God: Why did Jesus rise from the Dead? 1 Cor. 15:12-20
*** Dr. Billy Graham once told TIME magazine, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection, because that is the heart of Christianity.”
1. Well Dr. Graham knew what he was talking about because more and more theologians, those who admit to be liberal, and even some who claim to be conservative, are taking dead aim at the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
***The founder of the infamous Jesus seminar, Dr. Robert Funk, told TIME magazine as well, “The tales of entombment and resurrection were latter-day wishful thinking. Instead, Jesus’ corpse went the way of all abandoned criminals bodies: it was probably barely covered with dirt, vulnerable to the wild dogs that roamed the wasteland of the execution grounds.”
*** Thomas Jefferson totally emasculated all of the miracles from the four gospels. His bible called The Jefferson Bible, ends with the words: “Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.” He had no problem with the crucifixion or the burial, but he stopped short at the resurrection.
***Dr. N. T. Wright, identified in the media as a “conservative,” said this: ”I think the resurrection of Jesus really happened, but I have no idea if it involves anything happening to his corpse, and, therefore, I have no idea whether it involves an empty tomb. . ..so I would have no problem whatsoever with archeologists finding the corpse of Jesus for me. That would not be a discrediting of the Christian faith or the Christian tradition.”
2. When I hear from these so-called “biblical scholars”
***I feel like a well-known politician who visited a city one time and was speaking to a local civic group. He got there late and arrived just in time to make his way to the platform, shake hands with the committee and begin his speech.
1. He gave it everything he had, ranting and raving at length. Finally, pausing momentarily for breath, he was collared by the horrified chairman who whispered frantically that the sponsoring civic group he was speaking to was on the other side of the issue.
2. Well this politician was slick. Clearing his throat impressively, and not missing a beat, he said, “My friends, I have told you exactly what the opposition is saying. Now I’m going to tell you the truth.”
3. I want you to imagine this headline on the front page of every major newspaper around the world: “Body of Jesus discovered in Israel: Christianity in Chaos.” What would this mean? Just what would be the ramifications and the implications if the body of Jesus were found? Well it would mean something for the church, something for Christ, and something for the Christian. What if Jesus Christ wasn’t raised from the dead?
I. Our Message is Meaningless 1 Cor. 15:14-15
A. All Preaching is Pointless 1 Cor 15:14
1. Let’s just start with me, a preacher of the gospel. If Jesus is not risen, all preaching is profitless. 1 Cor 15:14, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” If Jesus Christ is still in a tomb, if He is as dead now as He was when they took Him off the cross, then basically for forty years of my life I played the fool. I wasted seven years in college and seminary, I have wasted thirty-five years pastoring churches, and I have thousands of books in my library that need to go to the junk heap.
2. If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, I’m wasting my time preaching and you’re wasting your time listening. As a matter of fact, it would be hard to figure out who the bigger fool is; me standing up here preaching as if what I am saying is true, or you sitting out there saying, “Amen,” as if you believe it. The truth of the matter is, if Jesus Christ is still dead, bonnets and bunnies make more sense than the cradle and the cross.
3. Without a risen Savior no sermon, regardless of how beautiful, how oratorical, how logical, or how stimulating it might be, is really worthy hearing. That is why he calls that type of preaching “vain or empty.”
*** A little six-year-old boy complained to his mother that he had a stomach ache and his mother said, “That’s because your stomach is empty; you would feel better if there were something in it.” Well, that afternoon the pastor stopped by for a visit, and the little boy said, “Preacher, how are you feeling?” He said, “Well, my head hurts.” The little boy said, “Well, that’s because it’s empty; you’d feel better if there were something in it.”
5. Well, preaching is empty without a risen Savior. Because if Jesus is dead, quite frankly, I’ve got nothing worth saying to you, and you’ve got nothing worth coming to hear. Those of you who know me know that I have no problem with saying what I mean, and meaning what I say. There cannot be any doubletalk about whether or not Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.
*** Have you ever in your life communicated something that you really didn’t intend to say? I was reading the other day about some newspaper ads that have actually been printed in newspapers, and I don’t believe they really intended to communicate what they said. Here are just a few of them:
- Antique desk for sale--suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers.
- Earring Special--have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to take home.
- Illiterate? Write today for free material.
- Dry Cleaners--We never tear your clothing with machinery--we do it carefully by hand.
- Men Wanted For Work in Dynamite Factory--Must be willing to travel long distances.
- Professional Mixing Bowl Set--Perfect for a lady with a round bottom suitable for beating.
Well, if I cannot get up here and say that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and mean it; and if I cannot mean that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and say it; then preaching is profitless.
B. All Witnessing is Worthless 1 Cor 15:15
1. Well, let’s go from the preacher to the pew. If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, your witness is worthless. 1 Cor 15:15, “Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.”
2. Let me ask you some questions. How many of you would say that Jesus Christ has changed your life? How many of you would say that Jesus Christ lives in your heart? How many of you would say that you have a living, breathing, personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Now listen carefully. If you raised your hand and Jesus is dead, you just lied. Now I don’t mean to be offensive, but you are guilty of spiritual perjury if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead.
3. Paul calls you “false witnesses.” Those two words in English translate one word in Greek, the word “pseudomartus.” The word pseudo means “false.” A pseudo intellectual is someone who thinks he is smart, but he is not. A pseudonym is a false name. The other half of the word is the word that gives us the English word “martyr.” Now originally the word martyr did not mean someone who died for a cause, it meant witness. So literally the word is just what it says; we are false witnesses if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead.
4. In fact, it is worse. If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, then the greatest liar in all of history, and the biggest religious charlatan in the existence of the world, is Jesus Christ Himself. If Jesus Christ is not alive He does not deserve our empathy or our sympathy; He deserves our anger. Because He said Himself in Mt. 17:22-23, “And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.”
5. But not only is Jesus a liar, but that means Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the twelve disciples, and the Apostle Paul were all liars. That is the problem with a dead Christ; we must forfeit our message.
II. Our Faith is Foolish 1 Cor 15:17
1. ''and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.'' (1 Cor. 15:17,) As you know, most people like to say today that it doesn’t really matter what you believe as long as you are sincere in what you believe. If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead you can see just how foolish that is, because faith is no greater than its object. All the faith in the world will allow you to sit in a two-legged chair, fly an airplane with no jet-fuel or drive a car with no tire.
2. The problem is even worse, because if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead then our biggest problem has still not been taken care of which is our sin problem. If our sin problem has not been taken care of then there is no way that you can know God or have a relationship with God. “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. . .” (v.17a)
3. You see, faith is no greater than its object. Now all of the faith in the world will not allow you to sit in a two-legged chair. All of the faith in the world won’t keep you from falling to your death if you jump out of an airplane without a parachute. What gives faith credibility is the object in which it is placed.
*** Many years ago I read about a man out in Los Angeles who called himself “the human fly.” This man would crawl up the walls of skyscrapers by clinging to window ledges; putting his fingers in the little crevasses in the bricks and pulling himself up. People were amazed at his ability because he could climb up a sheer wall almost like a fly.
1. On one particular day he was going up the wall of a huge department store in Los Angeles. There was a crowd watching him as the policemen were holding the crowd back, and they watched him climb up window ledge after window ledge, crevasse after crevasse. He was making his way carefully up the sides of this building until he almost came to the roof.
2. There was a ledge that he was standing on and he needed to get up just a little higher in order to make it to the top of the roof. He saw a little protrusion sticking out from the building like a piece of stone, and he thought to himself if he could just reach that protrusion he had the strength to pull himself up to the rooftop. The problem was it was just beyond his grasp; right beyond his fingertips. So he stood on his toes on that ledge and reached out and gave just a little jump and grasped it with his hand. When he did, he came falling off of that building down to his death.
3. When they went over to his body and gathered around him, they opened up his hand and in his hand they found the crust of a spider’s web. What this man thought was brick was nothing but a spider’s web. Well, if Jesus Christ is not the risen Son of God, He is not the Rock of Ages, He’s no more solid than a spider’s web.
3. You see what gives meaning to the birth of Jesus Christ is the life of Jesus Christ. Had He not lived a sinless life, the virgin birth would have been meaningless. But what gives meaning to the life of Jesus Christ is the death of Jesus Christ. Because if He had not given His sinless life as a sacrifice for our sins, dying on the cross that He might gain our forgiveness from God, then His sinless life would have been meaningless.
4. But what gives meaning to the death of Jesus Christ is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because if He has not been raised from the dead, then He could not have been who He said He was, and therefore His birth, life, and death are all meaningless. That’s why Paul said that Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification.” (Rom. 4:25) In other words, without an empty tomb the cross is meaningless.
*** In an oriental market oftentimes you will see people walk up to a counter; they’ll see some merchandise they like and they will put down on the table what they feel the merchandise is worth. If the price is acceptable to the seller, the seller will raise his hand. May I tell you today that when God raised Jesus from the dead He was raising His hand saying to a lost world, “˜I accept the price that my Son, Jesus Christ, paid on the cross for your sins.” The empty tomb is God’s receipt that Jesus has paid for our sins. Without it our faith is irrelevant.
5. But there’s a worse problem. Forgiveness is impossible. He goes on to say in vs. 17, “you are still in your sins!” In other words, if Jesus is still physically dead, then we are still spiritually dead. Sin is still a chain that binds us. Sin is still a load that burdens us. Sin is still a hammer that breaks us. If we are still in our sins and God is still in his holiness, then it is impossible ever to have a relationship with God.
6. It verifies or validates the essential doctrines of Christianity.
A. Resurrection proves that there is a God and that the God of the Bible is the TRUE God.
*** R. A. Torrey put it this way: Every effect must have a cause…and the only cause adequate to account for the resurrection of Christ is God, the God of the Bible. While here on earth, our Lord Jesus went up and down the land proclaiming the God of the Bible, ‘the God of Abraham Isaac…..Jesus said that men would put Him to death by crucifixion, and He gave many details as to what the manner of His death would be. He said that on the third day after His death, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob would raise Him from the dead.
1. This was a great claim to make….an apparently impossible claim. For centuries men had come and men had gone, men had lived and men had died…and as far as human knowledge founded upon definite observation and experience was concerned, that was the end of them. But this man Jesus did not hesitate to claim that His experience would be directly contrary to the uniform experience of centuries. That was certainly an acid test of the existence of the God He preached….And His God stood the test……the fact that Jesus was thus miraculously raised makes it certain that the God Who did it really exists and that the God He preached is the True God.
B. Resurrection of Jesus Christ also proves the deity of our Lord.
1. When He lived upon this earth Jesus claimed to be equal to God. In John 10:30 He said, “I and the Father are one.” If He was wrong in that, then His claim was either the raving of a deranged man or blasphemy. But if He was right, the resurrection would be God’s way of substantiating the claim. This is why Paul, who knew that Jesus had been raised, writes in Rom 1:4, “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” And that is good news, for…if Jesus Christ is God, then it follows that God must be like Jesus! The resurrection shows that God is not distant, arbitrary, or unreal. As Paul wrote in Gal. 2:20 ours is a God Who …loved us and gave Himself for us.
C. Resurrection proves is that all who believe in Jesus Christ are justified before God. Rom. 4:24-25
1. Resurrection proves that His sacrifice adequately atoned for our sins. Paul says in Rom 4:24-25, “But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
2. You see, Jesus claimed that His death would be a sufficient sacrifice for mankind’s sin. He said that He had come, to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:28 ) But the question still remained: Could it be true that the death of this Man would be an acceptable sacrifice to God for the lives of others? I mean…suppose Jesus had sinned?.
3. Well, in that case, He would have been dying for His own sin rather than for the sins of others for the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Well when Jesus rose on the third day He proved that His atonement was valid! By raising Jesus from the dead God had shown that Christ was sinless and that He had accepted His Son’s atonement for our sin. As 1 Cor. 15:21-22 says, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
D. Resurrection of Jesus Christ also proves that Christians can have victory over sin in this life. Phil. 3:10
1. Jesus lives to provide the supernatural power required. This is what Paul was talking about in Phil. 3:10 when he referred to, the POWER of Jesus’ resurrection. If you are God’s child, if you believe in Christ you are linked to Him in such a way that His power becomes available to us.
2. We may be weak and utterly helpless, unable to resist temptation for a single minute. But Jesus is strong, and He lives to give us the strength to live in a way that pleases Him.
*** Four men were once climbing up the most difficult face of the Matterhorn.
1. There was a guide, a tourist, a second guide, and a second tourist, all roped together. As they went over a particularly difficult place, the lower tourist lost his footing and went over the side. The sudden pull on the rope carried the lower guide with him, and he carried the other tourist along also. Three men were now dangling over the cliff.
2. But the guide who was in the lead, feeling the first pull on the rope, drove his ax into the ice, braced his feet, and held fast. The first tourist then regained his footing, the guide regained his, and the lower tourist followed. Then they went on in safety. So it is for us.
3. As the human race ascended the icy cliffs of life, the first Adam lost his footing and tumbled headlong over the abyss. He pulled the next man after him and the next and the next, until the whole human race hung in deadly peril. But the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, kept His footing. He stood fast. And all who are united to Him by a living faith are secure and can regain the path. Our risen Lord gives us the power we need to live and serve Him.
E. The resurrection of Jesus Christ also gives proof of our own resurrection and that we will live forever with Jesus in glory beyond the grave.
1. Remember, in John 11:25-26 Jesus had stood outside the grave of Lazarus and promised his sister, Martha, John 11:25-26, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Well, His resurrection proved that promise to be true. Since Jesus defeated death…we know that we can as well. You know…one thing different from us and animals is our awareness of eternity. As Ecc. 3:11 says, God has, …set eternity in the hearts of men… So we have a sort of sixth sense. We see that there must be life after death but we also know we can’t get there on our own. We have eternity in our hearts but mortality in our bodies.
*** This reminds me of the true story of a man named Floyd Collins. In 1925, Mr. Collins was exploring near mammoth Cave in Kentucky when he got stuck in a fall of rock while he was only 55 feet from the surface. Icy water was dripping in his face. Rescuers came in and diverted the water and they talked with him, they calmed him down and brought him food, but they couldn’t get him out. As days went by….and he was still stuck…he began to become emotionally unglued. He was able to see the light, able to see where he wanted to be, he heard voices outside, but he was stuck and he couldn’t get out.
So he slowly began to have raving lunacies about everything from chicken sandwiches to angels in white chariots. The newspapers got in on it and ten thousand people came to see him. They sold hot dogs and popcorn. It was a side show. But…seventeen days later Floyd Collins died in that hole, able to see where he wanted to be but not able to get there. You know…before Christ’s resurrection we were in the same situation as Floyd Collins, aware of the light of eternity with no way to get there. But now we have a way….for Jesus IS the way…the truth….the resurrection and the life….and that is good news!
III. Our Existence is Empty
A. There is nothing worth dying for 1 Cor.15:18
1. If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, we have no ministry to offer either to the living or to the dying. We can offer no hope for the dying. Paul says in 1 Cor 15:18-19, “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
2. It means death still has its sting. It means the grave still has its victory. Life is just a form of Russian roulette and all we can do is wonder which day will fire the fatal bullet.
3. If Jesus has not been raised from the dead there is no hope now, and there is no heaven later. Your loved ones are lost. When you buried that mother or that father it didn’t matter whether they were godly or not; it did not matter if they had faith in Jesus or not; it did not matter if they knew Christ or not. You may as well have been burying a dead dog in a dry hole. If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead there is not enough gold in Fort Knox or enough tea in China to make me do another funeral.
4. Life is just an exercise in futility; a dead-end street that winds up in the pothole of death and despair if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead.
5. There is no hope for the dead and the dying, but there is also no hope for the living. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (v.19) Paul said the most pitiful human being on this planet is a person who has put his faith in a Jesus who is dead.
*** I am reminded of the story of some boys who got together to play football. When they all got together they discovered that nobody had brought a football. One of the boys said, "˜Never mind the ball, let’s just get on with the game." That makes as much sense as somebody saying, "Never mind the resurrection, let’s get on with Christianity." Friend, without the resurrection you don’t have Christianity.
B. There is nothing worth living for! 1 Cor 15:32, 20
“If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.”
1. Paul, in effect, was defying anybody, anywhere, anytime, at any place to show him any real purpose or any real meaning in life if Jesus Christ and his bones are still in a box. You may as well treat life as one big party, because when it is over - it is over.
2. Having said all of that let me give you the bottom line. Do you know why we are meeting on Sunday on a regular basis rather than on Saturday? Do you know why after thousands of years after worshipping God on Saturday all of a sudden Jews began to worship God on Sunday? For one reason and one reason only - the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. The greatest discovery that has ever been made and ever will be made was when two women went to a tomb on a Sunday morning and discovered absolutely nothing. So, I won’t be going fishing next Sunday. I won‘t be going to the beach. I won’t be going to the mountains and I won’t be going to the lake. And, as Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said, ''I'll be back!'' Because contrary to boxes and bones and documentaries and Hollywood directors and pseudo-intellectuals and theological skeptics, Jesus Christ is alive. That’s why Jesus was raised from the dead!
4. "But now Christ is risen from the dead. . ."(v.20) I’ve got great news for you today. We do have a message--Jesus is Alive.
*** Bob Richards, the former pole-vault champion, shares a moving story about a skinny young boy who loved football with all his heart.
1. Practice after practice, he eagerly gave everything he had. But being half the size of the other boys, he got absolutely nowhere. At all the games, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever played. This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands cheering.
2. He never missed a game. This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. His father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn't want to. But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he'd get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game, but remained a bench-warmer all four years.
3. His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him. When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a "walk-on." Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always puts his heart and soul into every practice, and at the same time, provided the other team members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed.
4. The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the colleges home games. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game. It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, "My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?"
5. The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, "Take the rest of the week off, son. And don't even plan to come back to the game on Saturday." Saturday arrived, and the game was NOT going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon.
"Coach, please let me play. I've just got to play today," said the young man.
6. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close of playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in. "All right," he said. "You can go in."
7. Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked, and tackled like a star. His team began to triumph.
8. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you never heard before.
9.Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed that this young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said, "Kid, I can't believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?" He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!"
