Brother Mike has been teaching us a great series every Wednesday night and a couple of weeks ago, he taught on the Resurrection. Well, I’m going to take it a little farther this morning as we learn the truths about the resurrection. I hope to strengthen your belief in the resurrection in this message.
How many of you read the newspaper? How many of you watch the news on TV? How many of you get your news from the internet? How many of you count everything you read on the internet as truth?
For most of us, national or global news stories are just that: stories we see or read in the news. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but on rare occasions we might be able to say, “Hey! I was there! I saw that in-person when it happened!”
Of course, none of us were there at the greatest event that ever has happened that changed everything. None of us were at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But every spring, we joyfully celebrate it. We call it Easter. Now here’s the question: Do we embrace the resurrection as something that actually occurred in history, or do we think of it simply as folklore, a legendary tale that may or may not have really happened? You say, “Of course I believe it actually happened. But you would be surprised to know that many who claim to be Christian don’t really consider the resurrection as an actual occurrence.
Many people favor this latter view—that the resurrection sounds nice but is just a tale that is told. Then there are others that view the resurrection as an “inspiring story” about a great teacher named Jesus, but they don’t believe He is the true Messiah who was resurrected for all mankind.
Well, the Apostle Paul had something to say about it. In fact, he had a lot to say about it. We’ll be using 1 Corinthians 15 as our background passage. In this writing, Paul made a claim: Jesus did physically rise from the dead, and many people could attest to that. Many people of that day COULD say, “I was there!” And since Christ actually rose from the dead, His resurrection set into motion a wonderful hope that we NOW have that death is not the end, but only the beginning of eternity with God, seeing Him face-to-face. PRAYER –
Let me set the scene for you. There was a false claim that was spreading around the city of Corinth and some Christians were beginning to believe it. Some were saying that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, as many had reported. So, Paul, in his writing this letter to the Corinthians, argued against this false claim that had become so popular.
It’s an idea familiar to us today: that people simply don’t physically rise from the dead. That is, not until the rapture. Our soul goes to be with Jesus at the moment we close our eyes in death here on earth. But our physical bodies will rise when Jesus comes back at the rapture.
Scripture describes this event in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
So, Paul writes this portion of his letter to them with a clear reminder of the gospel message—that is, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and how important all of that was to make the gift of salvation possible. Do you hear what I’m saying? Without the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we have no hope of eternal life, no hope of a heaven in the presence of Almighty God.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. The critics that are out in the world, even today, sometimes deny that Jesus was a real person at all, let alone that He died. But there is just too much evidence that testifies to the historical nature of Jesus’ death. The gospel accounts, as well as other NT writers recorded accounts of Jesus’ death, along with other facts about His life.
For example, non-Christians who also referred to Jesus’ crucifixion in their writings include, Tacitus, the most trusted ancient Roman historian; Josephus, the Jewish historian, and Lucian of Samosota, the Greek satirist. These were actual writers in their own capacity that wrote the history books from that day. They recorded actual facts, some from first-hand experiences.
These were not necessarily Christian writers. None of these had any reason to support Jesus or His followers. Some, in fact, were opposed to them, which actually adds to the trustworthiness of their comments about Christ’s crucifixion.
We might think that the testimonies of these secular historians aren’t that powerful. But having this much evidence concerning a historical person who lived 2,000 years ago is rather impressive. We don’t find this quality of written testimony even in the records concerning some of the more prominent emperors of Rome, the most powerful empire in the world at that time! So, because of all of these historical testimonies to Jesus’ death, even John Dominic Crossan, current author and New Testament scholar of our day, wrote, “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”
So. Paul states in verses 1-2 that he passed on to the Corinthian believers what he first received. Now, verses 3-5 are sometimes considered to be a creed, or set of stated beliefs, that was formulated between the time of Jesus’ resurrection and Paul’s writing of 1 Corinthians. Let’s look at these verses together and then break them down verse-by-verse.
READ 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. This letter is dated around AD 55, placing it around 25 years after Jesus’ death. Knowing the date of this letter and the time this creed was conceived is important because it shows that even the earliest reports concerning Jesus included all 3 elements of the gospel story: Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. These statements were not fabricated by Christians years later.
In verse 3, Paul backed up his claims by saying, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” When Paul says “according to the Scriptures,” he is referring to the OT writings and prophecies that were announcing the coming Messiah. Passages like Isaiah 53: 5-9 that speaks in detail concerning the Messiah’s death, and the Suffering Servant. As well as the description given in Psalms 22:16 of piercing the Messiah’s hands and feet.
As Paul wrote this, he hinted at the language that Jesus used when He instituted the Lord’s Supper. Paul was stressing that it was critical for Christ to fulfill the Messiah’s role in atoning for the sins of the world. But for Jesus’ sacrifice to matter, He had to die. Paul says repeatedly, “according to Scriptures.” The OT Scriptures attested that a Messiah would come who would bring salvation. In order for that to happen, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were necessary.
READ 1 Corinthians 15:4. This is a reminder that sin has consequences. Jesus’ death stands in contrast to what our culture proposes today. Our culture is trending toward redefining good and evil to be whatever each individual holds it to be. But, through Jesus’ death, we see that there are consequences for the evil in our world, even for our Messiah. No one escapes the results of evil in this world, not even Jesus. As a result of sin, we will all die.
Yet, Jesus didn’t remain dead and therein lies our hope. Jesus provided the only defeat in the history of the world; a true resurrection. JESUS CONQUERED DEATH. “Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory.”
Think of it this way, if you want to reverse death, what do you have to do? You have to overcome it with life, right? Jesus’ resurrection was an actual historical event in which the power of God reversed death.
Why did God do this? The answer to that question goes back to creation when God declared that all He made “was very good.” (Gen. 1:31) God’s creation is worthy of being restored because God Himself declared it to be good.
READ 1 Corinthians 15:5-6. You can tell that Paul is still battling with those who didn’t believe that Jesus died and was resurrected. So, he continues his line of reasoning by describing how Jesus appeared to many people after His resurrection. Now that argument would make no sense at all if Jesus’ body was still in the tomb. Plus, in general, Bible scholars agree that all evidence from the first century points to an empty tomb.
On top of all that, none of the ancient sources offer any account of what happened to Jesus after His crucifixion. All we have are the accounts of those who saw Him. The resurrection is recorded in all 4 gospels, which were inspired accounts written within 70 years of Jesus’ life. And then there is the oral tradition of the stories handed down over the years that all support the resurrection of Christ.
As I already mentioned, Paul appeared to be quoting an oral creed that had developed in the early church. The idea that Jesus rose from the dead wasn’t something that evolved as the church grew; they spoke boldly of it from the beginning. In fact, the first sermon recorded in the Book of Acts, Acts 2:32, made a bold proclamation before thousands of people, “God has raised this Jesus, we are all witnesses of this.”
The disciples had nothing to gain from making up a story about the resurrection. In fact, quite the opposite happened; all the apostles except John were killed because of their proclamation of the risen Messiah who appeared to them.
They went from being terrified individuals in hiding after Jesus’ crucifixion to men who boldly proclaimed the good news of the resurrection and salvation in Christ. Their eyewitness testimonies, their lives, and their deaths stand as powerful evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. And I stand before you today to tell you that my Jesus was indeed crucified, He died and was placed in a tomb, and arose to sit at the right hand of our Heavenly Father right now. My Jesus is alive today.
Read 1 Cor. 15:7-8. So, Paul lists multiple accounts from different people who reported seeing the resurrected Christ in various place. Paul reported that Jesus appeared to one or more of the disciples at least twice, and then later to a group of 500 people. Paul stated this matter-of-factly, and if anyone questioned the truthfulness of what he said, they could ask those people themselves, since, as he said in v. 6, “most of them are still alive.”
Paul made a special mention that Jesus appeared to James. As Jesus’ half-brother, James knew Jesus probably better than any of the disciples—but he didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God or the Messiah. That’s a brother for you. John 7:5 says, “For not even his brothers believed in him.”
The details of James’ conversion aren’t known. But after Jesus’ death, James had a change of heart and mind. He not only believed in Jesus as the risen Savior, but he also led the church in Jerusalem, one of the most hostile places for the early church. Something dramatically changed his point of view from disbelief to a profound belief after Jesus’ death.
And let’s not forget about Paul himself. He was formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, the Pharisee of Pharisees, who was relaying this information to the Corinthians Christians. Saul was a man who was a prominent persecutor of the church and gave up his entire community and religious status to proclaim Jesus to the Gentiles.
Something happened to cause this persecutor of Christians to give up everything. He’s not liable to be one who would make up false stories about Jesus’ resurrection. As a former Pharisee, Paul had been part of the highly educated elite. He knew logic and could skillfully present his case before most any audience. He wasn’t any easy convert either. But he went from persecuting Christians to joining their ranks as the most prominent evangelist for Christ. And all of this happened because he saw the resurrected Christ.
You may think this message is wasted time because you all believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Or at least I hope you do. Paul was fighting a pretty tough crowd that thought the story of the resurrection was a fairy tale. And you might be asking why we are talking about this today if we all believe and affirm the resurrection story.
Well, you may or may not know that this same crowd of unbelievers is right here in our own community. The world today is like a modern-day Corinth. There are many who don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus. There are many cults that even today don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.
Several of these cults will make you believe they believe in Jesus as the Messiah, when in fact, they don’t believe or know the Jesus that we do.
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In a cemetery in Hanover, Germany, is a grave that has huge slabs of granite and marble cemented together and fastened with heavy steel clasps on top of the grave. The grave belongs to a woman who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Yet strangely, she directed in her will that her grave be made so secure that if there were a resurrection, it could not reach her. On the marker were inscribed these words: "This burial place must never be opened." In time, a seed, covered over by the stones, began to grow. Slowly it pushed its way through the soil and out from beneath them. As the trunk enlarged, the great slabs were gradually shifted so that the steel clasps were broken from their sockets. A tiny seed had become a tree that had pushed aside the stones.
The dynamic life force contained in that little seed is a faint reflection of the tremendous power of God’s creative word that someday will call to life the bodies of all who are in their graves.
He will also bring back every person drowned at sea, cremated, or destroyed in some other way. This is no problem to the One who made something out of nothing when He spoke the universe into existence.
Unbelief cannot deter the resurrection. But faith in the risen Christ opens the door to blessings that His resurrection guarantees -- a glorious new spiritual body and a home in heaven. In new bodies we will be reunited with saved loved ones to live with Jesus throughout all eternity.
It is as if the resurrection provides the “missing link” to our faith. Let me explain.
Being a degreed scientist before I became a minister, let me tell you about the “missing link” in the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution says that we all evolved from the monkey. Again, it’s just a theory. The missing link is that one thing that is missing from the theory that connects the ape-like creature to the up-right homo sapiens that we supposedly evolved into. That missing link leaves way too many questions unanswered. The answers we have today are only in theory.
For our faith, the resurrection is that link that connects the promises of God’s covenant (peace, joy, and victory) to our lives. And I think we will all agree that we catch glimpses of God’s promises while we live. If we watch closely enough, we can see so many of God’s promises come to life.
Since we know that God is continually fulfilling His promises to us, for us to come to the end of our life and as we stare death in the face say, “So that’s it?” That’s all there is. Death is the end,” that would be pointless.
The resurrection erases that pointlessness, and fills us with hope.
To those who don’t believe in the resurrection, death is a HOPELESS END.
But to those of us who believe, death is an ENDLESS HOPE.
Which side would you rather be on? As for me and my house, we not only believe in the resurrection, we count on it.
