Untitled Sermon

This Changes Everything; 1 Cor. 15

Christ died in our place. He took upon Himself the wrath of God that we deserve to bear. He kept the law of God perfectly, and laid down his life willingly. The innocent Jesus served the death sentence on behalf of the criminals. By placing our faith in Christ, who hung on the cross, we are declared righteous. Innocent, not guilty, the sin debt has been paid. God’s enemies are now his beloved children and seated at his table.

Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15 in response to some people in the Church of Corinth who were saying that Christians who die will not have a bodily resurrection. When Paul responds to them, he shows them just how crazy this line of thinking is. He is not doubting the resurrection of Jesus, he is showing that the resurrection of Jesus changes everything for the Christian.

If Christ is Not Resurrected

Christ is Not Raised (13)

If Christ is not raised, then obviously the Christian faith becomes a house of cards and the faith completely crumbles. If Jesus is still in the tomb, then:

Preaching the gospel is in Vain (14)

The gospel is the good news that Jesus came to save sinners. But if Jesus is not alive, then the good news is really bad news. If Jesus is not resurrected, then sin, death, and the devil will forever rule this world. We are a conquered people with no good news at all.

Faith in Christ is Meaningless (14)

If Christ is not risen, then we are putting faith in a dead person. What power is in that? Missions? meaningless.

All Who Preach That Christ is Resurrected Are Liars (15)

ALL the apostles, and every gospel preacher is a liar. And we are leading everyone we tell further into a lie. If Christ is not resurrected, I am the last person on this planet that you need to trust. Even Jesus is made out to be a liar because He said that “I am the resurrection and the Life.”

This is why I cant stomach when someone says that they don’t believe that Jesus is the son of God but only a good man and a good moral teacher. If He is not God, then no, he was not a good moral teacher. He was a liar, He gave people false hope of eternal salvation. How is that being morally good? That argument doesn’t logically work. C.S. Lewis was right when he said that Jesus was either a lunatic, a liar, or really the Son of God. Its all or nothing with Jesus.

We are All Enslaved to Sin (17)

All Romans 6:23 would say is the wages of sin is death. Romans 8:1 would simply say that there condemnation for all. If Christ did not rise, His sacrifice on the cross meant nothing, and He did not defeat sin, which means that we have no hope of defeating sin.

We are all in Hell.(18)

We are a Pitiful group of People (19)

We have no hope, so there is no purpose, there is only this present life here on earth. As verse 32 says “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.”

But in Fact We Know that Christ Has Been Raised From the Dead.

Jesus told the disciples that he was going to suffer, die, be buried, but rise again, and that is exactly what happened. He rose from the dead! It was a real, historical event with real historical evidence, such as the empty tomb, numerous eye witnesses (5-8), there are even 1st Century non-Christian historians such as Josephus who wrote about the life of Jesus.

In rising, Jesus truly defeated sin and death, and everything that he did was validated.(Romans 1:3-4). Truly, this changes everything.

Jesus’s Resurrection Ensures the following:

The Sins of those Who trust in Him as Savior and Lord are forgiven

The resurrection of Jesus affirms that Jesus reigns over all; that sin, death, and satan have been dealt a death blow by our victorious king.

The Gospel Message is True

Faith in Christ is True, and He can Be Fully Trusted

The preaching of the gospel is of the greatest value

The gospel is of first importance (1-4)

Those Who Die in Christ will Be Raised (v20)

Firstfruits (aparche)- it refers to a first sample of a crop that shows the nature and quality of the rest of the crop. So what Paul is saying by Christ being the firstfruit means that Christ’s resurrected body gives the believer a foretaste of what their resurrected bodies will be like. When Christ returns, all his people from all of history will receive resurrection bodies that will never weaken, age, get sick or die.

1 Corinthians 15 tells us that our earthly bodies are perishable, sinful, weak, natural, they bear the image of Adam, the man of dust, and they are mortal.

But our resurrected bodies will be imperishable, raised in glory and power, will bear the image of Christ, and will be immortal.

Because Christ is resurrected, I can say confidently that I am going to heaven without being self-righteous. any other religion involves self-righteousness to get to heaven. It’s all based on what you do to get there.

Because it has nothing to do with what I have done at all. It has everything to do with what Christ has done, and me receiving in faith what Christ has done on my behalf.

So Christian, be encouraged. Jesus is alive, and this changes everything. You now have the greatest purpose in life. Because Christ is raised, the gospel is of first importance. Because the gospel is of first importance, it should change everything about you. Our lives cant look the same if we have been changed by the resurrected Christ.

Also, be encouraged by the last verse of chapter 15.

For those who have not received Christ. Because Christ is resurrected, this changes everything. This means that everything He says is true, and when he said that He is the only way to salvation is true, which means you must respond to the reality of him being Lord. you can receive him in faith, or reject him,. This is a reality that no one on earth can escape.

I want us to close by reading 1 Cor. 15: 55-56