Easter 2022
I Corinthians 15
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
04-17-2022
Bridges
Growing up in Memphis, I crossed the bridge into Arkansas many times. If you don’t know, it’s in the Genius World Book of Records as the largest bridge in the shape of a letter.
If there wasn’t a bridge there, it would be very difficult to get to Arkansas.
That’s what bridges do. They connect places.
The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco to Sausalito, California.
The Brooklyn Bridge, which I’ve walked over, connects Manhattan to Brooklyn.
The the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain is the longest in the world and ends in New Orleans.
How many of you would like to cross this bridge?
Bridges help us get from one place to another. But when something goes wrong with a bridge, it can be devastating.
On August 1, 2007, the I-35 Bridge that spanned the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis collapsed in the middle of rush hour. 111 vehicles went into the water and 13 people died.
There have been many bridge collapses in recent years, but one was burned into my memory from my childhood.
It was a dark and rainy night, March 16, 1980. I was eleven years old. My brother came into my room and we both listened as sirens and helicopters buzzed over our house to the Perkins Road bridge, less than a mile from where we lived.
The northbound lane of the bridge had collapsed and several cars went into the flooded creek below. Two people died.
Even after I started driving years later, I hated going over that bridge.
What do bridges have to do with Easter? I’ll tell you at the end of the service!
Corinth
We will be in the letter of I Corinthians this morning. The Corinth of Paul’s day was the wealthiest city in Greece. It was a major multicultural urban center with more than 80,000 residents.
There was an 18,000 seat amphitheater and a 3,000 seat concert hall. Farmers would bring their wares to a large market in Corinth.
The city was full of pagan shrines and the people of Corinth had many different religious and philosophical perspectives.
One commentator likened Corinth to New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles rolled into one.
Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthian church in 55 AD to address multiple issues within the congregation. There was division, believers were suing other believers, and sexual immorality was common and tolerated.
They were arrogant and spiritually immature. The church was mess.
Aren’t you glad that the church isn’t like that anymore? Hmmm…we’ll come back to that.
Turn with me to I Corinthians 15.
Prayer.
Reminders
“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” (I Corinthians 15:1-2)
Paul planted the church, consisting of mainly Gentiles, on his second missionary journey.
In chapter 15, Paul is winding down his thoughts and wants to remind them about what is most important about their faith.
He wants to remind them of something. Every good teacher knows the power of repetition and reminding.
He wants them to remember the Gospel that Paul preached to them. The word “Gospel” means “good news.”
The Corinthians heard the Gospel message and received it. They had place their faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.
It was the ground on which the stood and the basis of their salvation.
But not all had received the message. Not all were standing firm in the hope of the Gospel. There were those in Corinth, just like in Chenoa, that were just good at playing church. Their belief wasn’t belief at all.
I’ve said it many times but I will remind you again, there are three types of people in this auditorium.
There are those of you who know for sure that if you died today that you would be in heaven.
There are those who don’t have a clue what the Gospel is but you are curious. At the end of this service, I’m going to give you an opportunity to respond to Jesus.
And there are those who simply know how to play church. You are a good church person. Corinth had these people in their congregation as well. All churches do. The problem is that hell will be filled with good church people. Without the Gospel, there is no hope of making it to heaven on you own.
Paul then reminds the Corinthians what is most important in their Christian faith.
The Main Thing
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” (I Corinthians 15:3a)
In seminary, I would laugh as my friends would argue about theology. I would simply say, “It’s all about the love, baby.”
One time, another student turned to me and said, “That’s not going to get you an A on Dr. Kelly’s test.” To which I said, “But it will get me into heaven!”
One of the best pieces of preaching advice I ever received was to keep the main thing the main thing.
Right now, I fear our church culture has lost the plot of the story. Instead of the main thing, we argue endlessly over trivial issues. We bring politics into our pulpits and causes into our congregations.
Many people in our culture have been so hurt by people in the church and the church’s tepid response to this trauma, they have abandoned the Christian faith altogether.
They use words like mean-spirited, judgement, and hypocritical to describe the church. And I can’t argue with them. Much of what they say is true.
I remember talking to my brother before I was born again and complaining about all the hypocrites in the church. He said something that I’ve never forgotten:
“Stop looking at Christians. They will always disappoint you. Look to Christ! He is faithful and true.”
We need to get back to the main thing. This is what Paul wants to remind the Corinthians of.
What is the Gospel? What is the main thing?
The Gospel is the Main Thing
“…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” (I Corinthians 15:3b-4)
Paul quotes an early Christian creed that the Corinthians would have been very familiar with by this time.
What’s the main thing of Christianity? Three things.
Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture.?
What Scriptures? The Old Testament clearly foretold the death of the Messiah, the savior.
In Genesis 22, Abraham took Issac up on a mountain to sacrifice him to the Lord. But, at the last minute, God stops him and Abraham notices a ram stuck in a thicket. The ram died in Isaac’s place.
In Psalm 22, a song of David about the coming Messiah, he writes almost as if he had been at the foot of the cross:
“Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” (Psalm 22:16-18)
Nearly 700 years before the cross, Isaiah wrote:
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all… For he bore the sin of many…” (Isaiah 53:5-6, 12)
Paul would later write to the Romans:
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6,8)
Christ died for you, in your place, to pay the penalty for your sins.
The righteous dying for the unrighteous, in our place.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)
Do you believe that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures? In just a minute, you have an opportunity to say yes to Jesus.
that He was buried
Rather than being an afterthought, these four words have tremendous power.
Jesus was 100% human and 100% God. Because He was human He could die.
And He died on that cross. He was taken down by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, his body washed and anointed with spices, and then wrapped tightly with linen cloths.
He was then laid in a tomb and a two ton stone rolled across the entrance.
He wasn’t mostly dead. He was dead.
This is important because people started spreading a rumor that Jesus hadn’t died. He had swooned. He had passed out under the weight of the pain and when He was placed in the cold air of the tomb He revived again. And then, somehow, he moved the stone and walked out.
He was really dead.
Jesus predicted this when the Pharisees asked him for a sign:
“A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:38-40)
John tells us that Jesus, “Bowed His head and gave up His spirit.’ (John 19:30)
This is important because you have to be dead to experience resurrection!
that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
The is the guts of the Gospel. This is the core of our belief. This is the main thing of the main thing.
The Christian faith stands and falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.
Jesus Himself predicted His resurrection:
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Matthew 16:21)
He was resurrected according to the Scriptures.
After rising from the dead, Jesus encountered two discouraged disciples on the road to the village of Emmaus. They had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah but were crushed that he had been killed. They were also baffled by reports that the tomb was empty. Jesus responded:
“How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
David wrote in Psalm 16 concerning the Messiah;
“…because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm 16:10)
I heard of an Easter service where two churches decided to do the service together. One would do the worship part and the other preaching part.
The pastor of the other church stood up and began the Easter sermon with these words, “We all know that Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead. That’s impossible. But it is a beautiful metaphor for new life that we celebrate at Easter.”
People were appalled and several decided to walk out of the service.
Listen to me. If Jesus isn’t alive right now, I would be playing golf poorly. I certainly would be here.
Later in the chapter Paul says it this way:
“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (I Corinthians 15:14-19)
Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day. That’s the Gospel.
Paul continues:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (I Corinthians 15:20-22)
Then Paul provides proof through the eyewitness that saw Jesus.
Eyewitnesses
“…and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” (I Corinthians 15:6-8)
Why did Jesus appear to these people? One reason is that there was a rumor that the disciples came and stole the body.
Who did He appear to?
Cephas or Peter
Peter had denied Jesus three times and was crushed after Jesus had died. He had lost hope and gone back to fishing. But Jesus sought him out, restored Him, and commissioned him to be a leader in the church.
Maybe you have lost hope today? Or you think what you have done is too bad? That’s not true.
Then to the twelve
They were eleven with the suicide of Judas. Everyone one of them had abandoned Jesus in the garden when He was arrested. They were filled with shame and guilt. They needed to see Jesus. They needed to be forgiven. And they were commissioned to spread the Gospel message to the whole world.
To more than 500 people. -
Some people claim that this was a group hallucination. But as someone who has worked with people who have hallucinations, I can tell you that doesn’t happen. Hallucinations are very individualized.
These were just normal people, living in Jerusalem. In fact, many of them were still alive at that time and anyone could go and ask them about seeing Jesus.
Then to James and to the apostles.
This James was the half-brother of Jesus. He didn’t believe that his older brother was the Messiah. In fact, he thought Jesus had probably lost His mind.
But then Jesus appeared to him and he became the leader of the Jerusalem church!
Maybe you think this whole story is pretty crazy. It is, and it’s true. Today is the day that you can stop doubting and start trusting.
and last of all Paul
Paul didn’t just not believe. He was antagonistic to the Gospel and to Jesus. He arrested Christians and had them killed. On the way to Damascus to round up more Christians, Jesus appeared to him and the persecutor became the preacher!
Maybe that’s you today. You are angry. You think Christianity is stupid. So did Paul. Until he saw Jesus.
Bridge Illustration
Let’s go back to the first question I asked, “What does a bridge have to do with the Gospel?’
God created us to be with Him
Our sins separate us from God
Sins can not be undone by good deeds
[Put up picture of Gospel bridge diagram]
We are on one side of a deep chasm. And we can not jump across. There’s nothing we can do. We are separated from God.
Romans 6:23 makes it clear, “The wages of sin is death…”. But
Paying the price for sin Jesus died and rose again.
Yes “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.” (Romans 6:23)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
The cross is the bridge! And the fact that Jesus came back from the grave means you can trust this bridge. It will never collapse!
Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life
Life with Jesus starts now and last forever.
Where are you on this diagram? Maybe you are on the left side. Today is your day to cross the bridge.
Ending Video: the Bridge
