Christ Is Risen, The Reality Of Our Faith In God

KINGDOM REALITIES SERIES- (realities are truths, facts)

Christ is Risen, The Reality of our Faith in God - The facts of the Jesus’ resurrection in which are faith is based (1 Cor. 15:1-11 ) - April 4, 2021

God is Light, The Reality of our Fellowship with God and with one another - The facts of God’s righteousness in which our fellowship is based (1 John 1:1-2:2 ) - April 11, 2021

God is Love, The Reality of the Fatherhood of God - The facts of God’s love in which our adoption is based ( 1 John 3:1-9 ) - April 18, 2021

CHRIST IS RISEN, THE REALITY OF OUR FAITH (1 Cor. 15:1-11)

Read the Text

INTRODUCTION

The world as it was then tries to disprove the reality of Jesus resurrection (show some Time magazine issues and absurd news article)

This letter of Paul answers the concern of the Corinthian church that there is no resurrection of the dead

As we read Paul’s answer, it’s just like listening to a telephone conversation in which you don’t hear what the other person is saying, that is why we need to know the context of the letter

The Corinthians church was confused about the resurrection of the believer

Some in the church were flatly denying the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12 ) “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?”

Some were apparently following the false teaching of others

Spiritualizing the resurrection, saying it was already past or else took place at death (2 Tim. 2:17-18 ) “And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.”

rebelling against such an idea, claiming that it was scientifically impossible for maimed, scattered, decomposed bodies to be raise in an act of recreation.

In modern times, the use of a cryogenic freezing (using liquid nitrogen freezers) to preserve the body (we see it in some sci-fi movies)

James Bedford - the 1st body to be “cryopreserved!”

The answer of Paul is simply argued:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves the resurrection of the human body

In fact, Jesus Christ arose so that all men in their full and complete persons— bodies as well as spirits—could live forever

The resurrection of Jesus makes the resurrection of men absolutely certain

WYSIWYG - What you see (in Jesus) is what you will get (later on)

MESSAGE OUTLINE:

The facts (or realities) of the gospel which prove the resurrection of the believer are 5-fold:

I. The IMPORTANCE of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-2 ).

II. Fact 1: Christ DIED for our sins according to the Scripture (1 Cor. 15:3 ).

III. Fact 2: Christ was BURIED and AROSE according to the Scripture (1 Cor. 15:4 ).

IV. Fact 3: Christ was SEEN by many; there were eyewitnesses (1 Cor. 15:5-10 ).

V. The ADVANCE of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:11 ).

I. The importance of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-2)

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

The gospel means “Good News” (Gk. euangelion; eu-good & angelion-message)

There is only one gospel , but it is described in different ways: It is called the “Gospel of the Kingdom of God” (Mt. 4:23; Mk. 1:14); the “Gospel of the Grace of God” (Ac. 20:24); the “Gospel of God” (Ro. 1:1); the “Gospel of Christ” (Mk. 1:1; Ro. 1:16; 2 Co. 4:4; 10:14); the “glorious Gospel” (2 Co. 4:4; 1 Ti. 1:11); and the “Everlasting Gospel” (Re. 14:6)

The importance of the gospel to be made known or to be declared (gnorizo):

Even if the church is a 100 years old church, the gospel must still be preached because it is the very foundation of the faith

Even if the marriage is 100 years old, commitment must still be made known because it is the very foundation of marriage

Even if the man is 100 years old, purpose/meaning must still be recognized because it is the very foundation of life itself

The importance of the gospel to be received.

The gospel was never something that people invented for themselves.

People never discover it for themselves, someone has to declare the gospel

The importance of the gospel to be held firmly (“to hold fast that word which I preached to you”)

The Corinthian believer stood firmly even if there are opposing teaching about the resurrection.

Note that “hold fast” is a nautical term which the boatman must hold tightly to the rope in situations where there is opposing wind or current!

The very first function of the good news was to give people stability

In a slippery world, it kept them on their feet

In a tempting world, it gave them power to resist

In a hurting world, it enabled them to endure heartbreak or physical suffering and not to give in

In other words, Christians will be the last person to have a nervous breakdown, nor become addicted from

The importance of the gospel to be the only means of salvation (“by which you are saved”)

The word “saved” is present and continuous action as in “you are being saved”

Scripture teaches 3 tenses or stages to salvation: the past, present, and future: justification, sanctification & glorification

TRANSITION: So the importance of knowing the gospel is it is our immunity against false teaching;

Our body has a natural immunity against diseases and we weaken it by smoking, drinking, eating unhealthy foods, lack of sleep; we strengthen it by refraining from those.

Our faith also can be strengthen by knowing the facts of the resurrection, and so we turn to the 5 facts Paul mentioned

II. Fact 1: Christ DIED for our sins according to the Scripture ( 1 Cor. 15:3 )

Islam teaches that Jesus did not really die but God put a substitute who looks like Jesus on the cross: And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah .” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. (An Nisa 4:157)

Atheists & skeptics have concocted many theories that Jesus did not really die.

(THE HINIMATAY THEORY) The swoon theory posits that Jesus fainted on the cross and only appeared to be dead. Jesus then awoke and recuperated in the damp coolness of the tomb and subsequently fully recovered.

(KAMBAL) The twin theory suggests that Jesus had an identical twin brother nobody knew about who took Jesus’ place on the cross.

(NINAKAW) The stolen body theory says that Jesus’ followers stole His body from the tomb

(NAHIBANG)The hallucination theory claims that in the midst of their profound grief, the disciples and other followers of Jesus experienced hallucinations in which they saw Him raised from the dead.

(NATULIRO) The wrong tomb theory states that the followers of Jesus discovered the tomb to be empty because they went to the wrong tomb

(ET) The alien theory says that Jesus was an alien from another planet

It is important that Paul qualified Jesus death with the words “according to the Scriptures”

It means that Christ’s death is the fulfillment of a plan since the beginning of time.

The Scriptures Paul is mentioning is the Hebrew Scriptures called the TANAKH; which stands for the 1st letter of the 3 sections of their book (Torah-Pentateuch, Nevi’im-Prophets, Kethuvi’im-Writings)

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

Psalm 22 is called a messianic Psalm describing the abandonment, the suffering, and death of the coming Messiah

It is also important that His death is no ordinary death; He died for a reason; He died for our sins.

Many people died for freedom against a tyrant, or for fulfillment of a certain cause but Jesus alone lived to die for the sins of man

“Christ died for our sins”. The word “for” (huper) means for our benefit, for our sake, in our behalf, as our substitute.

How did Christ’s death benefit us? The Bible uses 3 terms to describe the purpose of His death.

Christ died as our sacrifice. (1 Cor 5:7 )

For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

Christ died as our ransom. (Rom. 3:24 ) (ransom is deliverance or rescue from punishment for sin)

24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Christ died as our propitiation. (1 John 2:2 ) (propitiation means satisfaction)

2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

[TRANSITION] So, Christ DIED (physically) for our sins according to the Scripture ( 1 Cor. 15:3 )

The Roman soldiers have to do their job to let anyone they crucified be dead

The water and blood that comes out of Jesus side proved that he died

No one will ever survived such torture that Jesus experienced

That the women brought spices to anoint the body of Jesus inside the tomb proved that he died which brings us to the next point.

III. Fact 2: Christ was BURIED and AROSE according to the Scripture (1 Cor. 15:4 ).

4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

The burial of Jesus Christ is important, for it proves 2 significant things:

It proves that Jesus Christ died. No man is buried unless he is dead.

It proves the resurrection. The empty tomb is evidence that Christ arose from the dead.

Before the pandemic, millions of devotees are flocking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Israel to descend a narrow steps inside a cave which believed to be the tomb where Jesus was buried

I watched the National Geographic Society’s documentary on how they restore the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There is a time that they need to uncover the very stone in which Jesus body was lain. No one had seen that bed since year 300AD when Emperor Constantine made a search for the tomb of Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ also proved 4 things:

That God exists and that He cares for the earth. There is no power on earth that can raise a man from the dead.

That Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, the Son of God Himself. He was saying many times to his disciples that he will be raised on the 3rd day.

Rom. 1:4 4 “and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

That He is the Savior of the world. That Christ is the very one whom God sent to earth to save men from death and to give them life

Rom. 4:25 “... who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

That He is the “Spirit of life”. It proves that Christ is the very energy and force of life, the very power and being of life, and that He can give the same “Spirit of life” to men. (Scientists called it “the strong nuclear force”)

Col. 1:16-17 “ 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

Again, according to the Scriptures; the OT prophecy of the resurrection is in Psalm 16:10

10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

[TRANSITION] So, Christ died, buried and rose again is a fact that is unique to the Christian faith; the Jews believed that when a man dies, his soul will go to the Sheol (the place of the dead) or the Pit. The Greeks believed that only the soul is immortal but not the body. But they do not understand that it will be a spiritual body or a glorified body like Jesus’. One characteristic of this spiritual body is that it can be seen or touched. Which brings us to the next point.

IV. Fact 3: Christ was SEEN by many; there were eyewitnesses (1 Cor. 15:5-10 ).

5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

The various people that saw the resurrected body of Jesus can be characterized by words that begins with “F” - a Friend (Peter or Cephas), Followers (more than 500 brethren), Family (James his half-brother, yes Mary & Joseph had other kids), Flock (the apostles) & Foe (Paul, the persecutor)

Why is this important to Paul?

Because an event can be established to be true if there is eyewitnesses to that occurrence

And notice that all eyewitnesses have an issue that makes it more believable: Peter denied Jesus, James was not an early adopter, the apostles abandoned Jesus and Paul is the chief persecutor of Christians!

Christianity is a religion where every member has a personal encounter with Christ. Some saw Jesus like those early eyewitnesses but others encounter Jesus through His word quickened by the Holy Spirit. At all cases, everyone who names himself/herself a follower had a personal encounter with God.

Christianity, unlike other religions is believable because its central & foundational belief which is the resurrection is substantiated by facts.

Anyone who had a personal, first-hand, direct experience to an event is willing to spend his/her energy or even his/her life in the cause of that belief (ex. if you are a victim of injustice you will the passion to expose injustice). Paul was so changed by that experience that he was humble enough to let everyone knows that he was an unlikely convert:

He says he was born into the kingdom prematuredly - “as by one born out of due time” (to ektromati) means miscarriage, an abortion, a child born out of time. (1 Cor. 15:8 )

He says he was the least of the apostles and even not worthy to be an apostle (apostolos) means one who is sent; the reason being he was the chief persecutor of the church (1 Cor. 15:9 )

He says he is not a “self-made” man but a “grace-made” man (1 Cor. 15:10)

[TRANSITION] After stating these 3 facts of the resurrection, it is time for him to make the conclusion.

V. The gospel must be advanced regardless who gets the credit (1 Cor. 15:11 ).

11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Paul does not care who gets the honor (him or the other apostles) for the gospel’s advancement, only that it advances. Phil. 1:12-18 , 1 Cor. 3:5-8

This stand is consistent with his words to Philippians in Phil. 3:12-18

12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice

This is also consistent to his earlier answer to the Corinthians about the role of everyone in the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 3:5-8 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

2. Preachers come and go but the work of the Lord must continue