Paul’s Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ: Two Focal Points of Christ’s Resurrection that All Believers Should Often Reflect Upon

Pray Here: Dear Heavenly Father, today is a new day; today is the beginning of a new year. Your word reminds us not to be anxious for tomorrow; therefore, please help us to grow in our understanding of today’s passage of Scripture and to do so with trust in Your Sovereignty.Please be with Dr. McMullen and others who are traveling. Please be with those who are ill physically and those who are ill in spirit. We love You, God, and we thank You for this new day, Your Son who died for us, and the Holy Spirit who guides us in your Word.

New Years Day Resolutions

Today is a new day; today is New Year’s day. Civilizations all around the world have celebrated the start of each new year for nearly four thousand years. Most New Year’s celebrations begin on December 31st (New Year’s Eve) and continue through the midday of January 1st (New Year’s Day). There are numerous traditions, such as attending parties, watching fireworks, and eating special New Year’s day foods.

Making New Year’s resolutions is also a tradition. As I prepared this sermon, I was curious how preachers from our past spoke of New Year’s Day:

Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will. - Jonathan Edwards

“If this New Year is full of unbelief, it will surely be dark and dreary. If it is baptized into faith, it will be saturated with benediction. If we believe our God as he deserves to be believed, our way will run along the still waters, and our rest will be in green pastures. Trusting in the Lord, we shall be prepared for trials and even welcome them as black ships laden with bright treasures.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

Of all persons, the Christian should be best prepared for whatever the New Year brings. He has dealt with life at its source. In Christ, he has disposed of a thousand enemies that other men must face alone and unprepared. He can face his tomorrow cheerful and unafraid because yesterday he turned his feet into the ways of peace and today he lives in God. The man who has made God his dwelling place will always have a safe habitation. ~ A. W. Tozer

Soul Sleep

Soul Termination

Reincarnation

The Philosophy of Absorption

1st Corinthians Chapter 15

Celebrating the birth of a new year and making New Year’s resolutions are long traditions held by many civilizations, as are beliefs on life after death. This life, this mortal life we are experiencing, is the eve of our eternal life. Throughout the world, viewpoints on life after death varies extensively; different societies and religions offer all kinds of answers to what happens after death. Some teach Soul Sleep that when you die, your soul goes to sleep for a while, and then you awake into some nirvana, divine Disneyland, or celestial city where you live out your most fantastic fantasy forever. Others believe in what is called Soul Termination. This is the worldly view that when you die, you go back to dust; you are here, poof, you are gone; lights out. There are those who believe in reincarnation. You die and come back as something else; as to what, well, that is not clearly defined. Something determines how and why you come back, but the specifics are not clear.

Absorption, or The Philosophy of Absorption,is what the Greeks believed, a philosophy also held by many other civilizations surrounding the first Christian church; the idea is that we each have a spark of deity indwelled in us, and when the body dies, the spark returns to some tremendous cosmic expanse. In other words, you are absorbed back into some divine force.

This is a similar belief held by the Sadducees, a Jewish sect in Jesus’ time, and what the Hindus and Buddhists believe today. You go back into the eternal sea – a cosmic drop of milk falling back into the Milky Way. 1 Corinthians 15 addresses that false philosophy; the Greeks were teaching absorption, and the Bible proclaims that we are all raised bodily from the dead, and those in Christ are raised to spend eternity in a glorified body.

Unfortunately, not unlike false teaching today, absorption philosophies surrounding Corinth began to deceive the Corinthian church, and there was a faction of Corinthian Christians denying bodily Resurrection. There was a handful of those who could concede that the soul was immortal but could not grasp a bodily resurrection. They accepted the idea that the soul endured forever but snubbed the idea that each person’s body and unique personhood also lasted forever.

Why? Why does it matter whether or not we are resurrected?

Because if we are not resurrected, we can hold on to the lie that we can hide from God today. To take it a step further, to say that believers do not have a bodily resurrection is to defy Christ’s Resurrection, a fact necessary to be saved according to Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” He lives that we may live.

Tim Keller once said, “Such voices will always be insistent, mainly because the resurrection of Jesus strips away the arguments and theories behind which men have always tried to hide from God. Paul’s affirmation in Acts 17:30-31 presents the implications of Jesus’ resurrection with consummate precision:

“Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent,because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

Acts 17:30–31 NET

Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent,because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

Paul admonishes the Corinthian church in the fifteenth chapter of Corinthians; he is preserving the fact that they must not only believe in the immortality of the soul but of a glorified body that allows each person to continue to be a unique creation forever. Believers will be gloriously changed into a new sinless creation in the Resurrection.

The message of 1 Corinthians 15 is not the soul’s immortality but the immortality of a glorified body. That is what Paul is proclaiming in today’s sermon. The Greeks and some within the Corinthian church denied the physical Resurrection; they denied the truth of the literal bodily Resurrection; they denied that a unique literal individual would be confined within a glorified body forever. The church at Corinth had begun to pose questions and consider that absorption might be probable, and our text today is Paul’s answer to those questions.

Key Points

The preaching purpose of today’s passage of Scripture is to provide two focal points of Christ’s Resurrection that all Believers should often reflect upon:

Paul proves Christ’s Resurrection with a conclusive legal argument, and there is no Gospel without the Resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 NASB95

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit 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 toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Side Note: Jesus emphasized grace, perhaps, by going to Peter first. Peter had forsaken Jesus, but the Lord had not forsaken him. Christ did not appear to Peter because Peter deserved to see Him the most; instead, perhaps, because Peter needed to see Him the most.

Two Focal Points of Christ’s Resurrection that All Believers Should Often Reflect Upon:

I. Paul proves Christ’s Resurrection with a conclusive legal argument (1-11).

A. The resurrection has always been the cornerstone of the Gospel (1-3a).

1. We find the first recorded sermon after Christ’s Resurrection in Acts 2:14-41. Peter confirms the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection while appealing to Psalm 16:8–11. Peter is providing evidence that Christ’s Resurrection was foretold.

Peter explains that David could not have been referring to himself when he wrote Psalm 16: For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Peter says, “Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”

Peter’s use of Scripture should reinforce three points in our minds, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ in verses 30 and 31. Peter’s use of Scripture should reinforce three points in our minds. a. All Scripture bears witness to Christ, especially his death, burial, and resurrection. That is its character and purpose of Scripture. Jesus himself said so both before and after his Resurrection. b. Because of Jesus’ post-resurrection teaching, his disciples came naturally to see Old Testament references to God’s anointed king, to David and his royal seed, as finding their fulfillment in Jesus. c. What we see Peter and Paul doing are examples of Christological exegesis in the early Church.

2. Jesus did rise from the grave; we believe in His resurrection, and salvation requires that we believe in Christ’s resurrection. Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” To say that believers do not have a bodily resurrection is to defy Christ’s resurrection, a fact necessary to be saved. He lives that we may live. Is 53:5–12; Matt 26:24; Luke 24:25–27; Acts 8:32-33; 17:2-3; 26:22

B. The resurrection has always rested on widely accepted facts (3b-11).

1. “When we read the New Testament, we see that credible historical reasons exist to support the resurrection of Christ, but many scholars refuse even to consider the evidence, for they are convinced that resurrections cannot happen. This fundamental bias, i.e., naturalistic philosophy, is all too often cloaked as “objective history.”~ Thomas R. Schreiner

Reasons can always be found to doubt the validity of a belief If you are unwilling to meet the demand of that belief.

2. He appeared to many people subsequently (5-11)

Human courts all through history have predicated decisions based on eyewitness testimony. Memory recall was a credible source of evidence up until quite recently. Modern forensics, such as fingerprints and DNA, support psychologists’ claims that memories and individual perceptions can be unreliable, manipulated, and biased. This is true if we were talking about an individual or even a handful of people, especially if you could somehow prove those people were connected.

The Gospel accounts are independent reports. Peter was clear that a conspiracy was not devised by the apostles:

2 Peter 1:16 NASB95

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

In the book Evidence of the Resurrection by Josh and Sean McDowell, the authors state just how strong the account of Christ’s Resurrection would stand in the court of law, “If each of these 500 people were to testify in a courtroom for only six minutes each, including cross-examination, you would have an amazing 50 hours of firsthand eyewitness testimony. Add to this the testimony of the many other eyewitnesses, and you could have the largest and most lopsided trial in history.” The number of eyewitnesses is overwhelmingly convincing.

Historical Evidence for the Resurrection by Matt Perman https: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection

3. Virtually all scholars who deal with the resurrection, whatever their school of thought, agree the following three points are true:

The tomb where Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion; Jesus' disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ; as a result of the preaching of these disciples, which had the resurrection at its center, the Christian church was established and grew.

Reasonable Faith and The Son Rises by William Lane Craig Scaling the Secular City by J.P. Moreland The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus and Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? By Gary Habermas

II. There is no Gospel without the Resurrection (3b-11).

A. Jesus died for our sins (3b)

1. It was a substitutionary death. Isa. 53:5-6; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21.

2. It was a sacrificial death. For God to forgive sin a perfect sacrifice had to be offered. Lev. 16 and Rom. 3:24–26.

3. It was a voluntary death. John 10:17–18.

B. Jesus was buried (4a)

1. It was not a spiritual burial. They did not bury His Spirit.

2. They buried the body of Christ. John 19:38–42; Luke 23:50–53.

C. Jesus rose on the third day and appeared to many (4b-10).

1. A Messiah left in the grave would not be a Messiah. A Savior in the grave would not be a Savior. According to Romans 1:4, the Resurrection proclaimed Him to be the Son of God with power. God’s divine power is not demonstrated on the cross; His glorious divine power is demonstrated in the resurrection.

2. Death could not hold Him; this was also prophesied. Psalm 16:8–10; Acts 2:25–32.

3. Jesus’ resurrection was a bodily resurrection. Luke 24:36–44.

4. Jesus’ resurrection assures two things:

a. Justification before God.

Romans 4:24–25 NET

but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.

b. A similar resurrection for us at His coming. 1 Cor. 6:14; 1 Thess. 4:13–18.

D. So we preached and so you believed (11).

Paul insists the Gospel he preached in verses 3 through 8 is the same Gospel all the apostles preached and what the Corinthian church received; therefore, Paul is saying, “Do not turn away from it now!”

So Now What? What Are We To Do With 1st Corinthians 15:1-11?

Some people in the Corinthian church were not genuine believers. They were regular attendees and were perceived to be true believers from all outside accounts. They were there, but they were not genuine. How do we know that? Because in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul is writing to the same church, saying, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.” Paul knows that in the church, there are people who are not believers. If you did not catch it the first time, Paul says it a second time, “examine yourselves” in that same verse; “Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test”? The Gospel, Paul proclaims, has done it all. Paul proclaims that the Gospel has saved you. You will stand in Gospel and live out of the Gospel; unless your faith was placed in vain. And if you have a vain and empty faith, you will not cling to the Gospel. Let me say that one more time; if you have a vain and empty faith, you will not cling to the Gospel. James tells us that “endurance has its perfect results” (James 1:4); endurance is a sign of our faith. We are talking about what scholars refer to as The Perseverance of the Saints. You believe the Gospel. You receive the Gospel. You stand in the Gospel. So then hold fast to the Word of the Gospel.

For those who hold fast, it is proof that their salvation is real. In holding fast to the Gospel, they become doers of the Word, not the hearers. Let it be true that you believed, received, stood, and held fast to the Gospel as a faithful Christian. And that Gospel, as Paul says in verses 3 and 4, is a Gospel that includes the Resurrection.

The Gospel is: Christ died for our sins. He was buried and raised from the dead according to the Scriptures. He lives that we may live. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him, you will be saved

I want to take just a moment to preach the whole Gospel here. I believe it is good to hear the Gospel often, no matter where we are in Christ. The fourth letter of the New Testament was written by a man named John; he knew Jesus personally. The first sentence in his letter says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The “Word” John is speaking of – we believe he is speaking of Jesus. A few verses later, John tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In the first letter of the New Testament, written by a man named Matthew, who also knew Jesus personally, Matthew proclaims that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary. There are 27 letters in the New Testament, and thirteen were written by a guy named Paul. In one of Paul’s letters, he says, “For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Paul is saying that Jesus lived a sinless life; he was a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, much like how lambs in the Old Testament were sacrificed. Unlike the offering of a lamb in the Old Testament, Jesus is the sacrifice of which God is the source of the offering; therefore, a perfect offering never needs to be presented again. God the Father treated Jesus the Son as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe, though He committed none. Jesus willingly shed his blood, suffered, and died on the cross for us; He took our place there and received the wrath of God for our sins. In a letter titled Romans, Paul tells us that the consequence of sin is death. In another letter, Paul says Jesus, in human form, humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus is holy God hanging on the cross, but God treated Him as if He lived my life. God then turns around and treats me as if I lived His life. That is the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John proclaimed, “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; the one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.” We are saved by grace through faith; we cannot earn salvation; it is a gift of God, not the result of anything we do or do not do so that no one can boast. God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, providing eternal victory over the power of sin, and more than 500 people were witnesses to His Resurrection. God is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance. If you want to know what you must do to be saved, confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved. One believes and is justified with the heart, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.

Closing Appeal

If you are a Believer, if you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then I call you to live in the truth of God’s Word. And, to the non-believers, I ask you to respond to the call of salvation in Jesus.

Please bow your heads as I pray for us all.

The following outline would be a good for the sermon handout:

WHAT DOES THE RESURRECTION MEAN TO YOU? 1 CORINTHIANS 15:14

I. To Some It Has No Meaning

Sunday is just another day, for toil or pleasure. The resurrected Christ has no consideration.

II. To Some It Has the Wrong Meaning

A. Some consider Easter a high holy day. This is the one day of the year when they must attend church. They forget the truths in Acts 2:42 and Acts 20:7. Who would want a marriage with a mate who is faithful only 2 percent of the time? So it is when a person attends worship service on Easter only.

B. Some consider Easter the day for the debut of new spring apparel.

III. To Some This Day Has the Right Meaning

It is a day set aside to worship the resurrected Christ, to praise God that Christ is alive and because He lives, we too, can live forever.

A. Christ is alive (1 Corinthians 15:4).

B. The resurrection passes to all who accept Christ (1 Corinthians 15:21, 22).

C. We can partake of the resurrection now (Romans 8:11–14; Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:12–15).

When we accept Christ, it is to serve. The thrill of being on a team is not to sit on the bench, but to get into the game. The resurrection of Christ can motivate our entire life.

Conclusion

Become a partaker of the resurrection right now by accepting Christ. Begin the abundant life now—the resurrection is for eternity. Will you accept Him today? (Acts 2:38)

H. Lee Mason, Sermon Outlines for Evangelism (Mason, OH: The Christian Restoration Association, 2018), 49–51.