1 Corinthians 15:1-2 “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. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”
What is the Gospel? It is something that we should remind ourselves of often. Because if we truly believe the Gospel, this verse says this belief is what is saving us.
We have talked about the next few verses multiple times in the last few weeks in a myriad of different ways. It is known as the oldest Christian Creed. It is a statement of belief that was told orally. Everyone that calls themselves a Christian must affirm.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “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, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 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.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
This is what we are called to believe as a Christian. This is not just an intellectual belief, but a trust that Jesus died and rose again so that each of us personally who are guilty sinners will be saved. That Jesus is the Christ/Messiah that all of the Old Testament pointed to. That God came to restore and redeem people back into a relationship with Himself.
Paul uses the term here, “of first importance”, which is: that this belief is fundamental to being a Christian. Oftentimes, we like to break up into Christian fractions not because of “first importance issues”, but rather secondary doctrinal issues. Remember that is what the church in Corinth was doing? They were breaking into factions because of different practices, beliefs, or leaders. It reminds me of Christians today.
Mere Christianity
In a book by C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”. He describes what Christianity in its simplest form should be, “the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times”
If you truly believe and trust the truth of this creed from the earliest of Christianity, then you are my brother and sister. There are plenty of things we might disagree with, but I am called to love and do my best to live at peace with you if you affirm that Jesus died for your sins and resurrected three days later physically. That can be hard because there are Christians out there that I could probably count on one hand, something we both actually agree with, but I am called to love and keep the unity of the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:9-11 “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 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. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”
Can you imagine the Christians of Paul’s time seeing Paul as an apostle of Christ? Paul most likely killed or imprisoned family members of Christians. Now he was coming around preaching the Gospel and grace to them? Are they called to forgive and give grace to Paul?
Grace
Is grace really that powerful? Because often as Christians, we want grace for ourselves, but we are not very quick to give grace to others.
I saw a lot of “Christians” getting upset with what happened at the Olympics. Don’t you know Christians, that you need as much grace and forgiveness as the people who are in the world? I have seen a lot of hate and anger towards the world from Christians in the last week. Actually, you know it's not just last week, it's almost constantly. If you are a Christian are we not called to follow Jesus’s example?
Do you know the types of people we see Jesus angry at? I can tell you, it wasn’t the ones who were openly sinning. He called them to repent, but he wasn’t flipping tables in the brothel. He was flipping tables in the Temple. He was angry at the ones who were secretly sinning. He was angry at the ones who were looking down at everyone else thinking they understood God. He was angry at the ones that were prideful in themselves and what they did for God and prayed things like, “at least I am not like those tax collectors.”
Christians, you need just as much grace as “sinners”. Don’t you believe the Gospel for yourself? Aren’t you also a sinner that needs God’s grace?
1 Corinthians 15:12-14 “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?If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
In Jesus day, the Sadducees believed there wasn’t a resurrection of the dead nor did they believe in supernatural beings like angels. It seems that some of this thinking was still prevalent in believers. There were people that wanted an intellectual faith, without the supernatural power of God. That also sounds like a lot of Christians today. There are plenty that intellectually believe in Jesus, but they don’t believe in the power of God, like miracles, healings, prophecy, or tongues.
Matthew 22:23-32 “That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.“Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
1 Corinthians 15:15-19 “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. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Our faith should be a mix of intellectual/logical things and also things that go beyond our natural understanding or supernatural.
If Jesus came to save us, what did he come to save us from? Sin. But the Bible says the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So Jesus came to also save us from death, not just what causes death.
If we say that Jesus wasn’t victorious over sin and the grave, then there is no hope for us. This life is meaningless like most atheists believe, because there is nothing after this life. We will just die and go back to dust. We’d just cease to exist. So like Paul says in verse 19 that if the benefits of following and believing in Jesus only are this life on earth, then we should be pitied, because we are believing in a fairy tale. That is how many people in the world see Christianity.
As Christians, we have to experience not just the intellectual, but also the supernatural. John 4:24, “God is a spirit and we must worship him with what? The Truth (intellect) and in Spirit (the supernatural).“
1 Corinthians 15:20-24 “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:25-28 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 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.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."
If you have been coming to Wednesday services you know we have just covered some of these ideas in the series: Finding Jesus in the OT. That Adam is a typology of Christ. He acts as a representative of all humans, similar to Christ who came to also represent all humans. That just like Adam, we all decide to sin, but if we decide to trust in Jesus as our representative he will save us from the consequences of sin because he paid the consequence on the cross. In his sacrifice, Jesus also reconciled us to God because of the separation from sin which ultimately becomes the ultimate separation called: death.
As a result of sin, humans lost the dominion, authority, and power of this world. We handed that over to Satan and continue to do that every time we sin. Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He continues to have control and power in this world, because we as humans continue to give Satan control of our mind, heart, bodies, and dominion when we do his work by sinning.
As the church, we are called to co-laborers with Jesus as He is the one that actually has the authority. He took it back from Satan on the cross. Because of love, he is allowing all humans to willingly decide if we want to submit to his authority and follow Him. But there will be one day, when Jesus’s authority isn’t going to be an invitation anymore. He is going to return and trample all demons, Satan, and death itself when he brings all those who believe in Him back from the dead.
Until then, we as the Church are called to cast out demons. That is how Jesus tramples on his enemies currently. He uses his body (us) to do it. No wonder Satan is having a hay day in the world right now, because no one is walking in the authority that Jesus gives believers.
Mark 16:15-18 "And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
1 Corinthians 15:29-34 “Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?“And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.”
Paul is confident that he can put himself in dangerous situations and still be safe. He has this confidence, because he knows that if he were to die as he says in another place, “If I die, it is gain” because he knows what happens when he dies. He is going to be with Jesus.
If Christianity wasn’t true, he says that everyone should just be a hedonist. They should go after all the pleasure they can get and should do whatever they want because there is no meaning or purpose for life other than to fulfill your own desires. That is how unbelievers live. But he preached to these people in Corinth. They know the Gospel, that sin is hurting them and God came to save them from their sin and yet they are affirming sin in their midst. They are acting as if they don’t know God and what He wants. We should know what God is calling us to. We are called to live, “called out”. We were once in the world, and we still live in it, but we are called to live as if we have encountered God. That He is giving us the grace to be live better. So when we look down on unbelievers. It really is out of pride.
“No One is Too Far Gone”
Because instead, we should be extending love and telling them that God’s grace is for them too. “There is no one too far gone.”
If grace and the Gospel can reach a murder who was killing Christians and can make him become one, then who can we write off?