Does the Resurrection Really Matter?

Did Jesus really resurrect from the dead, or is it just some hoax to make him look like a god?

Actual responses...

One person wrote...

Did any historian of the day, of the time of Jesus, record it. No. To me, that means it never happened. And, trust me, the news that somebody rose from the dead, after being crucified, would have gone round the empire like wildfire.

Another person’s answer...

Like the rest of the New Testament, the four gospels were written in Greek and were written decades after the alleged event. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110.

Jesus and his disciples did not understand Greek and primarily spoke Aramaic, the common language of Judea in the first century AD, most likely a Galilean dialect distinguishable from that of Jerusalem. This is generally agreed upon by historians.

Despite the traditional ascription, all four gospels are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses. A few conservative scholars defend the traditional ascription or attributions, but for a variety of reasons the majority of scholars have abandoned this view or hold it only tenuously.

So the only credible answer to your question is:

We do not know if Jesus was resurrected.

For those that say they know that Jesus was resurrected, I would ask, “Were you there?” Knowing something and believing something are two completely different matters. Only 31.2% of the world identify as Christian, so a good question may be: What does the other 68.8% of the world population know?

Scientifically speaking, Jesus’ resurrection is implausible.

Those are words from just two people…but I ask you Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Now before you answer that question you need to know there are some far reaching implications to your answer...

How you choose to answer that question not only sets the course for your eternity, but it also ought to impact the day to day operations of your life...

So let me ask you another question this morning…has Resurrection Sunday become so mundane and routine for you that it really has become nothing more than a normal Sunday? (Pause for effect)

If Resurrection Sunday really means what it ought to mean, then every Sunday should be far from mundane and routine.

I can’t help but wonder, that even though we believe the Resurrection is real, and that Resurrection Sunday ought to be a significant event in our life…

...that many of us are in danger of losing sight of the significance of the Resurrection because we’ve allowed the routine and mundane to characterize how we approach every Sunday.

Just another day…just another activity to do…just another obligation I have to check off my list...

So I ask you this question this morning for our main thought as we walk through this text...

Main Point: Does Your Belief in the Resurrection Really Matter?

Some important Background material to help us understand this text more fully.

The theme of 1 Cor. 15 is the physical, literal resurrection of all people from the grave.

It is not just about the resurrection of Jesus...Paul is reminding them that dead people, do and will rise from the grave.

This is nothing new to either Jews or the church…it is taught in both the Old and New Testaments

Job 19:26 ““Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;”

Jesus taught this truth in John 5:28–29

John 5:28–29 (NASB95)

“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

He continues in John 6:44 ““No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” …and John 11:25

John 11:25 (NASB95)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

So Jesus promises a physical resurrection…to both believe and unbeliever alike.

The apostles would continue to teach this which created problems in the religious community of their day.

Acts 4:1–2 (NASB95)

As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and that is why they are so Sad U See!

Paul would continue to teach the importance of the resurrection as an essential element to the gospel.

2 Cor 4:14; Col 3:4; 1 Thess 4:16-17; Phil 3:20-21 all reference in some way the truth of a bodily resurrection.

In spite of all the teaching from the Scripture, Jesus, and the Apostles, the Corinthians bought into the worldly philosophy of the day and denied a bodily resurrection of all people...

Greek philosophy was the soul was immortal, but the body was not…your soul would last forever, but your body would rot in the grave, never to be seen again.

So to them, immortality only applied to the spiritual realm, not the physical realm.

We see Paul address this problem in verse 12...

1 Corinthians 15:12 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

Something very important about verse 12…in the Greek translation, there is no article in front of the word dead…it literally reads “how say some of you there is no resurrection of corpses.”

That is a physical resurrection...

So the overall point of 1 Cor. 15 is Paul laying out his argument for the reality of the Resurrection.

Not just the resurrection of Jesus…but the reality that all people will experience a resurrection...

See you can’t say you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, without also believing that you and all those who died before you will experience a physical resurrection.

Not only is Jesus’ resurrection part of the gospel, but also part of the gospel is the truth that there exists a glorious resurrection for all who believe.

You can’t just buy one part of the gospel, you either buy it all or you get nothing.

A rejection of the gospel means you are not found in Christ, but you will still experience a resurrection…it will not be glorious, it will be in judgment that ends in an eternal separation in hell from God.

Paul explains why that is true in this text!

He connects the resurrection of all men to the resurrection of Christ…this is key throughout the text…they are inseparable...

There are some serious implications and consequences if you are not going to believe in the resurrection…both of Jesus and all men!

Let’s examine our text.

There are theological consequences (12-16)

In the first 11 verses of this chapter, Paul told them it was illogical for them to believe that the resurrection of the dead does not take place.

Christ had been dead, and he was subsequently resurrected from the dead.

The Corinthians had believed as much.

Since they accepted the truth of the gospel that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day, it made no sense to not believe in the resurrection of all men.

Theological Consequence #1 — Jesus is not Raised (13, 16)

1 Corinthians 15:13 “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;”

1 Corinthians 15:16 “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;”

Paul’s argument then is that since Jesus was also a man, and if your belief is correct that there is no literal physical resurrection of the body, then Jesus did not rise again because He was a man with a real body. (This poses some serious implications to our faith)

Jesus is 100% man…100% God…only entity to be 200% of something.

If you don’t believe in a physical resurrection of the body, then Jesus is dead.

All throughout the gospels, especially Luke, we see evidence of Jesus’ humanity.

Even after He came out of the tomb, He was still a man (Luke 24)

…what did Jesus tell doubting Thomas…reach out and touch me, see my hands, see my feet…and then to provide more proof, he told them to get him something to eat.

If you’re going to say that dead men don’t rise again, then Jesus is still dead…which goes against what you claim you believed in the gospel...

Romans 10:9 (NASB95)

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Let’s pause for a moment and think about this from a practical standpoint…the truth is we serve a risen Savior and we believe in the resurrection of all people at some point in time…

What evidences exist to prove you serve a risen Savior?

If you have accepted the truth of the gospel then everything about you ought to be different…

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

What areas of your life can you point to and declare that because of the resurrection, I have been made new?

Let’s think back to what I said at the beginning…has Sunday become just another ordinary day to you?

If the resurrection really means what it ought to mean, then every time we gather is a time to rejoice because we worship a Risen Savior!

Theological Consequence #2 — All preaching is useless.

1 Corinthians 15:14 “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”

The gospel doesn’t exist if Christ is not raised...

The resurrection validates everything Jesus said and did....

If He doesn’t rise, then everything is lost. If He does everything is gain.

Turn quickly to Rom. 1:1-4...

Romans 1:1–4“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”

verse 3 proves His humanity.

He was a man, born in the family of David according to the flesh. That’s His humanness.

verse 4 proves his deity...“He was declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

His humanness is obvious from His Davidic lineage.

His deity is proven by the resurrection...if He doesn’t rise, He isn’t God. And if He isn’t God, then all gospel preaching is worthless.

Pause and reflect on that for a moment…why do we gather each week to study the Scripture?

Because the Scripture is the very word of Jesus Christ to His people…the church…we receive our marching orders from him and we find them in the pages of Scripture.

Since the church belongs to Jesus he has the right to call us to accountability.

Revelation 1:18 “and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

Having the keys means he has the the right to reign and rule in His own church.

He can promise and deliver life after death is because of His own resurrection.

Romans 14:9 “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

His authority over the church, His deity is predicated on His resurrection.

The gospel is gone if none of this true…there’s no good news…there is no need for preaching…let’s just all go home…let’s just do our own thing.

If none of this is true, then gospel preaching is fake news...a hoax…Jesus didn’t conquer death and He didn’t conquer sin and He didn’t conquer Hell.

Friends if that is true, I can’t think of any worse news!

Theological Consequence #3 — Your Faith is Worthless

1 Corinthians 15:14 “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”

1 Corinthians 15:17“and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

Empty, useless, same phrase repeated again.

Paul’s point here is that if the gospel is a lie, it’s useless, then putting your faith in it is equally useless.

You’ve tried to connect to a God who isn’t there…a Savior who isn’t alive...

We’ve believed something that didn’t happen.

If dead men don’t rise, then He didn’t rise and if He didn’t rise, then everything we are doing right now is a bunch of hooey…the Bible is a bunch of hooey because it speaks of a resurrected Savior…your faith is a bunch of hooey.

Think of all those people in the OT who believed God and acted upon that faith…Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses...

Noah then was a stupid fool because he spent 120 years of his life building a dumb boat for a God who couldn’t save him from his own sins.

Let’s just rip Hebrews 11 completely out of our Bibles...the witnesses of God’s faithfulness..their faith was empty because God was not able to pull off the salvation He planned, he was powerless to raise His son out of the grave, if dead men don’t rise.

Think of all the countless missionaries across the world, some who have died for their faith…it’s all useless to go through the pain and suffering of living in a world that hates you…because your faith in God is misplaced if the dead don’t rise.

Theological Consequence # 4 — We’re all a bunch of liars (15)

1 Corinthians 15:15 “Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.”

false witness = outright deceiving liars...If the resurrection were not real then we are all just perpetuating a lie, we’re frauds, telling people that God raised Jesus from the dead is giving a false testimony if dead men can’t rise again.

To be an apostle one of the requirements was they had to see the Lord in his resurrected state…all of them said they were eye witnesses to that reality…if dead men don’t rise, then all the apostles were liars...

and if you accepted the gospel, you’ve bought into the lie and you keep perpetuating it.

So stop lying to your children

Stop lying to your family, coworkers, neighbors, friends, etc.

If you make the apostles liars, then you make Jesus a liar as well…

in John 16 Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit who will guide them into all truth…and if Jesus is not raised because dead men can’t be raised, then Jesus lied!

The Holy Spirit is not guiding them in the truth.

If Jesus were still dead and buried in a grave somewhere, that would mean that death got the last word.

Consider Hebrews 2:14 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,”

If Jesus were still dead, then Satan won...

What would life be like if Satan were stronger that almighty God?

Do you see how significant the resurrection is to our theology?

Our whole theological system disintegrates if the resurrection didn’t happen…if dead men cannot be raised, then everything we believe is worthless.

If the resurrection means what it ought to mean, then we ought to be convinced that everyone needs to hear this message.

What evidence exists to show you are convinced that everyone needs to hear?

What efforts are you taking to build bridges into the lives of others so you can tell them about your risen Savior?

Who around you is struggling with this thing we call life and needs to find their hope in your risen Savior?

How much of your time, talents, and treasures are you willing to sacrifice to grow in your theology, to go deeper in your faith, to contribute to the spiritual life of the church, to invest in the lives of others.

What habit patterns have you developed that reveal your belief in the resurrection?

Can others tell by your priorities that you serve a risen Savior?

What evidence exists on a daily basis that you believe you will one day be gloriously resurrected like your Savior?

As if the devastation to our theology is not enough, look at the disastrous results to us personally.

There are personal consequences (17-19)

Personal consequence #1 — You have to atone for your own sins.

1 Corinthians 15:17 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

Compare that to Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

Justification is God declaring us righteous…taking our debt of sin and stamping it paid in full, because of the resurrection, your forgiveness has been secured...all sin (past, present, and future)…you stand before God no longer guilty of sin and deserving of death…why? because Jesus paid for our sins with his own life...

But if you believe the resurrection didn’t happen, then justification could not happen...there is no deliverance from sin and guilt and punishment…your sins are not forgiven…

If Jesus were not raised, then you would have to atone for your own sins…you would have to place your faith in yourself to make sure you do enough good things to make up for all the bad things…and what exactly is the price we need to pay for sin…death...

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If there is no resurrection, Jesus didn’t conquer sin, it conquered him, it killed him, he stayed dead, there’s no forgiveness, no justification, no salvation…

it’s all on you to figure out how you are going to deal with the wrath of God regarding your sin.

Good luck with that...there is no amount of good you could ever do to earn God’s favor and appease His wrath over sin...

If the resurrection means what it ought to mean, then we ought to continually praise God because we don’t have to worry about how we can atone for our sins!

Why? because Jesus is alive, we are found in Him…God justified us by His grace alone!

Personal Consequence #2 — No hope to be reunited with those who’ve gone before us.

1 Corinthians 15:18 “Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.”

If Jesus isn’t resurrected, then Peter, James, John, Paul...all of them are in eternal torment.

So is Luther, Calvin, D. L. Moody, Charles Stanley...

So is your grandmother, your parents, your bothers, your sisters, your spouses, your children, all who love Jesus are in hell if the dead n Christ are not raised…hell holds everyone of them.

Satan won, God lost if the dead don’t rise.

Every believer who enters eternity with a hope of seeing Jesus face to face has perished forever...if the dead don’t rise.

If the dead don’t rise, Christ isn’t risen, preaching is useless, faith is empty, apostles are liars, sin is unforgiven, and dead believers are eternally lost.

John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

Because the Lord was raised, you and I have a sure hope and anticipation of seeing those who have gone before us.

Personal consequence #3 — All believers are the dumbest fools.

1 Corinthians 15:19 “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

If we’ve put all our eggs in one basket, then Christians are the most pitiful people in all the world.

How stupid can we be right?

Think about it...all of us fighting against temptation, struggling with sin, seeking to please Christ, obeying the Scripture, having Bible studies, bearing the cross, suffering reproach, trying to witness, all of it seems pretty stupid if the resurrection isn’t real.

But we know it is real and that ought to lead to a joy-filled life.

there is joy in serving a Risen Savior

we can rejoice evermore

we can even rejoice in trials, knowing that the "sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

The Corinthians were believers who lost sight of the importance of the resurrection…Paul wrote to to tell them the resurrection is real and it matters!

Paul even told the people of Philippi in Philippians 3:10

Philippians 3:10 (NASB95)

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

Lesson for Life: Does the Resurrection Mean What It Ought to Mean to You?

Unbeliever — where you will spend eternity…GOSPEL...

Believer — You are a new creation now because of the resurrection...

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB95)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Implications...

There ought to be a growing love for God because you are thankful for His grace and forgiveness.

We love him why? Because He first loved us

You reflect on the price that was paid to redeem you and you are overwhelmed by grace.

You want to take every opportunity you can to learn more about Him and to love Him with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength because you are grateful for forgiveness.‌

You have a growing confidence that sinful habits can be handled.

you recognize that being raised in Christ means you no longer have to be dominated by sin. (Romans 6)

You believe change is possible…(Eph 4:22-24; I Cor. 6:11 “such were some of you”)

You are committed to handling life with grace and confidence in God to work through the tough stuff because you are no longer slaves to sin and you recognize that God has solutions to your problems. (Sufficiency of Scripture).

You have a growing desire for personal holiness.

Oops view of sin vs. oh no view of sin!

Godly husbands will seek ways they can grow in their spiritual leadership in the home and in loving their wife the way Christ loved the church, not because they have a perfect home, but because the serve a risen Savior and want to please Him.

Godly wives will find ways to lovingly submit to the leadership of their husband, not because he makes it easy, but because they serve a risen Savior and they desire to honor Him.

godly children will obey their parents, not because their parents make perfect decisions all the time and never sin against them, but because their Savior is alive and you know that pleases Him.

All of us will recognize that our Risen Savior demands holiness of us and we cannot make excuses because the resurrection eliminates them all! – BE HOLY FOR I AM HOLY

You will aim high in regards to purity…because the resurrection makes it possible.

You will strive hard to obey even when it isn’t popular…

You will take concrete steps to put off what God reveals to you as the old man and put on that which is created in righteousness…

The power of the resurrection has...

...liberated you from the enslavement to sin.

...made your faith useful.

...secured your hope and guaranteed a glorious future

...provided an everlasting joy

If the resurrection means what it ought to mean, then everyday you can live out the truth of 1 Cor 15:58.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NASB95)

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Does the Resurrection Matter?

Yes…Your life today and where you spend eternity is determined by your belief in the resurrection.