1 Corinthians 15:12-19 - If Christ Had Not Been Raised
Brandon Langley
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Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Last week, we made yet another pivot in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
After about 14 chapters of special topics of concern, 14 chapters of confronting the failures and infighting and sin and arrogance that was going on in the Corinthian church…chapter 15 returns to what Paul calls most important.
Look at verses 1-4 from last week.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Randy preached this text last week and reminded us that this gospel message is of first importance.
It is the story of the Bible.
The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is a historical reality witnessed by hundreds of people.
and its this message that transformed Paul the church persecutor into Paul the church planter.
It is the message of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection that was preached to us,
that we received,
that we stand in,
that we hold fast to,
and its by our belief in this message that we are saved,
and it is our continual belief in this message by which we persevere in hope.
But again, even this central doctrine of resurrection, is a doctrine that the Corinthians are disputing over.
Some among them are misinterpreting,
and misunderstanding what Jesus’ resurrection means for his followers.
Jesus’ physical resurrection does mean something for us today.
His resurrection has meaningful bearing on our lives now and on how we will exist for all of eternity,
Paul’s aim in our passage of study in this morning is to emphasize just how essential the resurrection is.
So lets read verses 12-19 and then lets pray for understanding.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Lets Pray
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Verse 12 introduces us to the fundamental doctrinal problem that Paul aims to address.
Some Corinthian Christians are saying there is no resurrection of the dead…
Now, notice the wording… Its not that they are directly denying that Jesus physically rose from the dead.
Rather, they are denying that believers will one day raise from the dead.
They are denying that those who believe in Jesus will one day be physically resurrected from the dead to live eternal life in God’s new world.
Now, everyone in the ancient world believed in some kind of after life.
But one of the common beliefs held by Greek philosophers was that true freedom was a freedom from the physical world.
They taught that true freedom was a freedom from the physical body.
Commentator Gordon Fee helps fill the gaps for us as he summarizes what may have been the thought process for the Corinthians.
Fee writes:
“In their view, by reception of the Spirit, and especially the gift of tongues, they had already entered the true ‘spirituality’ that is to be; already they had begun a form of angelic existence in which the body was unnecessary and unwanted, and would finally be destroyed. Thus for them, life in the Spirit meant a final ridding oneself of the body, not because it was evil but because it was inferior and beneath them; the idea that the body would be raised would have been an anathema.” - Gordon Fee, 1 Corinthians, 715
Some kind of theological assumption had taken root in Corinth which was robbing the Corinthian people of their hope in a future glorious bodily resurrection of the dead.
We have seen throughout the letter thus far, that the Corinthians did not think it very important at all what they did or did not do with their physical bodies since they were seeking some kind of mystical spiritual existence.
This led to some of the free form sexual immorality in the church, after all, God doesn’t care about the body, so why not do as we please with the body.
Remember all the way back in 1 Corinthians 6. The Corinthians made an argument that God will destroy the body anyway, so why not persist in sexual sin.
Here was Paul’s response.
13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
The Corinthians were living as if God did not care what they did in their physical bodies, and they were living as if there was no future hope for what God would do with their physical bodies.
I’ll be honest for years in my own Christian life, I did not know that we had been promised a future bodily resurrection.
I thought we just went to some spiritual heaven in a different spiritual realm.
I did not know that the end of the Biblical story was Jesus’ return to re-create the physical world and part of that is going to be the resurrection and renewal of my physical body.
I functionally denied what the Corinthians are denying
but for the apostle Paul this was a massive problem.
It was a massive problem primarily because Paul understood the resurrection of Jesus to be inseparable from the very real bodily resurrection of his followers that is still to come.
You heard the connection in the section from chapter 6 I just read.
14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
You see the connection repeatedly in our passage today.
Look at verse 20.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
In other words, Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead was the first of many resurrections still to come.
His glorious bodily resurrection from the dead is the prequel to a great resurrection of all who place faith in him.
One commentator writing in the 1600’s writes this:
Christ did not die, or rise again for himself, but for us: hence his resurrection is the foundation of ours, and what was accomplished in him, must be fulfilled in us also
- John Calvin
This connection between Jesus’ resurrection and our future resurrection means that any denial of our future resurrection is a denial of Jesus’ past resurrection,
and if Jesus did not raise from the dead and we won’t one day raise from the dead and the gospel is no longer good news of salvation.
Paul’s point in verse 12 is the certain connection between the real, historical, physical resurrection of Jesus and what we have been promised as his followers… a future, real, historical, physical, resurrection to live forever in a renewed world.
To deny Jesus’ past resurrection, or our future resurrection, is to deny Biblical Christianity.
What follows are four reasons, Christianity without resurrection is no Christianity at all.
Four Reasons the Resurrection is Foundational
#1 Without Resurrection, Death is Permanent
#1 Without Resurrection, Death is Permanent
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
That word perish means to destroy utterly.
It means to be lost or to be killed.
The most frightening aspect of death’s sting is the apparent finality of it.
Death from our perspective is an irrevocable, irreversible, un-defeatable reality.
Once someone physically dies,
they have perished from the land of the living,
and their is no natural way to see that person alive again.
Death is a perishing away from life.
And Paul’s point here is that without the resurrection of Jesus, and without the future resurrection of his people…. Death wins.
Death has the final word over what God made.
Death seals the judgment over sinful man kind.
Without resurrection, death is permanent.
The physical world as you know it, and as God created it, ceases to exist for you.
God’s good creation of your physical body comes to total destruction and decay under the weight and consequence of sin’s curse.
It is interesting how strongly our souls long for some kind of future beyond death.
As we age, we feel in our bodies, the physical deterioration that the curse of sin has caused.
we are in a constant fight against our bodies trajectory toward death.
The whole world of humanity lives and dies in the struggle against dying…
And we long for resurrection life.
Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf of springtime.
- Martin Luther
In other words we see evidence of and longing for resurrection in all aspects of our lives and in the created order.
We as humans have a longing in us…. we do not want death to be permanent.
#1 Without Resurrection, Death is Permanent
but more than that, for the Christian…,
#2 Without Resurrection, Our Faith and Ministry is in Vain
#2 Without Resurrection, Our Faith and Ministry is in Vain
look at verse 14
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
Paul gave his life to preaching one primary message.
That Jesus lived a perfect life,
died a sacrificial death,
and rose again to offer eternal life.
And if Jesus did not rise on the third day then the whole Christian message empty.
Every Christian sermon is vanity.
All Christian ministry is vanity.
If the grave is not empty than the claims of Jesus’ promises are empty as well.
If Jesus was revealed to be dead, then the spread of Christianity would have died before it got started.
This should actually instill a kind of confidence to your faith in the message of Christianity.
There was great incentive for the Jews or for the Romans to produce the dead body of Jesus to debunk Christianity.
yet no body was ever produced.
There was great incentive for anyone of the disciples to deny that Jesus had really risen again.
yet even until death they proclaimed he is alive.
News of Jesus’ resurrection spread like wild fire throughout the ancient world and news of a living Jesus persists still today.
1211The resurrection is a fact better attested than any event recorded in any history, whether ancient or modern.—
Charles Spurgeon
The resurrection of Christ and the fact of the empty tomb are not part of the world’s complex and continuing mythologies. This is not a Santa Claus tale—it is history and it is reality.
A. W. Tozer
If its not true, our faith is empty
If its not true, this sermon is empty
If its not true, what we do when we gather this morning is empty
but praise God
The fact of the resurrection has only every been validated by every individual who has trusted in Jesus,
and has gone on to walk in the newness of life that only Jesus can work in the soul that was dead in sin.
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Praise God that it all hinges on the resurrection of Jesus
#1 Without it, Death is Permanent
#2 Without it, Our Faith and Ministry is in Vain
but more than just vain, if Jesus is still dead… our faith and ministry would set us on a trajectory toward eternal judgment before a Holy God.
look at verses 15 through 17.
15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
#3 Without Resurrection, We Are Still In Our Sins
#3 Without Resurrection, We Are Still In Our Sins
Paul is clear here.
If the resurrection were not true, that fact would not just be neutral for us Christians.
It would be all the worse for us Christians.
Paul says we would be misrepresenting God saying that he had done something that he had not actually done.
The God of the Universe throughout the Old Testament made it crystal clear that he should not be misrepresented.
He made it crystal clear that his people should relate to him, and worship him, and obey him, only according to how he reveals himself to the world.
If Christ has not been raised,
then we have utterly failed to worship God as he really is.
We have proclaimed that Jesus is the eternal Son of God in human flesh who took the sins of the world on himself.
We have proclaimed this is the eternal plan of God…
If Jesus is still dead, then he is not the Divine Son of God.
We have been misrepresenting God.
And if Christ has not been raised we are all still in our sins.
Its an interesting way to word it.
To be in our sins is to be still immersed in, overwhelmed by, accountable for our lives of sin against God.
We would still be in spiritual debt over the payment our sins demand.
If Christ has not been raised, then his death accomplished nothing on our behalf and all hope of forgiveness dies with the death of Jesus.
If Christ has not been raised, he was not the perfect sacrifice who took the wrath of God on himself…, and therefore we still must pay the penalty for our own sins forever and ever.
Without the resurrection we are still in our sins and we have no hope.
And even still, Paul takes it one step farther.
look at verse 19.
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
#4 Without Resurrection, We Are to Be Pitied
#4 Without Resurrection, We Are to Be Pitied
What does Paul mean by this?
Why would we be “of all people most to be pitied”?
If Christ didn’t raise, its not like the rest of humanity is in a better position then us?
Its not like their sins are forgiven,
Its not like they have hope for eternal life either
Its not like they are going to be resurrected from the dead.
Why doesn’t it say,
“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, all people are to be pitied.”
Why say, “we are of all people, most to be pitied.”
Well Paul assumes something of the Christian.
He assumes that if you are hoping for and living for the eternal life that Christ promises…, then you are not primarily living for a comfortable life in the here and now.
Paul assumes that because you hope in future resurrection…, You are now living a life of dying to yourself.
What do I mean?
I mean you are sacrificing for the cause of Jesus Christ because this life is not all there is.
I mean you are living in a way that the outside world would say is insane.
The hope you have in future resurrection is changing how you live, where you live, what you do, how you spend, what you are willing to endure for the cause of Christ.
Paul very much could have lived in luxury as an elite Pharisee in Jerusalem.
But he left all of that because of his belief in the resurrection of Jesus.
Listen to the snapshot of his life in this world from 2 Corinthians.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
Paul left the luxury of his Pharisaical life for the hard realities of missionary life.
Because he was following Jesus he threw himself into situations where he was so utterly burdened beyond his strength.
Why?
He was relying not on himself but on God who raises the dead.
Paul recognizes… if God doesn’t raise the dead….
The outside world should look on him with the most pity….
He is sacrificing all that this life could offer him because of his confidence in what eternal life has for him.
Let me pause here….
If Jesus was not alive…, would you of all people be most to be pitied.
If it turned out not to be true…, would it have significant change on how you live your life day by day and week by week.
For some of you that is an easy and obvious yes, it would change everything.
But for some of you, I am afraid it wouldn’t change much.
It might change your occasional, sporadic, church attendance to where you wouldn’t feel an obligation to do that anymore.
But in reality you are living primarily for this life anyway…..
and the resurrected Jesus has very little bearing over the mission, purpose, and emphasis of your day to day living.
If it were to somehow be discovered that Jesus never rose again…, and if it would make very little difference in your day to day life….
You may need to pause and ask whether you are really living for and believing and hoping in the future resurrection life Jesus has promised.
If its true, it should mean everything to us.
If its true, then we should gladly give our lives to make this message of salvation known to the world.
If its true, then we should gladly fight our sin, and strive for holiness, and live lives of worship and thanksgiving.
If its true, then we should gladly follow the way of Jesus rather than the way of the world.
If its true, then we should gladly live lives that the rest of the world would pity.
Four Reasons the Resurrection is Foundational:
#1 Without Resurrection, Death is Permanent
#2 Without Resurrection, Our Faith and Ministry is in Vain
#3 Without Resurrection, We are Still in Our Sins
#4 Without Resurrection, We are to be Pitied
but lets not forget where this argument is going.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
He is alive.
He is the firstfruit of all who will be made alive after him.
He has rose again the first among many believers who will rise again.
Death is not Permanent
Our Faith and Ministry is not in Vain
We Are Rightly Representing God
We Are Not in Our Sins
A Life Spent for the Resurrected Jesus is Not to Be Pitied
No, rather, a life spent any other way is a life to be pitied.
as the old hymn goes.
God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!
Lets pray and lets praise the resurrected Jesus