Simplicity of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:3-4)

INTRODUCTION

· Please turn to 1 Corinthians 15

· So much has changed in the past few months – simple routines how like how we do church, how we going to the grocery store, doctors appointment, school, and sports. But I want to remind you this morning that the most important things have not changed. The foundational truths, upon which we build our lives, have not changed. Feel sorry for unbelievers. I would not want to go through this pandemic without Christ.

· Our passage is one of the most important in the Bible. A foundational text.

· Vince Lombardi began 1961 football training with the famous lecture, “Men, this is a football.” Came off a devastating fourth quarter loss the previous year’s championships. But his point was make no assumptions. Stick to the fundamentals. They would go on to win the championship that year.

· Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

· We as Christians have a message. We are to be witnesses. Three points to our outline this morning: our message is good, it is simple, and it is one-of-a-kind.

· A child may come up to you this week and ask, “How can I go to heaven?” Are you ready to answer?

Our Message is Good

· Called, “the gospel” in v. 1. Gospel means “good news.” It is a compound word in Greek. Angelia = message. Eu = prefix meaning good. Euangelia = good message, the gospel. We get our word “evangelize” and “evangelical” by simply transliterating this Gk word.

· Paul uses it in v. 1 as a noun, then in v. 2 as a verb. The gospel is both a message and an action.

· Have you ever received good news? Like really good news? The clients liked your house and want to buy it. The boss likes you and has offered you the job. Your loved one returned home safely. The biopsy was negative and you are cancer free. The police caught the bad guy. Often, news is especially “good news” when it involves a period of uncertainty, tension, and trial. You wait, you pray, you suffer, you beg for help. And then, God suddenly answered.

· Prov. 25:25 says, “Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”

· One of my favorite “good news” stories: Famine in the land, and four lepers decide to visit the enemy camp of the Syrians, to see if they can scrounge any food. 2 Kings 7:5–9 So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.”

· So, by now, hopefully, you are asking, what is this good news, this message that brings such relief and happiness?

Our Message is Simple

· Christ died. Unjustly arrested and tried, then excecuted between two criminals. Even those who were there on the scene knew he had done nothing wrong. Yet he allowed himself to have a crown of thorns to be pressed down into his skull, and for nails to be driven into his hands and feet. He hung on that cross for six hours, and then he breathed his last.

· For our sins. We are given both the what and the why. Both the historical fact, but also the theological significance. Paul Washer tells the story of a woman in his church who called him toward the end of his life, and said, at my funeral, I want you to get up and say this. I want you to say, “this woman was not a good person.” I think he had their attention from then on. But her theology was right. “There is none righteous, no not one.” There is no way we can get into heaven. God is perfect. He cannot look upon sin. We need someone to take our place, to make a way for us to get in. And that is what Christ did. As he hung on that cross, he endured the wrath of God. Substitutionary atonement.

· He was buried. Corpse was peeled from the cross and laid in a newly hewn tomb, belonging to a rich leader named Joseph of Arimathea. Quickly wrapped up and a few spices were added to delay the stench, and then a large stone was rolled in front of the tomb. He had not just fallen asleep, feigned death, or fallen into a coma. The tomb was sealed, guards were posted outside, and his corpse remained in that tomb for three days.

· He rose again. The main argument in 1 Cor. 15. The most extensive treatment of the bodily resurrection found anywhere in Scripture.

· He appeared. Proving he was indeed alive. Many eyewitnesses still alive.

· According to the scriptures (3, 4). Paul likely has in mind passages like Isaiah 53:5–6 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. 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. Psalm 16:10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

· Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. Luke 24:25–27 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Our Message is One-of-a-Kind

· Notice who is the subject of this message. It is Christ Jesus of Nazareth. Not Buddha, not Baal, not Vishnu, not Muhhamed, but Christ.

· This message that Christ died for our sins and rose again sets Christianity apart from every other world religion.

· The Cronkhites have a used bookstore here in town, the Sagebrush Press, with a bookshelf packed full of religion and spirituality. How many? Hundreds. And they serve a very broad clientele here in the high desert. Amazon has well over 100,000 books for sale in their Religion & spirituality category. By most estimates, there are 4200 different religions in the world. Pew Research did a study a few years ago identifying the major world religions. Christians 2.3B. Muslim 1.8B (fastest growing, partly because of their high birth rate). Unaffiliated 1.2B. Hindu 1.1B. Buddhist .5B. I look at these different religions, study their basic beliefs, and am left with one conclusion. No one else has a message that comes even close to Christianity. Jesus saves.

· John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

· Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

· 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

· Colossians 1:19–20 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

· Have you believed this message?

· Paul finds it so unique that it was “of first importance.” And although it is the first thing, we never outgrow it. Tim Keller: “we never get ‘beyond the gospel’ in our Christian life to something more advanced. The gospel is not the first step in a stairway of truths, rather it is like the ‘hub’ in a ‘wheel’ of truth.” Like Lombardi’s “this is a football” as the foundation of everything else, so Paul would say, “this is the gospel.”

Conclusion

· I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning Then I repented of my sins and won the victory

· This message is good, it is simple, and it is one-of-a-kind.

· Our church exists to get out this message. All of our days should be spent basking in it and sharing it.

· Rom. 10:15 “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” I see a lot of beautiful feet this morning. As we enter a week of evangelism here at Crossview, may God bless our efforts to share this message with the next generation