No Other Gospel: Part 2

Opening Illustration

I don’t know about you, but I sort of hate the trend in modern movies to end on a question mark. The best example that I can think of is Inception where the film ends with the top spinning and it begins to wobble but before you can see if it falls or resets, the screen goes black and you are left to decide for yourself: Is he still in a dream or did he wake up? It’s a modern trope that reflects the uncertainty of life and rejects the concept of happy endings. For some, the Resurrection story is that sort of ending. The movie seems to end with the body of Christ being lowered from the cross and laid in the tomb, but then there is one last scene: the empty tomb! This is the narrative that skeptics and unbelievers like to leave the Crucifixion story with. With some arguing that either Jesus only appeared dead and recovered in the coolness of the tomb or that it was Judas or someone else who was mistakenly crucified in the place of Jesus and the disciples came and stole the body. The problem with these explanations is that they disregard the eye witness and historical evidence of the resurrection. There are no mainstream respectable historians who deny the historicity of the resurrection. That does not mean that they all believe it, but that they all believe that the disciples and earliest eye witnesses believed it. The story of the life of Jesus Christ does not end with a spinning top, but it ends with a new beginning. What would be the end for you and me ends with a resurrection from the dead. The spinning top of the cross poses the question, did Christ truly rise from the dead? The earliest accounts all say yes! And the stolen body or mistaken identity claims of Islam do not exist before the 7th century. Historically we have complete confidence that the Disciples believed that Christ had risen. Historically, we have evidence that Christ was crucified, died, and was buried. But what do you believe? The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified on a cross, was pierced in his side with water coming out, proving that he died, that he was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and that the tomb was guarded by Roman Soldiers, and finally that Jesus physically and materially rose from the dead, was seen by the disciples and by 500 other witnesses and ascended into heaven. Yet many today deny the material resurrection. In May of 1924, in the Presbyterian Church (USA), they signed an agreement called the Auburn affirmation, which no longer required strict submission to the Westminster Standards of the faith and denied the General Assembly the authority to determine what doctrine Presbyteries must uphold. At face value this seems fine, but under the surface, the doctrine that was in question were the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christology was at stake. The church was shifting away from a clear-cut ending and shifting towards a spinning top, or at least they believed that’s what they were doing. Actually what they were doing was ensuring that the top would fall and the supernatural reality would end.

Christ is Risen

Let me remind you where we are at in our Galatians series:

Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—”

1 Corinthians 15:1–5 ESV

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Recalling the Gospel

Paul starts out his overview of the Gospel with a very interesting word: γνωρίζω. I want to try to avoid using Greek in the pulpit because this Word is for you, and it is not necessary for y’all to learn Greek in order to receive from the Word of God, but in this instance, the fruit of Paul’s writing is too great to pass on. γνωρίζω is a difficult word to translate at face value, meaning to make known, or as our Bible translates “to deliver a message.” Yet this fails to communicate the force of the word to “remind”. γνωρίζω has the sense of drawing something back into memory or as one Greek lexicon explains, “to recall to one’s mind as though what is made known had escaped him.”

What an appropriate word, γνωρίζω. Paul is declaring and reminding the Corinthians and Galatians of the Gospel that comes from God, and today on this Easter morning, I hope to echo the gravity of Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 15.

More but not less than

The Gospel message that Paul is reminding his audience of is more than the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it is not less than the death and resurrection. Paul proclaims the death and resurrection of Christ and interprets it in terms of the saving and transforming power of God as this is revealed by the Scriptures. It is not only the Gospel revealed but also transmitted and received. This Gospel message when received and applied should result in change. A superficial or confused understanding of Christ’s death and resurrection that has no coherent grasp of what it logically means results in an incoherent or haphazard belief which is here translated as in vain.

Do not believe in vain! In other words, do not be superficial or confused in what this Gospel is! Jesus Christ has risen from the grave! It actually happened, and it is not just a story that we tell our children to give them some sense of hope. No, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and the tomb was empty! On Good Friday, we mourn and reflect on the weight of our sin that Jesus Christ had to go to the cross for us. He had to because there was not other option of salvation. We were dead in our trespasses and lost in our sin, so Jesus Christ stood in our place and bore our punishment. The death that you and I deserved. If that was the end of the story, then there isn’t really a happy ending even though our debt has been paid.

Jesus Christ did not remain dead, but He rose from the dead. That means that God declared the Son righteous! The sin debt did not outweigh the righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ died, but death had no victory because death is the condemnation of sin, and the righteousness of Christ was greater than the wretchedness of sin. God declared Jesus Christ righteous in the resurrection, and in Christ, we stand in that righteousness. Christ was the expiation and the propitiation for our sin [explain what these words mean]. That is the good news of the cross!! Do not believe in vain, but believe with understanding of what the cross means for you!

Christ Died For Sins - Pointing back to Galatians

1 Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,” speaks directly to what I preached two weeks ago. Christ died for our sins according to the will of God and according to the Scriptures. This death and resurrection did not occur in a vacuum but in a very public and visible manner according to prophecies and eyewitnesses that could be verified!

Verified by many

1 Corinthians 15:6–11 ESV

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Verified by Paul’s testimony

vs 8-9, Paul goes on to emphasize how important this reality is using his own testimony as an example. Paul is joyfully aware of how undeserving he is of grace, referring to himself as one untimely born or prematurely born from trauma. The image of this description is that Paul was born dead but that grace gives life to the dead! Paul’s point is that God’s grace is all in all and he brings nothing to the table but his reception of grace to be used by God.

An

This is what unites us as Christians, whether Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, or Catholic, we are united by the grace of God through the work of Jesus Christ applied by the Holy Spirit. But we cannot underestimate or undervalue the importance of the bodily resurrection in this grace by which we stand united!

The Resurrection

The refutation of denying the resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 ESV

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 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. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If Christ is not risen then you are still in your sins. How absolutely terrifying a thought that this is! If Christ is not risen then you are still in your sins.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians 1. The Unacceptable and Disastrous Consequences of Denying the Currency of the Very Concept of Resurrection—First Refutatio (15:12–19)

without the resurrection of Christ, Christ’s death alone has no atoning, redemptive, or liberating effect in relation to human sin

Do you see how dangerous the Auburn Affirmation is to the church? Allowing room in the church for ministers to deny the bodily resurrection of Christ allows ministers to deny that there is redemption for sins! The resurrection reveals the power of God the Father as Creator who is able to resurrect Christ from the dead. The resurrection validates that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, which is the Son of God. The resurrection proves the righteousness of Christ and proves that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and we see the truth of this through God the Father’s validation of the Son by the Holy Spirit in the resurrection.

What Paul is facing in Corinth is not necessarily a denial of a post-death existence, but the denial of a bodily resurrection. This is the very thing that we see in many Western churches today! The Corinthians, like many today, are making a naturalistic error that the dead do not come back to life. And yes, naturally, that is true. The dead don’t come back to life, except by supernatural means which are beyond the scope of scientific examination. God alone can raise the dead, and we are told that God will raise the dead when Christ returns, so do not make the mistake to deny that the dead can be raised just because it cannot be scientifically replicated in a lab because if the dead cannot be raised then Christ was not raised. This is Paul’s argument.

By denying Christ’s work in his death and resurrection, we deny our identification with Christ. In his death and resurrection, Christ delivers all who place their faith in Him out of sin, and not only out of sin but also from sin! Being in Christ by grace through faith, means that you have been cleansed of and delivered from the guilt and debt that comes from sin. And the result of this deliverance out of sin is the reality that we have been delivered from the wrath of God that sin deserves, because Christ has bore the punishment and appeased the wrath of divine judgment. Sin is very real and very dangerous. Sin is any lack of conformity to the will of God and it separates us from God. Sin kills us and pollutes us. Sin is the desire to be our own gods, but sin is ultimately nothingness and death. Sin is meaninglessness and hopelessness.

If there is no resurrection than there is no hope. If Christ was not resurrected then we have as one commentator writes, “an emptiness and waste of irretrievable loss”.

Denying the resurrection is far too costly and leaves you hopeless and lost in your sin.

Which brings us from the refutation of denying the resurrection to the confirmation of affirming the resurrection.

The confirmation to the reality of the resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:20–28 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Jesus Christ is the first fruits from the dead, and if there is first fruit then we can be confident that there will be a harvest! We were born into Adam, the head of the old creation, in whom all die, but through the resurrection power of Christ, we may be redeemed into Christ, the head of the new creation.

Let us take a moment to reflect on the significance of what Paul writes.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians 2. The Resurrection of Christ as the Foundation of Present Life and Eschatological Promise for Christian Believers—First Confirmatio (15:20–34)

Adam is, for Paul, both an individual and a corporate entity: “he was what his Hebrew name signifies—‘mankind’. The whole of mankind is viewed as originally existing in Adam

When Adam died in his sin, all mankind died. All mankind inherited the guilt and the sin of Adam. And you may want to complain that this is not fair, but hold off on that for a moment, because look at what the Gospel reveals: 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

We do not live in our own status, but in the righteousness of Christ. If you wish to declare our inherited guilt unfair, then you must declare imputed righteousness even less fair. When we deserve death, Christ gives life. Death is defeated. As one scholar wrote,

The First Epistle to the Corinthians 2. The Resurrection of Christ as the Foundation of Present Life and Eschatological Promise for Christian Believers—First Confirmatio (15:20–34)

“Because God and his promise are life, the real bitterness of death lies not merely in the loss of life, but also in the loss of God, as in god-forsakenness.…”

So, let’s contextualize the truth of the resurrection. Because Christ is risen, we can have confidence that we too will rise again. Because Christ is the resurrection and the life, we can have confidence that dead things will come alive. This is true for all areas of life! Dead marriages can be resurrected in Christ. Dead jobs can be resurrected in Christ. Dead beats can be resurrected in Christ. This does not mean that you will not face consequences for your actions and your failures in this life, you surely will, but Christ has paid the punishment that you ultimately deserved and rose again on the third day to prove that the debt was fully paid and life still remained! The infinite God could not be conquered by our immense sin, but he conquered our sin and conquered death that in Christ you may have life and have it in abundance!

Application

So do not continue to live in death! Christ is risen! Do not continue to live in defeat! Christ is risen! Experience the resurrection today! Confess your sin and your shame to God and experience the resurrection power of Christ! Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—”

This Gospel is for you, because you hear it! The Kingdom of Gospel is here and the spinning top is still spinning. While we remain in the story, the end is already written. Christ wins, and there is no twist or uncertainty to the ending. When Jesus was taken down from that cross, he did not remain dead, but after three days, he rose from the dead, not just spiritually but physically. The tomb was empty! Death is defeated; Christ is risen! Death will be defeated; Christ is returning!

Let me put this bluntly: If you do not trust in Jesus as the crucified and risen one then you are not saved. You are still dead in your trespasses. But there is good news! You do not have to remain dead in your sins. If you do not yet know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, ask God to reveal himself to you. Put your trust in the resurrected God today! If you trust in Him, yet you have never been baptized, come find me after service and we can make that happen! If you feel alone, look around and see all these people whom God has called to love one another. Let’s be the body of Christ and love one another well. Let’s live like we believe it! Christ is risen, so stop living in death! There is hope! Death does not have to be the end, praise God. Christ is risen!