Without The Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
AG: We live in a day and age where there is no shortage of conspiracy theories. Some people believe a number of conspiracy theories concerning the JFK Assassination. Others believe there was a cover up after the terror attacks of 9/11/01. Just this year, there have been numerous conspiracy theories surrounding the SARS-COV-2 virus. Some believe that certain secret societies control the world. There are a few who still believe that the moon landings were faked.
Honestly, the truth behind these "theories" really have no impact on our daily lives. But there are some who allege that the Resurrection of Christ was faked and that is a subject that not only impacts our daily lives, it has serious implications concerning our eternity.
TS: There was a time when certain members of the church in Corinth experienced some doubt concerning certain truths of the Christian faith.
One of the most divisive issues for them was human resurrection. Once again, Pagan influences and philosophies crept in and corrupted their theology. Dualism permeated the pagan world. Dualism taught that all physical things were evil and all spiritual were holy. Thus the idea of a resurrected human body was disgusting!
There may also have been those influenced by Sadducees which believed there was no resurrection.
Together, it led to confusion and division over what should have been one of their greatest sources of hope.
In I Corinthians 15, Paul addresses those doubts. In this passage, Paul has an unusual but profitable approach, he paints a picture of what life would be like for the Christian if there had been no resurrection. I would like to examine this hypothetical scenario and preach on the subject “If Christ Is Not Risen”
Without the Resurrection, We have no Purpose
Without the Resurrection, We have no Purpose
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.
Some doubted the promise that believers would be raised from the dead. Paul said that if this promise is not true then Jesus Himself did not rise from the grave.
If Christ is not risen then everything we believe is pointless.
He didn’t send the Comforter
There is no eternal life
Everything that we believe hinges on the reality of the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore if He is not risen our entire way of life is purposeless.
- In verse 14 Paul states that without the Resurrection:
A. OUR PREACHING IS POINTLESS
A. OUR PREACHING IS POINTLESS
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
The literal translation of the word vain means "empty".
If Jesus is not risen:
every preacher in history has wasted their time.
every sermon you have ever heard was a lie.
then we might as well just dismiss and go home.
- Without the Resurrection, not only is our preaching pointless:
B. OUR FAITH IS FUTILE
B. OUR FAITH IS FUTILE
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
If Jesus is not risen then
we are no different than those who worship manmade idols.
then all of your praying, serving, witnessing, and church attendance have all been a waste of your time.
you have believed a bunch of lies!
When I was a child, Hulk Hogan was almost like a superhero. He went around and told kids that if they would “take their vitamins and say their prayers” they could be just like him… Then in 1994 there was a federal investigation and we learned that steroids were more responsible for his massive size than his vitamins! This revelation was devastating to many.
How much more devastating would it be to learn that everything you have been taught about Jesus was based on lies? If Jesus is not risen, then that would be a reality!
- If Christ is not risen, our preaching is pointless, our faith is futile and:
C. OUR MESSAGE IS MEANINGLESS
C. OUR MESSAGE IS MEANINGLESS
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.
All who have shared the message of salvation through Jesus are all liars if Christ is not risen.
Do you get the devastating picture that Paul is painting?
I hope they remembered Paul’s past. I hope they remembered all that he had given up to share the good news of the Risen Christ.
Paul was a man of wealth, social standing, influence and great education. Yet, he was willing to sacrifice all of that for the cause of Christ. Paul turned away from everything he loved and then devoted his life to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason he was willing to do so was because he had seen the risen Christ!
This was the case for all of the Lord's Apostles.
James was beheaded,
Peter was crucified upside down,
John was exiled to Patmos,
the remaining Apostles all gave their lives for the cause of Christ.
They did this because they were witnesses of His resurrection.
Many people have given their lives for what they believe in. But no sane person is willing to sacrifice their life for what they know to be a lie.
There were some enemies of Christ who tried to hide the reality of His resurrection. The Chief Priests and the elders conspired together and offered the soldiers a large amount of money to say that
and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’
If this had been true, James would have admitted it before he was beheaded.
Peter would have admitted this fact before he was crucified.
The others would have admitted this before they were martyred.
But they gave their life for what they believed in, because they had first hand knowledge that it was true!
If you have been born again, then you know for a fact that the Resurrection is not a myth or a fairytale. You know that it is a reality, because you have seen Christ with eyes of faith. And we have the promise that one day we will stand in His presence.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
- We would not have this hope if Christ is not risen. If Jesus is not risen, we have no purpose and as we move farther we will see that if Jesus is not risen, we have no pardon.
II. IF CHRIST IS NOT RISEN WE HAVE NO PARDON
II. IF CHRIST IS NOT RISEN WE HAVE NO PARDON
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
Paul has presented a devastating scenario, but if the resurrection did not occur, things are worse than what we have considered thus far.
He goes on to say that if Jesus isn't alive,
then we are still lost in our sins and bound for hell.
then we are not saved.
We cannot be justified we are not being sanctified, and we have no hope of ever being glorified! If Jesus is not alive we are lost in our sins and headed for an eternity in Hell!
A dead savior is no savior at all.
Everything that Jesus did before His death would mean nothing without the Resurrection.
The miracles, the message the ministry would all be in vain without the Resurrection.
If Jesus suffered and died yet did not rise, then we have no hope of an eternal pardon. Without the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life, we have no way to possess true hope, joy, victory or peace in this life.
- Paul speaks of this fact in verses 18-19 there he declares:
III. IF CHRIST IS NOT RISEN WE HAVE NO PEACE
III. IF CHRIST IS NOT RISEN WE HAVE NO PEACE
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.
One of the greatest benefits of being a Christian is the hope that we have concerning our loved ones who have died in Christ.
We are assured that one day we will reunite with them in Heaven. If Christ is not risen, that promise is a lie. We have no hope of a heavenly reunion. Likewise, we have no hope of our own entrance into Heaven.
I don't know about you, but I see no way to enjoy peace in this life without the assurance that I possess concerning the next life! But if Christ is not risen, then I have nothing to base my assurance on. My eternal security is not secure at all without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice what Paul said in
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
If Jesus is not risen each of us have wasted every minute that we have lived for Jesus. We have trusted in a lie and we are headed for an eternity in Hell. If the Resurrection of Christ is a lie then there is no reason for us to believe anything the Bible says. If He is not risen, we have no purpose, we have no pardon and we have no peace. If Jesus is not alive then our preaching is pointless, our faith is futile and our message is meaningless.
Paul has painted a very bleak picture in his attempt to confront the doubts of the Corinthians. I'm glad that his message doesn't end in verse 19. I'm glad that my message today doesn't end at this point, and I'm certainly glad that Jesus' story doesn't end at the garden tomb.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Everything we have seen in verses 12-19 is purely hypothetical. And as Paul will tell us in verse 20, JESUS IS RISEN and He lives forevermore!
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Jesus promised that He would rise from the grave and that is exactly what He did! Jesus conquered death, Hell and the grave. Because of His finished work, we possess victory as well!
Because Jesus is risen we have:
a purpose
been pardoned
we are able to possess peace in this life and hope in the life to come.
our preaching is not pointless
our faith is not futile
our message is not meaningless.
We can rest assured that our loved ones who have died are in His presence. We can cling to the promise of that coming heavenly reunion. And we can look forward to the day when we stand face to face with our risen, living and immortal Savior!
Unfortunately not everyone possesses this hope. This is the hope belongs only to those who are "in Christ".
However, if you do not belong to Jesus, there is hope for you as well. Because of Jesus, you have an opportunity to be saved . You have the opportunity to receive forgiveness of your sins, and you have the opportunity to receive eternal life today.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
YOU qualify! Furthermore, Jesus said
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter where you have been, no matter what you have done, The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's message to you! And the Gospel proves that "Christ died for us!"
he first 4 verses of this chapter gives us a clear Gospel presentation, it says that Jesus died, was buried and rose again. And all that He did, He did for you! I pray that you will trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus sounded a warning in Mark 1:15 and that warning is true today...
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
The Gospel is clear ...Christ died for our sins, He was buried, He rose again the third day according to the scriptures...
