Date: 3-21-99
One of three Easter messages
I Corinthians 15
The Resurrection of Christ and of Believers
Easter falls on April the fourth this year. Normally I preach a resurrection related lesson on that Sunday and that's the end of it for another year. This year I thought we would give just a bit more attention to the subject. So for the next three weeks I will bring resurrection related lessons.
A good place to begin thinking about the resurrection is the confession we recite together each Sunday morning. It is not a complete statement of the Christian faith but it does bring to our attention many of the essentials. Truths without which Christianity would not exist.
For instance, as we read the confession we declare our belief in the inspiration of the Bible. By inspiration we mean that the Bible is the very Word of God. It is not a book that men wrote. Rather, it is THE BOOK GOD WROTE by the hands of men. He breathed it forth into the minds of his servants and they recorded it. Without the Bible Christianity ceases to exist. We go on to confess our belief in one God, eternally existent, in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the Blessed Trinity of divine persons who are one God. A religion that does not confess the existence of the Trinity is not Christian at all. Then as we continue we confess that we believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is God the Son. He is God in the flesh. He is Immanuel which means God with us. He is all that God is, He is divine. The Scripture tells us that He has created all things and is presently upholding all He created. He was in the beginning with God and was indeed God. Reduce Jesus to anything less than God and you have left the Christian faith.
Our confession then moves to Christ's earthly ministry. It begins by declaring His virgin birth. Over the years there has been a great deal of controversy over the virgin birth of Christ. But the Christian believes it is true. For if Jesus was not born of a Virgin He is not the promised Messiah. If He was not born of a virgin the Prophets of old were false Prophets. If Jesus was not fathered by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin then He was born with a sin nature like all other men. If Jesus had a sin nature then He was not a spotless sacrifice and we are not saved by His blood. Christianity rises and falls on this Biblical truth.
Next we state that Jesus lived a sinless life. This is absolutely essential. For Christ's mission was to fulfill the Law of God for those He came to save. One sin, in thought, or deed, and all those given to Him by the Father for salvation would be have been lost. Further, in our confession, we declare our belief in the miracles Christ performed. If the records of these miracles are not true then the Bible is false and we are all fools. Next we declare that Jesus' death made actual at-one-ment for the Elect. Which is to say, Christ's death did not secure a potential salvation for all, but a certain salvation for those entrusted to Him by the Father. Then we come to the focus of the next three Lord's days. In our confession we say, "WE BELIEVE IN THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD." Why do We believe this? Because the Bible tells us it is true.
If Jesus was God the Son, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, and died for the Elect but did not rise bodily from the dead then Christianity is a joke and not one sinner will escape the flames of Hell. But Jesus did rise from the dead and because of that believing sinners can be SURE of the resurrection of their own bodies to eternal life.
In the classic resurrection passage that concerns us today the Apostle Paul sets out to prove the Resurrection of Christ and to offer some answers to those who question this truth. Look with me at 1 Corinthians 15 NASB.
Paul writes; "Now I make known to you, brethren, THE GOSPEL which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, {2} by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. {3} For I delivered to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE what I also received, that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures, (Or, as the Prophets of old predicted He would.) {4} and that HE WAS BURIED, and that HE WAS RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY according to the Scriptures," Christ died for our sins and on the third day was raised from the dead. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Good News! Christ died for us!
Sinners are people who have violated the Law of God. That Law, which has to do with every person ever born, demands perfect adherence from the cradle to the grave. Those who fail to obey must die for their sins. Physical and spiritual death is the penalty for breaking God's Law. However, Christ died in the place of believing sinners so that they might be reconciled to God by faith in Him and, therefore, experience eternal life instead of the second death. The second death is eternal separation from God in Hell forever. Jesus died to save His people from the second death! He went to the grave for us and then He rose from the dead.
Christ's rising from the dead proved that His sacrifice on our behalf was accepted by God. Hear the word of the Lord. Romans 4:25 NASB. "He who was delivered up BECAUSE of our transgressions, (That is, God put Christ to death because of our sin.) and was raised BECAUSE of our justification." (Christ was raised from the dead because His sacrifice actually justified us in the eyes of God. His death was intended to redeem us from the curse of the law. The fact that He rose from the dead proves that His death actually did accomplish our redemption. See Hebrews 9:12. The curse of the law was death but Jesus conquered death forever. He satisfied the law on our behalf and we have everlasting peace with God. Hear the word of the Lord.) (Romans 5:1-2 NASB) "Therefore having been justified by faith, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, . ." Those who trust in the righteousness of Christ for acceptance with God are no longer His enemies. They are saved sons and daughters. Paul goes on to reveal the great burden of evidence that exists in support of the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
I Corinthians 15:5, "and that HE APPEARED to Cephas, (Peter) then to the twelve. {6} After that He appeared to more than FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONE TIME, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; {7} then HE APPEARED to James, then TO ALL THE APOSTLES; {8} and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, HE APPEARED TO ME ALSO.. . . .{11} Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed."
Paul, speaking by inspiration, declares that there were more than FIVE HUNDRED EYE WITNESSES that saw Jesus after He was crucified, died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Many of these people were still alive at the time Paul wrote this letter. The Bible requires that there be "two or three witnesses" for the proof of any claim. Paul brings before his readers over five hundred witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. This would establish the fact for anyone except the most stubborn and unreasonable.
Paul continues in verse twelve. {12} Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do SOME AMONG you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (Especially with so much evidence and eye witness testimony to the contrary.) {13} But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; {14} and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. (The word vain means empty, fruitless, worthless. If the doctrine of the resurrection is false Christianity is worthless.) {15} Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, (If Christ has not been raised from the dead then we, says Paul, have been telling lies about God.) because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. {16} For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; {17} and IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS WORTHLESS; YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS. {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (Our loved ones who have died believing in Jesus have not gone to heaven and are in fact lost if Jesus has not risen from the dead.) {19} If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, (If our faith has to do with this life only.) we are of all men most to be pitied.
However, says Paul, don't pity us, for Christ has risen from the dead! Look at verse twenty. {20} BUT NOW CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THE FIRST FRUITS OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP.
Not only has Jesus been raised from the dead there will also be a resurrection of all believers who have died. Jesus is like the first truck load of wheat harvested out of a field. That first load is representative of the whole and promises much more to come. Christ is the first fruits of a great resurrection to come. Paul continues,
{21} For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. {22} For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. This text speaks of "Representative Headship." All of us are represented by either Adam or Jesus. This is true of everyone here, right now. We begin our lives with Adam as our representative head. As our representative he sinned and everyone he stood for sinned as well. That is why all men die physically and spiritually. "For in Adam all die." Christ is also a "Representative Head." He lived and died as the representative of all the Elect. He kept the law on behalf of everyone He represented. He died and was raised from the dead on behalf of all those given to Him by the Father for salvation. He represented. So, as in Adam all died, because all in him sinned. In Jesus all who believe have kept the law, they have been crucified, they have died, and they have every one risen from the dead! All the Elect of God, without one exception, shall be raised from death to eternal life because Jesus is their Representative Head. It can be no other way for this is the will of God for all His chosen ones.
Hear the familiar words of our Lord found in John 6:38-40 NASB. "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. {39} "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I LOSE NOTHING, BUT RAISE IT UP ON THE LAST DAY. {40} "For this is the will of My Father, that EVERYONE who beholds the Son and BELIEVES in Him, may have eternal life; and I MYSELF WILL RAISE HIM UP ON THE LAST DAY." Every one given to Christ for salvation will believe and those who believe will be raised form the dead on that day.
Paul continues in I Corinthians 15:23. "But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, {24} then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has ABOLISHED all rule and all authority and power. {25} For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. {26} THE LAST ENEMY THAT WILL BE ABOLISHED IS DEATH. (Both physical and spiritual death will be done away with.) {27} For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. (In other words, God is the only person that will never be subject to Christ.) {28} And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL. That God may be all in all is, and always has been, the goal and reason for everything. All things exist for God's glory. See Romans 11:36.
This is how its going to be says Paul. Christ has risen from the dead. Therefore, the resurrection of the saints is a future reality. Christ will at last put all His enemies under His feet, He will deliver the Kingdom, completely conquered, to His Father. All this will take place for the glory and honor of God. These truths are what drives and motivates the Christian to pay any price whatever for his association with Jesus, even suffering and death, a subject Paul now addresses.
The Apostle's next statement has always been a bit difficult to understand. The statement I refer to is this. {29} Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? {30} Why are we also in danger every hour?
The word baptism means to dip, engulf, or immerse something. In this case it refers to being covered over or engulfed by suffering or danger. Paul is asking, "Why would any man subject himself to a baptism of suffering and martyrdom for a dead Savior. Why have men and women been willing die for one who has not risen and offers no hope of a resurrection for them? Then in verse thirty he refers to himself and the other Apostles. Why would we risk our lives and suffer the abuse we do for something that is not true? This I believe is what Paul means by the words of verses twenty-nine and thirty. (See also Matthew 20:22-23 KJV. There Jesus asks His disciples if they believed themselves capable of enduring the same baptism He was about to undergo. He was speaking of His suffering and death.)
Paul goes on. {31} I protest, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. (My life is in danger day after day for the Gospel I preach! I am engulfed, immersed, baptized in danger every day.) {32} If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE. (In essence Paul is saying if there is no resurrection, "Let us forget the persecution and suffering that accompanies the proclamation of the Gospel. There is no reason to put ourselves in harms way if Christ and believers in Him are not raised from the dead. The wise thing to do if Christ is not raised would be to join with the rest of humanity and party till we die.")
But Paul warns, {33} Do not be deceived: (by the world) "Bad company corrupts good morals." (In other words, hang out with people who deny this cardinal truth and you too may have your faith corrupted. The believer can only suffer by being intimately involved with those who deny our God.) {34} Become sober-minded (Think clearly and correctly.) as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
Paul now answers some questions about the resurrection that seem to come from the doubters. {35} But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" (It appears form what follows that for a number of people the knowledge of what happens to a person at death made it very hard to believe in a resurrection. The body decays and after a time it returns to dust. How then can a body come forth from the grave? Paul continues.) {36} You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; {37} and that which you sow, YOU DO NOT SOW THE BODY WHICH IS TO BE, but a bare grain, (seed) perhaps of wheat or of something else. {38} BUT GOD GIVES IT A BODY just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. {39} All flesh is not the same flesh, (look around you and think about this) but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. {40} There are also HEAVENLY BODIES AND EARTHLY BODIES, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. {41} There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. {42} So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, (A body that has died and will turn to dust.) it is raised an imperishable body; (One that will never die and can never decay.) {43} it is sown in dishonor, (lifeless and corrupted by sin) it is raised in glory; (Alive, imperishable, and sinless.) it is sown in weakness, (Physically and spiritually.) it is raised in power; (Our resurrected bodies will have no weaknesses of any kind. We will never again struggle with sin, or sickness, or worry, or fear.) {44} it is sown a natural body, (earthy and temporal) it is raised a spiritual body. (heavenly and eternal) If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. {45} So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." (The word soul in this instance simply refers to human life.) The last Adam (Jesus, our second representative) became a life-giving spirit. {46} However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. (The re-birth follows our natural birth.) {47} The first man (Adam) is from the earth, (and is therefore) earthy; the second man (Jesus) is from heaven. {48} As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. {49} And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, (We feel and behave as earthlings do and must.) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. After the resurrection we shall be heavenly in every aspect of our being just like Jesus is.
Paul continues to argue that there must be a change in our bodies before they can go to heaven at the resurrection. {50} Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. There must be a change in our bodies. They must become what they are not now, imperishable!
{51} Behold, I tell you a mystery; (I reveal something for the first time.) we shall not all sleep, (We will not all experience physical death.) but we shall all be changed, {52} in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we (Christians) shall be changed. {53} For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. {54} But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. That victory belongs to Jesus who, by His blood and righteousness, triumphed over the grave. He rose victorious over sin, death, and the Devil!
{55} "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? (Christ has robbed you of it!) O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" (Christ has pulled the fangs from your black serpent mouth!) {56} The sting of death is sin, (Jesus bore our sin to the Cross.) and the power of sin is the law; (Jesus fulfilled the Law for all His people.) {57} but thanks be to God, who GIVES US the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. {58} Therefore, (Since Christ's victory over sin, death, and the grave has been proven and defended.) my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." In the end you too will rise from the dead to live forever with the blessed Trinity in Heaven. Therefore, hold fast your confession of faith!
Shall we recite together our Corporate Confession of Faith.
I believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God. I believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His atoning death for the elect, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. I believe that regeneration by the Holy Spirit causes and enables one to believe in Jesus for Salvation. I believe that faithful involvement in the local church is essential for the Christians sanctification, growth in grace and peace of mind. I believe that Jesus is the Savior of all who come to Him by faith.