I Corinthians 15:1-11
A woman in a supermarket is following a
grandfather and his badly behaved three-year-old
grandson. It’s obvious to her that he has his hands
full with the child screaming for candy in the candy
aisle, cookies in the cookie aisle and for cereal and
soda in the other aisles.
A woman in a supermarket is following a
grandfather and his badly behaved three-year-old
grandson. It’s obvious to her that he has his hands
full with the child screaming for candy in the candy
aisle, cookies in the cookie aisle and for cereal and
soda in the other aisles.
Meanwhile, Granddad is working his way around,
saying in a controlled voice: “Easy, William, we
won’t be long, easy, boy.”
Another outburst, and she hears the granddad
calmly say: “It’s OK, William, just a couple more
minutes and we’ll be out of here. Hang in there,
boy.”
At the checkout, the little terror is throwing items
out of the cart, and Granddad says again in a
controlled voice: “William, William, relax buddy,
don’t get upset. We’ll be home in five minutes; stay
cool, William.”
Very impressed, the woman goes outside where the
grandfather is loading his groceries and the boy
into the car. She says to the elderly gentleman:
“It’s none of my business, but you were amazing in
there. I don’t know how you did it. That whole
time, you kept your composure, and no matter how
loud and disruptive he got, you just calmly kept
saying things would be OK. William is very lucky to
have you as his grandpa.”
“Thanks,” said the grandfather, “but I’m William.
The little guy’s name is Kevin.”
Last week we ended Paul’s mini series on proper worship.
This week Paul shifts his focus to the doctrine of the
resurrection.
Earlier in this letter Paul stated that he decided to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
Now he reminds them of the resurrection of Christ. This
15th chapter of Paul’s letter to Corinth sets its focus on
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 15:1-2
We all need a reminder sometimes.
Some of us more than others.
Paul was aware that Corinth was a Greek city and he
knew that Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of
the dead. Paul gives
3 reminders about the gospel he preached to them.
They received it. They didn’t reject it. They heard and
believed the message of Jesus.
They stand in it. The gospel requires a response.
The believers at Corinth took a stand for the gospel and
didn’t try to hide their faith. They weren’t perfect by any
means, but they were genuine believers.
They are saved by it. The gospel is the only way we
can be saved. We aren’t saved by works, we are saved by
grace through faith. Paul wrote to the church in Rome
that he was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the
power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
Paul is reminding the Corinthian believers that they are
saved by the gospel.
Paul gives a conditional statement at the end of verse 2.
If you hold fast to the gospel. That means, if they truly
believe. One of the marks of a believer is that their faith
endures to the end. Those who profess to believe and fall
away were likely never saved. It was just an emotional,
rash decision that never truly meant anything.
I Corinthians 15:3-4
The resurrection is central to the Gospel message
The resurrection is what separates Christianity from all
other religions. Every other religion is based on works
and the leader is a historical figure who is dead.
Jesus is Alive!!
He died, but God raised Him from the dead.
Let’s unpack that.
Jesus was both fully God and fully man.
He came to earth in the flesh and lived among His
creation.
Jesus suffered and died on the cross at Calvary.
He felt the pain as they pressed the crown of thorns into
His head.
He was in agony as He sweated drops of blood.
He struggled to catch His breath as He hung from the
cross.
He gave His life, no one took it from Him.
His death was substitutionary – He took our place.
He died for our sins.
He was perfect, sinless. Yet He endured the shame and
the pain on the cross so that we might be reconciled to
God!
Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb that was sealed
with a large stone and watched by guards.
You’ve heard the joke “If a plane crashes right at the
border of the United States and Canada. Where do you
bury the survivors?” You don’t bury survivors.
The point is Jesus actually died. He didn’t pass out or
lower His heart rate to seem dead. He actually died.
The Romans knew death. They perfected the act of
crucifixion so they would not have let Him down if He
wasn’t dead. And if Jesus didn’t die, then there would be
no forgiveness of sin.
But God raised Him from the dead on the third day.
The verb used for raised in the Greek is in the present
tense which implies continued action. Jesus remains
alive. This is not the same as when Jesus raised Lazarus
from the dead, because Lazarus eventually died after he
was raised by Jesus. Jesus is alive and seated at the right
hand of the Father in heaven.
I Corinthians 15:5-9
The Resurrection was Verified by Many People
After his death and burial, Jesus appeared to several
different people and even groups of people.
We just finished talking about the truth that Jesus really
physically died. Now the appearances prove that Jesus
really did rise from the dead.
He appeared to Peter, the 12, and more than 500 people
at once. There could be no arguing this truth. Jesus even
ate with the disciples proving that He wasn’t a hologram
or a figment of their imagination. Jewish law only
required 2-3 witnesses, so for Jesus to appear to over
500 people there could be no disputing the truth that He
was truly alive.
Jesus also appeared to his half brother James.
They never believed He was who He said he was until
they saw him after His resurrection.
Finally, Paul mentions that Jesus appeared to him as well.
Paul feels unworthy of being able to see His resurrected
LORD. He still recalls how he persecuted the church and
watched as Steven was martyred for his faith.
What a blessing for Paul that Jesus allowed him to see
Him after his resurrection.
I Corinthians 15:10-11
The Goodness of Grace
Grace helps us realize that we are not deserving of
God’s forgiveness and love.
A few years before John Newton died, a friend was
having breakfast with him. Their custom was to
read from the Bible after the meal. Because
Newton’s eyes were growing dim, his friend would
read, then Newton would comment briefly on the
passage. That day the selection was from 1
Corinthians 15. When the words “by the grace of
God I am what I am” were read, Newton was silent
for several minutes. Then he said,
“I am not what I ought to be. How imperfect and
deficient I am!
I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that
which is evil and would cleave to what is good.
I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall put off
mortality, and with it all sin.
Though I am not what I ought to be,
nor what I wish to be,
nor yet what I hope to be,
I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to
sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle
and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am
what I am!” (Source unknown)
Grace helps us work for the Lord with passion and
conviction
Paul was zealous in all that he ever did. Before he knew
Christ, he persecuted those who knew and followed Him
and he thought he was doing right.
After he was saved by grace through faith, he worked
tirelessly sharing the gospel and taking it to the ends of
the earth.
APPLICATION
Share the Truth of the Resurrection
Paul delivered the gospel to many people and many
churches were started because of his faithfulness to share
the gospel.
He was not afraid to tell of the death and the resurrection
of Jesus.
Jesus is more than a good man.
Jesus is more than a good Bible teacher.
Jesus is God in flesh.
God loved us so much that He allowed Jesus to take on
the punishment for OUR sin and die OUR death on the
cross.
But God raised Jesus from the dead.
That is the gospel.
Without the resurrection, we serve a god who is dead.
And that makes us like every other religion.
Jesus is not dead, he is alive!!