Consider Christ

Intro:

Today, we will be talking about the strangest, most out of the ordinary event that has ever happened, the time that the God of this universe came to earth as a human. Now last night we talked about God, His existence, and His awesomeness through creation and through the Word. Now, it is very possible that most of you fully agreed the my sermon last night, that God is %100 real. However, if you are mormon or muslim or Jewish you would have mostly agreed with what I have said. But that is not what being a Christian means. It means believing in the most irregular claim. We believe that 2000 years ago, a physical person walked the earth in modern day Israel who was actually God. You can fly to Israel today and actually visit the places where Jesus walked and see the places where He did miracles and where He was crucified. Now to set the stage, most modern historians believe that there actually was a man named Jesus who was a person who was a good teacher who was eventually crucified by the Romans in Jerusalem. But we believe that this person was actually God. I hope to challenge you today into think about the important question, was Jesus actually God?

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 ESV

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, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

The Gospel Meaning

“Good news”

Normally speaks of the good news that sinners can be saved because of the work of Jesus

What is the message of first importance

1 Corinthians 15:3–5 ESV

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, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Christ was God

John 1:12–14 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ died

Isaiah 53:4–7 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; 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.

What happened to Jesus on the cross? Look for the descriptions.

carried sorrows

stricken

afflicted

pierced

crushed by God

Christ Rose from the Dead

I want to ask you all to do something weird today, I want you to pretend as though you have never heard of Christ before, and are skeptical that He rose from the dead. Ask yourself how you would explain this facts I am about to show you.

Now when talking about the resurrection, it used to be the type of thing that I blindly believed. My parents taught be that Jesus rose from the dead, and I believed it without any proof as a miracle.

What I did not realize is that not only did Jesus rise from the dead to show that He was who He said he was, but the Bible leaves so many clues and proofs for this event happening.

Secular explanations of Jesus’ resurrection:

It is awkward how bad explanations are to explain what happened to Jesus after He died

Things that almost all people acknowledge:

Jesus existed

Jesus died on the Cross

The Christian movement spread faster than any religious movement ever while saying: “Jesus rose from the dead.”

I was recently listening to a couple atheist talk about the resurrection of Jesus argument from Christianity, and even they said something weird went on. Even to the atheist, the supposed resurrection of Jesus is one of the strangest historical events in history, because if He did not rise, why did Christianity spread so fast.

This is why this has become my favorite argument for God.

Now let’s look at our text today and see some wild details

1 Corinthians 15:3 ESV

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,

Dating of this message

It is very close to the death of Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:4 ESV

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Empty Tomb?

Here is a huge problem to someone who wants to deny the resurrection. Jesus died in Jerusalem, was buried in Jerusalem. Guess where the message of his resurrection started from? Jerusalem. So why didn’t the Jews who hated Jesus and knew where he was buried show his dead body. Why did the Romans who hated Jesus and also knew where the tomb was not show his body.

1 Corinthians 15:6 ESV

6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Appearances to 500 people

So when people say that the Jesus did not rise from the dead, ask them, how do you explain the empty tomb and witnesses reports from 1 Corinthians so close to the actual death of Jesus.

Is it not weird how many clues the Bible leaves for us? This should be so easy for the atheist to argue against but it is not.

Here is the best explanation of what happened to Jesus according to the non Christian:

Miracles don’t happen, people don’t rise from the dead

Therefore, no matter how much evidence the Bible gives, Jesus could not have risen from the dead.

This is why you can clearly see that those who reject the resurrection of Jesus ignore a mountain of evidence.

I absolutely love studying the resurrection because every time I study it, I uncover a new detail that makes it harder and harder to deny it as fact. Jesus rose from the dead and left clues everywhere.

In 2024, when you look at the way religion is going in the united states, you can see a trend in more and more people accepting the idea of God but believing that God is not involved in everyday life. Many are open to the idea of God but don’t think that God is personal, wants a relationship with humans, or gets involved in our world today. I hope you see today that nothing could be further from the truth. Christ came to earth as a human, dying to pay for sin, and rising to show the world that He truly was God. Because of this, you can have a relationship with Christ. So I ask you today to see Christ not just as a good teacher or good person, but as God of the universe paying for sin and rising on the third day. I pray that you consider making Christ your Lord and Savior.