The reality is that you cannot be a follower of Jesus and not believe and trust in the reality of the resurrection. You cannot correctly identify yourself as a Christian and reject that Jesus was physically and bodily raised from the dead. Now you may be wondering “why is the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ so essential to being a Christian? And why do I have to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ to become a follower of Jesus?” Or maybe your biggest push back to church or the Bible or Christianity has to do with the resurrection. For you to buy Christianity, you need proof of the resurrection.
If you are asking those questions, I want you to know that these are great questions to be asking. These are great questions to be asking, because these were the same questions that the members of the church at Corinth were asking. And in this section of this letter, we will see Paul answer these questions and reveal for us four results that occur when we reject the reality of the resurrection. We see the first result beginning in 1 Corinthians 15:1. Let’s look at it together:
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. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Corinth by reminding them of the message of the gospel that he had proclaimed to them. Paul explains that their acceptance of the message of the gospel by faith in what God had done to rescue them from their selfishness and sin was based on their firm adherence to the message of the gospel that Paul had proclaimed to them. When Paul uses the phrase unless you believed in vain, he is explaining to the church and to us today that the only way that the message of the gospel does not result in salvation from our selfishness and sin is if we respond to the message without careful thought.
Paul’s point is that believing, trusting, and following Jesus is more than an emotional response. Salvation revolves around a person recognizing and responding to their selfishness and sin by embracing the facts that surround the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by placing their complete confidence in those facts by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. The message of the gospel that results in salvation is rational in nature and is rooted in history.
Paul then reminds the members of the church, and us here this morning of the essence of the Christian faith. What is of first importance; what is the closed handed and non-negotiable center of the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ, who is God in an bod, entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.
When Paul uses the phrase according to the Scriptures, he is reminding Christians throughout history that Jesus life and death was predicted and proclaimed throughout the Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, we read of God promising a rescuer, a deliverer to save us from our selfishness and sin and to bring us into the relationship with God we were created for. But not only was Jesus life and death proclaimed throughout the Old Testament, Paul also explains that Jesus burial and resurrection was predicted and proclaimed in the Old Testament. When Paul talks about resurrection here, he is referring to a literal, physical, bodily resurrection. Jesus died on the cross, was buried in a tomb dead as a door nail, and was brought back to life as a result of God’s transforming activity.
Paul then explains to the members of the church the reality of the resurrection as seen in the multitude of people who had contact with the resurrected Lord. When Paul uses the word appeared, he is not referring to seeing Jesus is a dream or vision; this word refers to an actual visual encounter with the Risen from the dead Jesus Christ. Paul then provides a list of people who had an encounter with Jesus after he was raised from the dead.
First, Paul lists Peter, who had denied Jesus three times while he stood outside his trial. Paul then lists the remaining eleven disciples. And while we may question the testimony of his closest followers, Paul then transitions to explain that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred people at one time, most of who were still living. Paul is saying to the church “if you do not want to believe me or the disciples, then go ask these five hundred people. Do you think five hundred people would have the same dream or vision at the same time?” Paul’s point here is that there were people who were still alive that could testify as to the truth of the reality of the resurrection.
Paul then explains that James, the brother of Jesus, who had mocked Jesus claims during His life on earth, he saw the resurrected Lord, so go ask him. The same James who is now the Senior Pastor at the church in Jerusalem. What would cause someone who had mocked Jesus to so change his opinion so as to be a leader in His movement? Paul then explains that Jesus also appeared to all of the Apostles, which we read about in Acts 1:6-11. Finally, Paul refers to his own encounter on the Damascus Road, which we read about in Acts 9. When Paul refers to himself as one untimely born, this phrase was used to describe a miscarriage or abortion. Apparently, the members of the church at Corinth viewed Paul as a freak and insignificant as compared with the other Apostles.
Paul responds to this criticism by explaining the wile he should have the lowest status among the Apostles as a result of his persecution of the early church, the exceptional effect of God’s gracious activity in his life resulted in Paul leveraging all that he had to serve the Lord and proclaim the gospel. I mean what else do you think would cause someone like Paul who persecuted the church to become the greatest missionary of the early church?
Paul’s point here is that the resurrection of the dead is a historical reality that was witnessed by hundreds of people over forty days time. I mean, all that was needed to stop the fledgling movement that was Christianity was to produce Jesus dead and rotting corpse for all to see. And for 2,000 years people have been trying to find Jesus corpse, with absolutely no success, because the reality is that Jesus has been raised from the dead by God’s supernatural activity. And it was the reality of God’s activity through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that resulted in the transformation of lives and the spread of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel throughout history. And this morning, the reality is that to reject the reality of the resurrection results in a denial of the gospel.
Now you might be thinking “But why does rejecting the reality of the resurrection deny the message of the gospel? Why is the resurrection and the gospel inseparable?” Again, if you are asking these questions, these are great questions to be asking. Tomorrow, we will see Paul answer these questions for us.
So, what is your greatest hesitation to believing in the reality of the resurrection?
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