The Gospel 1 Cor 15

The Text

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,, he also appeared to me.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, 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. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL TO THE FAITH

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 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 proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

CHRIST’S RESURRECTION GUARANTEES OURS

20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27 For God has put everything under his feet., Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. 28 When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

The Section

3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,, he also appeared to me.

The Gospel

That Christ died,

was buried,

was raised,

Christ appeared,

The Gospel is: The story of the crucial events in the life of Christ.

Gospel : εὐαγγέλιον - To proclaim, declare, good news.

NOT

Noticed I did not say: ‘How you are saved’ or how the gospel saves you.

How you are saved is irrelevant.

Your salvation is not part of the gospel. It comes from the gospel, it does save you, it

But I’m supposed to share my testimony when I share the Gospel so that must be a part of the Gospel right?

Wrong!

The Gospel is not your flavor of Jesus. Try him because he worked for me. That might be the icing on the cake sure, but it’s not the cake.

There was a man who was living in sin, a bad dude, and when he was in prison he heard the message that would change his life. A minister gave him an experience he couldn’t ignore and so he commited his life and became one himself. He spent his whole life in ministry and then found out right before he died that the experience was false. That man was Malcom X. The Minister was Elijah Mohamed. The experience was of Islam.

Experience and belief are not the Gospel.

But I’m a Christian I could never have a false experience right?

You mean to tell me that no one ha ever tricked you into believing something that isn’t real?

Faith, repentance, and obedience are all essentials to be a Christian, but they’re not the gospel.

The Gospel is News. About history. What actually happened, not a subjective experience.

What God has done not what we do or how we feel.

So what is that news exactly? What is the Gospel that we are to proclaim?

Historic Creeds and Confessions Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary

Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell

The third day he rose again from the dead

He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead

I believe in the Holy Ghost

I believe a holy catholic church; the communion of saints

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting. Amen.

Funny huh? How we don’t have to make something up. It’s already there. We know what it is.

That’s the simple version.

But how can that be the Gospel?

That’s has nothing to do with how I am saved!

No that is the news that saves you, but you are not an essential part of the gospel. You are saved because of the gospel, God’s work throughout history to save humanity is something he accomplished for you, and he would have saved you.

The Gospel is the Climax of the Book, the story that God has been telling since the beginning. We’re living in the conclusion of that story.

our calling is to tell people about the news that Christ is King, and he has already won the battle.

That sounds super boring. and If that’s true why do I even need ALERT right now? Anyone can give a verbal record of the past.

And in some sense that’s true. You don’t need training to be faithful to the gospel.

But what you do need.

Is the gospel.

No duh, but what does that mean?

Well let me lay it out for you.

The Gospel is the story of what God has done throughout all history.

Through Creation to the the Fall,

Then through Isreal and his promises to them,

Through the Messiah of Isreal

Then that Messiah changed the rules. Or rather shows he’s already changed the rules.

The door i now open to all who will have faith in that Messiah who obviously had to be God himself to accomplish what he accomplished.

And when you realize what he did, and you understand it. You know what that means for your life.

I always put it like this:

God is Holy

We are not

Jesus Saves

Now Christ is my life

You can boil it down to that, but guys it’s so much more than that.