Hold Firm

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Paul reminds the Chr. in Corinth, and everyone reading his letter, of the basic gospel message. Why?
Fake news is traveling around the Roman Empire even in Corinth. To set things straight, Paul reminds the Church of the basics.
What is the original message that the Chr. responded to?
What’s the solid rock on which the Chr. have taken their stand?
What did God do that saved them from sin and death?
I could ask you the same thing.
What was it about the gospel, about the church, about Christians that originally caught your attention?
When you first learned about Jesus Christ from your parents, your church, or your mentor, what grabbed your attention so you saw the gospel as life-giving; life changing?
When you tell the gospel, what has 1st importance?
If this was a class (but it isn’t), I’d get you to do an exercise: find a partner and explain the gospel. You have 2 min. Go!
Where would you start?
Paul faces pressure to set things straight in this letter to the Chr. b/c someone’s been preaching a false message that Jesus’ resurrection didn’t happen. It’s not the first time such rumours got spread. It’s certainly not the last time.
So Paul, and the HS who inspires and guides his writing, reminds the church that the resurrection is central to the whole gospel message. The gospel displays the power of Christ to save sinners.
Paul tells the gospel in 4 points:
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
I Corinthians 15:3–5 (NIV)
· Christ died for our sins
o Jesus is the Christ, 100% God + 100% human
o he came into Creation to break the power of sin & death
Sin is disobeying God’s instructions for holiness. Sin cuts us off from other people and from God. Sin ultimately leads to death.
o Do you have a problem w/ sin? Measuring stick:
§ Do you love God as #1 in your life all the time?
§ Do you love your housemates and coworkers like yourself?
Failing to love God and neighbour leads to death. Jesus came to take your punishment for disobedience.
o Paul reminds the Chr. here, just like he did earlier in this letter that Jesus’ death on a cross is the heart of the gospel. It’s the gospel that caught their attention when Paul first preached:
I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
I Corinthians 2:2–5(NIV)
· he was buried
o burial demonstrates that Jesus truly died
o encouraging reminder when we stand at the grave of someone we love . . . or when we think of our own death:
Jesus was buried to make the grave safe for us;
it’s a holy place “he sanctified the grave”
· he was raised on the third day
“It was impossible for death to keep it’s hold on him.” Acts 2: 24
o rest of ch. 15 explores the implications of Jesus’ resurrection
o he’s the firstborn of those who have fallen asleep – if Jesus is first, obviously more will follow
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
I Corinthians 15:17-19 (NIV)
Benefit of resurrection: by faith you will be raised too. Entry into eternal life with Christ now and in the renewed creation.
· he appeared
o this list of eyewitnesses is longest witness list in NT
§ to Cephas, [aka Simon Peter]
§ and then to the Twelve.
§ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
§ Then he appeared to James,
§ then to all the apostles,
I Corinthians 15:5–7 (NIV)
Presumably, when this letter was written, you could travel all over the world and hear 500+ accounts from those who saw Jesus after he rose from the grave. They could testify in court. That’s weighty evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, wouldn’t you say?
Paul isn’t finished.
§ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
I Corinthians 15:8 (NIV)
The other powerful argument Paul raises is the transformation in his own life. The before and after picture of the transforming effect of the gospel in Paul’s life is radical.
I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
I Corinthians 15:9–10 (NIV)
The biggest change for Paul is that he no longer counted on his own abilities to impress God with his goodness. He counted on Jesus’ righteousness 100%. With that confidence in Jesus Christ, Paul worked hard – in all Christ’s strength – to proclaim, explain, live out of the gospel.
That begs a question: What effect has the gospel had on your life?
Not everyone is called to be a preacher or church planter like Paul.
Every disciple of Jesus’ is called to be a witness: explaining what they believe and what difference it makes in their life.
What has Jesus done?
What difference has it made for you?
God’s word says there is no other gospel: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared”
This is what ALL the apostles preach. This is what the Chr. in Corinth believed. What do you believe?
Has it transformed you?
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