Sermon: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-28 More to come
15:1 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. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 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. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 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. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
More to come…a sermon for Sunday May 24th, 2020 (Please read Romans 5: 12-21 & 1 Cor 15: 1-28)
On Easter Sunday we gave the collective cry that CHRIST IS RISEN! We proclaimed the fact that Jesus is alive in a certain particular way, not as some disembodied spirit-being but eternally in a glorified body. Jesus ascended to His Father in heaven in that body. He will return to earth in that same body. What we learn (what we know/believe) will deeply affect our lives – our thoughts, feelings and actions – and our destinies. The Christian discovers that “the truth will set you free.”
The despairing disciples on the Emmaus Road became liberated people when they recognised the risen Lord Jesus - their worlds were changed from despair to joy. Doubting Thomas finally saw and believed that Jesus was alive and he confessed Jesus as his Lord and God. Cowardly Peter became a bold man who preached the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And Paul, who persecuted the people of the Way, would give his all to persuade people of the truth of the Resurrection. It is what Easter is all about. We are still in Easter, remember…
It is of FIRST IMPORTANCE as the Bible tells us and this is not up for grabs. The church lives or dies on this truth – on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Paul lays out the FACTS of the GOSPEL (1 Cor 15: 1-11): Even those for whom the resurrection of Jesus is not a “lived reality” tell us that the accounts in the bible meet all the requirements of legal evidence and historicity (historical fact). Paul writes to the church at Corinth, a multi-cultural, multi-faith society, similar to our own in many respects, where all kinds of “truth” were on offer. Most Corinthians did not believe in the resurrection (rubbish) or they believed in a kind of current spiritual resurrection. Many thought they had nothing else to look forward to except, finally, escaping the prisons of their bodies. But this is not true and this is not what I taught you…
Paul was a man of relentless logic. In verses 12-19 he starts with the negatives and asks in effect, “What if Christ was not raised from the dead?” Well, quite simply: Preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus is pointless (V.14); Witnesses are bearing false testimony and God is a liar (V.15, 16); Faith is futile (v. 17);the dead in Christ (fallen asleep) are lost; without the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead they will remain unsaved; their sins remain unforgiven; the power of sin and guilt would reign; literally, they would be the most miserable people in the world (V.19); 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
This is all there is and all there can ever be…
“BUT” (V.20) – in fact; indeed; the truth is, however – CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD. He is alive: eternally, literally and in a body. One person has said here is “the tiny BUT that blows the lid off the atheist’s universe”.
(Prof. Brian Cox, in The Wonders of the Universe (TV) says things cannot be reversed, that the ‘arrow of time’ cannot be reversed, that that which dies cannot be reformed; he knows something of the wonders of the universe, the laws of physics, but I suspect he knows little of the wonders of the Lord!)
OK. So what? What difference can this fact about Jesus make to me? Well, Paul calls JESUS the FIRST FRUITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP.
In Mosaic Law (EX 23:19; 34:26; see Lev.) the first fruits were the first portion of the harvest which was to be given (no delay) to God when the crops were first gathered. Why this agricultural metaphor? Because the first fruits were always the sign of God’s promise that there was more to come. That sheaf was waved before God in the Temple: it was a foretaste of more to come; and so the Resurrection of Jesus was (is) a foretaste of the resurrection of ALL believers: what happened to Jesus will happen (and is happening) to us! The rest of the crop is later than the first fruits…
What Paul is really saying is there is an unbreakable unity between Christ’s resurrection and our own. These are 2 parts of the same event. This is a guarantee given by God the Father of our own destiny and future glory! What if that is the truth? We will have to die to discover this truth fully. We are better off living in faith and trusting God’s word and discover: “By His power GOD raised the LORD JESUS from the dead – and {in this way} he will raise us also…” (1 Cor 6: 14)
So, how does this work? How is it that his resurrection guarantees ours?
We Read verses 21 & 22: 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive…
ADAM was the head of the human race – he was its representative & agent – Adam means ‘man’. What happened to Adam thus happens to man. All human kind was “IN ADAM” - & involved in his sin. Paul provides us with the evidence in the passage we heard from ROMANS 5: 12-21…
In Christ we are restored. The LAST ADAM lived a perfect life for us; he took our sins for us; he was physically raised for us…Just as Adam was the forerunner of everyone who dies, so Christ is the pioneer of everyone who will be raised to life. In each case, one man performing one deed caused the consequences of that deed to be applied to every other person identified with him.
I say again: those who are in Adam - every person who has been born - is subject to death because of Adam’s sinful act. Likewise, those who are in Christ - every person who has been born again in him - are guaranteed resurrection to eternal life because of Christ’s righteous act. In Adam all have inherited a sinful nature and therefore will die. In Christ all who believe have (already) inherited eternal life, and will be made alive, in body as well as in spirit.
“By His power GOD raised the LORD JESUS from the dead – and {in this way} he will raise us also…” (1 Cor 6: 14)
Michael Faraday, an English CHEMIST and physicist was a Christian who discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction which is the basis for the electric generator and the electric motor.
One day a workman who was helping Faraday knocked a little silver cup into a jar of strong acid. The cup was quickly destroyed. But Faraday put some chemicals into the jar and in seconds the silver which had disintegrated settled to the bottom. Faraday quickly retrieved the silver.
The shapeless mass of silver was then sent to a silversmith and the cup was restored as shining, beautiful, and bright as ever. If a scientist and a silversmith could do that to a dissolved silver cup, God can give us a new body on the resurrection day. (From bible.org)
The process of the resurrections is found in verse 23. But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at his coming, Christ is the first fruits and those who are Christ’s at his coming are the full harvest. Christ’s resurrection is an accomplished fact of history. Just as certain is another historical event, Christ’s ‘coming.’
We do not know—in fact, are told we cannot know (Mt. 24:36, 42, 44, 50; 25:13)—when the Lord will come to raise and take his own and set up his kingdom. We’re not told the time, the specific generation or moment.
The I’s are not yet dotted nor the t’s yet crossed – but we wait for that day.
Hear 1 Thess. 4:13-18… 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
There are two resurrections yet to come. First, of Christ’s people and then, second the resurrection of all others. (Acts 24:14) These are not the same. Indeed they are dreadfully different in their final results. ‘Some shall wake to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.’ (Dan 12)
And so this is why the resurrection is of first importance. This is why we should we stand firm in this truth and share it with others who may come to be counted in the harvest of which Christ is the first fruits at the end of days. It is indeed a tragedy that so many people are daily dying from corona virus – but the greatest tragedy is that so many of them will spend an eternity just as they have lived – without Christ and without hope.
For the persecuted and the suffering and the downtrodden and for those whose bodies are failing; for those who trust Christ and will pass into eternity even today, there is an inexpressible joy in God’s promise that we will shine like the stars live forever and ever – that we will have transformed bodies like his. Verses 27 to 28 tell us that everything, one day, will be put right. A world without evil is hard to conceive, but we are told the truth – that he destroyed the last enemy and that good things are on the horizon, that the rest is on its way.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
MFR
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