Priority One Series

(Begin by blowing up a balloon and holding up a straight pin)

What will happen if I take this pin and puncture this balloon? Watch. (Pop the balloon). Now this pin only makes a tiny hole, but that’s all it takes to explode a perfectly good balloon. In the events of history there is one tiny sharp period of events that make or break the meaning of life.

Did you know that Christian faith is a little like that? Of all that we believe and practice, 1 Cor. 15 looks at one thing that supports it all. If it can be proven false, the entire Christian system falls to the ground. What is it? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not raised, nothing else about him will save us.

It is one thing to put Jesus to death on the cross and put his lifeless body in a tomb, but it is quite another thing to bring him back to life, never to die again. The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as one of three pillars of history that hold up the Christian faith. These three are listed as top priority matters in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Each one is essential to the security of the faith. Each one must be true or all of the Christian faith is false. Each one must be actual history or not one of us here today has any hope beyond this temporary fleshly existence.

Look again at how God inspired this to be written by the hand of Paul and notice the way it intensifies:

15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel

which I preached to you,

which also you received,

in which also you stand,

2 by which also you are saved,

if you hold fast the word which I preached to you,

unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,

Do you see how this gathers momentum and builds magnitude?

The first words of verse one are from a Greek word: gnoridzo and it is translated various ways. The KJV and NKJV say, “I declare to you.” The NAS has, “I make known to you.” The NIV and RSV puts it, “I want to remind you, or I would remind you.”

Possibly the best contemporary way to translate this is: “I want you to know, or I would have you know…” sort of like we might say, “Listen up! It is important for you to get this straight.” Then he takes a “which” and beats it into your system! Four times the word “which” occurs.

Look at them with me and watch how they build up to a crescendo.

15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel

which I preached to you,

which also you received,

in which also you stand,

2 by which also you are saved,

if you hold fast the word which I preached to you,

unless you believed in vain.

The subject of each of these whiches is “the gospel.” The object of each “which” is “you.”

The points of reference for each “which” are the steps bringing us to salvation.

I preached the gospel to you.

You received the gospel.

You stand in the gospel.

You are saved by the gospel… (now the warning) if you hold fast the word I preached to you… unless you believed in vain.

This is laying it on pretty thick. The gospel is God’s power to save us! Like Paul told the Romans in 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Is this true? Is the gospel really able to take sinners and turn them into saved saints, children of God? Can the gospel actually convert lost hell bound heathens and make them heaven bound holy men and women who walk and talk like Jesus? Now that’s power! That is the power of God.

Look at the process again: the gospel is preached, received, a stand is made in it, and then one is saved by it. But they must continue to hold fast the word preached or their faith is in vain. Is that what that says?

Look at what is next, look at the first part of verse 3: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,

Paul is passing on the torch. He is not inventing something new. He’s not about to try to make any changes or improvements on the perfect, complete, inspired, eternal and priority one, heavenly message. In fact, Paul would rather die than change the gospel! Listen to his warning to the Galatians when someone offered them a new and improved message: