Resurrection Sunday 2014
“Theology Matters”
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
QUOTE: RC Sproul “Theology is the queen of the sciences and all other disciplines are her handmaidens.”
Throughout history, some of the greatest minds have devoted themselves to the study of theology.
Many of them believed that this field of study allowed the human intellect to reach its highest level of thought and comprehension.
However, in more recent years, the study of theology has seen a dramatic decline.
Some would even scoff at the idea of calling theology a “Science”.
The decline in the study of theology has not only been within the secular realm, but also within the realm of the church as well.
The study of theology has been replaced with emotionalism, pragmatism and minimalism.
Emotionalism = Whatever makes me feel good is right.
Pragmatism = Whatever works is right.
Minimalism = The minimum amount of knowledge is needed is all I want.
As Sproul also said, we now have “a religion without theology and a
theology without God” (Grace Unknown)
The results of this have been disastrous.
There is widespread ignorance within the Christian community in regard to the nature of God, the person of Jesus Christ, and the definition of the Gospel.
Churches have become “entertainment centers” rather than the “centers for higher learning” that we have been called to be.
The church has reached the point prophesied about by the Apostle Paul...
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
Because the church has - in many ways - abandoned its call to be an institute for theological instruction, the way society thinks and talks about God has changed dramatically.
In 2005, a book came out entitled “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.”
It was based on the work of two sociologists, Christian Smith and Melinda Denton.
In the research, they found a common trend in the theological beliefs of American teenagers.
They labeled this belief “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”, and it consists of the following five beliefs:
A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.
Beloved, this is not just the theology of the modern teenager.
This is the theology which is held by the vast majority of Americans; even those who call themselves Christians.
And it is BAD THEOLOGY.
Its not an attempt to understand God’s nature, His character, His attributes, or His commands.
It is simply a salve people put over their consciences which help them deal with things like personal tragedy and death.
The title of the message today is “THEOLOGY MATTERS”.
This is a phrase I picked up from various teachers, including Dr. James White, and I have become ever-increasingly committed to its truth.
But WHY???
Why does theology matter?
Because God cares what we believe and what we think.
Theology (theos-God, logos-word) is to have the right idea - the right words - about God.
There are many things in this world which we can afford to be wrong about, which we can afford to be ignorant of...
But theology is NOT one of those things.
Knowing the truth about God is the most important thing that any person can aspire towards in this life.
This morning, we are going to look at a passage from Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. In this passage, Paul demonstrates why having a right theology is so important.
READ: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
John Dominic Crossan is the Co-Founder of a group called “The Jesus Seminar”.
The Jesus seminar is a group of liberal scholars who attempt to determine the “historical Jesus” apart from what they consider to be the “myths” of the Bible.
Crossan is very famous for his denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He teaches that it is unlikely Jesus was ever buried in a tomb, but more likely he was left unburied and his corpse eaten by feral animals.
Likewise, he dismissed the resurrection as “tales” and “wishful thinking”.
Now, it is not as if Crossan and his Jesus Seminar compatriots are a small band of unknowns out in a basement somewhere.
The Jesus seminar is made up of 150 scholars, and is highly popular in liberal circles.
And Crossan is a sought-after speaker in many liberal denominations.
I mention Crossan and his group in regard to our text because the Apostle Paul is here addressing the John Dominic Crossans of his own day.
1 Corinthians 15:12-22 “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Notice that Paul is addressing the fact that some people are denying the resurrection of the dead.
This was something he had experienced himself when preaching to the people on Mars Hill.
Acts 17:32a “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked...”
During the time of Jesus, the religious party known as the Sadducees were ardent deniers of the resurrection (Matt 22:23).
There have always been men who deny the possibility of the bodily resurrection.
Paul here challenges them by pointing to Jesus.
If you say, “There is no resurrection” and yet we are proclaiming “Jesus raised from the dead” then we have a contradiction.
One of the other is true, but not both.
The law of noncontradiction is that something cannot BE and NOT BE at the same time and in the same relationship.
If there is no such thing as resurrection, then Jesus is not raised.
And if Jesus is raised, you cannot say there is no such thing as resurrection.
It has to be one, or the other... but not both.
This is why THEOLOGY MATTERS.
Theology demands consistency, because truth is consistent.
The hallmark of truth is consistency.
From here, Paul dives further into the question of “what if Christ is not raised?” and he shows how this affects our theology...
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.
Paul makes a very clear point here that our faith is DEPENDENT upon the truth of the resurrection.
If you ever wonder why it is the goal of the one who opposed Scripture to find fault with the resurrection, here is the reason.
Every spring, you find shows on various networks “investigating the resurrection” of Jesus.
Inevitably, you will see some scholar on their who attempts to explain away the resurrection.
WHY?>>>>
Because our entire faith is wrapped up in the resurrection of Christ.
Without it, our faith is in vain (useless, meaningless).
The Apostle Paul knew this, and so do they.
The person who says he can have Christianity apart from the resurrection is at odds with the Apostle Paul; this again is where THEOLOGY MATTERS.
Paul continues to solidify his position by saying that if we say Jesus is risen, and He is not, then we are misrepresenting God...
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.
Again, Paul is challenging those who have this BAD THEOLOGY in regard to the resurrection.
If you say the dead are not raised, then Jesus is not raised.
And if Jesus is not raised, then we are liars about God, because we said He raised Christ.
Good theology MUST BE consistent theology... and Paul is here demanding consistency of thought.
Paul goes on to point our that THOUGHTS HAVE CONSEQUENCES...
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
If there is NO RESURRECTION, here is the inevitable result:
1. Christ is still dead.
2. Your Faith is Worthless.
3. You are still under the penalty of sin.
4. Everyone who has died a Christian is still dead.
5. We all who believe in Jesus’s resurrection deserve nothing but pity.
That’s pretty harsh, but it an accurate summation of Paul’s point.
He tells us where BAD THEOLOGY leads.
If we do not understand this most basic truth of theology (i.e. that God raises people from the dead), then the resultant errors will compound upon themselves.
At this point, Paul clears up the BAD THEOLOGY with a pronouncement of SOLID THEOLOGICAL TRUTH.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Notice he does not say, “If Christ” has been risen.
He is done with the hypotheticals of bad theology.
Bad theology is always based on the hypotheticals of human wisdom.
“What if” this, and “What if” that.
Good theology is based on the facts.
The fact is that Christ HAS BEEN RAISED from the dead.
And those who have died in Him will also be raised, which is why He is called, “firstfruits”
“Firstfruits” are the initial yield of the which comes from the garden and give the promise of more to come.... Jesus was resurrected first, and there will be more to come!
CONCLUSION: The Apostle Paul is concerned that Christians think rightly and believe rightly.
We mentioned in the introduction about “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”.
Many people who ascribe to this view would say they believe in Jesus.
The problem is that they do not truly KNOW what the Bible teaches about Jesus, and the Jesus they “believe in” is just an extension of their already bad theology.
There are many people who believe in a version of Christ.
Some see Him as a good teacher, others a religious zealot, and still others a man of peace.
But the Bible declares Christ as the risen King of Kings, in Whom alone is Life eternal.
What we believe about Him, and ultimately what we believe about God matters.
For to believe in a false Jesus is as bad as to not believe in Him at all.
This is why we say, “THEOLOGY MATTERS”
Theology is what we believe about God.
It includes by extension what we believe about Jesus, about ourselves, and about the world around us.
Your theology matters, because truth matters, and because God matters.
Having a right understanding of God is more important than having money, fame or success... as none of these things will last in eternity.
As has been observed, there are no UHauls behind the Hearse - you truly can’t take it with you.
How do I know my theology is good or bad?
It depends on where it comes from.
If your theology comes from your perceptions of right and wrong, good and bad, justice and injustice... it will likely contain serious error.
The world says, “Listen to your heart.” - That’s wrong.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
BAD THEOLOGY comes from within... GOOD THEOLOGY comes from the Word.
