1 Corinthians 15:1-20 - The Most Important Fact

Introduction

Today marks the single most important day in the life of a Christian, or in the life of a church—in fact, I will want to argue today that this day marks the most event in all of human history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The common name for this celebration is Easter Sunday, which comes from the Old English name for the month of April: Ostara, named after the old Germanic goddess of spring—much the same way that our month of May was named by the Romans after Maia, their goddess of spring.

Now, the fact that this day is referred to by the name of an ancient pagan goddess shouldn’t cause us any anxiety—our language and culture is full of names of old gods and goddesses that no one believes in anymore since the coming of Jesus Christ. By His death and resurrection Jesus Christ defeated and humiliated all those gods and goddesses like Ostara and Odin and Thor and Maia and Saturn and the rest, and today their names carry none of the old terror and majesty of their past—they are nothing more than convenient places to hang the names of our days, months and planets, like a hunter who mounts upturned deer hooves for a gun rack. So calling today Easter Sunday is another way of saying that the resurrection of Jesus Christ conquered the goddess Ostara, and now He uses the name of her old month as a place to hang the date of the Resurrection that humiliated her!

Colossians 2:15 ESV

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

But as appropriate as it may be to call today Easter Sunday, I much prefer to call it Resurrection Sunday—because that is the event that defines not only the reason the first day of the week is our day for worship, but because (and this is what I want to show you this morning)

The most important fact in all of REALITY is the LITERAL RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ

Now, I think it is crucial that we are clear in our affirmation that the resurrection of Jesus was a literal resurrection—it happened in time and space, and if mobile phones had existed then someone could have captured the moment Jesus started breathing again and posted it to Tik Tok. What I mean to say is that Jesus literally, actually came back from the dead. This was an historical, real event that happened on a particular date on the calendar (Ostara’s old month!) and a particular time on the clock. It really happened.

I say this is crucial because there are a lot of people (even a lot of people who consider themselves Christians) who don’t think it’s necessary to believe in the actual, literal resurrection of Jesus. Take for example an opinion piece written by one Jay Parini, faculty member at Middlebury College, Vermont and author of the book, Jesus: The Human Face of God. In an opinion piece published on CNN’s website a number of years ago, he writes:

“Did Jesus really rise from the dead? What would that look like? … Indeed, if you read the Gospel narratives closely, it’s not easy to say what actually happened… For the most part, his appearances retain a dreamlike quality, suggesting that Jesus didn’t want anyone to assume that whatever happened to him occurred in ordinary time and space...”

He concludes his article with the words

“...Christian thinking is Resurrection thinking. It’s about rebirth or reawakening in many forms, about spiritual and moral transformation. And this is the really good news of Easter.”

Mr. Parini seems to suggest in this article that it really doesn’t matter whether Jesus literally and physically rose from the dead or not, that the real point of the story is “about spiritual and moral transformation”, which is the “really good news of Easter.”

But in the verses we have before us this morning, the Apostle Paul takes a very different view of the subject of Jesus’ Resurrection, doesn’t he? as we read a few moments ago from 1 Corinthians 15:19,

1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV

19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

In this passage Paul is taking on objections from some of the members of the church in Corinth who were doubting the concept of the resurrection—and so Paul lays out several shocking consequences for our lives if Jesus was not literally raised from the dead. So look with me at verses 12-19 to see what Paul says we must accept

I. If Christ was not raised… (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)

Verses 13-14 say

1 Corinthians 15:13–14 ESV

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

The first thing Paul says is that if Christ was not raised

TRUSTING in Jesus is POINTLESS (v. 14)

If Jesus is still in the grave today, then there is no point in trusting Him for anything. He was a fraud, He was a liar, and He was nothing more than another sinful, flawed human being who gathered a bunch of followers and then left them in the lurch. The word “vain” literally means “empty”—faith in Jesus is an empty faith if He didn’t rise from the grave. And not only is trusting in Jesus an empty exercise, but preaching Jesus is an empty exercise as well. In fact, Paul’s words grow even sharper in the next verse:

1 Corinthians 15:15 ESV

15 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.

If Christ was not raised, then

This SERMON is a LIE (v. 15)

Every sermon ever preached from this pulpit in the 135 year history of this church is a lie. If Christ has not been raised from the dead for real, then every Sunday School lesson you have ever heard here or taught here is a lie. Every tract handed out, every Vacation Bible School, every Ladies’ Bible Study, every youth group devotional and young adult study, every counseling session every Saturday spent knocking on doors—all of it is based on a lie if Jesus did not actually and literally rise from the dead on that first Easter morning.

And Paul goes on to say that if Jesus’ bones are still in the grave, then

You are still GOING TO HELL (v. 17)

1 Corinthians 15:17 ESV

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then God’s anger still burns against you for your sin against Him. He did not accept Christ’s sacrifice, He crushed Him on the Cross and cast Him into Hell, and there is no way for you to escape that same destination. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then there is nothing that stands between you and the infinite, terrifying wrath of God that will inevitably fall on you for eternity. That is what you must believe if you say that it doesn’t matter whether Jesus rose from the dead.

If Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead, Paul goes on to say in verse 18 that

DEATH wins (v. 18)

1 Corinthians 15:18 ESV

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If Jesus’ body is still in the grave, then your loved ones who died believing that Jesus Christ would raise them up died believing a lie. You will never see them again. They are lost forever, and someday you will join them in the ground. Death has the final word in this world—and there is no world to come after this one, if Jesus was not raised from the dead.

If Christ was not raised, Paul says,

You are the BIGGEST SUCKER in the world (v. 19)

1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV

19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If Jesus Christ is still in the grave, if the Resurrection story is just that—a story, a myth, a fairy tale meant to get you to think happy thoughts about “reawakening in many forms, about spiritual and moral transformation”, then you, my friend, are the patsy in the greatest confidence scam in all of human history. You have ordered your life around a cruel joke, you have made decisions about your life and raised your kids and pursued holiness and sought to share Christianity on the basis of the longest con in history. Christianity is a sick, pitiful joke if Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead.

Keep going, one more verse:

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

IN FACT, Christ has been raised from the dead! The most important fact in all reality is that Jesus Christ has actually, literally, historically and demonstrably been raised from the dead! At the beginning of Chapter 15, Paul lays out the absolute and convincing proof that

II. Christ has been raised... (1 Corinthians 15:3-11)

Look with me at verses 3-4:

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

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, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

When Paul says that this truth is of “first importance”, he is saying that this truth is the most important truth of all. There is nothing more important, nothing more significant or ultimately consequential in all of the world than the fact that Jesus died, was buried and was raised on the third day. And the first proof that Paul demonstrates of the truth of the resurrection of Christ is that it was

Promised in the SCRIPTURES (vv. 3-4)

Throughout the Old Testament we see promise after promise of a life to come after death, that the Messiah would suffer and die and then live again:

Isaiah 53:10–11 ESV

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

The Messiah would die, and yet would see the reward of His suffering.

Or Psalm 16:8-11

Psalm 16:8–11 ESV

8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Jesus Himself (after His resurrection) said plainly to the disciples on the road to Emmaus that the whole Old Testament promised His resurrection:

Luke 24:25–27 ESV

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Here is the proof that Jesus was raised from the dead—every other promise God ever made in the Scriptures about Jesus has come true. Hundreds of prophecies about Him—from where He would be born to what He would do and what He would say and where He would go—every single one of them came true. And so that means that all of the promises that He would be raised also came true!

The fact is that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead! Not only was it promised in the Scriptures, but is was

Confirmed by EYEWITNESSES (vv. 5-7)

1 Corinthians 15:5–7 ESV

5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

There is no “dreamlike quality” to these appearances—unless you are prepared to contend that over five hundred people at once all had the same “dream!” For over a month after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to hundreds of people: John and Peter (John 20:19-20), all of the Apostles together (Luke 24:36; Acts 1:22), Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18), Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-36), just to name a few.

And in the passage that we read together earlier from Matthew 28 it is important to understand that Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t just witnessed by His friends—His enemies had to deal with the fact that His tomb was empty as well! We read earlier that the Roman soldiers sent by Pilate to guard Jesus’ tomb were bribed by the Sanhedrin to lie about why Jesus’ tomb was empty. (It wasn’t even a very good story—how could the guards know that the disciples stole Jesus’ body while they were asleep?)

The fact is, they had no other explanation for why Jesus’ tomb was empty than the fact that He had risen from the dead, just as He said He would. (Keep in mind that it would have been extraordinarily easy to prove that Jesus hadn’t been resurrected, wouldn’t it? All they would have had to do was produce the body! But they couldn’t—because Jesus was risen!

And to the people who say that the disciples really did steal the body and destroy it, you have to account for why, with the exception of the Apostle John, every single one of the Apostles were executed for their belief! All they had to do to escape the torturous, cruel deaths they suffered was to admit that they were lying about the resurrection, but none of them did! They sealed their eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ resurrection with their own blood.

The fact is that Jesus Christ has been raised—His resurrection was promised by the Scriptures, confirmed by eyewitnesses, and

Demonstrated by Paul’s TRANSFORMATION (vv. 8-10)

Look at verses 8-10 of our text:

1 Corinthians 15:8–10 ESV

8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Paul makes no excuses for what he used to be—but he always connects what he used to be with what happened to him when he met the risen Christ! In Galatians 1 he writes

Galatians 1:13–16 ESV

13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

And the revelation of Jesus to Paul took place when he was on the way to Damascus to attack and persecute Christians:

Acts 9:3–5 ESV

3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is laying out proofs for the fact that Jesus was literally and physically raised from the dead. And he mentions himself here by way of saying that the only way that he can explain his transformation from a wicked and violent hater of Christ to a dedicated, passionate lover of Christ is because he actually met Jesus Christ! There is no way to account for the transformation in Paul any other way!

And many of you know exactly what Paul is talking about, don’t you? You were a hater of God, the word Christ was a curse in your mouth, you thought Christians were stupid, worthless wastes of space. You had no desire to either know God or obey Him—and yet, one day, Jesus Christ revealed Himself to you and called you and you came to faith in Him! That transformation came about in you because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and He raised you out of your sin! As the old hymn puts it, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!” There is no other way I can account for the transformation in my life apart from the power of the risen Christ working in me!

The most important fact in all of reality is the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He has not literally and actually been raised from the dead in actual history—then Christianity is a worthless lie, death wins, and Christians are the most pathetic lot of suckers in history.

But the fact is that Jesus Christ has been raised. It was promised by the Scriptures, confirmed by eyewitnesses and demonstrated by the transformed lives of His people. And here is the conclusion of the matter: You must deal with this fact. You must come to a reckoning with the fact that Jesus Christ really did come back from the dead. It really did happen. It is the most important, most significant, most consequential event in all of human history. And this passage of Scripture has been delivered to you this day so that you

III. Do not believe in vain (1 Corinthians 15:2)

The exhortation before you this morning is that you must not say

That His RESURRECTION doesn’t matter (Romans 10:9)

Paul writes in Romans 10:9 that faith that saves you must include a genuine belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Let me say it as clearly as I know how: If you do not believe that Jesus Christ was truly, literally, actually and physically raised from the dead, you are not a Christian. You may be a fan of the Bible, you may be a hobbyist in Christian theology and spirituality, you may be devoted to a Christian lifestyle, but if you do not acknowledge the actual, literal resurrection of Jesus, you are believing in vain—and on the authority of the Word of God I say to you: You are not a Christian.

You must not say the Resurrection of Jesus Christ doesn’t matter, and you must not say

That your REDEMPTION doesn’t matter (Romans 4:24-25)

In Romans 4, Paul writes about the faith that saves us:

Romans 4:24–25 ESV

24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Paul says that Jesus was “delivered up” (to His crucifixion on the Cross) “for our trespasses”—as he says in 1 Corinthians 15:3:— “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.” Jesus’ death on the Cross paid the blood-debt you owed before God for your sin against Him. He cancelled your debt, paid your penalty.

His death satisfied God’s wrath against you, but it was His resurrection that justified you! He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”—the resurrection of Jesus Christ is what demonstrated that God accepted His sacrifice. His rising from the grave was the proof that all who believe in Him would be made righteous before Him.

To say that it doesn’t matter whether Jesus was really raised from the dead or not is to say that it doesn’t matter if we are made righteous before God or not! To say that your redemption doesn’t matter is to believe in vain. And so I say again: If you do not believe that the death of Christ was necessary to take away your sin and His resurrection was not necessary to make you right before God, you are not a Christian.

And so here is the Word of God for you this morning:

You need to WAKE UP (v. 34)

Hear the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:34:

1 Corinthians 15:34 ESV

34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

The most important fact in all of reality is the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Stop flirting with unbelief, stop telling yourself it doesn’t really matter to you whether Jesus Christ was raised or not—everything depends on whether or not you will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead.

Look one more time at verse 20 of our text:

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection—He is the first one who has been raised. Which means that there will be more resurrections. In fact, the Scriptures say that it is not only those who believe in Christ who will rise again, but all people will someday be raised:

Revelation 20:11–15 ESV

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

And here again is why I say that the most important fact in all of reality is the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because someday every human being who ever lived will be raised again, “some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” as the prophet Daniel wrote (Daniel 12:2).

The day is coming when you will rise to stand before the Throne of Jesus Christ. And your entire life will be laid open like a book before Him, and you will be called to answer for your deeds. And if you never placed your trust in His death on the Cross for your transgressions and His actual, literal, historical resurrection for your justification, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire under the eternal, unrelenting wrath of the God you have rejected.

The only hope that you have, the only plea that you can offer today is that Jesus Christ died and rose again to save you. This is of “first importance”, this is the most important thing you will ever hear: That Jesus Christ died for your sins, according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised again the third day according to the Scriptures. Do not believe in vain, do not say that it doesn’t matter to you whether Christ was raised or not. Wake up from your stupor, stop rejecting Him, confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. Come and talk to us after the service so that you can know for sure that when that Day comes you will stand before Him justified, holy and righteous before the throne of your Lord and Savior, the risen Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Read through 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 again. If the reality of Jesus’ resurrection is this important to the life of a Christian and the life of a church, what place should we give to this truth in our teaching, our preaching, and our daily lives?

Paul says that if Christ has not been raised, “we are of all people most to be pitied”. If the resurrection of Jesus Christ were ever proved to be false, Paul says, the lives of Christians would fall apart. Have you built your life on the truth of Christ’s resurrection in such a way that if it were taken away your entire life would collapse? If not, what does this say about the place of Christ’s resurrection in your life?