CSI and the Resurrection
Text: 1 Cor. 15:1-28
Introduction
1. You all know that I love all of the CSI shows on tv. They consist of a crime being discovered based on evidence taken from finger prints, DNA, and public records. The solution is there; you just to put together all the facts.
2. Illustration: I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most of the facts of ancient history . . . ~E. M. Blaiklock, Professor of Classics at Auckland University
3. Just like a CSI, we are going to examine three things:
a. The proof of the resurrection
b. The priority of the resurrection
c. The promise of the resurrection
4. Read 1 Cor. 15:1-28
Proposition: Having a good understanding and belief in the resurrection of Jesus is essential to being a Christian.
Transition: First, we must understand...
I. The Proof of the Resurrection (1-11)
A. He Was Raised From the Dead
1. The church at Corinth was a very talented, but also a very troubled church.
a. Gifts of the Spirit were plentiful in this church.
b. However, so were sin, pride, and erroneous teaching.
c. One of those incorrect teachings was that there was no resurrection from the dead.
2. Paul begins the discussion with "Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it."
a. Paul is writing to a very prideful people, especially when it comes to knowledge.
b. Now he has to make remind them of something that the already knew but seem to have forgotten (Fee, NICNT: 1 Corinthians, 719).
c. With a twinge of irony, he actually says "I make known to you," using their favorite language about knowledge (gnosis), as if they had never heard of this central doctrine before.
d. But this was what they believed when they first became Christians, and only by continuing to believe in a bodily resurrected Jesus can they demonstrate the reality of their faith and persevere until the end (Blomberg, 295).
e. By denying the resurrection, the Corinthians were almost certainly not denying life after death; virtually everyone in the ancient world believed in that.
f. Rather, they would have been disputing the Jewish and Christian doctrine of bodily resurrection and endorsing one of the more Greek forms of belief that limited the afterlife to disembodied immortality of the soul (Blomberg, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: 1 Corinthians, 295).
3. He goes on to tell them, "It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place."
a. By the gospel Paul preached they not only were, but still are being, saved.
b. But they will only continue being saved if they hold fast to the word Paul preached to them, that is, to the gospel.
c. Otherwise, even their initial belief is "in vain," useless, to no purpose (Horton, I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary).
4. He reminds them, "I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said."
a. Paul here is talking about two basic teachings of the Christian faith, atonement through the death of Christ, and a high Christology based on the resurrection of Christ, which are well formed before Paul comes on the scene (Fee, 721-722).
b. He stresses the fact that he didn’t make this up, but it is what was passed on to him.
c. The cornerstone of Christian teaching is that Christ died for our sins.
d. He also indicates that this was according to the Scriptures. It had been prophesied thousands of years before Jesus was even born.
5. He continues his argument with "He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said."
a. A part of the erroneous teaching of the Corinthians was that the resurrection was only a spiritual resurrection. There was a spirit, but no body.
b. However, in saying "he was buried" verifies the reality of Jesus death.
c. Since a corpse was laid in the grave is proof that Jesus resurrection was a bodily resurrection and not merely "spiritual" as some of the Corinthians were contending (Fee, 725).
d. Again this had been foretold in the Old Testament.
e. Psalm 16:9-11 (NLT)
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
6. Paul then contributes proof of what he has been saying. He says, "He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died."
a. The fact that he was seen by Peter, and then the twelve, is another testimony of his bodily resurrection.
b. It is interesting that Paul states that he was seen by 500 at the same time, and that most of them are still living. This is something that they could conceivably check out for themselves.
c. The original Greek is literally "brothers," however, it is referring to all Jesus’ followers, many of which were women (Fee, 730).
d. There is one thing that is hard to argue with, and that is an eyewitness.
7. This seems rather compelling, but Paul isn’t done yet. He says, "Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him."
a. James was the Lord’s half-brother who became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. In fact, James did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah until after the resurrection.
b. After his ascension, which signaled the end of the resurrection appearances, no one expected to see Jesus in this way again.
c. So Paul’s "private viewing" came as a shock.
d. "Born at the wrong time" translates the Greek word for "miscarriage."
e. But of course a miscarriage is a premature birth; here Jesus’ resurrection appearance to Paul was unusually late (Blomberg, 296).
f. Nonetheless, Paul saw the risen Jesus and can attest that he really was alive.
B. Evidence That Demands a Verdict
1. Illustration: What if we had each person that witnessed the resurrected Lord come up here this morning and talk for 15 minutes giving a testimony to what they saw. If we listened to the testimony of all the people that Jesus appeared to, we would be here all day, and all night, and Monday and Monday night and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and sometime early Friday morning they would just be wrapping up the testimony. It would take over 128 strait hours just to hear, for 15 minutes each, the testimony of those that saw the Lord after he rose.
2. If a District Attorney took the evidence for the resurrection into court, it would be a slam dunk.
a. There would be an empty tomb.
b. There would be no corpse.
c. There would be at least 513 eyewitnesses.
d. Case closed!
3. Yet when people try to disprove Christianity or the Bible the first thing they attack is the resurrection.
a. However, there is no denying the facts.
b. If you go to where you Mohammad is buried you will find a corpse.
c. If you go to where Buddha is buried you will find a corpse.
d. If you go to the tomb of Jesus, all you will find is a rock slab, because Jesus has risen!
e. Mark 16:5-6 (NLT)
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.
Transition: We also have to talk about...
II. The Priority of the Resurrection (12-19)
A. If Christ Is Not Raised
1. Paul now moves from producing evidence for the resurrection to challenging their contention that there is no resurrection. He says, "But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?"
a. Paul is baffled, based on what he has just said, which they already knew, that some of them could say that there is no resurrection (Fee, 740).
b. They had been taught this from the beginning, but now are turning away from this central teaching.
c. They had been given tangible, undeniable proof of the resurrection of Jesus.
d. Yet they persisted in saying there is no resurrection.
2. The logical conclusion of their belief is "if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either."
a. The logical conclusion of their belief is that if there is no resurrection then Christ did not rise either (Fee, 741).
b. If there is no resurrection, then Christ could not rise from the dead.
c. If there is no resurrection, then Jesus is still in the grave, and he is just another religious phony.
3. Paul takes his argument another step. He says, "if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless."
a. If Christ has not been raised, then everything that Paul and the other Apostle’s had been teaching was wrong (Fee, 742).
b. The resurrection is so central to Christian theology that to negate it is to destroy the basis to our faith.
c. The fact that God raised Him from the dead is the glorious proof that He is the Son of God, the proof that God accepted His sacrifice for our sins.
d. Romans 1:4 (NLT)
and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.
e. Without this, everything else we teach is false.
f. The word "useless" means empty, groundless, void of all truth and meaning.
4. Not only is their teaching useless, but he also insists "And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead."
a. If they were wrong in their teaching, they were lying about God because they had been saying that Christ raised Jesus from the dead (Fee, 742).
b. To deny the resurrection of Christ means that we are bearing a false witness, that we are deliberately lying.
c. Very simply, the apostles bore strong testimony that Jesus Christ had been resurrected from the dead.
d. They were lying or else telling the truth. If He did not arise, then they were liars.
5. Next, he takes his argument to the ultimate conclusion. He says, "And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!"
a. Denying the resurrection not only eliminates their future, but also has a negative effect on their past because it means that their sins are not forgiven (Fee, 743).
b. It also indicates that they who have already died perished because it means they died in their sins.
6. The result of all this for the Christian is "if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world."
a. Why are we to be pitied?
b. Because believers are hoping in a false belief and philosophy. They are believing a lie, and they shall experience great disappointment.
c. Because the true believer denies himself, giving and sacrificing all he is and has in order to reach and minister to a world reeling in desperate need and death.
d. If there is no resurrection, then the believer is wasting his life and money.
B. Central to the Gospel
1. Illustration: A Sunday School teacher had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?" A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly "I know, I know!" "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, what were Jesus first words." And Extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!"
2. The resurrection assures us that we have been forgiven.
a. Without the resurrection, Jesus was just another religious leader who died a horrible death.
b. Without the resurrection, Jesus is not who he claimed to be.
c. Without the resurrection, we are still dead in our sins.
3. The resurrection assures us that we have eternal life.
a. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we shall be raised from the dead.
b. Just as Jesus overcame death, we shall overcome death.
c. Just as Jesus conquered sin and the grave, we shall also conquer.
d. Romans 8:37 (ESV)
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Transition: However, the greatest aspect of the resurrection is...
III. The Promise of the Resurrection (20-28)
A. Christ Has Been Raised
1. Paul emphatically proclaims, "But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died."
a. He does two things with this proclamation. First, he asserts that the false teaching that has been circulating among them was incorrect.
b. He has proven that Jesus has indeed risen from the grave, and so the resurrection is an established fact.
c. Second, he establishes that we too will be raised by referring to Jesus resurrection as "the first of a great harvest."
d. The firstfruits were the first installment of the harvest and were presented to the Lord with thanksgiving in anticipation of the good harvest to come.
e. Paul means, "the resurrection of the dead is not simply something future." It began in Christ’s resurrection (Horton, I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary).
f. Paul is asserting that the resurrection of those who die in Christ is inevitable, and is guaranteed by God himself (Fee, 749).
2. Paul establishes this by comparing Jesus to Adam. He says, "So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life."
a. Paul is stating that just as death is inevitable because of Adam, the resurrection is also inevitable because of the resurrection of Christ (Fee, 751).
b. Because of Adam’s sin everyone was cut off from the blessings of the Garden of Eden and all in some way inherit the corruption of sin (Horton, I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary).
c. The resurrection of Jesus is significant for us also because He died and rose again as a man, a human being (Gk. anthropou), having identified himself with humankind.
d. This was necessary because death came into the human race through the sin of a man, a human being.
3. Paul then goes on to explain how all this will happen. He says, "But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power."
a. God will set in motion a series of events that have to do with resurrection and the destruction of death (Fee, 753).
b. When Jesus returns he will then raise up all who have died in him.
c. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 (NLT)
For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.
Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
d. At the end, Christ will do two things (1) he will hand of the kingdom to God, and (2) he will bring to an end all dominion, authority, and power (Fee, 752).
4. Next, Paul says, "For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death."
a. The word "must" (Gk. dei, v. 25) indicates purpose. Christ must reign so that His enemies may be destroyed.
b. This implies He will "fulfill all of God’s purposes in creation and redemption.
c. He will right all wrongs. Martyrs and others who were condemned unjustly in this life will be vindicated and blessed" (Horton, I & II Corinthians: A Logion Press Commentary).
d. Then the victory of the cross and resurrection will be complete!
B. Resurrection Power
1. Illustration: Wayne A. Lamb in 100 Meditations on Hope, shares this story: “In the midst of a storm, a little bird was clinging to the limb of a tree, seemingly calm and unafraid. As the wind tore at the limbs of the tree, the bird continued to look the storm in the face, as if to say, ‘Shake me off; I sill have wings.’” “Because of Christ’s resurrection, every Christian can look all experiences, even death, in the face and confidently say, ‘Shake me off; I still have wings. I’ll live anyway.” [--Wayne A. Lamb in 100 Meditations on Hope. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no.4].
2. Because of the resurrection, we have hope.
a. Hope in this life.
b. Hope for the next life.
c. Hope for today.
d. Hope for tomorrow.
e. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NLT)
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
1. Because of the resurrection, we have power.
a. Philippians 3:10 (NLT)
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,
b. We have the power to overcome.
c. We have the power to live holy lives.
d. We have the power to achieve God’s purpose.
e. We have the power of his victory.
Transition: Rejoice, for Jesus is not in the grave; he has risen!
Conclusion
1. We have established:
a. The proof of the resurrection
b. The priority of the resurrection
c. The promise of the resurrection
2. The devil has been convicted of his crimes. Case closed!
3. Are you living in the power of Jesus’ resurrection?
