The Church Built Up (25) - Christ Resurrected
The Church Built Up • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We are nearing the end of our message series from the book of 1 Corinthians. The focus of this letter has been the building up of the church. Paul has addressed some behavioral issues, he’s answer some questions of doctrine, and he’s even dealt with some issues in how they were gathering together. As Paul wraps up this letter, he is dealing with a central doctrine and belief of the church - the resurrection of Christ.
This first section of verses from 1 Corinthians 15 will lay out for us that the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the Gospel, that it is true and that this Gospel is for us today.
We’ll take our passage today in 3 chunks. Let’s start with the first 2 verses...
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
I don’t know if you struggle with this idea of trying harder. I know I have had the tendency at times to think that it is up to me to do the doing. If I want to change something in my life, I have to do the change. The gospel that Paul preached, the gospel of this book is not a gospel of try harder. That doesn’t me that we don’t put in the effort, it means that the gospel ultimately does the hard work and gets the credit.
Let’s look again at what Paul says here...
Paul preached the gospel - He is merely relaying the facts of who Jesus is, what Jesus did and how that impacts our lives
Then the people received the gospel - In the hearing and experiencing of the gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to received the truth of the gospel. I know for me, this took several times hearing and been shown in order for me to truly receive. When that time came, there wasn’t much effort involved.
Then those who received now stand on the gospel. The literal meaning of the Greek word is just ‘to stand’. If we are going to stand on something, it has to be something that will hold us up. This is the natural next step once you’ve received. It’s the act of using what it is that you have received. Chair analogy...
The in verse 2 the gospel does the doing. The verb tense literally means that we are in the constant state of being saved passively by the gospel. There is nothing we are doing to be saved. Like sitting in this chair, the chair is doing the hold up, not me.
At the same time though, I have to allow myself to be fully held by the chair. If I try to hold myself up, I am no longer depending on the gospel to save, I am trying to do it myself. That’s what the next part of this verse means…we have to hold firmly to the word and the truth of what it has imparted to us.
I’m going to take this chair analogy a few steps further...The gospel says this is the right way to sit in this chair.
When you have a wrong understanding of the gospel it’s like you turn the chair upside down and use it the wrong way.
When you don’t trust the gospel fully and just lean like this, you’re not fully embracing what the gospel has to offer. You get the benefit of leaning a little, but you’re missing out on so much.
Here’s where it gets dangerous and what Paul is warning about when he says “you’ve believed in vain”...When you take two of the feet off the ground and use two of your own, things get really unstable really fast. I won’t give you the pleasure of seeing me fall flat on my back by tipping the chair too far, but that is what some Christians are doing.
We’ve got ourselves in the chair, we’ve received the gospel, but we’re not holding firm, we’re trying to do it ourselves. And as a result we’re falling flat on our backs.
Paul says, here the gospel being preached, receive it and then stand on it. Allow the gospel to save you daily and hold firm to what it says that we might not believe in vain.
Let’s keep reading...
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
According to scripture, Jesus fulfilled 2 major prophecies that were mentioned in multiple places...
1 - Christ died for our sins.
2 - Jesus rose again.
To prove his bodily resurrection, Paul give accounts of several who were witnesses to the resurrected Jesus.
These witnesses were still alive and able to give first hand testimony of seeing Jesus. The church of Corinth would have had the ability to verify this information as Paul presented it.
As I’ve done research into the historical proof of the resurrection one of the major pieces that is lacking are contemporary documents that refute Paul’s assertion that Jesus was bodily resurrected.
After laying out the facts of the resurrection, Paul then talks about the impact the gospel had on him personally...
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Paul, who went by the name Saul prior to his conversion, was not a very nice guy. He not only persecuted the church, he did so with such violence and zeal.
Whenever someone tells me that what they’ve done can’t be forgiven, I am often reminded of Paul. He killed so many believers in Christ. He would track them down and have them killed in the most brutal and punishing ways. Yet, God still saw fit to not only forgive Paul, but allowed Paul to be a major communicator of the gospel to the gentiles.
I hope that you’ll be able to say the first part of verse 10 about yourselves.
1 Corinthians 15:10a (NIV)
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
I’ve done all these terrible things, but...
I don’t deserve to be loved, but...
And then Paul comes to this realization in the second part
1 Corinthians 15:10b (NIV)
10 No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
It’s not a matter of us working harder, it is a matter of us allowing the grace of God to work within us.
I think most people want to be a good person. I know I want that for myself, but I find that the measure of what a good person is varies depending on the sum total of a person’s experience.
Said another way, we all have a different idea of what a good person is. We might agree on some central things, but it won’t take long for us to disagree unless we can agree on a source that tells us what a good person looks like.
Stepping outside this room and into the world, the ideas of what a good person is gets skewed very quickly. Not only does it get skewed, but it seems to change like the wind every couple of years.
What many don’t realize is that we are constantly comparing ourselves to the latest trend of good and we find ourselves falling short. This has only accelerated in the last 10 years or so with social media and the explosion of the internet.
I don’t think we are immune as Christians. Paul even alludes to this in Romans 7 when he talks about doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not doing the things he should…he then says this:
Romans 7:21–25 (NIV)
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
This is the key to the gospel message. This is why Jesus came, died and was resurrected…that by the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome this spiritual war that is raging in each of us.
This is what Paul is preaching. This is what the letter to the Corinthian church, and to us is all about. It’s about the gospel.
The gospel that starts with an unworthy human being who is outside of God’s law and plan and without hope.
A gospel that continues by the God of the universe sending His Son to redeem people. That redemption comes by Jesus paying the price that none of us could pay by his death on the cross. The fulness of that redemption coming in the resurrection just 3 days later.
This is the gospel that Paul preached, and in our passage he ended it with this:
11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Belief is where the start of the gospel impact in our lives begins. Belief that you are loved, belief that Jesus came for you, belief that trusting in Him will save you, not just when you die, but here and now in this life.
***Invitation - put up title slide***
Some of you might be hearing this clearly for the first time. Just as clearly as you see this chair, you are now seeing the gospel. In a moment, we’re going to have some folks ready up front for you to come and receive.
Some of you have received the gospel already, but you’ve been sitting in that chair the wrong way. You’ve either twisted it, or you’re depending on your own action and effort rather than fully trusting. In a moment, we’re going give you an opportunity to respond. You can come a pray alone or pray with someone who will be up front waiting.
Some of you have a circumstance that God is telling you he wants to take care of for you, but you just need to sit down in grace of the gospel. Would you also come and respond.