18: The Resurrected King (1 Cor 15:1-28)

OPENING

Pastor Paul had been advised by his doctor to lose 30 pounds or risk serious health consequences. The good pastor took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to the church building to avoid his favorite bakery. One morning, however, he arrived for Bible study carrying a gigantic devil’s food cake. The class chuckled and chided him, but the good pastor’s smile remained angelic.

“This is a very special cake,” he explained. “I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there in the window were a host of goodies. I felt this was no accident, so I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to have one of those delicious cakes, let me have a parking place directly in front of the bakery.’ And sure enough,” he continued, “the eighth time around the block, there it was!”

It’s funny how we can convince ourselves that OUR WILL is actually GOD’S WILL. That’s why we need the Scriptures to give us clarity about WHO God is and WHAT God says.

And that’s what we have been doing in this letter we call 1 Corinthians in this teaching series entitled “A Beautiful Mess”. These people had been forgiven much - made BEAUTIFUL by the Lord Jesus who cleansed them of their sin. BUT…they were still a MESS.

Some of the Corinthians were picking sides over which pastor they liked better (Paul, Apollos, Cephas) - as if these guys were really trying to compete rather than work together for the Kingdom.

They had people claiming Christ who were living in sexual sin and many in the church acting like that was okay, rather than confronting, correcting, and restoring them.

Some Christians in Corinth were taking other Christians to court rather than asking spiritual leaders for help to resolve the relational strain.

Many were more concerned with their own FREEDOMS than the FAITH of younger believers.

And some were even getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper, while others refused to wait on others for the meal but jumped in and got the best food first.

And some were flaunting God’s spiritual gifts to spotlight themselves rather than using them for the GOOD of the Church.

And today, as we close in on the end of this letter with only 2 chapters left, we see why all this matters - because we serve...

The Resurrected King. After all, if Jesus died and stayed dead, the teachings of Jesus and the apostles of Jesus couldn’t be trusted BECAUSE, according to the apostles of Jesus - He predicted not only His death, but His physical resurrection from the dead.

And as we have said many times before, If He rose from the dead, we can trust what He said, BUT…if He didn’t raise from the dead, then either Jesus or His apostles were liars and we don’t know WHAT we can trust.

If Jesus didn't rise, then our faith is futile...but if He did rise, then our faith is so firm, that difficult days & even death, cannot shipwreck our future hope.

So, let’s PRAY dive in and talk about Our Resurrected King!

PRAY

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 (CSB)

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: 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,

What IS the gospel? This is it - the GOOD NEWS - Christ died for our sins, was buried, and He was raised on the third day. That’s the Gospel - the Good News in a nutshell.

And Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection wasn’t just a New Testament teaching. It could be found in the Scriptures - meaning the Hebrew Scriptures - the Old Testament!

You didn’t know that? Yep! (Read how Peter quotes Ps 16:10 in Acts 2:25-31; also see Hosea 6:2).

Isaiah 53, written 700 years before Jesus lived, died, and resurrected.

Isaiah 53:8b–9 (CSB)

For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

This is strange language, because this man would DIE because of the rebellion of the Jewish people, he would be assigned a grave with the wicked - he would die with criminals and was supposed to be buried with them…BUT…Isaiah says he would be with a rich man at his death.

The New Testament fills in the gaps as it explains how Jesus died between 2 thieves (Mt 27:38, Mk 15:28, Lk 23:32-33).

But before being buried with criminals, Joseph - “a rich man” - asked the Roman procurator who had Jesus crucified, for permission to bury Jesus in his own brand new tomb instead (Mt 27:57–60).

Isaiah 53:10–11 (CSB)

Yet the Lord [YaHWeH] was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities.

This certainly doesn’t sound like it ends with death, but with continued life! This predicts not only the death of Jesus, but His resurrection, and the redemption of many!

This is the Gospel message about Jesus, the Christ (aka Messiah), according to the Old Testament Scriptures.

And Paul is NOT the only one who shared this Gospel message. In fact, he wasn’t the first to believe that Jesus was the Messiah who suffered, died, and was resurrected. There were many others before him.

So Paul continues, that “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,...”

1 Corinthians 15:5–8 (CSB)

and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then He appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, He also appeared to me.

Cephas (pr. K-fäs) is referring to Simon Peter (Lk 24:34). Cephas is the Aramaic term for Greek “Peter”. [F1]

The 12 is referring to the apostles Jesus had called - now minus Judas the betrayer.

The 500 could be referring to others who met with the apostles, seeing and hearing Jesus on the mountain in Galilee (Mt 28:16-21).

James is actually better translated as “Jacob” (Greek Iakōbos) most likely the half-brother of Jesus (Mt 13:55; Gal 1:19; 2:9; Ac 15:13; Jas 1:1; Jude 1) who becomes one of the elders in the Church of Jerusalem.

Jesus appeared multiple times after that to all the apostles and others during the 40 days of His resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:3; Jn 21:1-14).

And then there’s Paul, who tells his story multiple times in the writing we call Acts (Acts 9:1-9; Ac 22:6–11; 26:12–18). Here’s what we read in Acts.

Acts 9:4–6 (CSB)

Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

And that leads to Paul, the MVP of the other team, exchanging jerseys and joining the team he previously considered the arch rival. Imagine a Bull Gator taking off the orange and blue and putting on the glorious Garnet and Gold to become a “Legacy Chief”. No way!

WHY did Paul change teams? His answer? Jesus appeared to me.

1 Corinthians 15:9–11 (CSB)

For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy 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 was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Paul is grateful for God’s grace given to him, knowing that he didn’t deserve it. And now, he doesn’t care who gets the credit, but only that people hear about Jesus, and that they believe the GOOD NEWS of Jesus!

But evidently, some where walking away from what they had been taught, and this was a great concern to Paul. Some of them were even denying the future physical resurrection of those who had died.

1 Corinthians 15:12–14 (CSB)

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.

It’s unlikely that Paul was referring to poof-be-gone concept of what happens at death, since almost everyone in that day believed in life after death.

But the Greek/Roman concept of life after death focused on a disembodied immortal soul, but not a physical resurrection of the dead. [F2] As such, people within the Greek philosophy viewed the spiritual as good and the physical as bad, so the idea of being shackled to a resurrected body was sickening to them. [F3]

On the Jewish side, Pharisees believed in resurrection, but Sadducees did not (Mt 22:23; Acts 23:8)

Christians - those who follow the teachings of Jesus - believe in a body/soul unity - like the resurrected Jesus (Jn 6:44; 11:25).

In fact, we see the significance of that major philosophical difference between Christians & Romans when Paul shared the GOOD NEWS of Jesus with the people of Athens. When Paul told them about Jesus rising from the dead, some were intrigued and wanted to hear more but for others, “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him.” (Acts 17:32).

The resurrected King is the foundation of our faith, and Jesus didn’t rise, then our faith...is in vain - empty - false.

1 Corinthians 15:15–16 (CSB)

Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

Here’s the correlation: If people won’t rise from the dead in the future, then Jesus didn’t rise in the past. And if Jesus didn’t resurrect in the past, then the message of the apostles is a BIG FAT LIE!

That’s putting it on the 1-yard line. Think about the significance of that! The Christian message RISES or falls on this one claim, that Jesus of Nazareth physically rose from the dead! More on that in a moment.

1 Corinthians 15:17–19 (CSB)

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

If Jesus has not been raised, then we have NO FUTURE HOPE. This life is it…so, speaking truth that sometimes brings persecution, & serving others when it would be easier to be selfish with our time and money - means NOTHING in eternity.

Think about that for a moment: If Jesus has NOT been raised:

Your faith is false - you’ve bought a lie.

Those who we look forward to seeing loved ones in the heavenly kingdom…NOPE It’s over. We will NEVER see them again.

And if that’s TRUE we might as well live like so many in our culture living by the motto, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor 15:32).

1 Corinthians 15:20–23 (CSB)

But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ.

Adam’s sin impacted all of us - like it or not. We are born with a sin nature that will reveal itself at a young age.

That first time your child looks at you and either lies or says, “NO!” you will recognize that little one is no longer innocent. They are guilty little smack-talking sinners…just like their MOMMA…and DADDY…and GRANDMOMMA and GRANDDADDY, AUNT & UNCLE…NEIGHBOR.

And because of our sin, every person hearing my voice - including me - WILL die, unless Jesus returns first.

CALENDARS AT A FUNERAL

I was at a funeral once when the pastor leading asked everyone to get their calendar out. It was a strange request at a funeral. Then told everyone this: although you haven’t plugged this date in on your calendar, there is a calendared date of your death that only God knows. And you WON’T miss that appointment.

...unless Jesus returns first.

And so it is that death came through a man who told God “NO!,” so in Adam all die.

But…and here’s the GOOD NEWS: resurrection of the dead comes through a man who who told God “Yes!”.

While Adam blatantly disobeyed God’s commands, the Lord Jesus perfectly OBEYED the commands of God the Father.

Jesus died, not because of His sin, but because of our sin. But Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [Christian lingo for death]. The firstfruits were the first crops harvested, with a larger crop to follow.

So, just as Jesus physically rose from the dead, the larger crop of those who belong to Christ…will rise at His coming. What a day that will be! Love ones be reunited and WE WILL SEE HIM - our Resurrected King - the one who gave His life for ours!

We talk more about what that will be like NEXT WEEK when we learn about...

HOPE BEYOND THE GRAVE

Some think there is a 7 year gap between a secret coming and the second coming. That is NOT my view -and we’ll talk more on that NEXT week - don’t miss it.

Paul talks of the resurrection of those who belong to Christ (v23)

which is then followed by His final victory over the enemies of God. Or, has Paul puts it...

1 Corinthians 15:24–25 (CSB)

Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For He [Son] must reign until He [Father] puts all his enemies under His feet [Son].

Paul borrows this language from the Scriptures.

First, the language of putting enemies under His feet like a footstool is from Ps 8:6 and Ps 110:1 - the favorite Old Testament chapter quoted by the New Testament writers - that God the Father would put all Jesus’ enemies under His feet.

This is the “footstool” language that we highlighted in our Hebrews series and with this ancient carving of a victor’s enemy being placed under his feet as a footstool, just as Joshua had his leaders do to the kings who fought against the Hebrew people (Joshua 10:24).

This language also brings to mind the writing from Daniel 7:13-14 that Jesus quoted from when standing on trial before His death - the prediction that every people, nation, and language will serve Him and His kingdom will never end. This is further amplified by Paul in Phil 2:9-10 where he writes that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

And there is one more enemy to be defeated forever...

1 Corinthians 15:26–27a (CSB)

The last enemy to be abolished is death. For God has put everything under his feet.

Again, you don’t want to miss what that looks like NEXT WEEK as we talk about what it will be like when death is a memory in our rear-view mirror.

Beyond the Scriptural language, Paul is also using cultural language to show what happens after Jesus defeats all His enemies.

After the top military general squashed the enemies of the Roman emperor, the general would return to Rome, and demonstrate his submission to the Emperor rather than claiming the glory for himself. [F4]

So too, Paul finishes the thought with these words:

1 Corinthians 15:27b–28 (CSB)

Now when it says “everything” is put under Him [Son], it is obvious that He [Father] who puts everything under Him [Son] is the exception. When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.

In Adam, mankind sinned and did NOT fulfill the mission of being UNDER God and OVER the world, but Jesus did fulfill the mission of being UNDER GOD and OVER the world. [F5]

Jesus lived obedient to the Father, in obedient to die on a cross.

Listen to how this fits with Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5–8 (CSB)

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead He emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when He had come as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

Philippians 2:9–11 (CSB)

For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

If THAT DAY were TO-DAY, you would bow. But will you BOW NOW, before our Resurrected King?

What’s this mean for Christians?

First, Christians must BELIEVE that Jesus is LIVING. Whenever I have a crisis of faith - a moment when I wonder,

“Is the Christian claim REALLY true?”

Is there only ONE WAY to God - through Jesus?

Is there a RIGHT way to live and a WRONG way to live, and will God judge us and the end of our lives?

Is there a eternity awaiting - heaven or hell?

I look back to Our Resurrected King - and remember: If He rose from the dead, I can trust what He said.

Christians must BE LIVING like Jesus is RETURNING.

If we were living what we say we’re believing, we will be making a spiritual impact on those around us. Are we?

What’s this mean for non-Christians?

Non-Christians should CONSIDER that claims of JESUS.

Jesus IS who He claimed to be - God with skin on. He is the ONLY way to God, your good will not outweigh your bad. You have an appointment with death, but you also can KNOW the One who resurrected from the dead!

Contact your Staff or Deacons/wives.

NEXT WEEK: Join us for “Hope Beyond the Grave”

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Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 825.

Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 295.

John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984), 408.

Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 776.

Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 214.

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VISUAL NOTES: https://bit.ly/17ResurrectedKing

PDF NOTES:

Discussion Questions

What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? You might need to look back in your notes to help explain your answer.

After considering the significance of the resurrection of Jesus, explain how you have researched or examined good reasons to trust the claims about the risen Jesus? (You can’t convince others if you aren’t first convinced.) If anyone from your group would like resources you might consider: “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” by Josh & Sean McDowell (see QR code —->).

Read 1 Cor 15:5-11. Discuss the significance of each of the multiple eyewitnesses who claimed to see the risen Jesus.

Why are the claims of James and Paul so intriguing (James was formerly a skeptic - Mark 3:20-21)?

Read 1 Cor 15:12-23. What are the ramifications if Jesus DID NOT rise from the dead AND if Jesus DID rise?

What other questions has this teaching or discussion prompted for us to talk about?

Share prayer needs and pray for one another.