The Centrality of the Resurrection

Open: Interview between Christopher Hitchens (Atheist) and Marilyn Sewell (Unitarian Minister)

Sewell: I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Htchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Sewell: I still consider myself a Christian and a person of faith.

Hitchens: Do you mind if I ask you a question? Faith in what? Faith in the resurrection?

Sewell: The way I believe in the resurrection is I believe that one can go from a death in this life, in the sense of being dead to the world and dead to other people, and can be resurrected to new life. When I preach about Easter and the resurrection, it’s in a metaphorical sense.

Transition: The debate about the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead has been raging for 2,000 years, but it is amazing that an Atheist has a better understanding of the importance of the Resurrection than a so called ‘minister’ of the Gospel. The atheist understood that if a person doesn’t believe in the Resurrection, she has no business labeling oneself a Christian.

The Resurrection is one of the non-negotiables of Christianity, and the Apostle Paul engaged in the first recorded argument in support of the Resurrection. In his first letter to the Corinthians he responds to some in the Church who were teaching that Jesus had not been raised and there would be no resurrection for His followers.

Today’s message will focus on the first part of Paul’s defense of the Resurrection as found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. As we read the text we will note that Paul underscores the critical importance of the Resurrection and will also give evidence in support of it. Let’s read our text together:

READ TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

The Resurrection of Jesus is a non-negotiable element in Christianity (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Explanation: The 15th Chapter of 1 Corinthians is the single most comprehensive account of the Resurrection of Jesus. Paul begins this section with a discussion of the nature of the Gospel. Paul is reminding them that the Gospel is the message of salvation. He declares that those of them who received the Gospel were the ones who were being delivered. And then he adds, “unless you believed in vain.” This is very important - we don’t want to miss this. Paul is declaring that a person stands or falls with the Gospel. He is stating that there are some people who don’t have a genuine faith, that their faith was vain (or empty, worthless)

Paul follows this sobering statement with an explanation of the Gospel, Note that he is quick to point out the Gospel did not originate with him - Paul received it just like they did. [Paul gives an account of this is Galatians 1:11-12

Galatians 1:11–12 KJV 1900

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s definition of the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins, he was then buried, and then He rose from the dead on the third day. All of this was according to the Scriptures, meaning that it was all prophesied in the OT and was done according to the Authority of God. Paul ties the Resurrection of Jesus with the essential content of the Gospel.

Example: The Bible contains secondary or even third-level teachings. An example of a third order teaching is music in worship. The psalms attest that music is part of worship, but the Scriptures don’t contain a play list of acceptable music. Worship music is an area with room to maneuver.

Argument: The letter to the Church of Corinth is Paul’s response to a report he had received concerning several problem areas that church members were dealing with. His letter does not just give Paul’s opinion on these issues. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul writes to them ( and to us) and he sets forth God’s truth concerning these matters. It is important for us to understand this view because Paul’s first line of defense involves the Authority of Scripture.

Paul clearly states that the Gospel message is the message of salvation. He then clearly states that the Resurrection of Jesus is an essential pare of the Gospel. It stands to reason on the Authority of Scripture that belief in the Resurrection of Jesus is essential for salvation.

Application: If you don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or you think that that specific belief is a “take it or leave it” belief, you don’t have the right to call yourself a believer. Consider the words of faith as set forth in Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:9–10 KJV 1900

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Not only does Paul ground the Resurrection of Jesus in the Authority of Scripture, he supports it through eyewitness accounts

The Resurrection of Jesus is attested to by many eyewitness accounts (1 Corinthians 15:5-8)

Explanation: Paul shares that the Risen Christ was seen by Peter, the twelve as a group, then to a large group of 500 believers, and then Jesus appeared to His half-brother James, and then to the twelve again just prior to His Ascension. Then, last of all, Paul states that he too was privileged to encounter the Risen Lord.

Paul is writing his letter to the Church at Corinth within a generation of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Paul states that while some of the 500 believers had already died, most of them were still alive at the time of his writing. The fact that this letter and the other NT letters that attest to the Resurrection have withstood the attacks of critics is a form of validation. Many people who read the inspired letters of the NT may have rejected the message, but they were not able to prove the documents themselves were unreliable.

Illustrate: Benny Hinn is a fraud and a liar and a false teacher. He claims he has the spiritual gift of divine healing, but surprisingly cannot produce objective verification.

Hinn claimed he had been invited to the General Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to do a healing service in 1976. He asserted that there was a massive moving of the Spirit and that people were healed, anointed, and discharged from the hospital. He said the hospital was emptied out. The hospital has outright denied such an incident. In fact, hospital records indicate that not one patient was discharged that day. (Book 1, pp.1622-164)

Argument: There is a reason that Benny Hi nn does his crusades in foreign countries. It is easier for him to dodge the truth. But Hinn has been investigated and has been proven to be a fraud. The truth will eventually come out.

The truth of the Resurrection is out, and has withstood vicious attacks for 2,000 years. The reality is that the Resurrection of Jesus is the single most attested event in all of antiquity. Nothing else comes close to the level of analysis that the Resurrection has undergone.

One can refuse to accept the Resurrection and many do. Some prominent voices in the liberal wing of what is called Christianity have advocated and still call for a redefining of what it means to be Christian. John Shelby Spong was an Episcopal Bishop who wrote several books including Why Christianity must change or Die. His main point was that the people of the 21st century are a “space-age” people and we need a religion that fits our advanced understanding of the world around us. One of his main thoughts was that the Christian Church needs to lose the idea of a literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus. Such a belief is not only unnecessary, it is a stumbling block to educated people. The resurrection, according to Spong, needs to go.

Application: No one is ever reasoned into the Kingdom. Paul sets forth the Resurrection on the Authority of Scripture and then gives eyewitness support for it. Notice if you will, how Paul ends this section - he brings in the topic of Grace. Paul declares that he was undeserving of seeing the Risen Christ, and he was correct - he was. God was gracious to Paul and revealed Himself to Paul through an act of Grace. You and I have not seen the Risen Christ, but we, like Paul, are undeserving of being rightly related to God through the Risen Christ. But, we, like Paul, have received God’s grace through faith and belief. That thought should humble us, and make us more thankful and ready to celebrate Easter. Every Sunday should be a Resurrection Sunday for us who are trusting in the Risen Christ.