Resurrection Sunday: Raised!

Introduction

[ILLUS] I had taken a group of teenagers on a mission trip to Dallas, Texas. We met the youth and missions director at the church hosting us, and he wanted to share with us a way of teaching the Bible that they had found effective at their church. So, we sat and listened as he told us the story of the woman at the well. I was think to myself, “Oh no, I just taught our students about Jesus and the woman at the well a few weeks ago. They might be bored listening to another Bible study on it so soon.”

But when he had finished telling the story of the woman at the well, he said, “Raise your hand if you’ve never heard that Bible story before?”

Nearly every hand went up, and I wanted to pull my hair out.

Ministry can have it frustrating moments, and no one knew those moments better than the Apostle Paul—many of those moments were caused by the Corinthian church.

[CONTEXT] In the Corinthian church, there were lawsuits, adultery, divorce, people gorging themselves at the Lord’s Supper, prideful use of spiritual gifts, and many other problems..

But perhaps their biggest problem—the one that had to make Paul want to pull his hair out—was that some in the church said that there was no resurrection from the dead.

Paul had given a chunk of His life to preaching Jesus crucified and resurrected to these Corinthians!

How could they now believe that there was no resurrection from the dead?

Maybe this denial of resurrection was the result of believing that anything material (like the human body) was evil.

Maybe it was the result of being influenced by Jewish religious leaders like the Sadducees who said there was no resurrection from the dead.

Maybe it was just the result of not thinking resurrection essential to Christianity.

[INTER] I mean, we need to ask, is it that important to believe in resurrection?

[TS] This morning as we think on the resurrection of Jesus, I want you to look at how Paul answered that question in 1 Corinthians 15…

[READING - 1 Corinthians 15:1-20]

1 Corinthians 15:1–20 NASB95

1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit 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 did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. 12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, 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 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

[PRAYER]

[TS] In vv. 1-20, the Apostle Paul gives us at least three REASONS why the resurrection of Jesus is important.

Major Ideas

REASON #1: The resurrection is important because it’s a fact (1 Cor. 15:1-8).

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 NASB95

1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

[EXP] When Paul came to Corinth to preach the Gospel—the good news of God’s grace toward sinners in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah—he preached the Gospel as fact.

The death and resurrection of Jesus wasn’t something that might have happened but something that did happen.

It wasn’t something that might have been meaningful for the Corinthians but that something that was meaningful for the Corinthians.

They had received this Gospel as fact.

They were standing in this Gospel as fact.

They were saved by this Gospel as fact unless their so-called “belief” was actually not belief at all.

Paul said that this Gospel preached to the Corinthians was fact according to the OT Scriptures.

It was fact according to Apostles as well.

It was fact according to more than 500 disciples who saw the crucified and buried Jesus resurrected.

Interestingly, at the time of Paul’s writing most of those people were still alive, so the facts of this Gospel could’ve been verified by Paul’s readers.

Paul wouldn’t have mentioned these Apostles and these disciples unless he was inviting His initial readers to verify the fact of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection.

But then Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:8…

1 Corinthians 15:8 NASB95

8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

[ILLUS] In Acts 9, the person least likely to ever believe the resurrection of Jesus as fact was Saul of Tarsus, whom we know as the Apostle Paul. In Acts 9:1 was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.”

In fact, Saul was on his way to the synagogues of Damascus hunting for Christians when the Lord Jesus knocked Saul to the ground with His resurrection glory.

Soon Saul was called to salvation through faith in the resurrected Jesus.

Soon Saul was called to preach the resurrected Jesus as fact, which wasn’t too difficult because Paul had seen Him with his own eyes.

[APP] Now, you and I, we haven’t seen the resurrected Jesus with our own eyes but as Jesus said, “Blessed are they who do not see, and yet believe,” (John 20:29). But just because we haven’t seen the resurrected Jesus, it doesn’t change the fact that He has been raised!

Here in 1 Corinthians 15 we are asked to take the testimony of the Bible concerning Jesus’s resurrection as fact.

The Bible is consistent in its testimony—He is risen!

We are here asked to take the testimony of the Apostles concerning Jesus’s resurrection as fact.

The Apostles were consistent in their testimony—He is risen!

We are here asked to take the testimony of the more than 500 disciples concerning the resurrection of Jesus as fact.

The testimony of Jesus’s disciples down through the ages is consistent—He is risen!

We are here asked to take the testimony of the Apostle Paul concerning the testimony of Jesus as fact.

And Paul’s testimony is always consistent—He is risen!

Do we take it as fact?

Do we believe what the Word of God says here concerning the resurrection of Jesus?

Do we believe that the resurrection of Jesus is a fact?

[TS] If we do, it will change our lives.

That’s our second REASON why the resurrection of Jesus is important…

REASON #2: The resurrection is important because it changes lives (1 Cor. 15:9-11).

1 Corinthians 15:9–11 NASB95

9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit 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 did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

[EXP] Paul’s life radically changed after he was blinded by the glory of Jesus on the rode to Damascus.

Instead of hunting Christians, he planted churches.

Instead of attacking preachers, he became an Apostle.

He preached in city after city!

He traveled to country to country!

He gave His life to preaching Jesus raised from the dead!

But Paul knew that it was all grace.

All the Gospel-energy to go and go and go and go—it was all fueled by the grace of God in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul said, “I labored more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

[ILLUS] I was listening to an interview with Dr. Joel Beeke recently. Dr. Beeke is a fantastic preacher and author, a tireless servant of the Lord.

The interviewer was asking him about his work schedule. Dr. Beeke said that he spends a little time in the morning with his wife and then gets to his office around 9-10 a.m. and works until maybe 8-9 p.m. every night. That’s 10-12 hours every day. He goes home, eats supper with his wife, and then they may go on a late night walk.

The interviewer seemed impressed and asked Dr. Beeke why he works so hard day in and day out. Doesn’t he worry about burning out or just wearing out?

Dr. Beeke replied by saying that he had had a radical salvation experience and this is just what he delighted to do in response to God’s grace.

That’s how Paul felt too.

All that he did, he did because of the amazing grace of God in Jesus crucified and resurrected.

[APP] Please understand that when I talk about the Apostle Paul or about Dr. Joel Beeke, I’m not holding these men up for you to see.

What I want you to see is the engine that makes such tireless servants go!

That engine is a Jesus who died for their sins and was raised to make them right with God!

The resurrected Jesus transformed a Saul of Tarsus and a Joel Beeke into tireless servants of God!

The resurrected Jesus wants to transform us as well!

Sure, Jesus wants to save us, but He also wants to fill us with Gospel-energy and set you loose in the world.

That Gospel-energy comes to us when we become increasingly astonished at the lavish grace of God toward us in Jesus Christ.

It needs to be our ambition to say along with the Apostle Paul…

“I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

[TS] Our final REASON why the resurrection of Jesus is important…

REASON #3: The resurrection is important because it is salvation (1 Cor. 15:12-20).

1 Corinthians 15:12–20 NASB95

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, 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 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

[EXP] In these verses Paul says that if you deny resurrection in general you deny the resurrection of Jesus specifically. Then Paul explores what it would mean if Jesus were not raised from the dead.

First, if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then the message of the Gospel—the message that Paul and the other Apostles preached—would be in vain (v. 14a).

All their preaching would mean nothing if Jesus is not raised from the dead.

Second, if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then faith in Jesus is in vain.

It’s not just faith in anything or anyone that saves. And it’s not just faith in Jesus anyway we want Him to be that saves. We must have faith in Jesus as He is presented to us in the pages of God’s Word. We must have faith in Him sinless. We must have faith in Him crucified. We must have faith in Him resurrected.

If we don’t have faith in Jesus resurrected, then we have a meaningless faith—a faith that will not save.

Third, if Jesus is not raised from the dead, it means that Christians like Paul and Christians like you and me are misrepresenting God (v. 15).

Paul preached that God raised Jesus from the dead, but if Jesus is not raised then Paul was saying something about God that wasn’t true.

We preach that God raised Jesus from the dead, but if Jesus is not raised then we too are saying something about God that isn’t true.

That’s very serious.

Fourth, if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then our loved ones who have died believing in a resurrected Jesus… well, they have perished along with Jesus.

Praise God that none of this is true because Jesus has been raised!

The Gospel is the most meaningful message ever because Jesus has been raised!

Our faith in Jesus saves us from the wrath of God to come because Jesus has been raised!

We are not misrepresenting God; we are representing Him most accurately when we say that He raised Jesus from the grave because He did raise Jesus from the grave.

And our loved ones who died believing in a resurrected Jesus met Him when they stepped into eternity.

As Paul writes in vv. 19-20…

1 Corinthians 15:19–20 NASB95

19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

The resurrected Christ Jesus is a certain hope in this life and in eternity to come because He has been raised from the dead!

And because He has been raised, we shall be raised with Him when we die!

All of this should lead us to conclude what is so blatantly obvious—the resurrection of Jesus is essential to our salvation!

There simply is not salvation without it!

[ILLUS] Sometime back I was reading an interview with N. T. Wright, an Anglican theologian and popular Christian writer.

In the interview Wright talked about the resurrection of Jesus. He said, “I have friends who I am quite sure are Christians who do not believe in the bodily resurrection.”

Speaking about one friend specifically, he said, “(He) really does not believe that Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead. But I know (him) well: he loves Jesus and believe in him passionately. The philosophical and cultural world he has lived in has made it very, very difficult for him to believe in the bodily resurrection. I actually think that’s a major problem and it affects most whatever else he does, and I think that Means he has all sorts of flaws as a teacher, but I don’t want to say he isn’t a Christian.”

N. T. Wright may not want to say it, but listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:16-17…

1 Corinthians 15:16–17 NASB95

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.

N. T. Wright may not want to say it, but listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:9…

Romans 10:9 NASB95

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

This is how important resurrection of Jesus is!

If He is not raised, we are still in our sins—still under the wrath of God—still headed for hell!

If we don’t believe He as been raised, we are are not saved!

[APP] You can’t be saved unless you believe that Jesus is raised from the dead.

Yes, you must believe that there is a God.

Yes, you must believe that you’ve sinned against Him and the cost for sinning against Him is death.

Yes, you must believe that God sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for your sin by offering Himself in your place upon the cross.

Yes, you must believe that Jesus died according to the Scriptures.

Yes, you must believe that Jesus was buried according to the Scriptures.

And, yes, you must believe that Jesus was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

[TS] …

Conclusion

Do you believe that Jesus is raised from the dead?

Do you believe that His resurrection is a fact?

How has that belief changed your life?

How is that belief changing your life today?

He is risen.

He is risen indeed.