6 gifts of the resurrection

— 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, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Here is Paul proclaiming the good news that the resurrection of Jesus satisfies six of our deepest needs and longings. But in doing this he is not putting us at the center. He is putting Jesus as the center, and God who raised him from the dead.

My prayer for us this morning is that we would all feel these six longings that I believe are rooted in every human heart, and that you would see the risen and living Jesus as the answer to those longings, and that in doing so you would be satisfied in him and he would be glorified in you.

“If Christ Has Not Been Raised …”

Paul says there are six things that would be in shambles if Christ did not rise from the dead. Then verse 20 reverses the whole paragraph: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.” So let’s look at those six things.

Now, these deepest longings in our souls come right out of the text.

— “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty ...” Bur since Christ has been raised, our preaching is not in vain.

v14, “and your faith is also empty.” But since Christ has been raised, our faith is not in vain.

v15, If Christ has not been raised, “we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ...” But since Christ has been raised, the apostles are not false witnesses about the work of God.

— “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” But since Christ has been raise, we are not still in our sins.

v18, If Christ has not been raised, “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” But since Christ has been raised, the dead in Christ have not perished.

v19, If Christ has not been raised, then “we are of all men the most pitiable.” But since Christ has been raised, we are not to be pitied.

Now watch this. We need to see what God has really done for us in raising Jesus from the dead and can do so, when you put all the negatives into positives.

Let’s start in v17

1. We are forgiven of our sins.

First, from verse 17, instead of saying negatively that we are not still in our sins, we can say positively that because of the resurrection we are forgiven for our sins.

I put this first as the basic need and longing of our hearts because if God holds our sins against us

—and we all have sinned!—

then there is no hope of anything else from God.

The foundation for every other blessing from God is that

God won’t hold our sins against us.

Everything hangs on forgiveness.

How is the resurrection connected to our forgiveness?

Isn’t it the death of Jesus that takes away our sin, because he bore our sins and took our judgment ()? Yes.

But the connection with the resurrection is very important. puts it like this.

“who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

This means that by his death he paid the penalty for our sins and purchased our acquittal, our justification, our forgiveness.

And since the achievement of the cross was so complete and

the work of our justification so decisive,

God raised Jesus from the dead to validate our forgiveness and

to vindicate his Son’s righteousness and to celebrate the work of justification.

Everybody in this room this morning needs forgiveness, and deep inside,

even when we don’t think about it, we long for it.

We long to be accepted by God.

We fear the alienation of our guilt.

But Paul says, because Christ rose from the dead, we are no longer in our sins.

This is the first and most basic longing of our hearts.

2. Our Faith Is Well-Founded

Second, from verse 14, instead of saying negatively that our faith is not in vain,

we can say positively that because of the resurrection our faith is well-founded.

Or, to put it more personally, because of the resurrection of Jesus

there is someone we can trust absolutely.

I believe that deep in the heart of every person

is a longing for someone that you can count on through thick and thin.

Someone who is absolutely trustworthy.

Someone who, if you put your faith in him,

it won’t be in vain.

He won’t let you down.

He will always be there.

We want it because we were made for it.

God put man and woman in the garden of Eden to glorify God

by trusting Him for everything they needed.

That need has never changed, in spite of sin.

And now that we are no longer in our sins, this longing too

is satisfied by the resurrection of Jesus.

The death of Jesus proves his love for us, and the resurrection

proves His power over every enemy of life.

And so there is

someone you can count on.

Someone absolutely trustworthy.

Someone who will never let you down.

Jesus is alive to be trusted. “The life I live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” ().

3. The Apostles Preach What Is True

Third, from verse 15, instead of saying negatively that

the apostles are not false witnesses about the work of God,

we can say positively that

because of the resurrection the apostles preach what is true.

They are not false witnesses about God. They are true.

Our young people are being taught (and many of us were taught) that there is no absolute truth

—something that is true all the time and everywhere

whether people know it or like it.

It is a rare teenager today who has the guts and independence to say, for example, in a high school health class that premarital sex is wrong

—wrong for everybody, not just those who think it’s wrong.

Homosexual activity is wrong

—wrong for everybody and not just those who think it’s wrong.

Without the conviction that there are absolutes

that can be shared and made the basis for society,

the only end will be anarchy

where everyone does what is right in his own eyes.

Therefore the need for truth is a deep need of the human soul and human society.

And Jesus came into the world to say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” ().

And then He rose from the dead to vindicate His claim.

Jesus has a right to tell us what is absolutely true

because in the resurrection, God proved Him to be absolutely true.

4/5. We Are to Be Envied

Fourth and fifth, from verse 19, instead of saying negatively

that we are not to be pitied,

we can say positively that because of the resurrection we are to be envied.

Our preaching is not in vain—it is full, meaningful, valid, valuable, significant.

If Christ is not raised, then

living for Him,

doing what He says,

following His will is a great delusion.

We should be pitied like insane people who live by hallucinations.

But since he has been raised and is alive and reigns as king forever,

all our obedience,

all our love,

all our self-denial

is not just not-to-be-pitied, but is positively enviable.

“This slight momentary affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” Paul said ().

And there is in every one of us the longing

that our lives be well spent—

that our lives count for something, that they have significance and usefulness, that we don’t come to the end of our days and say, it was all in vain, empty, pointless, useless, insignificant—pitiable.

that our lives count for something,

that they have significance and usefulness,

that we don’t come to the end of our days and say,

it was all in vain, empty, pointless, useless, insignificant—pitiable.

Paul knows this. That’s why he ends this whole chapter on the resurrection (v. 58) with the words:

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

Not in vain! That’s the longing of our lives. O Lord let it not be misspent. Let me not come to my grave and say, “I’ve wasted it!” It does not have to be. Christ is risen and everything done in his name—by his strength and for his glory—is not in vain. It is enviable. Significant. Valuable. Eternal.

Not in vain! That’s the longing of our lives.

O Lord let it not be misspent. Let me not come to my grave and say,

“I’ve wasted it!” It does not have to be.

Christ is risen and everything done in His name—by His strength and for His glory—is not in vain.

It is enviable. Significant. Valuable. Eternal.

6. Those Who Have Fallen Asleep Are Alive

Finally, there is the longing that we shall live forever in joy.

That we not come to an empty end after a full and valuable life.

That we not become a zero, or worse, damned.

And so Paul says in verse 18 that because Christ is raised those who have fallen asleep in Him

—those who have died in faith—have not perished.

Or positively, they are alive.

They will live forever.

They live the way Christ lives.

They will enter into the joy of their Master.

The Greatest News in All the World

The greatest news in all the world is that God and

His Son are most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in them.

And to make that true God raised His Son Jesus from the dead to reign forevermore.

In raising him from the dead

• he gave us forgiveness and glorified Jesus as the all-sufficient forgiver;

• he gave us a friend to count on and glorified Jesus as utterly reliable;

• he gave us a friend to count on and glorified Jesus as utterly reliable;

• he gave us guidance and unchanging truth and glorified Jesus as the absolute foundation for truth and righteousness;

• he gave us guidance and unchanging truth and glorified Jesus as the absolute foundation for truth and righteousness;

• he gave us a life that is not pitiable but enviable, a ministry that is not in vain but fruitful, and glorified Jesus as the source and goal of all life and all ministry;

• he gave us a life that is not pitiable but enviable, a ministry that is not in vain but fruitful, and glorified Jesus as the source and goal of all life and all ministry;

• and he gave us everlasting joy that will not be ended by death, and glorified Jesus as the author of life, the victor over death, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

• and he gave us everlasting joy that will not be ended by death, and glorified Jesus as the author of life, the victor over death, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Therefore I urge you with all my heart this morning to lift up your heart and say with the choirs on earth and in heaven:

— 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”