurrection of the dead while affirming that Christ rose from the dead is impossible.
In the carnation, Jesus became a man. Jesus is a man in every sense of the term with the only exception being that He is without sin. As a man Himself, Jesus cannot be separated from the rest of the human race. He died physically as men die, and rose again as men one day will. One cannot logically accept the resurrection of one human, Jesus Christ, while at the same time denying the resurrection of the rest of us.
Once resurrection of the dead is denied, a process of reasoning is started that invalidates the gospel. If there is no resurrection of the dead, there is no good news.
The message we proclaim is wrong.
Our preaching is useless
If Christ was not resurrected and we won’t be either, then all ends in death. If there is no hope beyond the grave, the good news we share with our neighbors, friends, and relatives and all the preaching the apostles did is worthless. If there is no resurrection and everything ends in death, what’s the point? Our proclaiming the good news of Christ is empty, full of air, and nothing else–it is not really good news at all.
Faith is only as good as its object. If our faith is based upon false facts, and Christ was not in fact raised from the dead, it is empty faith. If our trust is in a Savior who was not resurrected as He said and can’t resurrect us as He promised, what good is it? It’s worthless because it accomplishes nothing.
We are false witnesses
Paul made several claims to have seen the resurrected Christ. All of the apostles made the same claim. Today, we testify to our belief in a risen Savior who appeared before people after His resurrection because of the testimony we have received from these witnesses in the Word of God. If there is no resurrection, then all these claims are false. The apostles are all liars. They are guilty of saying that God did something He did not actually do. They cannot be trusted in anything they say. We too are false witnesses because we proclaim something to be true that really isn’t.
We are unsaved and are to be pitied more than anyone else.
We are still in our sins
The resurrection of Christ confirms the value of His death–By Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us, He provided for our deliverance from sin’s penalty of death. If Jesus is not resurrected, we are still in our sins and still under sin’s penalty.
Romans 4:25 tells us, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
If Jesus is not resurrected, there is no one to justify us—there is no one to declare us as righteous before a holy God. Christ’s resurrection is the proof of God’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice for the sins of all people. His resurrection confirms the value of Christ’s death. It demonstrates that God’s justice and holiness have been satisfied. Because Jesus lives, God can credit the righteousness Jesus provides to the account of every person who responds to that offer by trusting in Christ.
If Jesus is not resurrected, then God did not accept His sacrifice. If God did not accept Jesus’ sacrifice, then we are still in our sins–we don’t have a righteous standing before God and are still under sin’s penalty.
Those who died trusting in Christ perished
If there is no resurrection, then the loved ones among the Corinthian believers who died didn’t enter eternal bliss as they had hoped. Instead, they perished.
We are people to be pitied in view of our miserable condition
Christians are the most pathetic, pitiful lot of people on the earth if Christ is not resurrected. If resurrection of the dead is nothing but a delusion, people should feel sorry for us. All the self-denial, teaching, preaching, hours of study and prayer, suffering, work, and sacrifices we make for the cause of Christ and the spread of the gospel is for nothing. If we give everything to follow Him only to find out He was not resurrected, what a huge loss! We deserve nothing but the compassion and pity reserved for fools.
Do we understand Paul’s point?:
The resurrection of Christ is just as essential to the gospel message as the death of Christ
The consequences since Christ was raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
Christ’s resurrection is the source of resurrection from the dead for all in Christ (15:20-22).
“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 will be made alive.”
Death and life both come “by” a man.
By Adam comes death to all mankind—all in Adam die
Adam is the agent of physical death. Paul writes in Romans 5:12- “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” The consequence of Adam’s act of sin is applied to every other person identified with him. Since everyone is in Adam, all have inherited from him a sin nature and therefore will die.
By Christ comes resurrection—all in Christ live
Christ is the agent of resurrection. All those identified with Christ, all those who are in Christ through faith in Him will be resurrected as He was.
Through Adam’s sin, all people died spiritually and became subject to death bodily. Through Christ, believers are given life spiritually and will be raised bodily. By a man come both death and life. By Adam comes death and by Christ comes life.
Christ’s resurrection typifies the other resurrections that will follow (15:23-28)
The resurrections will take place in stages following a particular order:
1st – Christ’s resurrection--the firstfruits
Before the Israelites would bring in all their crops, they would bring a representative sample of the first grain they harvested, called the firstfruits, to the priests as an offering to the Lord. Leviticus 23:10-- “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.’”
Jesus’ resurrection was the firstfruits of the resurrection “harvest” of the dead. The firstfruits were the first installment of the harvest, the rest of the crop would soon follow. Jesus’ resurrection was the first of many to follow. Christ’s resurrection is a sample of what will happen to us and it provides surety of our own resurrection.
2nd – God’s people—the entire first resurrection—the resurrection of life (see Rev. 20:4-6)
Includes 3 Groups of People:
The Church—Rapture—1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Tribulation Saints & O.T. Saints—2nd Advent—Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:4-6.
3rd – Unbelievers– the second resurrection—the resurrection of condemnation (See John 5:28-29)
This resurrection takes place at “the end” (1 Corinthians 15:24) after the millennium.
Paul defines “the end” in two ways. The end is when Christ delivers the kingdom over which He has ruled to the Father. The end is when Christ has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.
Christ’s reign will continue until all enemies have been put under His feet and in total subjection to Him. The last enemy to be put under His feet is death. Christ will render death inoperative once and for all at the second resurrection when he raises all the unsaved dead. The unsaved dead will be resurrected and appear before Christ at the great white throne. They will subsequently be sent to the second death, namely, the Lake of Fire.
Logical contradictions in denying the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:29-32).
1. If there is no resurrection from the dead, why are people being baptized for the dead (15:29)?
What do we know about the meaning of this practice of baptism for the dead? Not very much. Conservative estimates tell us that there are at least 44 different views as to what it means. Because of the vagueness of this passage and no other passages in Scripture that talk about the practice of baptism for the dead, we are wise not to be dogmatic in our own interpretation. Where the Bible is vague, we need to be vague.
We can, however, be dogmatic on these important principles of Biblical interpretation. We don’t base doctrines on unclear passages. We don’t contradict the clear passages of Scripture with unclear passages of Scripture. More than 200 passages teach that salvation comes from trusting in Christ alone. Nothing in this verse contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture.
While for the most part this passage is unclear, there is one thing that is clear from the text–Paul disassociates himself from the practice of baptism for the dead– “What will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us....”
What then is Paul’s point in bringing up baptism for the dead, a practice which he disassociates himself from? Apparently, those denying the resurrection were involved in this practice. Paul’s point is that the practice of baptism for the dead is inconsistent with the belief of those doing it. If there’s no resurrection, baptism for the dead is pointless. It doesn’t make sense.
2. If there is no resurrection, why risk death for Christ’s sake (15:30-32a)
Paul’s fight with wild beasts in Ephesus was just one of several occasions in which Paul found himself on the brink of death as he faithfully served Christ. Every hour, Paul endangered himself. Every day, he was subject to the possibility of physical harm and martyrdom. If Paul faced near death experiences for merely human and temporary reasons, what would be the point? If this life were all there is, why risk it?
3. If there is no resurrection, why not live it up (15:32b)
If there is no resurrection, why not eat drink and be merry. If there is no life to come, why not dedicate ourselves to enjoying this life and not concern ourselves with serving Jesus and being holy as he is? Why if there is nothing out there past the here and now should we deny ourselves of all the fun?
Logical implications since there will be a resurrection (15:33-34)
1. Belief in the resurrection should motivate us to choose carefully the company we keep (15:33).
The Corinthians are keeping bad company. Who is the bad company Paul had in mind? It is the people who are teaching the heresy that there is no resurrection from the dead. Their bad theology is leading to the corruption of good character. Denying the resurrection destroys any incentive both for service and sanctification. Why serve the Lord with all the risks involved and why bother with holiness and purity if there is no resurrection?
If we link ourselves with ungodly people who have a godless philosophy, before long, their philosophy will become ours. When it does, their behavior will become ours also. How we think will eventually come out in how we live. Bad company with those who embrace ungodly teaching and philosophy will have the effect of corrupting good character in us.
2. Belief in the resurrection should motivate us to think carefully (15:34a)
Paul exhorts the Corinthians, “Come back to your senses as you ought” or more literally, “Be sober-minded.”
3. Belief in the resurrection should motivate us to stop sinning (15:34b)
4. Belief in the resurrection should motivate us to tell others about God (15:34c)
The Corinthians should have been leading others to a true knowledge of God and a belief in the resurrection, but instead, they are allowing the heresy of false teachers to mislead them and corrupt them. To their shame, there are still some in their circle of influence who are ignorant of God.
The resurrection of the dead is critical to everything we believe. If there is no resurrection–We have nothing to offer the world in terms of a gospel message–there is no good news. We have no reason to serve Christ. Why risk it given the persecution and hardships involved? We have no reason to be concerned about holiness. Why not live it up instead?
However, since Christ has been raised, our belief in the resurrection rests on a sound foundation. Since Christ has been raised and we will be too, we have good news. We have good reason to be excited about and want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have motivation for serving Christ and living holy lives. We have motivation for being careful not to allow bad company to influence us toward ungodly philosophies that will corrupt us.
What difference does the resurrection make in our lives?
Does the resurrection of Christ affect our struggle with sin?
It should. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us, to change our lives. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:19 about his desire that believers know, “His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realm.”
Does the resurrection of Christ motivate us to a holy life?
It should. 1 John 3:2-3 says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself; just as he is pure.”
Does the resurrection of Christ change our view of death?
It should, for we as believers have hope that we will be resurrected when Christ comes to rapture His church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
He is risen! He is risen indeed! And we will be too!