THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION

Introduction

-{1 Corinthians 15}

-There are so many elements in life, that if these parts were missing from the whole, their absence would make a big impact.

~So, let’s take flying in an airplane as as an example. Let’s say that I wanted to fly somewhere, so I get my ticket, I have my Real ID ready to go through security, and I finally get loaded onto the plane. As I sit down in my seat, I take a look out of the window and I notice something very strange. I notice that this plane doesn’t have any wings. Should I at all be concerned that there are no wings on this thing? I mean, really, are wings that important for flying? The rest of the plane is there and intact, so I’m only missing one part, so it’d be alright.

~Or, let’s say when I jumped into my truck this morning to come to church, I get in and I pull my keys out to put in the ignition, but then I notice that the steering wheel is missing...in fact, the whole steering column is missing. Would I be able to run the truck without that? In the grand scheme of things, the steering column is just one part of the truck—all the rest of the truck is there ready to go.

-Can there be a part missing and it still function as what it was meant to be?

-What about the gospel of Jesus Christ? Are there parts of the gospel that can be missing and it still be the gospel? I ask this question today because we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But too often we don’t give much thought to the resurrection except this one time of year. We rightfully talk about sin and we rightfully talk about Jesus death on the cross for sinners. But if we don’t talk about the resurrection, is it still the gospel?

-I read a story about a group of four-year-olds who were gathered in a Sunday school class in Chattanooga the Sunday before Easter. The teacher, looking at her class enthusiastically, asked, “Does anyone know what today is?” One little girl knew. “It’s Palm Sunday!” she said. “Very good,” said the teacher. “And does anyone know what next Sunday is?” The same little girl lifted her hand again. “Yes, next Sunday is Easter!” she announced. The teacher was very pleased with this little girl, and she complimented her before asking a third question. “Now, does anyone know what makes Easter so special.” It was the same little girl who again raised her hand and offered this answer: “Yes, next Sunday is Easter because Jesus rose from the dead…” But before the teacher could compliment her, she kept talking, saying: “…but if he sees his shadow, He goes back in the tomb and we have six more weeks of winter.”

-So close, and yet so far. Not that any of us have a full grip of the magnitude of the resurrection, but needless to say there is no gospel without the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul knew this, so he gives a defense of Jesus’ resurrection which is necessary for the gospel, salvation, and the resurrection of the believer. From his teaching we see why the resurrection is so important for what we believe and the gospel message. First, today, we see that Paul gives:

1) A frightening proposal (vv. 12-19)

-Look:

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 LSB

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? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we bore witness against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact 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 worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

-There seems to have been a group undermining the faith of the Corinthian church by denying the whole concept of there being resurrection. Maybe their pagan background made it difficult to believe such a thing could happen—the dead just don’t rise. So, what Paul does is run with the logical outcomes of where their thinking would lead. If there is no resurrection from the dead, Christ would not have been raised from the dead. And is that important? Very much so—in fact, the entire Christian faith hinges on the resurrection.

-So, to make his point of the importance of the resurrection, Paul proposes several consequences that would occur if Christ had not been raised from the dead.

-He first says that the message of the gospel would be nothing but an empty shell. He says in v. 14 that our preaching would be vain. He says that the content of what is preached, the gospel message, would be vain, useless, empty. And so, Paul’s thrust is that if Christ is not raised from the dead, every single point of the gospel loses its meaning. Without the resurrection, the virgin birth loses its meaning and the crucifixion loses its power because a dead Savior is no Savior at all.

-Then that would mean that there is no content to preach. If Jesus is not raised from the dead, preachers have absolutely nothing to say. There is no good news. Nothing has been or can be done about sin and death, so why come to church to hear what would be nothing more than a motivational speech? Stay home, sleep in, wait for the game to come on, because the church has nothing to speak into your life without the resurrection.

-Not just that, Paul also says that the entire Christian faith would be useless. At the end of v. 14 he says your faith also is in vain. And in v. 17 he says your faith is worthless. If Jesus is not raised from the dead, you have no one to put your faith in and nothing to believe. It is absolutely meaningless to put your faith in a mere man who is dead.

-That’s why all other religions are useless, because they’re based on mere men who are dead and can’t do anything for their followers. Buddha is dead and useless. Krishna is dead and useless. Muhammad is dead and useless.

-Your faith is only as good as the object of your faith. And if Christ is dead and has not been raised, then the object of your faith would be futile, and there would be no point in believing any part about Christianity.

-A third consequence is that the apostles’ testimony is false. He says in v. 15 that the apostles would be false witnesses if Christ was not raised from the dead because they have said Christ is raised. And while that might not seem that important on the surface, what makes it important is that if the apostles would have lied about that important point of Jesus’ life, then everything else that they taught is suspect to being a lie.

-That means everything else they said about the person of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, and all its theological significance would be false. If they lied about the resurrection, then they probably lied about the virgin birth, and lied about the miracles, and lied about the crucifixion.

-And that leads to the fourth consequence, we are still in our sins. At the end of v. 17 Paul says without the resurrection, YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS. If Jesus were just a mere man and not God, and He died and remained dead, He could not have died for the sins of the world, and there would be no forgiveness. If Jesus’ life was taken from Him without Him taking it back again, there would be no offer of eternal life through Him.

-Without His resurrection, there would be no atonement and no redemption; He would have remained under the power of death, leaving no hope for us to be delivered from its power. Without His resurrection, there would be no salvation and all of us would still be headed to hell, separated from God for all of eternity.

-And if that is the case for us, Paul says that there is a fifth consequence in that our dead loved ones are forever lost. Paul says in v. 18 that those who have fallen asleep in Christ would have perished and nothing could change that. They are lost; ruined, never to be seen again.

-All of us have been touched by death in some way, and when we have a Christian funeral, we often comfort ourselves talking about the reunion we will have with them someday in the future when we die or Christ returns. But if there is no resurrection, there is no reunion and no hope.

-All of this is frightening. And you’re probably thinking that an Easter message is supposed to be positive and upbeat, but you need to know the consequences if there is no resurrection. If Christ is not raised there nothing to look forward to and there is nothing to be positive about. In fact, in v. 19, Paul says that if Christ only gives us hope in this earthly life (meaning if Christ is nothing more than a motivational speaker or wise teacher) we are to be pitied more than anybody else on the earth.

-Why would anyone go through the hardships, the persecutions, and the sufferings of being a Christian if there is no hope whatsoever of eternal life based on a resurrected Christ who isn’t actually resurrected? This is a frightening proposal, but thankfully Paul doesn’t stop there. Because now Paul secondly moves on in this passage to talk about:

2) A fabulous promise (vv. 20-22)

-Look at:

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 LSB

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

-Paul had been going through all these terrible consequences if Christ had not been raised from the dead, keeping the readers in suspense. Is there no hope? Can there be no peace? Is there no salvation for anybody.

-Then Paul declares with a light breaking through the darkness: BUT NOW CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD! (The Lord is risen… The Lord is risen...).

-And Paul tells us that because Christ is risen we have the promise that we ourselves will be raised from the dead as well. There will be a day that all who have died having believed in Jesus Christ will be have a new, perfect body that will live for eternity with Jesus.

-In the passage, Paul calls Christ the firstfruits. This means several things for us. First, it means that Christ’s resurrected body is the representation of the same quality and character that our resurrected body will have.

-The term FIRSTFRUITS is an agricultural term, and when the farmer gathers the firstfruits he can tell what the quality of the rest of the crop will be like. It is as if Christ’s resurrected body is the model showing us what ours will be like.

-But then, secondly, firstfruits speaks of a promise or pledge that more of the same kind was to come. When the Israelites offered the firstfruits to the Lord, it not only meant that they gave the first or best of the harvest, but it was their pledge to be dutiful and faithful to give of the same kind. They gave the first and best, and it was the pledge to always give the first and best.

-Maybe as a rough illustration, it’s like an engagement ring that you give to your future spouse as a pledge or promise to always give the love to that person that the ring represents. Christ’s resurrection is God’s pledge or promise that in the same manner He will raise us as well.

-In case we miss that point, Paul draws upon another analogy from the two men in history who were the covenant representatives of the human race before God. Adam represents all of humanity in its fallen state. He is the head of the old creation. Because of Adam’s sin, every single human being is subject to spiritual death as well as physical death and decay.

-You may think it unfair for us to suffer for Adam’s sin, but he was our covenant head. From our human father, Adam, we receive a sinful nature that leads us to actions of sin, and we inherit the consequences of that sin in death. As Paul says, because Adam died, we all die.

-But then there was another who brought about a new covenant with God. In Romans 5, Paul calls Him the second Adam. It is Jesus Christ, and He brings with Him a new creation, and with that new creation comes the resurrection of the dead.

-It says in v. 22 that through Him all will be made alive. No, this does not mean that every human is saved and will be raised to eternal life. Paul is making a clear distinction. He says all who are in Adam (that is, in covenant with Adam) will die. And that includes the entire human race—every human is in Adam, therefore every human will die.

-But then Paul is saying that every human who is in Christ will be raised. That is, every person who comes into covenant with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ are given the promise of eternal life and resurrection to a new body that does not decay.

-Everyone in Christ will live. But that means those who are not in Christ will not be raised to life. Rather, they will both physically and spiritually die forever. But that doesn’t have to be you. You can live in Jesus. What a fabulous promise that we can be raised from the dead the same way Jesus was raised from the dead if we believe upon Him. Glory! Hallelujah! But then, finally, Paul talks about:

3) The future progression (vv. 23-28)

-Look at:

1 Corinthians 15:23–28 LSB

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

-Paul looks forward to the future to how things will end at the coming of Christ. The second coming of Christ to establish a new heaven and a new earth is only possible because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul doesn’t give us the blow by blow details about what is going to happen at the end. It’s as if he is looking through a telescope, and everything is scrunched together in one little picture. But the promises that he gives are amazing and give us hope and peace knowing God is in control of it all.

-So, we don’t have here an exhaustive list of everything that is going to happen, but because he is talking about resurrection, it’s as if Paul is showing us the progression of the resurrections. Here again Paul tells us that Christ is the firstfruits, emphasizing that Jesus was the first to be truly resurrected in an eternal body.

-Now, some might object saying that Lazarus was raised from the dead. Or they might say that Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead. Or the widow’s son was raised from the dead. And they were, but they were not raised in a new, everlasting body. They all came back from the dead, but then the all died again. Christ was the first to be raised never to die again.

-And then, when Christ returns, Paul says that those who belong to Christ at His coming will all be raised again. In 1 Thessalonians Paul seems to say that the dead in Christ will be resurrected first, and then those who are alive at His coming will receive their new bodies. All who belong to Christ will rise, never to die again. We will be given bodies where there will be no sickness, there will be no sorrow, and there will be no sin.

-And when Jesus returns, He is not coming as a poor, humble, carpenter, but He is coming as a conquering King. And and every rule, power, and authority that has set itself up against our God and His Christ will be completely abolished. Whether these powers be earthly (that is, the social, political, or religious powers) as well as the supernatural powers (Satan and his demons), they will be defeated. Paul says that every enemy will be put under Christ’s feet.

-But then there is one more enemy to be defeated. And Paul says in v. 26 that THE LAST ENEMY TO BE ABOLISHED IS DEATH. We’ll finally be able to say in victory: O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?

-And once all enemies have been defeated, us in our new bodies in a new heaven and new earth, we will have a new ruler. We will never have to endure another election ever again. Paul says in v. 27 that everything will be subjected to the rule of Christ, and in v. 28 everything will be delivered to God the Father. That is the future of the Christian. And that future is only possible because Christ was raised from the dead.

-If Christ were not raised from the dead, everything would remain on its current course of destruction. But because of a resurrected Christ, we know that all things, including ourselves, will be made new.

Conclusion

-How important is the resurrection? Well, a plane without wings really isn’t a plane. A truck without a steering column really isn’t a truck. And a gospel without a resurrection is no good news at all. The resurrection is that important. It holds the key to our eternal destiny.

-That is what we celebrate today. And if you have never trusted the resurrected Jesus, His death for your sins and His resurrection for your life, you are lost. And I invite you to believe in Him and be saved, for there is no other way...