Why is the Resurrection so Important?
I Corinthians 15:12-20
Introduction: This is the time
of year that we make “resolutions” for the New Year, I heard a statistic this
week that the number 1 resolution is to “lose weight,” and about 40% of all resolutions have
something to do with health or getting into better shape. All that is good.
Taking care of our body is an aspect of being a good steward. And if we are as
healthy as we can be, we can more effectively use our gifts for the building up
of others and for carrying out the mission of the church. That is, as long as our health doesn’t become
an obsession or our body an idol that distracts us from what is most important:
loving God and spreading His fame, bringing Him glory! We do need to know that
no matter how hard we work, no matter how careful we are, these bodies will
fail. Sickness, accidents, suffering, and death are all part of life in this
fallen world. The good news is that God has a plan and, one day, a transformed
“resurrection body” will be a part of it!
This is the longest chapter in I Corinthians, and the longest chapter in
the Bible on the doctrine of the resurrection. Why is the resurrection so
important? In the opening verses of
this great chapter, as Paul “outlined” the historical framework of the gospel,
he said “Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He was raised again the third
day according to the Scriptures…” The resurrection according to promise was
set right alongside the cross. When He told the Romans about the expression of
the faith that saves, he said, “Confess
with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised
Him from the dead...” Okay, you
might think, granted the resurrection of Jesus
is important, but the resurrection of believers?
Why is Paul making a big deal about that? Isn’t it enough for me to believe in
Heaven? Isn’t it enough to believe that though our body may die, the end for
the believer is to be “absent from the
body and present with the Lord”?
Paul here will make the point that it is not only important, it is
essential. If you deny the resurrection of believers, you are also denying the
“firstfruit” event, the resurrection of Jesus! Just after this passage Paul
said, “...For as in
Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ...”
(I Cor 15:22,23). In other words, Paul is saying what Adam did in His rebellion
left us without hope, but God in His mercy sent the Son, to make a way for
humans to experience reconciliation, and the shalom for which we were created. Paul was preaching the resurrection
of Jesus before his countrymen in Jerusalem, and he tied that message to the
Hope of a future resurrection for believers: "...It is with respect to the hope and the
resurrection of the dead that I am on trial..." (Acts 23:6b).
What is your hope? All too often “hope” is pessimistically
defined as the little boy did when he said: “Hope is wishing for something you know ain’t gonna happen.” That’s
not hope, it’s either denial or wishful thinking! The headlines in the
newspapers, the lead sound bites on the broadcast news, a “shaky” economy, uncertainty
in the financial markets, the relativism that pervades our educational system
and society, terrorism, attacks on civilians and, as we saw again this week in
Philadelphia, attacks on police: it’s easy for people to look at what we face
in the world today and to feel hopeless
in the face of it all.
The Bible presents “hope” as anticipating something
expectantly, a confidence about the future, even in the most trying moments
of life. Sceptics might say that we are
basing our hope on stories, not on facts. That was Paul’s point in the first 11
verses of this chapter. God calls us
to believe, but he has revealed himself in history. He has given us a basis for
our faith. Their can be no doubt that the resurrection of Jesus was a real
time and space event, a “fact of history,” as Ignatius said in his letter in AD
107. The truth of His resurrection is
what gives true hope for the future, and our ultimate resurrection from the
dead! Because of the resurrection
really happened, because Christ lives, we can have hope, a confidence of
forgiveness and reconciliation, an assurance of abundant life in Him, and a
sure hope that we will be raised with Him.
Context: Paul began I Corinthians
15 presenting evidence of the resurrection of Christ. The evidence is irrefutable,
you cannot get around it. This passage (I Cor 15:12-20) goes on to present the
hypothetical consequence of some false teachers that were troubling the
Corinthians. They were denying the future resurrection of believers in Jesus.
Paul counters that our future hope is
linked inseparably to the resurrection of Christ. To deny one, is to deny the other. Verses
19-20 supply the necessary context to read the entire paragraph:
“If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 20 But now Christ is risen from
the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
That supplies the
essential context for reading the argument that Paul presents here: Christ is
risen, He is risen indeed!
The Maine Idea: God’s plan for believers ultimately includes victory over death,
including a new body, as evidenced in the resurrection of Jesus Himself!
I. THE FACTS: We
have hope because of the irrefutable fact of the resurrection of Christ
(15:12-14; cf. 15:1-11). The FACT of
the resurrection of Jesus cannot be separated from the PROMISE of a future
resurrection of believers. To deny one, is to deny the other.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how
can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection
of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been
raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
15:12 introduces the issue that is really
at the heart of this passage. Some in the Corinthian church were apparently
denying the hope of a future resurrection of believers. He established in
vv.1-11 the historical basis of the gospel that they had believed, by
which they were saved, the historical fact of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
He summarized that in 15:11b, “...so we
preached, and so you believed.” He now gets to the heart of the matter, “If
that is what is preached, if that is the message that you believed, how can you
possibly say there is no [future] resurrection of the body?” In verse 13 Paul
underscores the inseparability of the two ideas, he makes it clear that you
can’t have one without the other.
What was the problem? Remember
the context in which the Corinthians lived: First century Greece. The seat of
philosophy in the ancient world. And popular Greek thinking was that the
material world, including our bodies, was irreparably flawed. The
“spiritual” was intrinsically better. So if the body dies, good riddance!
You’re better off without it! Free at last! Paul is saying no, you’ve got it
wrong. God created the material world.
He formed Adam’s body with his own hands from the dust of the earth. He took
from Adam’s side and formed the woman. And he said it was good. The problem
isn’t the material realm, the problem is sin! That is where he started this
chapter: “...Christ died for our sins...”
In Christ God was dealing with our sin problem.
NB. verse 14, if Christ is not raised, our message is empty, there is
nothing left, our faith vain. Paul is
saying in the context that because of the fact of the resurrection our
faith is well-founded. Or we could say, because of the resurrection of Christ
we know His word is true, we know we can trust Him about the future. It’s
good to have people that we can count on. But people will let us down. I just
read something from an acquaintance in NJ who just lost his wife after a two
year sickness. His adult son was also diagnosed with a brain tumor about year
ago and doesn’t have much time left. He
wrote a beautiful statement expressing his grief, and his faith, and also gave
a gentle rebuke. He said that in two years not one of his “friends” ever called
to see how he was doing or sat down to have a cup of coffee with him. He was left to go through his
pain alone. He said,
“...if an opportunity arises where you know someone,especially a
friend, that has a very sick spouse or child; call them ask them how they are
doing invite them for lunch or a cup of coffee. It will be good for you and
very good for the one hurting. Swallow your pride, bury your discomfort never
say ‘that's not me, I can't do that’ and just do it.”
We want someone to be there when we
need them. We need to determine to be
there for each other, to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ.” The good news is, God is faithful. He is absolutely trustworthy, He is
with us always. If we have put our trust in Jesus Christ, we are no longer in
our sins. The death of Jesus proves his love for us, and the resurrection
proves his power over every enemy of life. And so there is someone you can
count on, someone who is absolutely trustworthy, who will never let you down.
Jesus is alive and we can trust Him. "The
life I live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me" (Gal 2:20). Living by faith. Trusting God’s word. God’s plan for believers includes
victory over death, including a new body, as evidenced in the resurrection of
Jesus Himself! That “hope” is based on facts...
II. THE TRUTH: Doctrinal Truth, all the teaching of the apostles, is
based on the resurrection plan of God, without that sure foundation, there
would be no truth (15:15,16). If the disciples
were not being truthful about the resurrection of Jesus, their message is not
trustworthy!
15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we
testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true
that the dead are not raised. 16
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
The teaching of the apostles was at
stake. If the dead are not raised, Christ was not raised. And if Christ was not
raised they are guilty of preaching falsehood instead of truth. Paul’s point
in the context is clear: because Christ has been raised (15:1-11,20) the
apostles preaching is true (v.20!). They are not false witnesses about God.
They are true, faithful witnesses. They preached a message that transformed
their own lives and for which they were ready to die!
Many people believe and teach today
that there is no absolute truth—something that is true all the time and
everywhere whether people know it or like it. It is a rare to hear anyone say,
unequivocally, that premarital sex is wrong—wrong for everybody, not just those
who think it's wrong. Homosexuality is wrong—wrong for everybody and not just those
who think it's wrong.
Without the conviction that there
are absolutes that can be shared and made the basis for society, the only end
will be anarchy where everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Pilate asked
Jesus “what is truth?” The reader of the Gospel already knew the answer,
because He said: "I am the way, the
truth, and the life" (John 14:6). And then he rose
from the dead to vindicate his claim. Jesus has a right to tell us what is
absolutely true because in the resurrection God proved him to be absolutely
true. As Ignatius said in his letter in 107 A.D., “These are
facts of history…” God’s plan
for believers includes victory over death, including a new body, as evidenced
in the resurrection of Jesus Himself!
III. THE VALUE: God’s resurrection plan, initiated in the resurrection
of Jesus, and ultimately to be completed in the resurrection of the elect, only
has worth if it is true (15:17)! Only if Christ has been raised is our faith
of any value, only if He is alive are we forgiven for our sins!
“And if Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
This is the most basic need and longing of
our hearts because if God holds our sins against us—and we all have
sinned!—then there is no hope of anything else from God. The foundation for
every other blessing from God is that God won't hold our sins against us
because of Jesus. Everything hangs on forgiveness. The Gospel is the story of
God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, making a way for sinful
humans to be reconciled to God. In the cross and resurrection Jesus was
“undoing” the insurmountable barrier that Adam had erected between humans and
God. Think of the miracles that Jesus
did during His earthly ministry. He healed the sick, fed the multitude, calmed
the stormy sea, He even raised the dead.
All of those miracles were just a “glimpse” of what is in store for
those who know Him. There will be a day when there is no more sickness or pain.
When there is no more hunger as we feast at his banquet table. And no more
death, as the last enemy is destroyed. His resurrection is the “firstfruits” of
the harvest!
How is the resurrection connected to
our forgiveness? Isn't it the death of Jesus that takes away our sin, because
he bore our sins and took our judgment (I Cor 15:3)? Yes. But the
connection with the resurrection is very important. Romans 4:25 puts it like this.
"He was handed over [to death] for
our transgressions, and he was raised for our justification." This
means that by his death he paid the penalty for our sins and purchased our
forgiveness. And since the achievement of the cross was so complete and the
work of our justification so decisive, God raised Jesus from the dead to
validate our forgiveness and to vindicate his Son's righteousness. Adam’s sin
brought death to all. Christ’s perfect obedience brings life to all who
believe.
Every
human needs forgiveness. And even before we experience that forgiveness through
faith in Christ, there are moments when we know that something is desperately
wrong, something is missing, there is a longing that nothing seems to fill. Since
Adam and Eve tried to hide from God and cover their sin, we know our need. The
problem is that most fallen humans are in denial, they have no interest in
coming to God on His terms. If we’ve trusted Christ, because He rose from the
dead, we are no longer in our sins. And God’s plan for believers includes
victory over death, including a new body, as evidenced in the resurrection of
Jesus Himself!
IV. THE HOPE: We
have hope because in Him we have abundant life now and forever (15:18-20). Without the truth
of the resurrection, we would be hopeless. But we, by His grace, have eternal
life forever, and abundant life here and now!
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished. 19 If in this life
only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The hypothetical dilemma, if the dead are not raised, those who have
“fallen asleep,” i.e., those who died in faith, would have perished if there is
no resurrection! Paul is saying that the opposite is true: Those Who Have
Fallen Asleep Are Alive. And so Paul
says in verse 18 that because Christ is raised those who have fallen asleep in him—those
who have died in faith—have not perished. They are alive and they will live
forever! They live because Christ lives. Now absent from the body and present
with Him. One day, this mortal will put on immortality!
Verse 19, if Christ was not raised, if
His resurrection never happened, we are “of all men most to be pitied.” BUT
Christ is raised! And one day we will be as well, so we have life with meaning!
Our preaching is not in vain—it is life
and blessing. Because He lives the
message of the Apostles is Good News, the life changing GOSPEL! Centuries before Jesus Christ, the Greek
philosopher Socrates lay dying. He was asked by his friends, “Shall we live
again?” His answer, “I hope so, but no one can know.” That is not hope. Because
Jesus conquered death we can know, we have a sure hope.
If Christ is not raised, then living
for him, following his will is a great delusion. We should be pitied, its only
wishful thinking. But since he has
been raised and is alive and reigns as king forever, all of our obedience, all of
our love, is not just “not-to-be-pitied,” but is the most blessed position we
could be in. There is suffering in this world. "This slight momentary affliction is working for us an eternal weight of
glory beyond all comparison..." (2 Cor 4:17).
And there is in every one of us the
longing that our lives count for something, that they have significance and
usefulness, that we don't come to the end of our days and say, it was all in
vain, empty, pointless, useless, insignificant—pitiable. We want our life to
matter. We want to have life with meaning.
Paul knew this. That's why he ends this whole chapter on the
resurrection (v. 58) with the words:
"Therefore [because the
resurrection is true and the resurrection means victory!] my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
Not in vain! That's the longing of our lives. Christ is risen and
everything done in his name—by his strength and for his glory—is not in vain.
Life has meaning!
What is God saying to me in
this passage?
God’s plan
for believers includes victory over death, including a new body, as evidenced
in the resurrection of Jesus Himself! Think
about Erich Sauer’s words again, “The present age is Easter time. It begins with the resurrection of the
Redeemer, and will end with the resurrection of the Redeemed. In between lies the spiritual resurrection of
those called into new life in Christ. And so it is in the power of the first
Easter, that we go to meet the last Easter.”
Hope!
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? Have you “resolved”
to take better care of your body in 2016? That is a good thing. It is good
stewardship. We don’t want our health to
become an impediment to our mission! But one day our bodies will fail. There is
hope however! Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.
Because of Him, the day is coming when death will be no more. In the power of
the first Easter we go to meet the last Easter. Our hope is not simply an immaterial
“spiritual” existence for eternity. But a New Heaven and a New Earth, with a
resurrection body, transformed, without the effects of sin. A return to Eden as
God designed it to be! That is good
news! That is news worth sharing!
AMEN.
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