1 Corinthians 15

Today is the second-to-last week we’ll be spending in the book of 1 Corinthians, and I hope you’d agree that the topics we’ve been examining in this book for the past few weeks have been important ones.

Church unity…spiritual gifts…the role of the Holy Spirit in the church…worship…these are central themes for Paul, and they’re central themes for us as well.

But as Paul sets up the ending of his letter, he turns to the most central theme of all, the most important theme for followers of Jesus.

The theme of resurrection.

As with other topics, it’s a subject that apparently is causing some confusion in the Corinthian church, and Paul wants to set the record straight on this most important of beliefs.

And one of the ways he does so is by offering, right at the start of 1 Corinthians 15, what may be the very earliest concise statement of Christian belief.

It may, in fact, be the earliest creed of the church, it might have been recited by members of the early church as a declaration of what they believed.

So this morning, as we read the first eight verses of 1 Corinthians 15, when we get to this part of the passage…I’m going to ask you to join your voices with the saints of old and read these words aloud as they might have.

Granted…in a different language…but you get the point. J

We’ll put the text on the screen for you…and you’ll read the part in bold yellow:

“Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received:

That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.”

Now here’s a little trivia for you: First Corinthians is one of the earliest books we have in the entire New Testament, written within 20-30 years of the life of Jesus.

Which means that what Paul is saying here isn’t some story that’s been handed down from one generation to the next.

He’s not relating something that has its roots in someone’s great-great-great grandfather.

This is eyewitness stuff right here in chapter 15.

He says it himself…many of those he’s talking about are still alive,yes, some have died…

…but most of the people who saw Jesus risen from the dead are still around.

That’s incredibly significant. Especially these days.

Because we live in an age where there are a lot of misconceptions about what Christians believe.

And one of the most common ones is that Christians have put their faith in some fairy tale that sprang to life decades…even centuries after the events they claim to describe.

“Oh, you Christians…you’re trusting in some legend that existed for generations before anyone even bothered to write it down.”

And yet here we have Paul…as close to that first Easter as I am to my high school graduation, pretty much as close as we all are to the fall of the Berlin Wall…or the very first episode of “Friends…”

…not that I’m equating those in terms of worldwide importance, but you get the idea…

…here’s Paul, that close to the actual events, saying, “This is what happened: Jesus died…for our sins.

He was buried.

And on the third day, just as the Old Testament prophets predicted…he rose from the dead.”

And he says…there are lots of folks you can still talk to who saw it happen.

For me that is powerful evidence for the historical reliability of the resurrection accounts.

The early church said: “We believe this…because we saw it with our own eyes.”

That’s compelling.

But you know what?

What Paul says next is even more compelling for me.

Because he says that not only is there the testimony of the eyewitnesses pointing to the resurrection of Jesus, there’s also his own testimony.

The story of the church’s worst enemy…transformed into the church’s greatest missionary.

“I am the least of all the apostles.” Paul says, “In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.”

And yet…by the grace of God, after a dramatic encounter with the risen Lord, Saul the persecutor…becomes Paul the apostle.

That kind of change doesn’t just happen.

There has to be something behind it…and Paul is saying that something, that life-changing, course-altering, person-revising something, is the power of God shown in the resurrection of Jesus.

Paul clearly saw the resurrection as the center of his faith and his ministry.

In fact, that’s the reason he’s bringing it up here in 1 Corinthians 15.

Because there are some people in the city of Corinth who are teaching that there’s no such thing as resurrection from the dead.

In fact, some of the Corinthian folks adhered to a philosophy that taught that the body was a prison…a horrible shell that our souls were condemned to inhabit until we die…and are finally set free.

So they taught that resurrection didn’t really happen in the way the church had traditionally understood it.

And so Paul decides to show them the absurdity of that thinking if carried to its logical conclusion.

And so we pick up a bit later at verse 12:

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that 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, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But Christ has indeed 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 comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Having reminded the Corinthians about the centrality of Christ’s death and resurrection: Christ died for our sins according the Scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

…for Paul, those are the facts. That’s what happened.

And having reminded them of this, he now begins to talk about the significance of the resurrection.

He doesn’t stop with “here’s what happened,” he goes on to “here’s what it means.”

And what it means…is everything.

If the resurrection isn’t real, Paul says, then: faith is useless, preaching is useless…then the witnesses I was talking about…they’re a bunch of liars

And worse than that…if the resurrection isn’t real: Sin? It hasn’t been dealt with at all. Death? It still has the upper hand. And Hope? You can just forget about it.

Paul doesn’t pull any punches here.

In a word…if the resurrection didn’t happen, then all we have left…is defeat.

We might as well pack it in, go home, and embrace the philosophy Paul quotes later in this chapter:

“Might as well eat and drink and not bother caring, because we’re all going to die anyway.”

I don’t know about you…but I can’t live like that.

There is a part of me, and I’d bet there’s a part of you, that resists that kind of defeatism.

There’s a part of us that’s hungry for a message of meaning and purpose and victory.

And that’s the message Paul points us to in this passage.

I can almost picture him shouting it out loud as he writes the words in verse 20:

“BUT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD!”

One preacher once said this is the most important “but” in the entire Bible.

Paul is saying: “It doesn’t get any bigger than this: Jesus died. But Jesus came back.”

And that changes everything, because it means that even in this broken, messed up world…you and I have hope.

Because all of the things that want to rob us of that hope…are defeated by the work of Christ.

Even the greatest fear we face as humans: the fear of death.

Because let’s be honest…we’re all going to die.

The American philosopher Ben Franklin said it well: the only two certain things in life are death and taxes.

There’s a very old story from the Ancient Near East about a merchant in a bazaar who runs across a friend of his, and the friend is white as a sheet and shaking with fear.

“What’s wrong?” the merchant asks.

“I need to leave town at once,” the friend replies with trembling voice.

“Why?” asks the merchant.

“Because just now in the bazaar I saw Death, and I knew he was looking for me. I can’t let him find me. I’m leaving immediately for the village of Samarra.”

So the friend hurries off to make his journey to Samarra, and later that day the merchant himself encounters Death in the bazaar.

And Death says to him, “I was surprised to see your friend here earlier today.”

“Why is that?” asks the merchant.

“Because I have an appointment with him later tonight,” Death replies, “In Samarra.”

It’s true.

We can’t escape death.

But that doesn’t mean we have to fear it.

Paul’s words here to the Corinthians…to us…they’re words of hope.

They’re words of victory.

Paul describes the work of Jesus after his resurrection as one of “destroying dominion, authority, and power” of “putting all his enemies under his feet.”

And do you know who the enemies of Jesus are?

I’ll tell you who they are. Some of them, anyway.

The enemies of Jesus are any voice, any power, any influence, anything at all that seeks to keep us, to keep you and me, in that place of worry and dread and fear…that place where we doubt God’s goodness and God’s mercy.

Those voices that want to rob us of faith and trust and hope.

And the picture that Paul paints for us here is that these enemies that haunt us and taunt us…when they come face to face with the resurrected and glorified Jesus…

…they are silenced. Mute. Defeated.

And the very last one to face defeat, Paul tells us, is the one we fear the most.

“The last enemy to be destroyed,” it says in verse 26, “is death.”

Think about that for a moment.

It’s not saying that Jesus simply demotes death to some lower level of meaning.

Death isn’t some movie villain who slithers away, half-defeated, only to show up again in the sequel.

The Bible says that when all is said and done, death itself is destroyed.

And we can know that…because Jesus himself rose from the dead.

The firstfruits…the preview of what’s to come.

In the words of one of my favorite Christian musicians, Keith Green:

“It is finished. He has done it.

Life conquered death.

Jesus Christ has done it.”

That is good news.

When we put our faith in what Jesus has done, death loses its sting.

And we can rest in the promise that one day he’s going to call our name…and there will be end to shame and sorrow.

As it says in the book of Revelation:

“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

I have read that verse at just about every funeral I’ve ever conducted, and it never fails to stir me and fill me with awe and hope.

I heard a story this past week about another pastor who likes to use that verse at graveside services.

And I’ll share his words, as he describes a little ritual he’s developed along with that passage.

“After reading the entire passage and concluding the service, I get into my car to leave. But starting the engine I look around the cemetery at all the tombstones and say out loud, ‘Death—you are not the final word.’ Then I drive from the cemetery with the certain knowledge that as surely as God raised Jesus from the grave that there will come a day when death will die.”

My friends, our prayer for you is that you might rest in that certain knowledge, in the hope of the resurrection.

And may that hope stir us to a greater sense of urgency and passion to share with the world the wonderful news that we proclaim on Easter Sunday and really, every day:

He is Risen.

HE IS RISEN INDEED.

Will you pray with me please?