Message

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The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Key Verse:15:3,4 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

  This year, compared to other years, we had a long and cold winter. A long cold winter is a symbol of difficulties and hardship. However, after winter passes, spring indeed comes. Spring is a symbol of a new era, hope, and vision. Leaves fall from the trees and die on the earth, but the trees bring forth new buds in the spring. In the same way when we have passed through this long and cold winter, surely spring is coming with fresh buds on the trees and with the scent of aromatic magnolia flowers. That is why we wait for spring with great expectation and patience.

  Today’s passage is the story of the gospel, which is a scented aroma spreading over the season of spring. In the gospel message there is sin, death, salvation, resurrection, and reconciliation. The heart of the gospel is the death of Jesus and his glorious resurrection. This gospel messages provides us with hope for new life which comes from the forgiveness of sin. Paul reminds the saints in the Corinthian Church of this gospel so that they might restore their gospel faith and resurrection hope.

  Paul wrote this letter around AD 57 while he was in Ephesus during his third mission journey. At that time he heard that in the Corinthian Church there were many problems such as division, sexual immorality, lawsuits among the believers, food sacrificed to idols, marriage problems, confusion about speaking in tongues, and so on. In the first fourteen chapters, Paul gave case by case advice on how to solve these problems. However, Paul realized that their fundamental problems would not be solved by his advice or counseling, but by their gospel faith. Paul believed that the gospel is the answer for all problems and he wanted to remind them of this gospel. Look at verse 1. “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.” According to this verse, we learn that the believers in the church had already heard the gospel message from Paul and received it as the truth of God. In the past, when they heard this gospel messages from Paul, their hearts burned with fire. They were full of hope and zeal for Christ. But, as time passed by, their zeal for Christ became cold, their life of faith lukewarm, and their relationship with God superficial.  They began to compromise and live an easy-going and pleasure-seeking life.

  Paul knew the importance of being reminded of the gospel. Repetition is one of the most effective tools in education. Paul wanted to remind them of the gospel. Why, then, is the gospel important? Look at verse 2. “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” Here the words “hold firmly” mean “hold fast, grip tight, and do not let it go.” Holding on to the gospel is not optional, but vital - a matter of life and death. The gospel is the message of salvation. It is not school information or a civic notice. It is a message related to our eternal life and eternal condemnation. If we lose this gospel, we are like the ones who lose the safety rope in the rushing river.

  What is the gospel? The Greek word “gospel” means “good news”.  Paul explains the core and contents of the gospel in verses 3,4. Look at verses 3,4. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” The core of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. How does the death of Jesus become good news for all the people? As verse 3 says, Jesus died for our sins. As we know, sin has a price. The price of sin is death. (Ro 6:23a) When Adam sinned, death came to this world. Because of one man Adam’s sin, all men are destined to die. Death is not the end. We all will be judged before God after our death. (Heb 9:27) Those who practice sexual immorality, idolatry, unbelief, and all those who do evil will be thrown into burning hell. (Rev 21:8) This is the second death. The second death is eternal separation from God and eternal condemnation in hell. If man’s life is a continuation of suffering and condemnation, how miserable our life is! It is more terrible and miserable than the life of a prisoner in a labor camp in Russian Siberia.

  In Leo Tolstoy’s novel, “Resurrection”, the prince Dmitri Nekhlyudov falls in love with Katusha, a maidservant in his aunt’s house. But one day he rapes Katusha. At that time, the young Russian prince justified his sin saying, “I did as everyone did.” He leaves Katusha and moves to another city. Katusha, who became pregnant with his baby, is kicked out from her mistress’ home, lives as a homeless single mother, and finally turns to prostitution. 10 years later, Nekhlyudov meets Katusha again in a criminal court while serving as a juryman. She was being charged with a murder. After hearing about the miserable life of Katusha, the young prince is deeply convicted by his past sin. He tries to do his best to release her. He sells all his fortune to compensate for his past sin, to be reconciled with her. He earnestly asks for forgiveness of sin from her. Even after this, he follows her to a prison camp in Siberia to live close by her. However, he could be not free from his guilty conscience, no matter how he tried. He becomes frustrated. The heavy weight from guilt and condemnation oppresses him to the bottom of his heart. He spends many sleepless nights alone in Siberia in the cold winter. Guilt, shame, condemnation, loneliness, despair, and coldness are the consequences of his sin.

  But this is not the end of the story. One day this young prince picks up the Bible in an inn and reads about Jesus who came to this world to forgive the sins of the world. The moment he reads the Bible and believes this redemption by Jesus, the Holy Spirit works in his heart. He is really free from the burden of sin and guilt and shame. He becomes a new creation. He is resurrected. It is the Easter Sunday.

  If the story of Jesus finished only with his death, his life story would not be much different from the story of this young prince Nekhlyudov. But Jesus died for our sin and rose again from the dead. Through his resurrection Jesus conquered death and opened the way for sinners to come to God. Through his resurrection from the dead Jesus gave us the living hope of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Through his resurrection the young prince’s sins were forgiven and he began to live a new life in Christ Jesus. So, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone and the new is here!”

   In court, the testimony of eyewitnesses is the most powerful evidence in jurors’ decision making. The Chicago Tribune journalist Lee Strobel began to investigate Christianity after his wife Leslie was converted to Christianity. He was shocked by her sudden change after she became a Christian. As a skeptic and agnostic law school graduate, Lee was curious how a person like his wife could change dramatically after she accepted Jesus. So he decided to investigate Jesus Christ with a journalistic point of view. He visited many places, crossed the country, and met all kinds of famous pastors, theologians, atheistic scientists, agnostic philosophers, and so on. He carefully interviewed them one by one, and asked many questions and heard their answers. The more he interviewed, the more he came to realize that Jesus is the Christ. The more he investigated, the more he believed that Jesus is the Son of God. Finally he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and was baptized. He became a Christian along with his wife. Then he wrote a book, “The Case for Christ.”

   In his book he emphasized on the importance of the testimonies of eyewitnesses. How can you deny the testimonies of eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ Jesus? There are several evidences for the resurrection of Jesus, such as the empty tomb, the Scriptures, Jesus’ promises and so on. Above all, the testimonies of the eyewitness of the Risen Jesus are the most powerful and credible evidences. The four gospel books are the testimonies of eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ.

  In verses 5-11 Paul introduces the eyewitnesses of the Risen Jesus, including himself, in order to prove the authenticity and historicity of the resurrection of Christ. Who were they? They were Peter, the Twelve, the five hundred brothers, James (not the son of Alphaeus, but a brother of Jesus), all the apostles, and Paul himself, who used to be called ‘Saul.’ Peter met the Risen Jesus personally on Easter Sunday (Lk 24:34). The Risen Jesus appeared to the Twelve while they were in a room on Easter evening. (Lk 24:36-43, Jn 20:19-23) Jesus appeared to more than 500 disciples at the same time and most of them were still alive when Paul wrote this letter. Jesus appeared his brother James and to all the other disciples. Last of all, he appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus (Ac 9)

  They testified wherever they went that Jesus had risen. Their testimony was powerful. The most powerful testimony was their changed lives. Paul used to be a persecutor of the church of God. He was a murderer. He thought that all Christians must be wiped off of this earth. So he traveled to Damascus to arrest all the Christians there. Let’s read verse 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.” But on the way to Damascus, he met the Risen Christ, who appeared as a great light. His eyes became blind.  But his spiritual eyes were opened.  He heard Jesus’ gentle voice. Jesus did not condemn him, but loved him and forgave him. Jesus also called him to do a good work for him. Pride, self-righteousness, anger, and hatred melted away like snow in spring. In the past, he was a ferocious wolf. Now, he became a gentle sheep of the good shepherd Jesus.  Paul began to live a new life as a witness of the Risen Jesus and an apostle of Christ’s love.

  There is a book named “The Persecutor”, an autobiography of a young Russian young man, “Sergei Kourdakov.” Sergei was a former KGB agent. He was in the secret police, and attacked Christians and puts them into prison. One night he and his companion attacked a secret Christian assembly and beat the Christians and arrested them all. He beat a Christian woman, named “Natasha’ with a bar until she was almost dead. While she was dying, she did not curse him, but pray for him. “Lord, Jesus. Forgive this young man. He did not know what he was doing!” The young man was struck by her prayer. That night he could not sleep. He thought about the dying woman and her prayer. He wondered how she could pray for him like that. What kind of people are Christians? Who is Jesus? He began to read a Bible which he had confiscated from the Christians. While he was reading the Bible, the Holy Spirit worked in his heart. He deeply repented of his sins and asked Jesus for forgiveness of all his sins. After that, he began to live a new life with Christ. He planned to escape from Russia for his new life. One day during his duty as a naval officer, he jumped into the sea from the warship and swam for freedom. He had less than a 1% chance of survival in the vast Pacific Ocean even though it was only the way for him to escape from Russia. He lost consciousness in the sea. When he woke up, he found himself on a beach. When he jumped into the sea, a sea turtle received him and carried him to the seashore in Canada. In Canada, he began to testify the grace of God and his forgiving love to many people. Later, he visited the USA and shared his life testimony wherever he visited.

  We must remember the grace of God. We have come thus far only by God’s grace. We become what we are, not because what we have done, but because of what Christ has done. Let us read verse 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.” We all received God’s grace. What must we do with this grace? Like Paul and like Sergei, we must be witnesses of the Risen Christ. We thank God for raising three witnesses of Jesus among us, Ben, Peter, and Michael. Let us pray for them to be powerful witnesses of the Risen Christ during the Easter Conference. Let us also restore our gospel faith and resurrection hope while we study the resurrection messages. May God help us to overcome all current problems with gospel faith and to restore our living hope of the glorious resurrection. Amen.

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Attachment

• The Resurrection of Christ-message-2014-final.doc

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