"THE GOSPEL ON WHICH WE STAND" (1 COR 15:1-8)

EASTER SUNDAY

GCEFC: APRIL 4, 2010

INTRODUCTION

1. In our lives, there are things for which there is so much evidence, that our belief in them is a virtual certainty.

2. We believe that the sun will set later today. And though it’s theoretically possible that it won’t, the overwhelming evidence is that it will. We have no doubt about it.

3. We are equally certain that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. If someone were to claim that the sun is not going to rise tomorrow, we’d write them off as some kind of nut case.

4. And we are certain that the day will come when we draw our last breath of air, close our eyes, and die. We have no good reason to believe otherwise.

5. Now you may not believe that the sun will set this evening or rise tomorrow morning. You could even live your entire life not believing you will some day die.

6. But what is true is true—whether we believe it or not. Truth may be accepted or rejected—but accepting or rejecting it is not what makes it true.

7. And not all truths are equally important. Some truths matter very little whether we believe them or not. But other truths are extremely important to believe.

a. For example, you may not believe in gravity. But some day that lack of belief will catch up with you.

b. You may believe that it doesn’t matter if you spend more money than you make. But sooner or later you’ll find out that it matters a lot.

c. And you may not believe that how you treat other people makes much difference. But do it long enough and you’ll find out that it makes all the difference in the world.

8. Some beliefs are relatively unimportant. While other beliefs are very important. And some beliefs are so important that they’re beyond estimating.

9. Beliefs that not only shape your life here and now. Or in the foreseeable future. But literally impact your life forever.

10. One such belief is the focus of Easter. Easter is about one primary truth. The truth that Jesus rose from the grave after being dead 3 days.

11. There may be a lot of things associated with Easter—but the resurrection of Christ is the central fact of this annual celebration.

12. Every person is free to believe or disbelieve what the Bible says about Jesus rising from the dead. But no person is free of the consequences of that belief.

13. You can walk around the 90^th floor of an incomplete skyscraper—all the while denying the existence of gravity. But step off the edge of the building—and the pavement below will make a believer out of you.

14. Some laws you cannot escape. Some truths you cannot escape—even by denying them. And some truths are huge and far-reaching.

15. The resurrection is so important and so foundational that the Apostle Paul says that if it’s not true—then those who believe it should be pitied above all people.

16. This morning I’d like to examine the first 8 verses of 1 COR 15 and see what it proclaims that is so foundational and so important.

A. AN IMPORTANT REMINDER

1. I don’t know if you’re like me or not, but I have a tendency to forget things. I forget objects, I forget appointments, I forget why I went into a certain room.

2. I’ve been known to go downstairs at home to get something, then forget what it was. Then go back upstairs and remember—only to return downstairs and forget again.

3. I may be the only one this happens to. Maybe not.

4. But the church in Corinth must have had some forgetters, because V1 opens with these words: Now, brothers (and sisters), I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you.

5. And he says they received it. So the gospel was preached. They received what was preached. And they’ve taken their stand on that belief.

6. V2: By this gospel you are saved. It’s through the gospel that those who believe are saved. Saved is the Bible’s word for deliverance or rescue from the penalty of our sins.

7. But he attaches a qualifier in the same verse: if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain.

8. This may seem like a loss of salvation. But it’s nothing of the kind. True salvation can never be forfeited once it’s received. Any more than you can be “unborn.”

9. He’s saying that salvation is secure and the gospel saves—if the belief is genuine. Otherwise you have believed in vain.

10. To believe in vain is to believe what is worthless or not true.

a. What if I asked you whether you believe in Tiger Woods? What do I mean?

b. Do I mean whether you believe Tiger Woods exists? That he’s a real person?

c. Or whether you believe in Tiger Woods as a golfer? That he could win the Masters Tournament that begins tomorrow?

d. Or do I mean whether you believe in Tiger Woods as a husband and father?

11. When the Bible talks about believing in Jesus, it means believing in who he is, what he said, and what he did. To believe in any less is to believe in vain.

12. We’re saved only by genuine belief. No one is saved by an ungenuine or a false belief.

B. WHAT THE GOSPEL IS

1. So the first 2 verses establish that the gospel is foundational. It was preached, it was received, and the believers have taken their stand on it.

2. They genuinely believe it. And by this gospel they’re saved. It’s by the gospel everyone is saved. But you must genuinely believe it.

3. To believe the gospel is to trust in the life, words, and work of Christ. But all of it hinges on one essential truth. Which is the focus of our final 6 verses.

4. So if the gospel has been preached. If the gospel is foundational to our faith. If the gospel was received. And if believing the gospel saves us.

5. Then it’s certainly worthwhile to know what the gospel is! V3 begins the explanation: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance.

6. He’s telling us in advance that what he’s about to tell us is of utmost importance. It’s of first importance! It’s primary!

7. That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

a. Christ died for our sins. It wasn’t just anyone who died, it was Christ who died. He was the perfect and sinless Son of God. He’s God the Son. No one else was qualified.

b. And he died for a specific purpose—for our sins. He died in view of our sins, in light of our sins, because of our sins.

c. Now I could die for the sins you’ve committed against me. And you could die for the sins I’ve committed against you.

d. But neither of us could die for sins we’ve committed against God. Or that others have committed against God. Only God can do that.

e. And Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Which means he died in fulfillment of the Scriptures. He died in harmony with what the Scriptures said.

8. You see, unless Christ died for your sins, then your sins have not been atoned for. It means you remain guilty and without pardon.

9. The Bible teaches that the penalty for sin is spiritual death. Eternal separation from the presence of God. So unless restitution has been made—then guilt remains.

10. Imagine a convicted murderer with a sentence of 75 years entering prison for the first time. And after the first day he says to a guard—so do I get out now?

11. “No,” the guard answers—You still have 74 years, 364 days left on your sentence.

12. We can’t be pardoned for our conviction of sin unless the penalty has been paid for them. Either we can pay the penalty or Christ can pay the penalty for us—somebody must pay.

13. But you might reason: I don’t have a desire to be with God anyway! I would just as soon be separated from him.

a. So have you spent a lot of time around godless people? Here are things the Bible says characterize a world apart from God’s influence. See how many you find appealing.

b. Impurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, envy, drunkenness, slander, insolence, evil, greed, depravity, lying, hostility, violence.

c. The worst things in life are the things that are contrary to the will of God—at least in the long term. Even the Bible says that sin is enjoyable—for a season. But the season always ends.

14. V4 tells says: that he was buried… We know Jesus died because his death was witnessed and he was buried. You don’t bury people still living.

a. When I was growing up, I distinctly remember the deaths of 5 famous people: John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Martin Luther King.

b. I didn’t know any of these people personally, so how do I know they died? I know because witnesses testified to it. And I believed their testimony.

c. Maybe I’m naïve. But I tend to believe it when it’s testified that someone has died.

15. V4 continues: that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. So how do we know Jesus was raised from the dead?

16. The same way we know he died—personal eyewitness testimony. So who testified that Jesus was alive after he had been seen and declared dead by so many?

a. V5: he appeared to Peter. Who denied knowing Jesus when his life was in danger.

b. Same verse: and then to the twelve. A reference to Jesus’ main disciples. The ones who ran away when Jesus was arrested.

c. V6: After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time. 500 people at one time. And he adds that most of them are still alive. In other words—you can check it out. Go ask them and they’ll tell you.

d. V7: Then he appeared to James. Jesus’ half-brother. First a skeptic—then a believer.

e. V7: then to all the apostles. That is, the apostles in the larger circle than the 12.

f. V8: Last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. Paul’s circumstances had not allowed him to meet Jesus while he was on earth. But he had met him by special appointment on the Road to Damascus.

17. Remember the people I mentioned who died when I was growing up? I remember them dying. What I don’t recall is any of them rising from the dead.

a. Suppose somebody announced tomorrow that Michael Jackson had risen from the dead? Do you think anyone would try to confirm it?

b. That people would want to see him to verify that he’s actually alive?

c. So do we think that in the ancient world people would have simply bought the story that Jesus was alive after being crucified on a Roman cross?

d. No—they would have demanded proof just like we would. They’d call for evidence just like we would. No one would take such a claim at face value.

18. Historian Kenneth Latourette says: It was the conviction of the resurrection of Jesus which lifted his followers out of the despair into which his death had cast them and which led to the perpetuation of the movement begun by him. But for their profound belief that the crucified had risen from the dead and they had seen him and talked with him, the death of Jesus and even Jesus himself would probably have been all but forgotten.

19. Thomas Arnold, Oxford historian wrote concerning the resurrection: Thousands of tens of thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece as carefully as every judge summing up on an important case. I have myself done it many times over, not to persuade others but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the history of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is better proved by fuller evidence than the great sign that God has given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.

CONCLUSION

1. We’ve been assured that not only is the resurrection a fact and worthy of belief, but the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. To compromise the resurrection is to compromise the Christian faith itself.

2. Beliefs must not only be genuine...but our beliefs should be in things worthy of our trust. The Word of God says the gospel is one of those things.

3. But as wonderful as Christ dying for our sins may be, it would have been nothing more than a noble and selfless act of martyrdom apart from his resurrection.

4. The Bible states that the gospel is the foundation of our salvation. And the Bible states that the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the gospel.

a. That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

b. That Christ was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures.

5. This is the best news you will ever hear. It’s the most important news you will ever hear. It’s the most far-reaching news you will ever hear.

6. Those of us who are believers in Christ celebrate the resurrection as the confirmation of our salvation. It assures us that our sins are paid for and that forgiveness is ours.

7. Those of you who are not believers in Christ—you now know what the gospel is—and it screams out to be believed. What better day to start believing than the day Christ rose from the dead?