The Resurrection: History Or Myth?

I) [Introduction to Lord’s Super.] Easter, the day that many celebrate the resurrection of Christ, is right around the corner. While we do not celebrate this holiday, because God did not ask that we do so, the resurrection is nevertheless certainly an essential part of our faith.

A) Paul reminds us in Rom 8:11 of the link between the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” [NKJV]. It is His resurrection that gives us hope, demonstrating that God can raise to immortality we who have been dead in sin, just as He raised Jesus when He died for our sins.

B) Paul goes on to explicitly say in Rom 10:8-9 that we must believe in Christ’s resurrection in order to be saved, that is, in order to be resurrected ourselves. “But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” He says if we confess Jesus as Lord, and if we believe God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved.

C) Thus Christ is described in 1 Cor 15:20-23 as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

Just as man made us subject to death, when Adam sinned, so Man (Christ in the form of man), introduced resurrection, through which we will again live. Christ is then just the first of those to be raised from the dead. Just as the first fruits of the field that were offered to God as sacrifice were a sign of the fuller harvest to come (Prov 3:9-10), so Christ is the first of many to be raised. Who then is to be raised? “Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” [verse 23].

D) While we do not celebrate Easter annually, we do eat of the Lord’s Supper every week. When we do so, we are primarily remembering Christ’s sacrifice for us, His death. But there is also inherent in that weekly observance anticipation of Christ’s return and with that return our own resurrection, for God directs us in 1 Cor 11:23-26 to continue that memorial “till he comes.” “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

As we eat of the Lord’s Supper now, let’s remember the loving sacrifice of Christ allowing His body to be broken for us, remember the sacrifice of His blood being shed so that we could be purified and made suitable to enter a new covenant relationship with God, and fix our hope upon the day of His coming again, when all who are His will be raised from the dead.

[Serve the Lord’s Supper.]

II) [Sermon introduction] As we saw a moment ago, belief in the resurrection of Christ is an essential part of our faith.

A) Returning again to 1 Corinthians 15, in the first few verses of the chapter Paul includes the resurrection as an element in the basic gospel. “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve” [1 Cor 15:1-5].