Easter 2023

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, plese turn to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

What we know is that the book of 1 Corinthians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul

And the apostle Paul writes this letter as a response to the letters he has recieved about the church at Corinth

Paul has a love for this church as he had personally lived in Corinth for about 18 months

Paul taught the gospel there and accoring to Acts 18:8-10 the Corinthian church flourished

However, sometime after Paul left, the church started to have plenty of problems

Parents you kind of know this, your kids are acting good but as soon as you turn your back or walk out the room they just go crazy!

Corinth started going crazy but the crazieness didn’t happen over night

But what you have to realize is that Corinth was a large and diverse city

There were people of all different backgrounds and faiths

And slowly but surely these differing faiths started to creep into the church and distort the gospel

And rather than focusing on the gospel they started to focus on theological matters

And so there were those within the church who thought of themselves more highly because they thought they were more spiritual or knowledgeable than others

And they would take the teachings of Paul, Peter, and Apollos and they would argue about who is the better teacher and why

They would follow what they would write and say and devoted themselves to their teachings

Then there were those who were so relaxed in their theology that they would get drunk drinking the wine as they communed for the Lord’s Supper

And if they were getting drunk during church, do you think that their worship was honoring or revereant?

No, they were dishonoring and disorderly during church

And false teachings were starting to formulate like denial of Christ coming back to life

There was sexual immorality going on within the church

Church members suing each other

And so Paul recieves letters from leaders asking questions about marriage and divorce, food offered to idols, spiritual gifts, and they even asked Paul how he collects tithes

And so in Pauls response - He starts in chapters 1-4 by pointing the church back to Jesus

He tells them they do not follow apostles but that they are to follow Jesus Christ

For Jesus is the one who has wisdom

And then from chapters 5-14 he starts to address the problems within the church and also gives his answers to the questions that were asked of him

And so we get to chapter 15 which is our text for today.

And so, at this time, If you are able, I ask that you please stand and follow along as I read God’s Word - 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 (ESV)

Now I would 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.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also 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. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 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 toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

This is the word of the Lord, you may now be seated

The Gospel

I did not come up with this story but I heard it one time and particularly think it is relevant for us today

When we are specifically talking about text messaging, it is a universal truth that LOL stands for what?

Laugh Out Loud

And yet there was a man who did not know this

And so this man would put lol at the end of all of his text messages

And his kids were a little older too and so they assumed that their dad was just trying to be funny

That is, until the family dog, whome the kids loved so dearly passed away.

And so the dad gets his phone out and texts his kids, “Rover has passed away, he is now in a better place lol”

And so the kids come home and they burry Rover but then one of the kids confronts the dad

Dad, Rovers death is not funny, I can’t fathom why you put LOL at the end of the messge

And the father looks at the kid and says, I thought LOL meant “lots of love”

And so the kids laugh and they explain to the dad that lol means laugh out loud

Well then the dad starts laughing, and he is laughing really hard, uncontrollably loud and obnoxious - and when he finally catches his breath, he said, you should all of the other messages I have written lol in!

And you can only imagine all the other inappropriate scenarios he might have used lots of love in

What is interesting is that the Father had good intentions for using lol

The Father meant well every time he used lol

But an improper understanding of the truth of what lol means, lead him to misrepresent and misuse the text slang

And while this story is meant to be funny, it is not funny that all around the world today -

The gospel of Jesus Christ is misunderstood, its misrepresented, and it is still misused

Last week I preached a sermon where I talked about how theology is good

Theology is the study of the nature of God

And we all have a theology because we all have a view of God

If a person believes that there is no God, then that is their theology

But the way we view God and understand the nature of God is going to influence our thoughts and our actions

It is going to influence how we read the Bible and apply it to our life

But I also said that our theology of God should not superceed our relationship with God

This is to say that you can know God with all of your mind and you will still miss the point because you do not know him in your heart

And so Paul starts chapter 15 with this, “Now I would 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.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also 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,”

We must remember that the entire message of the gospel is about Jesus

And a lot of times we have the tendency to make the gospel about us

That I am saved from hell

That I professed faith in Jesus Christ

But please understand this, the gospel is for you, but it’s not about you

The gospel which means, good news, is all about Jesus

And because its all about Jesus, all about who he is, we engage in a theology called

Christology - Which is the study of who Jesus Christ is and his works

We are to learn about essential truths about Jesus so that we have a proper understanding of the gospel

And we take this gospel and we are to share it with others - we are to correct the misunderstandings and we are correct the misuse of it, and we are to never compromise on it

Here is the gospel

We believe that God the Father who is the first person of the trinity

Sent God the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the trinity

And it was the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the trinity

that caused the virgin Mary to concieve

And baby Jesus was born of Mary but because it was through the work of the Holy Spirit,

Jesus was fully God and fully man

And so Jesus did not have a sinful nature, rather he had God’s nature

But because he was man he was tempted, he hungered, he thirst, he slept, he got fatigued, he bleed, he had human emotions

But not once, not once did he ever commit a sin

And because he was blameless, because he was pure - only he could die to take away the sins of the world

He unjustly accused, imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to be crucified

And even though he was innocent - like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

And what happens next, Paul just told us here in verse 3 is of first importance

That Christ dies for our sins, that he was buried, and tht he was raised on the third day

Brothers and sisters this is why we gather here today on Easter Sunday

This is what all the fuss about Easter is

That it has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus

That Jesus died, he was burried, and then he was raised on the third day

This is of first importance

Last week I talked about the different tiers of theology

There are primary, secondary, and tertiary aspects of theology

And I stated that we can differ on secondary and tertiary aspects

But the primary ones we should all be of one mind and have unity in

The gospel of Jesus is primary which means that his death for our sins are primary

And the question always asked is why? Why did Jesus do all of these things?

For you

For your sins

So that you can be reconciled unto God

We are the reason

What is the reason why you go through so much trouble for someone?

Because you love them

In an even better way, God loves you so much, that he went through all the trouble of sending his only son, so that his only son could die and be raised on the third day, so that you can be saved.

God wants a relationship with you first and foremost

And so the wrath of God, which should be for us because of our sins, was poured out on Jesus

And he died

He was buried in a tomb

But because he is God, because he is Lord, he did not stay there

He arose on the third day and conquered sin and death

And becaue he is alive, because of his Grace Alone for us,

We can believe in Christ Alone to save us

When you put your Faith Alone in Jesus, you trust in who He is and what he has has done

And it is because of who he is and what he has done that we give him all the Glory Alone

The resurrection on the third day is an essential truth for us that proclaims that

Jesus is God

Jesus is Perfect

Jesus is Lord

And as we read and believe that Scripture is the very breath of God, we believe that everything inside of it actually happened - The resurrection work of Jesus Christ isn’t just a story, but it is as true as it can be

Just as true that you and I are here today

Just as true that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are Presidents of the United States

Just as true as the Astros winning the 2022 World Series

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a real and true event

And we find Paul switching into an apologetic defense of this resurrection of Christ

Defense of the Resurrection

Paul goes on and writes, “and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

What Paul is doing here is giving a list of witnesses who have seen the resurrected Christ

In the letter he writing on paper, If you dont believe me but you follow Peter - then go ask Peter

Ask Peter how Jesus restored him after he denied three times just as predicted

And maybe you dont like Peter or want to believe him so go ask any of the other disciples!

And if you think the disciples are conspiring together then there are 500 more witnesses that were not disciples who will testify that they have seen Jesus

James, Jesus’ own brother who did not first believe in who Jesus was, Jesus was walking on earth teaching and doing miracles and that wasn’t enough for James,

But after the resurrection, after seeing his brother dead, and somehow alive again 3 days later, he could no longer deny his brother as Jesus Christ the Messiah

Go ask James!

What Paul is doing here is giving a defense for the resurrection of Jesus

And my encouragement for you is that the resurrection of Jesus is still defensible today

And even though no one here can ask Paul, Peter, James, the disciples, apostles, or any other of the 500 who saw Jesus about their eye witness account ,

We can look at other parts of scripture that serve as evidence to the resurrection

And we can first start with the disciples

Because the very death of the disciples are a testament to the witness they were prefessing

Every disciple aside from John died a martyres death

They died defending the truth of their witness

And I dont know about you but I am not willing to die for something that is untrue

If I lied about the resurrection, if I made it up, dont you think I would fess up when faced with the death penalty?

And heres the thing, it only takes 1, it only takes one who yields and says it was a lie to cast doubt

But none of them, none them recanted Jesus, they died proclaiming and knowing Him as truth

They all died for the gospel because they witnessed the power of the gospel - the power of jesus’ resurrection

Second, We can also find a defense given by the very people who wanted to discredit the resurrection

In trying to discredit the resurrection the pharisees actually contributed to its truth

Matthew 27:62-66 62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Many today who believe that Jesus was real but that he wasn’t God, they try to make an arguement that Jesus’ body was stolen

Well it wasn’t stolen by the Pharisees or the government - it would make no sense for them to steal the body after they just made arrangements to defend it

So if it were to be stolen, it would have to be by the disciples

And the disciples were not warriors

And I am aware that much of our very own christian art always portrays 2 soldiers outside the tomb

But in reality it was more than just 2 soldiers

Historic analysis on the Roman Empire indicates that a guard consisted of 4 soldiers

Now that may not seem like a lot but take two marines and then double it and then try to get passed them - yea thats not going to happen

And if, the soldiers were to fail their mission, if they did not die in defending - they would certainly be punished

Matthew 28:11-15 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

The guard took money to fabricate the story!

Third, we have the testimony of Mary, Mary, and Joanna

What the Bible does do is give the culture and beliefs at the time of which these things happened

And at the time, in both the Jewish and the Gentile community women’s words were not valued or permitted in court

Women were not valued as witnesses but yet the gospel writers do not leave out that Jesus appeared to them first

If the resurrection was fabricated, you wouldnt want the testimony of women,

You would want the testimony of an influential male, a male with status

But that is not what we find.

The events of the resurrection were recorded just as it happened

And so we find that all of scripture teaches and reinforces the resurrection and therefore we as believers can know and be rest assured that the resurrection of Jesus happened

Jesus is the greatest

Lastly, we find Paul concluding this section

He writes, 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now I know we love to elevate the Apostle Paul

The Apostle Paul wrote 14 of the New Testament Books

His teachings about Jesus and the church awithin the Bible are the foundation to which we closely try to live by

And yet, Paul himself is saying that he is the least of the apostles

That he was a persecuter of God’s church and it is only by God’s grace that Paul became who he was

He did not get to see Jesus in his earthly ministry but he did get to see Jesus when Jesus called him to proclaim Christ to the jews and the gentiles

And it is only by the grace of God that Paul can now be an instrument for Christ rather than against Christ

Paul is writing here that he is a recipiant of God’s grace over and over and over and over again

And it is because of God’s divine Grace that Paul will not waste it living a life of ease and comfort

Rather, Paul wants to labor harder so that the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed to every Jew and Gentile

Paul knows and acknowledges that it is not about him, it is all about Jesus

And I must admit that there are times when I wish or think that I should be just 10% of what Paul was

And yet, everything I read from the Apostle Paul leads me to believe that if I were to tell Paul that I wish I was 10% of him

He would tell me not to be like him but to be like Jesus

Paul would tell me that he is not the way, the truth and the life, Jesus is

Paul would tell me that he did not live a perfect life, Jesus did

And Paul would tell me that only person I should follow is the one who conquered sin and death by rising again on the third day and that is Jesus!

Application

Now please hear me out that I do believe it is ok to have role models

I do have mentors that I look up to

But the desire to be like somebody should be the desire to be like Jesus

And the more you read your Bible, and you pray, and worship,

The more you foster your relationship with him

The greater your desire will be

Church I want to encourage you today to have a desire that is seeking to be like Jesus

I want to encourage you to recognize the grace that God has had for you

That though you have sinned, Jesus died, was buried, and arose on the third day for you

And when you realize that God’s grace for you is immeasurable, when you realize that he loves you without ceasing, you realize that God’s will for you to be conformed to him is what matters -

and while we know that faith alone is Jesus saves, Because of his work, because of his grace - we should work harder to be like him

And maybe you are here today and you have never heard about the gospel

I want to tell you that the gospel is for you

And as the Holy Spirit draws you to him, as God calls you to follow him

you can give your life to him today

I don’t care what you have or havent done

I bet no one in here was worse than Paul

But give your life to Jesus, the only one who can save

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Please stand and recieve the benediction before we leave -

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen

Thank you, you are now dismissed