The Most Important Thing

Introduction

Happy Easter!

There’s a quote from Tim Keller that I’ve always loved. And it’s a good one to start with this morning because it sets the tone for whether or not the next 25 minutes or so of me preaching from God’s Word on the resurrection is worth your time.

Tim Keller once said,

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” - Tim Keller

Listen, I fully understand that there’s many reasons for why we’re here this morning. Easter services are typically a highly attended Sunday in churches all across the country. We’re no exception.

And I totally get that for some here today, you’re here because this is what you do on Easter Sunday. You go to church. And so, for you this may just be part of your yearly rhythm.

Some may be here because you’re just kind people and maybe a friend or co-worker or neighbor invited you and so you’re being friendly and gracious in accepting their invitation.

For others, it’s because all your family gets together on Easter, it’s your family tradition and so this is a time to see everyone.

Maybe for others, your skeptical, but curious. So, you want to know more about Jesus and so you’re here today with skepticism, but openness to at least hear and listen.

For some, maybe you’re hurting, you’re suffering, maybe it’s been a difficult week, or month, or year, or you might be thinking, “No, man, it’s been a hard life” and so you’re wondering is there any hope that things could be different?

So, I come here understanding not only are there a multitude of reasons for why everyone’s here this morning but at the same time there’s a broad spectrum of belief systems in here as well.

And so, for some, the death and resurrection of Jesus is the hope in which you stand. You believe this. It is what you rest in for right standing before God. And so, today is a day of celebration. Yes, Jesus, and only Jesus.

But for others on the opposite side of the spectrum you’re thinking right now, at best, that Christianity is a myth, a fairy tale, a nice story but how could any reasonable person in their right mind believe it? Or, you might be thinking, “No, I’m not even there, you’re think Christianity is a fraud.”

And so, knowing the broad spectrum of why everyone’s here, and the differing beliefs or philosophies of life that are accumulated in this room this morning, I want to at least get us all down to a common denominator to begin.

And that is, can we all at least agree as human beings, can we all at least reason together that if Jesus has in fact risen from the dead then that would be life-altering. That if Jesus has risen from the dead, then that would be life-changing. Could we all at least agree with that? Whether or not you believe the resurrection happened or not.

Because that’s really the matter at hand. That’s the core issue. Like Keller said, the issue is not whether we like what Jesus teaches, it’s whether or not Jesus rose from the dead and is alive today. If he isn’t then you’re right to disregard all of Christianity. It would be a fraud because the entire faith rests upon the resurrection of Jesus.

But, if he is alive. If he has risen from the dead then we’d have to agree that that’s life-changing. Because all of a sudden, there is an eternal hope. A real and confident hope. That would change the way we view our own identity, that would change the way we see creation, how we view the world, how we view our neighbors, how we view suffering. How we view death.

Main Aim

The argument I’m proposing to you today from this text is that there is nothing more important in your life than how you respond to the death and resurrection of Jesus. You have to do something with the resurrection. It can’t be ignored. It’s too massive to just be ignored. You really have two options before you. It’s either a myth or it’s true. But before you cast it away as a myth, I urge you to examine it first because the implications of you being wrong are too important to ignore.

Because again, if Jesus has risen from the dead, then that changes everything. If Jesus is alive then that would mean that there is a God who is holy and that there is such a thing as sin which fractures our relationship with God. If Jesus is alive then that means we are accountable before God and rightfully deserving of his wrath and judgement for our sin, our rebellion, our idolatry.

If Jesus is alive then that would mean that Jesus is the substitute and sacrifice for our sins and that he is the only way to be reconciled and restored with God. He is our only means of justification. If the resurrection is true, then everything else Jesus taught is true.

Everything. Everything hinges on this one marvelous, majestic, glorious truth. It all hinges right here and now, on whether or not he’s still in that grave. If he is, then who cares about anything else Christianity has to say. It would mean absolutely nothing.

We heard the apostle Paul make that very statement earlier this morning when we heard verses 12-19 of 1 Corinthians 15 read. And not only is Christianity useless then, but we’re fools for having followed it if Jesus is still in the grave.

“But, in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.” And because this is true, then that’s very good news and has incredible and massive implications for our lives. In fact, I’d argue from Scripture that because of the uniqueness of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that no other philosophy or belief system in the world throughout history has a leg to stand on or speak on with any kind of authority.

Body

And so, like Paul does with the Corinthian church, on this Easter Sunday, I want to remind us of the most important thing. If you’re a skeptic, at least hear Scripture out and ask yourself if it has answers for the deep questions of the soul and if you’re a believer, be reminded today of the gospel’s impact and hope which it has brought and continues to bring to your life.

Paul begins with this reminder in verse 1, page 796.

1 Corinthians 15:1 (ESV)

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you.

The gospel is good news [of a glorious event that happened in history].

Paul’s writing to this church reminding them of the gospel. Much of this letter up to this point has been Paul addressing all kinds of issues in the church. They were kind of a mess and they were getting distracted with all kinds of peripheral issues. Secondary issues. Now, still important, but not the main thing. In fact, because they were neglecting the most important thing, the gospel, it was why there were so many issues among them.

So, Paul addresses marriage, and morality, and sex, and division. He addresses the beauty of diversity within the church, all kinds of things.

But he’s coming toward the end of this letter and wrapping it up with the most important thing.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Paul’s quite simply saying to this struggling church, “guys, (brothers & sisters) remember what truly matters.” “Remember that your hope is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus.” “Remember that your identity, who you are is found in who God says you are.” “You’re a child of the King. A son, a daughter of God Most High. You’re loved. You’re accepted. You’re forgiven, You’re free.” That is all that truly matters.

The gospel is not something we must do to earn God’s favor and acceptance. Please hear that today. It’s not a set of moral codes or principles by which we live our life hoping God will love and accept us if we’re good enough. It’s what’s been done for us on the cross. The gospel is news of something so incredible, so magnificent, so unbelievable, that it can’t be ignored and it’s something that we must respond to.

Jesus died. Jesus was raised. Your hope is in him.

He died because we have belittled a holy God. We have belittled his name, his glory. And we are all guilty, every single one of us. We were created for relationship with God, we were created to bring praise and glory to his name and instead we have said, “No, we want the glory, I want the glory.” We have chosen to exalt what’s been created rather than the Creator. This is the great blasphemy of the universe.

And the holiness of God demands justice. And so, God has responded to this belittlement of his name, to this great blasphemy in two ways. He responded with hell and he responded with the death of his Son, Jesus on the cross.

Hell was created for those who would choose to bear the wrath of God for their sin, for their belittlement, for their blasphemy themselves. No human words can clearly express the horror of hell.

The sending of Jesus was for those who would turn from their sin, and turn in faith to Jesus to find forgiveness. When Jesus hung on that cross, he bore the wrath of God for our sin, for our belittlement of God’s glory. He took our place. He paid the debt. He was crushed for our sin so that through faith we would receive forgiveness and eternal life. This is why the gospel is a big deal. It’s why it’s most important.

This is why Jesus died. To pay the price. But the death of Jesus would accomplish nothing without the resurrection. He was raised, because without the resurrection, there’s no justification.

Romans 4:25 (ESV)

[Jesus] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Meaning, the only reason we are declared right before God, this is what justification is, a legal declaration of innocence. The only reason this is possible is because of Jesus’ victory over humanity’s greatest enemy, death.

Death is our great enemy. Nobody escapes it. Jesus’ resurrection was the final stomp upon all that sought to destroy God’s good world. Death no longer has the final say in our lives. Through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus now has the final word and that word is “forgiven.”

This is the gospel. This is the good news. The death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s good news because it’s news of what’s been done for you. Not something you do for God because anything we could do would be insufficient.

Paul continues.

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 (ESV)

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

The gospel is central.

Just as the earth revolves around the sun, so should our lives revolve around the gospel. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the gravitational pull of our lives. It is the power of God for salvation. It is the lens by which we experience life.

What’s Paul say here?

He says the gospel is something you received. And so, it’s something that has taken place in your past. For those who are believers there was a moment in your past where you responded in faith to the gospel. You believed it.

But yet, notice Paul’s flow of thinking here. He says the gospel is something in which you now stand and by which you are being saved. Meaning, not only is the gospel part of a Christian’s past, but it is the present reality of an ongoing presence in a Christian’s life. We never outgrow the gospel. We never move on to deeper things beyond Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is central.

And so, for a person to think of the gospel as something only in their past that they at one point responded to misses the present reality and impact of the death and resurrection of Jesus and it misses the future promises of what the gospel brings about.

Here’s what I mean by that. We don’t simply respond to the death and resurrection of Jesus and then move on to higher and loftier things. Like morality and good works. No, instead, it’s the centrality of the gospel in our lives that bring those things about. So, I don’t forgive others who have hurt me because that’s just what good people do. I forgive because I’ve been forgiven. I’m not gracious to other because I want people to like me or I want to set myself up on a pedestal to look down on others. I seek to be gracious because God’s has extended grace to me.

As I look to the future I don’t need to fear death because death has been defeated on the cross. My identity is not found in what others think of me but who I am in Christ. That’s all that truly matters. Jesus is my justification. He is my identity. This is the present ongoing reality of the gospel in my life. This is what the death and resurrection of Jesus brings about. This is why it’s central to our lives.

This is what makes the church, counter-cultural. This is what’s transformative. When it’s filled with people who love others not because they want to get something in return but because Jesus’ love compels them. What makes the church counter-cultural is when it’s filled with people who forgive because their desire is not to make sure they’re right, but rather they want to model the forgiveness and humility of Christ.

What makes the church counter-cultural is that because we don’t fear death, we go to the hardest places on earth with this message of redemption. Because God has so loved us we love others, we love our community, we love those who are different than ourselves. We care for the hurting, we speak for the voiceless. We show mercy to those in need. We gladly give of our time, our money, our resources. Our homes are open to all. We show compassion and hospitality. We’re good neighbors, we speak with kindness.

All of this flows from lives centered on the gospel. God help us when we fail. God help us and forgive us when we fall short of this.

Conclusion

Listen, I don’t know everyone’s story in here. Like I said at the beginning today, there’s many reasons for why we’re all here. And everyone’s story or history is different. But I began by saying, can we at least agree that if the resurrection of Jesus happened, then that would be life-changing? However, it’s on you for how you will respond to the death and resurrection.

And if your struggle is feeling as though you don’t deserve forgiveness, listen, we’re all unworthy of God’s grace. I’m the least deserving of everyone here.

Paul said in verse 9,

1 Corinthians 15:9 (ESV)

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle.

He understood his unworthiness.

But what’s he say in verse 10?

1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV)

But by the grace of God I am what I am.

You know what’s going through my mind most Sundays I’m up here? “You’re such a hypocrite!” Listen, I’m broken, I’m unworthy on my own standing but I am what I am by the grace of God. It’s the blood of Jesus that speaks for me. I have no other hope but Christ.

The gospel, as one author put it, “De-centers unbelievers from the center of their own life. They recognize they are what they are by grace.”

The gospel now becomes our functional identity. Our identity is not in how we perform, but in Jesus’ life. Which is why we’re free from the feeling of unworthiness. So, Jesus’ death means we no longer need to fear punishment for our sin, it’s been taken care of. We’re free. His resurrection means we no longer need to fear death, it’s been defeated and stripped of its power and sting. Jesus is our life, our new identity. He is our worthiness.

My aim today was to simply say that the death and resurrection of Jesus demands a response.

And so, I’ll just say two quick things as I wrap up here.

If you’re not a Christian, how will you respond? Ask yourself at least this one question. What are you looking to to find meaning, purpose, fulfillment and eternal joy in your life? And you may answer that with good things, but will they fully satisfy? Will they make sense of your life? Will they never disappoint you? Will it always be there for you?

The invitation from Jesus is to come to him and be satisfied forever.

To the Christian here, how will you respond? The gospel propels us outward. I mean, what’s Paul say in response to God’s grace in verse 10? “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

Paul didn’t receive mercy and then kick his feet up and coast the rest of his life. He got to work. We have all of eternity to rest in the goodness and sufficiency of Christ. We have but a season of life on this earth to live on mission for the glory of God. And so, the question for you is, how is the gospel propelling you to action? How is it propelling you to love and good works? Not good works to earn God’s favor, but good works (love, compassion, and mercy) in response to God’s favor through faith in Christ?

Church, I’m tired. I’m tired of mediocrity. I’m tired of lukewarmness. I’m tired of chasing comfort. We’re called to more. The passion of Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection, his mission was anything but mediocre or lukewarm. Thank God his love and passion for us was not lukewarm like so often our response is to him. Like so often my response is to him.

This is a day for all of us to respond in one way or another. For some, it’s the response of repentance and faith. Turning to Jesus for the very first time. For others, maybe it’s a response of action. Seeking to now live out what God has done in our lives for his glory and the joy of all people. Do you believe this message of the gospel? If so, let’s go get to work and see the kingdom of God built for his glory. Let’s get outside these comfortable walls to lovingly engage our community with the hope of redemption. Let’s not rest until all nations come to worship the great King of kings who is alive.