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1Cor15
we are looking at the second part of the book where Paul is answering questions asked of him by the Corinthians.
Today’s questions relate to the resurrection. Some of the argument is a little complex but I want you to listen and enjoy the many gems in this passage.
Read 1Corinthians 15
The gospel process is
1. Preached The gospel is preached to you, talked to you, shared with you in one way or another. We will get on to the core facts in a moment
2. Received And you receive it, you hear
it and you realise that it is true. But that does not make you a Christian. It
is not about agreeing with the creeds of faith it is about you taking a stand.
3. Stand taken; you take a stand. You transfer
your basic faith from yourself or another religion or one of the secular idols
of today, money, celebrity, happiness or whatever and you stand on the ground
of faith in Jesus. You are saved because you now stand by grace , accepted by
God because of what Jesus has done. And you hold fast. You get baptised to declare that you have
passed from death to life, you choose God’s way in every part of your life,
however difficult that may be.
I want you to note that in verse 58 this is
the call of God for us:
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that
your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
So what is the gospel?
It is Good News! And it is news! It is about 4 facts that change the world.
4 facts
1. Christ died for our sins. Most people
concede that Jesus died, although I believe Muslims say he was substituted by
Joseph. That in itself is not the
mind-blowing fact. The fact is that he died for our sins. His death was not
heroic, exemplary, or just a disaster.
Jesus was the substitute for you! He stood in for you over the matter of the
punishment for your sin. Jesus’ death is unlike any other because he was God
willingly laying down his life for you and he was sinless so he did not have to
die for his own sin. He died for you because he loves you and this is the only
way in which your relationship with God could be made good.
2. He was raised on the third day. This is
critical, as we shall see later. It requires faith to believe because it is
unlike anything we can see in creation. A dead and buried Jesus was raised to eternal life. The birth-death cycle
is broken. It is outside of our understanding of life but it is true!
3. He appeared to his disciples The
evidence begins with Mary and then Peter and then the 12 and then 500 people
and James actually seeing him as he visited them on
earth. The evidence of the resurrection
is there in the Bible for all to see.
4. He appeared to me. Paul considered
himself a late arrival. He uses the word for abortion here. Jesus met him on
the road to Damascus. The point here is that the ultimate evidence of the
resurrection that convinces us is that we, in some way, by faith, have
experienced for ourselves the living Lord Jesus.
By the Grace of God I
am what I am.
As a result Paul is transformed by grace. So the first question this morning for us is are we standing? Is our expectation of salvation based on what we think is good enough for God or on the finished work of Jesus received by faith? Is your life defined by grace. Paul could say By the Grace of God I am what I am. Is that what you think about yourself? Is that what others discover as they get to know you? This is a key verse about identity. It hints at God’s own identity God said to Moses “ I am who I am”. By God’s Grace you have an eternal identity, you were created for God’s grace, receive it and live it because it is where you discover your true identity.
So lets run over the argument that Paul develops about the resurrection. First we need to understand this was no idle speculation about pre-post-a-millenialism or the identity of the false Prophet and the beast. The early church was expecting the return of Jesus and brothers and sisters in Christ were dying. They were panicking that somehow those who had died would miss the return of Jesus. On the other hand maybe there was not going to be a resurrection, maybe that was wishful thinking.
So Paul analyses the situation.
First, if no
resurrection of the dead Christ is not
raised, that means :
Useless faith Jesus is not a live to be your advocate him heaven. He is not able to send his Holy Spirit.
False witnesses. We are deceiving ourselves and others.
No salvation. There is no salvation, you still have no peace with God, no way to clear your conscience, no forgiveness and no hope.
Those who died are lost. It means that those who died are lost and we will inevitably be so down the line.
So The Living have pitiable hope because we are waiting for something that will never happen.
In verses 29-32
Paul points out that the negative would mean that all our efforts to be thankful for our salvation would be empty of any purpose.
They had clearly been baptising on behalf of the dead which is very strange but obviously pointless if there was no resurrection. And all that travelling and struggling Paul was going through to spread the Good News was a waste of his life. What you are left with is this world’s values, eat, drink, live for the moment, “for tomorrow we die!”
Then he looks at the positives
Jesus is the First fruits – a very Jewish idea, the firstborn, first of the crops are the best and to be given to God. That was celebrated at Pentecost. So Jesus’ resurrection is the best news but only the beginning, your resurrection is on its way!
Death is conquered. The grave or the crematorium are merely the end of our physical bodies. There is eternal life beyond with Jesus.
Ultimate victory is assured. The depressing news of the failure of the nations to live at peace or the people in South Ruislip to solve basic problems of living harmoniously is not the end story. Jesus will win!
You need to read and re-read verses 20-28 and enjoy Jesus’ triumph, knowing that you are part of it. When you have an opportunity, read verses 20 -28, shout it out! Believe it! This is good news! So lets read it again, now
READ verses 20-28
Do not be lead astray 33-34
This is challenge one in this passage. The world around us rubbishes our good news, dismisses Jesus as at the least irrelevant and maybe the cause of trouble. Do not be misled. Don’t listen to the Secularists and there anti-Jesus rhetoric. Keep coming to church to get encouragement that Jesus is the truth. The expression translated “ Come back to your senses” is about waking up from a drunken stupor. Paul is telling us to think rightly. To stand on the facts and not be persuaded otherwise.
He then deals with the question of ‘how are the dead raised’. The Corinthians were not naďve. They saw friends die, buried them, knowing that their bodies rotted away, so they ask the question what sort of body will we be resurrected to?
The argument here is that our resurrected bodies are of different stuff to our natural, physical bodies. So even if you are cremated, that is not a problem. The seed that we planted the ground is not the same as the plant we will see grow. Secondly species demonstrate that there are different bodies. You want to fly, you need a birds body, you want to swim in the sea, you need a fishes gills, you want to live in heaven, you need a spiritual body. And that body is
Transformed bodies.
Read 42-44
Imperishable
Glory
Power
Spiritual
Get the rhythm of this passage “is sown” and “ is raised” is a repeating theme to get us to understand that our spiritual body is designed for eternity. It begs all sorts of questions like ‘Does your hair grow?’; ‘can you eat?’; ‘will we recognise one another?’ There are only hints to these answers, what matters is that your natural body is replaced by a supremely different body which is eternal and spiritual and engages with God. You were created in the image of God, now you will reflect the glory of God because the effects of sin will have been removed, forever.
What follows are some of my favourite verses. I genuinely enjoy reading them over an open grave in Northwood cemetery or quoted them in the local crematoria. They are such life at the most miserable point of a funeral. Before we leave the body of a beloved member of our fellowship we can be lifted up by these words. The grave is not the end but the gateway to heaven! We will still miss our loved one but at least we know that those who have faith in Jesus are more fully alive than our physical bodies ever can be.
Instant transformation. When you die, you will instantly be at the second coming.
The trumpet shall sound – Jesus is coming
The dead will be raised
The survivors will join them
Death is destroyed
Sin will end
Enjoy!
58 Therefore,
my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves
fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is
not in vain.
To summarise, in answering questions on the resurrection Paul gives us two challenges.
33 Do
not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come
back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are
ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
58 Therefore,
my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully
to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not
in vain.
We are constantly being bombarded with alternative theories. We live in a society that has given up on God and has hope for this life only. Science offers no real transforming eternal life, just a longer stretch of the struggles and trials of life. We need to stay with the truth, not allow the world around us to mislead us. And we need to stand on the rock that is Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. The facts of the good News are solid gold, Jesus died for our sins and has risen from the dead. He appeared to the disciples and by faith he makes his presence known to us. Trust him. Keep up the good work of showing God’s love to others and telling of his grace. The future is not annihilation but a transformed body living in the presence of Jesus in power and glory. Whatever that means it is good and desirable and worth standing our ground for. Keep the faith!