We Will Be Raised!

I Corinthians 15
Introduction
E. Cobham Brewer wrote in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable that “The Egyptians in their banquets exhibited a skeleton to the guests, to remind them of the brevity of human life saying as they did so, ‘Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.’”
By what values do we live our lives? Do we live by the value that life is short so we might as well enjoy it as much as we can? Or, do we recognize that we are headed for eternity with Christ and therefore we live each day in preparation for that resurrection day by serving Christ? The decision between the options hinges on our understanding of the resurrection. Do we actually believe that we will be raised to live eternally?
This is the question which is raised in I Corinthians 15 and, over the next two weeks, I would like to look at this chapter with you in order to help us understand the resurrection, its meaning, what our hope is and how we should live in light of the resurrection. Today we will examine I Corinthians 15:1-34.
Although they had heard the message of resurrection preached in the gospel they had received, some in the Corinthian church had come to deny it. Why did they deny the resurrection? Most likely it was because there were some false teachers who were beginning to influence the church. They taught that with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, they had already received all that God had for them. They felt that they had already begun to live an angelic existence. They also thought of the body as unnecessary and unwanted and that it would finally be destroyed. As a result, they did not accept the idea of a bodily resurrection. Instead of belief in a bodily resurrection, they had spiritualized what would happen at the end. This faulty understanding of the resurrection resulted in a faulty understanding of God, wrong ideas about their salvation, and immorality in their way of living. It was critical for their survival as believers that Paul should correct their misunderstanding.
So as we look at this chapter and the arguments that Paul uses, we will ask the question, "Do we believe in the resurrection?" For some, the delay of the return of Jesus has caused doubt that Jesus is coming back. For some, a scientific understanding of life has caused them to doubt that such a thing could happen. Those who follow a health and wealth gospel have sometimes focused so much on the now, that they, like the Corinthians, have spiritualized what will happen at the end and so have also effectively denied the resurrection. Sometimes we live so much in the present that our lives are defined by that present and our lives manifest a practical denial of the resurrection, even though we may say that we believe in it.
Thus we need to hear an affirmation of the resurrection in order to encourage our faith, strengthen our faithfulness, help us to order our life after God’s way and give us hope in the face of life’s challenges.
I. The Gospel 15:1-11
Paul begins in the first 11 verses by reminding them of the gospel message. In this section, he is not setting out to prove the resurrection, but is rather seeking to establish common ground. He is inviting the Corinthians to affirm, “This is what we mutually agree is the foundation of what we believe and live.”
A. The Gospel Which Was Received
In verse 3, Paul refers to, “…what I received.” This is important because as he establishes the gospel message as their foundational starting point, he must indicate the source of that gospel. It was not a message which he had invented himself. He was a messenger who was passing on a message which had its origin in God himself. Jesus was the first messenger who brought that word from God to people. Jesus passed that message on to the disciples who passed it on the others.
We are recipients of a gospel which has a long historical precedence. It is not a new word and it is not the invention of our imagination. It is the message of God, handed down through the apostles and teachers through the ages, founded on the truth of God as revealed in the Word of God. This is the foundation on which we stand.
B. The Gospel Which Was Preached
The other day I was repairing my table saw. I had taken the motor off, which meant taking all the electrical connections off. When I put it back together, it didn’t run. After puzzling about it for a little while, I realized that I had not plugged one of the wires in the right way. The false teachers had tried to remove one element of the gospel message and that just doesn’t work. In verse 3 Paul speaks of that which was “of first importance.” The things he mentions are all essential elements without which the gospel does not work.
1. Christ Died For Sins
The first essential doctrine is that Jesus died. This essential message is according to the Scriptures. Remembering that at this time the Scriptures included only the Old Testament, we know that the message of the death of Christ was declared in such Old Testament passages as Isaiah 53. Jesus Himself announced that this was the purpose for which He came and Paul has declared in I Corinthians 1:22 the essential message which he preaches that “…we preach Christ crucified.” Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. Because we cannot pay for our own sins, and because eternal death is the consequence of being a sinner, the death of Jesus was the one and only plan God presented by which He offered to all who would believe the forgiveness of sins. Thus, if we call ourselves Christian, we must embrace it.
2. Christ Was Buried
He goes on to indicate a second essential message of the gospel. He says, “…he was buried.” It may seem unusual to see this as an essential of the gospel, but Paul includes it here because the false teachers were denying a bodily resurrection. They were teaching the idea that the body would go to decay and was not important. They taught that it was the spirit which would live on, not the body. Therefore, in order to refute such false teaching, Paul reminds them of the basic gospel understanding that Jesus was laid into the tomb after he had died and was there for three days. Because his body was actually buried this shows that Jesus actually died.
3. Christ Was Raised
The third essential message of the gospel, which they had embraced, was that Jesus “…was raised on the third day…” Since he has established the gospel fundamental that Jesus died and was buried, the message of the resurrection demonstrates the tremendous victory of Jesus over sin and over death. What happened to Jesus was not a spiritual renewal after death, but an actual bodily resurrection from the dead. This also was a message which came from Scripture. Psalm 16:10, 11 is one of the Old Testament passages which speak of resurrection. It says, “…because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
Paul establishes the truth of the resurrection of Christ by pointing to all the people who actually saw Jesus alive. He begins with Peter and the twelve and then speaks of 500 who all saw Jesus alive. He speaks of his own experience. On the Damascus road, in an unusual event, he also saw that Jesus was alive. By pointing to these witnesses, he reminds them that the death and resurrection of Jesus is not a fable or a tall tale, it is not the fabrication of someone's imagination; it is the truth of God witnessed by many people.
C. The Gospel Which Was Accepted
As he continues to establish common ground he concludes this section by reminding them that this was the message which had been preached to them and this was the message which they had embraced. This is the common ground on which they all stand since they call themselves Christians.
I can imagine that if he had been in their presence he would have gathered them together and looked around the circle and looked in each eye and looked for an agreement as he asked, “Is this the foundation on which we stand? Is this the gospel which we have believed?” And each person would have had to agree that this was their foundation.
II. If There Is No Resurrection 15:12-19
In mathematics we often use something we call an equation. An equation has an equal sign in the middle and whatever is on one side of the equal sign must have the same value as that on the other side of the equal sign. In 15:12, 13, Paul gives us an equation about the resurrection. If Christ rose, then we will rise; if we will not rise, then Christ was not raised either. In other words, Christ’s resurrection implies our resurrection and if Christ was not raised, neither will we experience resurrection.
Paul goes on, in I Corinthians 15:12-19, to assume, for argument sake, that Christ did not rise. What are the implications? The consequences to the Christian faith are disastrous.
A. Preaching Is Empty
We notice first of all, in verse 14, “…if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless…” Then in verse 15, he goes on to explain that if Christ has not been raised, we are actually liars. Having established the foundation of the essential matters of the gospel message, he has already declared that the resurrection of Christ is an important part of that teaching. Paul has taught Christ’s resurrection and has given the good news that Christ was raised from the dead. If there is no resurrection, then Christ was not raised either and everything he has preached, in fact, everything he has staked his life on is a lie. Well, we know what we do with liars, we dismiss them. We don’t listen to them. Politicians often try to catch their opponents in a lie because they know that if they do, they will lose all credibility. If Paul has declared that there is a resurrection, when there isn’t, then he has no credibility and is not to be believed.
B. Faith Is Empty
But it is even worse than that! If there is no resurrection and therefore, if Christ has not been raised, then the faith of those who are in the church in Corinth is actually empty. They have placed their faith in the promise that Christ rose from the dead. They have placed their hope in the promise that the resurrection guarantees God’s acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then He did not win the victory over sin. Then God did not vindicate Christ’s sacrifice for the atonement of all people who believe. Then the very faith professed by the believers is empty of content and built on a foundation that will not hold it.
A few weeks ago I watched Marketplace and they were talking about houses that had an inadequate foundation. They discovered that the builder had cut corners and the house was standing on a base that would not support it. Already they were having trouble with shifting and leaking. Major and expensive repairs were required to bring it up to an acceptable standard. If the foundation of Christianity, that Christ was raised from the dead, is removed, the whole structure of the Christian faith is set on emptiness and will not stand.
We have received a gospel which is founded on Christ’s resurrection. Because of it we believe our sins are forgiven, because of it we come to church weekly, because of it we order our life, because of it we serve God, because of it we have hope. If Christ has not been raised, all of this is nothing. We are still in our sin and we might as well go home.
C. Death is the End
To deny the resurrection of Christ is to affirm that death is the end. In verses 18, 19, Paul says, “Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” The promise of the gospel message which is our foundation is the promise of eternal life. But if Christ has not been raised then there is no resurrection and, that hope is gone. Then every time we stand at the grave of a loved one we are looking at the absolute end of that person and we have no word of comfort to offer beyond our reflection on memories past.
Gordon Fee says, “To deny the objective reality of Christ’s resurrection is to have a faith considerably different from Paul’s. One wonders whether such faith is still the Christian faith.”
III. Christ Has Been Raised 15:20-28
But - and that word should be in large print in all our Bibles for it refutes the folly of denying the resurrection and restores our hope once again – “BUT, Christ has been raised from the dead!” This is cause for celebration. Our hope is firm, built on the sure and certain foundation that Christ is alive.
Furthermore, because Jesus has been raised from the dead, it is absolutely inevitable that we will also experience a bodily resurrection.
A. Firstfruits
One of the great pleasures of spring time and gardening is the joy of gathering fresh fruit and vegetables out of the garden. Some of the first things we get out of the garden may be rhubarb or perhaps radishes. They are particularly enjoyable not because they taste so great in themselves, but because they are the first of many things, they are the promise of what is yet to come – peas, beans, tomatoes, corn and all the other great garden vegetables.
In I Corinthians 15:20, Paul describes Christ’s resurrection as a firstfruits. Returning to the hope of the basic gospel, Paul declares the hope by which every Christian lives. Christ died and rose and therefore we will also rise again.
Paul returns to familiar theological concepts as he reminds us that just as death entered the world through one man, so life also has entered the world through one man - the one man Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and will also raise us. Adam is the one through whom sin and death entered the world. Jesus has defeated both sin and death which guarantees that we also will experience resurrection.
B. Death Defeated
It is absolutely essential that we also will be raised, for the character, promises and plan of God himself are at stake. As long as death is in the world, not everything is subject to God. Since death was the ultimate punishment for sin, it must be put out of the way if the victory of God is to be complete. Not until we are raised from the dead will God's victory be complete. Gordon Fee says, “Christ’s resurrection demands our resurrection; otherwise death is never defeated and God cannot be ‘all in all.’”
In I Corinthians 15:23, Paul reminds us of the order. Christ was raised from the dead and then, in God’s time, we also will be raised. In verse 26, he affirms the hope of the resurrection when he says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” So we have this hope that death will die. It is at our resurrection that we will experience the fulfillment of this hope.
In these verses, Paul has established the essential doctrine that the message of the gospel is that Christ died and was raised from the dead. Since Christ was raised, we have confidence that we also will be raised. There is a resurrection from the dead for all who believe in Jesus.
IV. The Moral Obligations of Our Resurrection 15:29-34
Although I Corinthians 15:29 is notoriously difficult it has a place in the argument. There are at least 40 different interpretations for this verse and so I will not get involved in that debate except to say that I doubt if there is any way for us to know what he was talking about in this verse. Its place in the argument is, however, clear. Even though it does not speak to us because we don’t understand it, it does communicate that the hope of the resurrection has implications for life. If we are to be raised to eternal life, we cannot live in the same way as if there was no resurrection.
In the verses which follow, there are a number of implications which are understood by us and which help us to know how to live if we believe that we will be raised by God.
A. Sacrificial Living
Paul points first of all to his own experience. He points to just a few of the things which have happened to him because of his resurrection hope. He has experienced persecution and danger. If this life is all there is, such a life makes no sense whatsoever. If, however, we are anticipating an eternity with God in heaven forever, then suddenly risking our lives for the sake of the gospel, being willing to sacrifice our pleasure and our comfort in order to help people get to know Christ and standing firmly on the message of the gospel all make a lot of sense.
B. Focused Living
If there is no resurrection, then, the perspective which I started out with, that we should “eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die,” makes a lot of sense, but if Christ has promised us a resurrection to eternal life, then living only for this life is too small. Then offering to live sacrificially suddenly begins to make sense. Then investing our lives in the lives of others, investing our lives in making Jesus known suddenly becomes not only a possible path, but the preferred path. If there is no resurrection, why spend money on sending missionaries to Africa? If there is no resurrection, why encourage Trevor and Rebekah to minister in a closed access country? If there is no resurrection, why go to Woodlands for 50 years to share Jesus? If there is no resurrection, why give up holiday time to go help in an orphanage in Nicaragua? If there is no resurrection, why encourage our young people to go to Bible School. But if there is a resurrection, then these things become not only good, but the best possible way to go.
C. Obedient Living
In the end of this section, Paul warns them not to listen to the voice of the false teachers who deny the resurrection. In that warning, he challenges them to “stop sinning.” He probably means that they should stop sinning by following the bad advice of those who deny the resurrection, but the advice is good even beyond that. If there is no resurrection, it doesn’t really matter how you live, but if our hope is in the resurrection, then a life of obedience and holiness and love suddenly makes a lot of sense.
Conclusion
Resurrection Is Our Hope!
In an article by John Stackhouse in the Free Press a number of years ago, he called for those who deny the resurrection and other fundamentals of Christianity to have the integrity to admit that they are no longer Christian. The gospel is a gospel of resurrection. If we have accepted Christ, we have accepted the truth of the resurrection. Do we fully accept and believe that? Do we trust it in our hearts? Do we believe it in practice? Is it the hope which allows us to face the terror of death? Is the anticipation of the resurrection that which helps us set our life priorities and define our lifestyle?
We live in the hope of the resurrection! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Don’t be influenced in any way, but to live in that hope!
The reality of the resurrection and the complete victory it signifies ought to be cause for unbridled joy and celebration, radical discipleship and sacrificial service among believers!