There is one central alleged historic event upon which everything we believe and practice as Christians rests. That is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Unbelieving historians do not seriously question that a man named Jesus lived. Some would even grant that he did unexplainable things that were perceived as miracles. Most would marvel at the influence Jesus has had on world civilization and religion in the western hemisphere. Many would applaud his teachings as a model of the highest moral instruction in human history. But there is one thing the unbelieving historians will not grant, and that is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. To accept the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as a historical reality, and to understand what that implies, is to accept the Christian faith as the only valid religion in the world. I grew up assuming that almost everyone believed the Bible is true and Jesus was raised. Now I know that even among members of the church, there are many who unknowingly resist the implications of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Many who say they believe Jesus is raised show by their lives that they actually do not believe.
Have you considered what life would be like today if Jesus had not been raised from the dead? What if on the third day when those women came to the tomb, the stone was still there and the body of Jesus was still lying in state. What if Jesus’ body had decayed in that grave? It is difficult to even imagine what the world would look like today and what your life would be like if Jesus had not been raised.
First of all, the gospel would never have been proclaimed to the gentile world. There would be no gospel to proclaim. The very fiber of western civilization would be totally different. We would all be either atheistic heathens or superstitious pagan idol or nature worshippers. The world as we know it would not exist. It was the missionary zeal of the early church that brought unity to nations and peoples and tribes and tongues throughout the world. This influence has shaped the world that we live in beyond what we could imagine. If Jesus was not raised, the message of God’s love and saving grace would not exist. There would be no New Testament, no church, and Jesus would have faded into the obscurity in which all the other people of his day disappeared.
It is difficult to appreciate the impact that the writings of men like Paul have had on the world that we live in today. They would never have been written if Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead.
Jesus was born. He lived and taught and did his wonderful works among us. He exposed the sins of the Jewish leaders of his day and in hatred and jealousy, they plotted his death and arrested him, falsely accused him, beat him, and mocked him, and turned him over to the Roman governor, Pilate, to have him crucified. Jesus was nailed hands and feet and suspended on a cross where he died in nakedness and shame. But Jesus death on the cross was no accident. It was a fulfillment of scriptures. It was a payment for your sins and mine by a perfect sacrifice who was willing to take the punishment you and I deserve for the sins we have committed. Jesus died on that cross for our sins, just as the prophets in the Old Testament foretold it. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb. There his body lay for three days. But on the first day of the week, Jesus was raised from the dead, just as the Old Testament prophets said would happen. The stone was rolled away and our salvation was made available and sure. Jesus body was raised from the dead. He didn’t vaporize. He arose. Praise God! We serve the Lord, Jesus Christ, who is victor even over sin and death! We worship the Father who loved us so much that he gave us his only begotten Son so that we by faith might have everlasting life. The Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures and who adopts us into God’s family and who indwells our very bodies as his temple guides us. That same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is strengthening us to live according to God’s will and helping us to pray, sealing us for eternal life in glory some day.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father, we are here before you by your grace and love poured out upon us through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior and Lord. We are here in your presence, worshipping in the Holy Spirit by the truth you have laid out for us in your Word.
First of all Father, thank-you again for Jesus. Thank-you again, that we serve a crucified, buried, risen, and coming Savior who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
Father, we confess our faith in you! You are the One true living God, Jesus Christ is your Son, the Holy Spirit is your Spirit. We confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he died for our sins, because of our sins and is indeed risen from the dead. Lord, raise us up. Lift us out of the grave of sin and selfishness. Raise us up from the death of worldly pursuits and temporal desires. Father, please give us resurrection power in our lives today, and let our lives be a glory unto you! Increase our faith, so that we may live like Jesus did.
May the words of your servant Paul be fulfilled in us when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ, liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Heavenly Father, whatever things we might have counted gain in this life, help us to count them as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, may we count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord, for whom may we suffer the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that we may gain Christ.
May we be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from You on the basis of faith.
May we know Jesus Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
in order that we may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This is our prayer in Jesus name, Amen!
The Bible shows us that the power of salvation is in the gospel. Romans 1:16
It also shows us that the gospel is preached, believed, received, and obeyed.
1 Thess. 1:8 and 1 Peter 4:17 speak of dire consequences for those who do not obey the gospel.
The Bible shows how the gospel is preached. 1 Cor. 15:1-4
It shows how the gospel is obeyed. Romans 6:1-4, Col. 2:12.
It shows how the gospel is lived out in our lives. (The New Testament).
The Gospel! Hear it, believe it, receive it, obey it, take your stand on it, be saved by it, hold on to it!
(Handout and Study Guide)
The Gospel: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Preached it
Received it
Stand on it
Saved by it
Keep hold of it
The first thing of importance I delivered to you that I also received…
1. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
2. Christ was buried
3. Christ was raised on the third day according to the scriptures
4. Christ appeared to witnesses alive, Peter, the twelve, over 500, and to Paul
So we preached and so you believed.
*****
Resurrection doctrine is crucial to Christian faith: vs: 12-34
Everything stands or falls here. 11-19
No resurrection means Jesus is still dead.
No resurrection means our preaching is vain.
No resurrection means the New Testament writers are all liars.
No resurrection means your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins.
No resurrection means all who have died are forever gone.
No resurrection means we are of all people most to be pitied.
But resurrection is real. 20-34
A man brought death, a man brought resurrection from death.
In Adam all die… In Christ all are made alive.
The order of resurrection: Christ first, later those who belong to Christ when he comes. Death, the final enemy, is sure to be abolished.
Baptism for the dead??? (Vance Davis – dead bodies i.e. Paul is saying that baptism is a burial of our bodies which are dead forever unless there is a resurrection of our dead bodies to life). Why are people baptized for their dead bodies if they will not be raised to life?
Why live in danger for a faith that has no future hope?
Those who do not believe in the resurrection do not know God.
