012 [875] 1 Cor.15.12-19 The Truth of Bodily Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
A man, his wife and his mother-in-law went on vacation to the Holy Land. While they were there, the mother-in-law passed away.
The undertaker told them, "You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150."
The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home.
The undertaker asked, 'Why on earth would you spend $5,000 to ship your mother-in-law home, when it would be wonderful to have her buried here, and spend only $150?'
The man replied, "a man died & was buried here 2,000 years ago, and three days later He rose from the dead - I just can't take that chance!"
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Q. How can resurrection be possible? How can a person be made whole after a body has decayed or is incinerated by cremation?
- It is beyond our comprehension that the natural laws of the universe could be suspended & even reversed to bring about a resurrected body
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- God has, of course, instilled in the earth the ability to regenerate itself
29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
- There, it is talking about “plant-bearing seeds” or “seeds that produce seeds”
- Seeds - Plants - Seeds
- Seeds that have the ability to reproduce themselves
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- But that is way different from the resurrection of the body which is purely miraculous & a supernatural act of God
- As in the miracles of Moses and the prophets; of Jesus’ miracles and in the supreme case in His resurrection from the dead
Q. What if you don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, what is...
1. The Logical Outcome of Denying Bodily Resurrection
1. The Logical Outcome of Denying Bodily Resurrection
- The apostle lays out the obvious conclusions you would make out of denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus
a. If the material body is not raised, then neither is Christ
a. If the material body is not raised, then neither is Christ
- If the material body is not or cannot be raised from the dead, then neither is Christ raised from the dead
- If that is true, what are the implications of Christ not having been raised?
- Paul says that if He is not raised from the dead then people are still in their sins - lost!
– He would have been a phoney & His death ineffectual to save us from our sins
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- Since, however, Jesus was raised from the dead, bodily, we can interpret His death as having true saving significance
- He died for our sins & was raised to life to prove that He can cancel out/forgive sins
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- The point here is that if Jesus was not raised, then the forgiveness of sins which we all claim to experience would truly be a myth
- We would still be in our sins because if Christ was not raised, then Paul’s message that we have forgiveness in Christ through our faith in Jesus would be a massive waste of time & energy
- We would be doomed
b. The apostles would be charged with being false witnesses
b. The apostles would be charged with being false witnesses
- Here is one of the most powerful arguments for the truthfulness of the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection
- These men took enormous heat from fellow Jews & savage Gentile politicians to proclaim this Jesus & His resurrection
- They witnessed that God raised Jesus from the dead & they were aware that the 9th commandment in the Law is commonly quoted as being “you shall not lie”
- But “you shall not lie” is quite misleading because that commandment’s intention is to speak against being a false witness that causes another person to be deprived of justice
20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
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- If you recall, King Ahab had set his sights on the vineyard of the man Naboth
- But Ahab was Israeli enough to know that the law of God did not permit him to take this land by force
- If Naboth refused his financial offer to buy his land, the king had to accept that he couldn’t have it
- With this rejection, Ahab sat & sulked
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- His marriage to Jezebel, was a match made in hell
- He was forbidden by the law of Moses from taking a foreign wife, but the politics of the day was that huge trade deals with other nations were sealed by the marriage of the Israelite king to the foreign king’s daughter
- Solomon had 700 wives & 300 concubines – that was not to appease his sexual appetite
- It was all to do with stitching up trade deals with foreign rulers
- But this is what led to Solomon’s undoing & his unfaithfulness to God
- The women brought in to Israel foreign religious practices & idolatry & it corrupted, not only the king, but the people as well
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- Jezebel was from Phoenicia & herself a Baal worshipper
- She was horrified by her husband, Ahab’s, lack of Kingly power
- The Israelite King was subject to God’s law, whereas the Phoenician kings did what they liked
- In disgust, she tells him that she will get Naboth's vineyard for him
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- She organised what the Bible calls “worthless men” to falsely accuse Naboth of cursing God & the King of which the Law of God says would subject a person to capital punishment
- This is so evil – they violate the Law which says not to falsely accuse a person, yet make sure the Law is upheld to stone & end Naboth’s life
- After it happened, Jezebel instructs Ahab to go & take possession of Naboth’s vineyard now that Naboth is dead & out of the way
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- As he goes there, long behold, God instructs Elijah to be there at the same time & you can imagine the words of God through Elijah
19 “You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
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- The point of all this is to demonstrate to you that being a false witness is an unthinkable crime against God
- If some in the Corinthian church are correct that Jesus did not rise, then it not only implicates the apostles & all the other eyewitnesses in a falsehood & breach of the 9th commandment but also implicates God who testified that He would raise Christ from the dead
- Whatever you want to think of the apostles, they were men who loved God & there would have been no reason nor persuasion that would have coerced them into lying about the resurrection of Jesus
- Their God-fearing consciences would never have allowed them to continue with a lie like that
2. The Logical Consequences of Denying Bodily Resurrection
2. The Logical Consequences of Denying Bodily Resurrection
Q. Do you believe Jesus was raised bodily from the dead?
Q. Is it open to historical investigation? Yes, it is
- But, we need to realise that the resurrection of Jesus can only be accepted by faith
Q. That does not mean that, historically, it cannot be viewed with credibility?
- Accepting the death, burial & resurrection as a reality & as the truth will need more than just facts – it will need a miracle of God in the heart of that person
- Paul outlines here 2 very important points about denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus
a. You are still in your sins
a. You are still in your sins
- I mentioned this earlier – it you don’t accept that Jesus rose, then you cannot accept that He died for your sins
- There can be no proof that what He had done was approved by God
- Any Tom, Dick or Harry could have been crucified& claimed that He did it for God – who would know? What proof would you have from God?
- If Jesus didn’t rise, NO ONE has died for your sins – you are still in them & still have them hanging over your head
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- This is the consequence in saying that Jesus did not rise bodily
- It’s not only untrue but devastating to one’s life with God – you wouldn’t have one
- Denying the bodily resurrection of Christ completely destroys Christianity
b. Those who have died in Christ are lost
b. Those who have died in Christ are lost
- Here, the apostle says that if Christ has not been raised bodily, then those who believed in Christ have perished
- You become a Christian, you have heard about Christ & believed in Him, BUT if it is true that He hasn’t risen from the dead, then sins have not been dealt with & thus those Christians who have died ARE NOT reconciled with God
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- The word PERISHED is used to describe a person who is lost in sin & doomed
3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
- This is very serious & it tells us of the fate of everyone who does not have the forgiveness of sins in Christ
- No person, no matter how good they are can be saved unless they are reconciled to God
- You have good people who want nothing to do with the Lord – they aren’t even off the starting blocks because their niceness or goodness is not the gauge for acceptance with God – its about relationship with Him; its about reconciliation with Him
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- So if Christ has not risen bodily, the whole world is lost in sin & have & will perish
- No wonder Paul says, that if we suffer for Jesus sake; if we live for Christ & go without to glorify Him – only to find out that the end result is that we PERISH, then we are of anyone, the ones most to be pitied
- In that case, eat, drink & be merry is the better option
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- But this is not the case, because Christ has risen, He has dealt with sin & He has reconciled us to God
- I hope that through these thoughts today that we can truly rejoice knowing that Christ has indeed risen from the grave; dealt with your sin & my sin & has reconciled us with God