“Had It Not Been”
1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 53-57
David P. Nolte
Back in 1995 I was working on the roof of the new Eastside Christian Church gym/office/classroom building. I hate heights but we could easily get off the roof in one of two ways. The right way was to go down the ladder which came up through an opening in the roof – that was exit #1. Exit #2, the other way down, was to take a dive and belly-flop on the pavement below.
I was headed for exit #2 when I stepped on some of the grit from the 3 tab shingles. I began skiing down the slope to apparent oblivion.
Had it not been for Ben Prahl, a middle school boy – a big middle school boy – who grabbed me around the waist before I had gone more then a foot or so, I’m toast!. He planted his feet and was quick enough and strong enough to prevent my descent – maybe my death. He’s my hero to this day.
Had it not been for my pastor in New Mexico convincing me to attend NCC for spring term, I would have likely remained at New Mexico State University and become an electrical engineer.
Had it not been for Christmas, and Calvary, and Easter – in short, had it not been for Jesus – how lost and hopeless we would be! Toni sang a song by Rusty Goodman:
Just suppose God searched through Heaven,
And couldn’t find one willing to be,
The supreme sacrifice that was needed,
That would buy eternal life for you and me
Had it not been for a place called Mount Calvary,
Had it not been for the old rugged cross,
Had it not been for a man called Jesus,
Then forever my soul would be lost
Well I’m so glad He was willing to drink His bitter cup,
Although He prayed “Father let it pass from me”,
And I’m so glad He never called Heaven’s angels,
From these hands, Pulled the nails that torment me
Then forever my soul would be lost.
Had it not been for Jesus, willing to leave heaven for awhile, to become one of us for awhile, to die for awhile – how terrible our condition would be forever.
Lost, lonely, losers. But there is Good News, and Paul wrote, ‘Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (NASB).
Had it not been for Jesus
I. THERE WOULD BE NO GOSPEL:
A. The Gospel, the Good News, consists of the message and fact of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
B. It is on the basis of those facts and acts that we have hope! The gospel is God’s Good News.
C. And how we need, and long for, Good News!
1. The current news stories are distressing, depressing and discouraging. School shootings, cop killings, terrorist threats make the news abysmal, dragging us down into a dark pit.
2. A constant diet of bad news will make us nervous, neurotic and negative.
3. But the gospel is the Good News:
a.That God is merciful to us, sparing us the wrath we deserve.
b.That God is gracious to us, giving us the love we do not deserve.
D. What makes the gospel such Good News is that
1. Jesus took our sins and gave us His righteousness.
2. Jesus took our poverty and gave us His riches.
3. Jesus took our guilt and gave us His innocence.
4. Jesus took our sickness and gave us His health.
5. Jesus took our shame and gave us His glory.
6. Jesus took our death and gave us His life.
E. Not all news is good news. A gallery owner told one of his artists that he’s got some good new and bad news. The artist asked for the good news first. “Well,” he replied, “The good news is that a man came in here today asking if the price of your paintings would go up after you died. When I told him they would, he bought every single one of your paintings.”
Elated, the artist asked, “What could the bad news possibly be?” The gallery owner said, “Evidently, that man was your doctor.” The good news is that there is no bad news in the gospel! The gospel is all Good News.
Had it not been for Jesus there would be no gospel.
Paul continued, “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” 1 Corinthians 15:9-17 (NASB).
Had it not been for Jesus:
II. THERE WOULD BE NO FORGIVENESS OF SIN:
A. No Jesus, no cross, no shed blood, no forgiveness. The Bible makes this clear:
1. The author of Hebrews said, “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22 (NASB).
2. Peter wrote, and I quote the Message version, “It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb.” 1 Peter 1:14-19.
3. Because Jesus shed His blood, He can justly forgive our sins.
B. And we are guilty of sin;
1. Sins of Commission: committing deeds of disobedience, performing sinful acts.
2. Sins of Omission: not doing the right things that we know we are told to do.
C. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not holding our trespasses ands sins against us, but writing them to Christ’s account, forgave us our debt. He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay
D. Because of Jesus there is forgiveness. And how great is His forgiveness?
1. He casts them into the depth of the sea. Micah 7:19.
2. He removes them from us as far as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12.
3. He blots them out: Psalm 51:9.
4. He forgets them: Hebrews 10:17.
E. We tend to be so different when somewhere, back there in the past, someone may have done us harm. We may have been so wronged that we decided not to forgive. We may have decided the rules to apply when we do forgive. There are certain things we demand of those who wrong us. They must plead, they must promise, they must pay up.
Two ladies had been close friends but a disagreement divided them. One of them thought the other had started a rumor about her and would not listen to the other woman’s side. When the pastor tried to talk to her about reconciliation, she said, “I will never forgive her unless she publicly admits to starting that rumor and begs me to forgive her.”
Not at all like Jesus who told us through John, “ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NASB).
Had it not been for Jesus there would be no forgiveness of sin.
Look back to the text: “He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 (NASB). And, “ For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 (NASB).
Had it not been for Jesus:
III. THERE WOULD BE NO VICTORY OVER DEATH:
A. He died so death would be defeated by resurrection.
1. In the Message version, we read, “Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (MSG).
2. In his letter, Paul assured the Roman Christians, saying, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 (NASB).
B. The author of the Hebrew letter said, “through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” Hebrews 2:14-15 (NASB).
C. The resurrection of Jesus presignals our own. We then can say with David, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 (NASB).
1. A key word is “through” – we enter on earth we exit at God’s House.
2. Another key word is “shadow.” Shadows are not real, cannot reach out and grab us and are just the absence of light.
3. One key thought is, “you are with me.” He does not fail or forsake us.
4. Another key thought is “Your rod your staff, they comfort me.” He is our protector.
D. So the Good News of forgiveness and victory over death is declared in this way: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV)).
E. Let me illustrate. At the height of Operation Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. The message stated that her son, Clayton had lost his life. Ruth later wrote these words, “I can’t begin to describe my grief and shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For 3 days I just wept. I expressed anger and loss. For 3 days people tried to comfort me but nothing worked ... the loss was simply too great.”
But 3 days after she received that message the phone rang. The voice on the other end said ,”Mom, it’s me. It’s Clayton. I’m alive.” Ruth couldn’t believe it at first but then she recognized his voice and realized he really was alive. The message was all a mistake. She said, “I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels because my son who I thought was dead was actually alive.”
The disciples, His family members, His enemies, all those who were at the cross faced the death of Jesus. And, unlike Clayton, Jesus had truly died! Seemingly, defeated.
“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” Acts 2:24 (NASB).
What does all this mean to you and me? It means we don’t have to fear death since He has defeated it. It means He is alive to be our Savior, our advocate and intercessor to the Father. It means that there is life after death and it is His gift to give. It means that because He lives, we, too, shall live.
No gospel – no forgiveness – no victory had it not been for Jesus, Who, through His death, burial and resurrection, brings us all three because He lives.
Pray / invite```
