THE CASE FOR CHRIST!
I
Corinthians 15:1-11
Intro: A movie was released this week called “The Case for Christ,” which
tells the story a skeptic who took the challenge to investigate the evidence
for Christianity, and who, as a result, becomes a believer in Jesus. I decided
to use that title for the message today: The
Case for Christ. At the heart of the movie is the story of the main
character, Lee Strobel, who was legal editor for the Chicago Tribune, investigating
the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, and ultimately being convinced that
it is true. In the sermons of the apostles in the book of Acts, there is one
theme that is repeatedly mentioned, which, by its very emphasis lies at the
heart of the Christian message: Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and the third day He rose from the dead, the tomb was empty. John MacArthur said,
“Just as the heart pumps
life giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of the resurrection
gives life to every other area of Gospel truth.
The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and
without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection Christianity would
be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human
philosophy and religious speculation.”
Paul affirms the necessity of the
resurrection in I Corinthians 15:13,14...
“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…”
Along with a lot of practical
problems in Christian living, some of the Corinthians apparently had a serious
doctrinal problem in the promise of a future resurrection of believers. The fact that Paul starts this great chapter presenting
the “Case for Christ,” particularly in affirming the evidence of the
resurrection of Jesus, may also imply that some were beginning either to
question the importance of His physical resurrection or even whether it really
happened at all. Was the tomb really empty that first Easter morning? How do we know? Truth matters. In fact Paul says if the resurrection did not
happen, if our faith is not based on historical truth, it is empty,
useless, a complete waste of time. The empty tomb is the basis for our future
hope as Christians. And this truth
transforms our living here and now. In his book The Triumph of the Crucified, Eric Sauer said, “...in the power of the first Easter (the
resurrection of Christ), we go to meet
the last Easter (the future resurrection of believers).” The resurrection means hope for all who will
believe. The empty tomb is the foundation and the fuel of the Christian life!
The Maine* Idea: The truth of the Gospel hangs on
the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The evidence is clear, the question is, how
will we respond? We’ll consider the Case
for Christ in these verses from three perspectives,
1. The Evidence of Salvation
(15:1-2). The message changes lives, that must be considered as testimony as we
consider The Case for Christ. The
Gospel message changed lives then, and still does now.
2. The Evidence of Scripture
(15:3-4). The events of the life of Jesus of Nazareth unfolded exactly as had
been predicted in the Scriptures centuries before. Was it just chance, or does
it show that God had a plan and that he revealed it?
3. The Evidence of Eyewitnesses
(15:5-11). Paul mentions a few [not all!] of the eyewitnesses to the
resurrection, many of whom who were still living and could be interviewed by
his readers. All of this contributes to
the Case for Christ.
I. The Evidence of Salvation (15:1-2)
The first line of evidence that Paul presents is not stated explicitly but
clearly implied. He opens the chapter,
Now I would
remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in
which you stand, 2 and by
which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-
unless you believed in vain.
The message of the Gospel was changing
lives in the first century and the same message is changing lives today. Paul
said in Eph 1:19,20, “…and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from
the dead…” That power is transformational in the life of believers. If
anyone be in Christ—a new creation! Paul preached the Gospel in Corinth, they
received it, stood in it, and were saved by it (15:1-2). Notice that he calls them “brethren,” he
recognizes them as fellow Christians. When
he says “I declare to you…” he is reminding them of the message they heard
and believed: the death of Jesus for our sins, his burial and
resurrection.
1. The message impacted them in the past: “which you received…” There was a
specific moment when they heard the Good News of the death and resurrection of
Jesus and they believed it. Whether or
not you can remember and identify the precise moment, that is true for every
believer (cf. Jn 1:12).
2. “…in
which you stand…” It was not simply
something that happened in the past, but they continued to stand in the truth.
It is not that Christians simply were saved in terms of a past experience, they
are saved, they have eternal life as both a promise and a present
possession. The Corinthinans weren’t perfect, and guess what, none of us are!
But we are a work in progress, by God’s grace.
3. “In [or,
“by”] which you are saved if…” The
context of I Cor 15 definitely points also toward the future, and completion of
the promise of salvation in the resurrection of believers. We were saved, we
are saved, we will be saved!
Notice the qualifier: “…if you hold fast to the Word which I preached
to you, unless you believed in vain.” This is not a denial of the eternal
security of true believers. It is a
warning however that saying you
believe is not necessarily the same as truly trusting Jesus as your Savior and
Lord. Faith in Christ will change us!
For me, by the time I was a young adult
I had made the journey from atheism to believing that “a” god probably existed,
but I had no idea that God could make a difference in someone’s life today. It
was being called to serve on a jury hearing a murder case that God used to show
me the truth. The woman who had been killed had some time before become a “born
again Christian.” People came into court and testified that her faith
experience dramatically changed her life... she had a peace, and an assurance
of eternal life! That intrigued me, it spoke to a practical impact of “religion”
or “faith” here and now. For my “scientific mind” that was evidence that there
was something real here. I knew that I needed to consider the Case for Christ. Truth matters. And if the resurrection is
true it changes everything. The truth of the Gospel hangs on the historical
truth of the resurrection of Jesus. The
evidence is clear, the question is, how will we respond?
II. The Evidence of Scripture (15:3-4) The Old Testament Scriptures
repeatedly predicted the coming of the Messiah, a deliverer, king, and
Savior. By the time of Jesus’ birth, for
the most part, the idea that this “Rescuer” would also be a “Suffering Servant”
had been lost. How could it be that the Messiah would suffer and die? How and
why would God abandon His “anointed”? A key aspect of the apostles’ preaching
was to point the church back toward that scriptural truth.
Paul says, “I delivered to you that which I also received…” He brought
authoritative teaching, not something that he just made up. He simply delivered
to them what God had revealed! That’s our motivation for preaching through
books of the Bible: we don’t want to add to or take away from what the Bible
teaches. He continues, “...Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures and was buried…” Paul is emphasizing the fulfillment
aspect, so he doesn’t simply use the name “Jesus,” he uses the title “Christ,”
or “Messiah.”—the one predicted as the deliverer of Israel by the Prophets.
Andrew said in Jn 1:41, “We have found the Messiah” (which
translated means Christ). The a few
verses later, in 1:45, Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
"We have found Him of whom Moses in
the Law and also the Prophets wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
It’s Jesus, who is the Christ, the
One spoken of by the prophets, who came into the world, and who “…died for our sins…” This is the heart of
the Gospel message: the sacrificial substitutionary death of Jesus. John the Baptist anticipated this truth when
he saw Jesus in John 1, “Behold the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Isaiah the prophet had
predicted the coming of a suffering servant when he said: “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own
way, and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...” (Isa 53:6). It
all happened “according to the Scriptures”—as
it had been predicted and planned by God himself and revealed in the Old
Testament.
Not only His rejection and death, but also
his victory over the grave, the Easter Event, was part of God’s plan: “…and was raised the third day, according to
the Scriptures…” A second proof
of the truth of the Gospel was that the resurrection of Christ happened in
precise fulfillment of the Scriptures. What had been foretold with respect to
the Messiah was fulfilled in the experience of Jesus. A few examples point to
the importance of this Scriptural foundation...
First, we read in Luke 24:25-27 when, after
the resurrection, the Lord encounters two disciples on the road to Emmaus...
25 And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken! 26
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into
his glory?" 27 And
beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning himself.
50
days later, on the day of Pentecost, Peter argues from Psalm 16 as he preaches
to the crowd in Jerusalem: The Christ must be raised, Jesus was raised,
therefore Jesus is the Christ (see Acts 2:25-31)! Years later we have Paul’s testimony to
Agrippa, in Acts 26:22-23, where he says,
“…so I stand here
testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and
Moses said would come to pass: 23
that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the
dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."
The Scriptures predicted a
suffering messiah, who would conquer death. Jesus fulfilled those prophecies. After
the resurrection He said to His disciples,
44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I
was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and
the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to
understand the Scriptures, 46
and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer
and on the third day rise from the dead,
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be
proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem...” (Luke 24:44-47).
The evidence of salvation and the
fulfillment of Scripture rings true: Christ died for our sins... and He rose
again according to the Scriptures. The truth of the Gospel hangs on the
historical truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The evidence is clear, the question is, how
will we respond?
III. The Evidence of Witnesses (15:5-11) – Someone
might argue that this is all circumstantial evidence. Conversions? Prophecies?
Maybe, maybe not. Could be coincidence.
Paul next calls on his third line of evidence: eyewitness testimony!
... he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one
time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then
to all the apostles. 8 Last
of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me...
In AD 107, perhaps ten years after the
death of the last of the Apostles, Ignatius of Antioch, who was
acquainted with the apostle John, wrote a letter as he was being carried to
Rome as a prisoner, expecting to be thrown to the lions:
“If you come across someone who says that JESUS CHRIST never lived, or
that he is just an idea, or a concept, or a myth- shut your ears to him. JESUS CHRIST was born to a human family, a
descendant of David. His mother was
Mary. He was persecuted and crucified
under Pontius Pilate, a fact testified to us by some who are now in heaven, and
some who are still alive on earth. How
can this be a phantom, or an illusion, or a myth? These are facts of history!
It is also a fact that he rose from the
dead (or rather, that his Father raised him up). And that is the most important fact of all,
because His promise is that the father will also raise us up, if we believe in
Him. So if Christ is not alive neither shall we be. There is nothing left for us to hope for if
he is just an idea of a fantasy.
In any case, if he only appeared to rise
from the dead—why should I be in chains for this “myth”? Why should I die to support an illusion? I am prepared to die for him, the true and
real Son of God. But no one is prepared
to die for a shadow.”
That carries weight as an extra-biblical
testimony, but we have still earlier witnesses (vv. 5-7). Paul does not give an
exhaustive list of the eyewitnesses to the resurrection. For example, the women
are not mentioned, or the disciples on the road to Emmaus, or the story of “doubting
Thomas.” But he gives a series of foundational witnesses that had tremendous
credibility with the Corinthians.
First he mentions Peter, who, by
the time Paul was writing this letter, was considered chief among the Jerusalem
apostles. His past was not all so
glowing as you may recall. Particularly embarrassing were his repeated denials
of Jesus after the Master was arrested and while he was being mocked, beaten,
and flogged. He denied three times that
he even knew Jesus! This same man is mentioned first by Paul in our passage as
a witness to the resurrection! When we
read Acts, the continuing story of the early church, we see that after the
resurrection Peter became a fearless proclaimer of the Gospel. How do we
explain that change? It only makes sense if the message he was preaching was
true—Jesus is alive!
And it wasn’t only Peter, Jesus was
seen then by the twelve… and after that He was seen by over 500 brethren at
once! Paul makes the point that the
majority of these witnesses were still alive as he wrote, maybe 20-25 years
after the Cross and Resurrection. If
anyone had doubts they could go and speak to them personally and hear their
stories!
Finally in vv. 8-10, Paul points to a special
witness, to himself, the one who was writing this personal “deposition” to
them: “then last of all he was seen by
me, as one born out of due time…” Think about Paul’s personal history. He
was there standing by, approving, as Stephen, the first martyr of the church,
was stoned. He was such a zealous persecutor of the Church that he secured
letters from the leaders in Jerusalem to go after “Christ followers” in
Damascus and to bring them back in chains. This same man becomes a zealous
proclaimer of the truth, a missionary and an apostle, who, according to
tradition, was ultimately beheaded by Nero for his faith in Christ. How do you
explain such a 180 degree reversal? Humanly speaking, the transformation of
Paul is incomprehensible – unless, as he himself testified, on the road to
Damascus he encountered the resurrected Christ and surrendered himself to Him.
Paul’s conversion stands as a powerful witness to the truth of the
resurrection. The zealous persecutor of the church became a fearless proclaimer
of Messiah Jesus!
The
message of the apostles has not changed. It was the message of the church in
the first century, and it is the same Gospel we preach today. The historical
truth of the death, burial and resurrection of the Jesus, the Messiah, changes
everything. It means that sinners can be forgiven, and reconciled to our
Holy God. It means that we can have a new heart, a new life, through faith
in Him.
What is God saying to me in this passage?
Have you honestly considered the Case for
Christ? As Ignatius said, “These are facts of history!” The evidence is
compelling and clear. In fact, God is
not on trial. He is the Judge. Every human is on trial. The real verdict
will be according to how we respond to the evidence.
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? The Case for Christ looks like a good
movie, it is also a real life drama in which everyone of us has a part. You’ve
heard today just a small part of the evidence. Does it ring true? It may be
that God is drawing you to believe, to receive the One who is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life. The evidence is clear.
Jesus proved that He is the messiah by dying for our sins, according to
the Scriptures and being buried, and then raising from the dead the third
day. It is as simple as A.B.C. Admit
that you are a sinner (Rom 3:23); Believe that Christ died for your sins
and was raised (Acts 16:31); Confess Him now as your personal Savior and
Lord (Rom 10:9). If you are still not
ready, take one of the Gospels on the back table, read it, and consider the Case
for Christ. This is real, it is true, God is offering you the Gift of
Life. AMEN.
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