Is the Resurrection Important?

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Over the years no other Christian doctrine has been under attack as much as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is especially true in our world today. It is amazing to see the great lengths the skeptics, liberals and unbelievers will go to try and discredit the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

Attempts to explain away the resurrection have been almost comical. In the name of a scientific world view they claim that Jesus body simply rotted away in the tomb.

 

What about the eye witness testimony of Peter and Paul and the other disciples? Peter’s testimony can be explained away by a subjective vision that resulted from his grief and guilt over denying Christ.

 

And the testimony of Paul? He had an unconscious “Christ Complex!”

 

Others have claimed that the tomb was indeed empty when Peter and the other disciples arrived on that morning, but not because Christ was resurrected, but because His body had been eaten by a pack of wild dogs…a fate they claim was typical of Roman criminals.

 

Many blasphemous books have been written over the years that have tried to explain away the resurrection. One international best seller “Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls” asserts that Jesus was buried in a cave by the Dead Sea but He was not really dead, he only appeared to be dead thanks to a slow-acting poison administered to Him on the cross.

 

This book goes on to assert that later, Simon Magus, a magician mentioned in the New Testament, gave Jesus a purgative and some myrrh to soothe His mucous membranes. Thus revived, Jesus went on to marry Mary Magdalene, father three children, divorce her and marry Lydia, whom we read about in the book of Acts. Eventually, Jesus would die in Rome.

 

As farcical as these explanations sound, they are representative of the predominant views of the day. Over the years various skeptics, theologians and others have been given platforms in premiere magazines and bookstores to promote their views.

 

So then we have to ask, is the resurrection important? To those of us who profess to be Christians, the obvious answer is yes!
 

In 1 Corinthians 15:14-19 the Apostle Paul makes the compelling case that if there is no resurrection then…

• Our preaching is in vain – v.14
• Our faith is in vain – v.14
• We are false witnesses – v.15
• We are still in our sins – v.17
• Those who have died have forever perished – v.18
• Our hope has been misapplied and we are people to be pitied - 19

So yes, the resurrection is important!

Is the resurrection historically true? – With good reason, I believe it is.

Are there any proofs for the resurrection? Yes, there are many.

There are many websites that you can go to for discussions regarding the evidence for the Resurrection of Christ**, so my post today is not meant to address every point or counterpoint regarding the historical and scientific arguments. Rather, it is to focus on three very practical proofs that legitimize the resurrection, and in my mind, cannot be so easily explained away.

The proof of…

• Salvation
• Scripture
• Special Witnesses

**You can find transcripts here of a very thoughtful debate between William Lane Craig and Bart D. Ehrman

THE PROOF OF SALVATION – v.1-2

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.

The fact that the Corinthians themselves had received the Gospel and believed in Jesus Christ and had been changed miraculously was in itself strong evidence for the resurrection. Only someone powerful enough to defeat death and sin through a resurrection – has the power to change lives. After all, a dead savior cannot save anyone.

The point of verses 1-2 is that the Corinthians were living evidence that the resurrection was true. The fact that these believers had come out of the spiritual blindness and darkness of dead religion and paganism and had gone on to the light and life of Jesus Christ, testified to the power of the Gospel and the power of His resurrection.

• The Gospel that Paul preached to them was in fact the Gospel of the resurrection…
• The Gospel that they had received was the Gospel of the resurrection…
• The Gospel that they were now standing in was the Gospel of the resurrection… and…
• The Gospel that they were saved by was the Gospel of the resurrection…

THE GOSPEL IS NOT THE GOSPEL WITHOUT THE RESURRECTION! cf. v.3-4

I'm sorry if that offends you, but it is what the Bible teaches.

Paul adds a very interesting qualifying phrase in verse 2 that we have to address.

if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain

What is Paul saying?

He is not saying that you have to hold fast in order to REMAIN saved. Rather, he is saying that a failure to hold fast to the word of the gospel indicates that your faith is not genuine…you have worthless (vain) faith and you have believed without effect.

The fact that anyone holds fast to the Gospel is a testimony to a real, genuine faith…because only a real faith brings about obedience with resultant fruit.

Salvation and new life in Christ is a result of the power of Christ’s resurrection.

It is not the result of something we do to keep it, but the key to living in the security and power of Christ is real faith a real and genuine faith brings about all the blessings of salvation including transformation and security cf. Romans 8:29-39.

A professing Christian who at one-time holds to orthodox doctrine and to an orthodox lifestyle and then rejects it fully – proves that his or her salvation was never real. He or she is able to let go of God because he or she were the ones doing the holding. They did not come to God through genuine faith therefore they were not being kept by the power of God. They were not holding fast the word because his or her faith was in vain…it wasn’t real. They did not hold fast because they were not held fast.

I don’t want to belabor the point but what is so fascinating to me and heartbreaking is that some of the most vehement critics of the resurrection are religious men and women…some are so-called bible scholars and some were even at one time evangelical Christians (Bart D. Ehrman for example), yet they have not held-fast to the Gospel.

The point I want to make is that genuine salvation by itself is a proof of the veracity of the resurrection. I have witnessed too many cases where people's lives have been truly transformed by their faith in Christ. Their lives have been supernaturally changed. There can be no other explanation. It is not the product of a religious imagination. It is not the result of some psyched up mentality. It is not a "looking for the pie in the sky, by and by." It is a real change.

The city of Corinth was one of the most debauched places in the ancient world. The people who lived there were guilty of all kinds of sins, yet by the power of the Gospel and the resurrection, these same people had been transformed into redeemed, committed followers of Jesus.

ONLY RESURRECTION POWER CAN DO THAT!

· YES – Corinth was a carnal church
· YES – They had many shortcomings
· YES – They had many failures
· YES – They had false followers and sham believers in their midst…

YET…most of them had experienced true salvation – Christ had changed them and was living in them. Salvation equals true regeneration, true transformation, true redemption and is the ultimate proof of the resurrection!

Today you are living proof, living pieces of evidence pointing to the truth of the resurrection.

THE PROOF OF THE SCRIPTURES - v.3-4

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

The Old Testament clearly predicted Christ’s death and resurrection.

The phrase, For I delivered to you, speaks of bringing authoritative teaching. The Gospel of the death, burial and resurrection was not something that Paul and others had made up. Paul and the other Apostles did not design the Gospel – they only delivered what God had authored. When discussing what had happened with some disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus said:

²⁵ And He said to them,“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. Luke 24:25-27

When unbelieving Jews asked for a sign His Messiahship – Jesus responded by saying:

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40

At Pentecost Peter quoted from Psalm 16 and then commented that David, the author of the Psalm, “looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, not did His flesh suffer decay” (Acts 2:25-31)

Paul proclaimed before King Agrippa, “and so, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He should be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22-23)

In reference to the Gospel of the resurrection, Jesus, Peter and Paul quoted from or referred to such Old Testament passages as:

· Genesis 22:8, 14
· Psalm 16:8-11
· Psalm 22
· Isaiah 53
· Hosea 6:2

Besides all of those Old Testament references, the Old Testament sacrificial system and the system of feasts pointed to the cross and the resurrection.

· The Day of Atonement – pointed to His place as our substitute

· The Passover – pointed to His sacrifice as the Lamb of God

· The Feast of Firstfruits – pointed to the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20-23; Lev. 23:9-14)

The Feast of Firstfruits took place on the day following the Sabbath after the Passover. Since the Sabbath is the seventh day, the day after is the first day of the week – Sunday, is resurrection day!

As the Lamb of God, Jesus died on the Passover. As the sheaf of firstfruits, He arose from the dead on the first day of the week. When the priest waved the sheaf of the firsfruits before the Lord, it was a sign that the entire harvest belonged to Him. When Jesus was raised from the dead, it was God’s assurance to us that we shall also be raised one day as part of that future harvest.

So, whether directly or indirectly – whether literally or in types and figures…the Old Testament Scriptures foretold the death, burial and resurrection.

No Jew or anyone else who knew the Old Testament Scriptures and understood them should have been surprised that the Messiah would die, be buried and then resurrected.

The phrase “according to the Scriptures” is used twice for emphasis. In other words…the idea of the resurrection was no new thing – it was to be expected.

THE PROOF OF THE SPECIAL WINESSES – V.5-11

5 and that He appeared to Cephas, 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 to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit 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 toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Throughout legal history the testimony of responsible and honest eyewitnesses have been considered one of the most reliable forms of evidence in court. Paul’s evidence is in that form. In fact, many legal scholars have tried to debunk the evidence of the resurrection only to come away convinced that it is one of the better proven cases in history.

So who were these special witnesses?

PETER – v.5a

In going to Peter first Jesus emphasized His grace – He had forsaken the Lord but the Lord had not forsaken him. In Acts 2, Peter becomes the prime witness to the resurrected Christ.

THE TWELVE – v.5b

The remaining eleven disciples were referred to as “the twelve” even before Judas was replaced. The Apostles would lay the foundation of the Church which formed the basis for its beliefs and practices on their teaching. The LORD appeared to these men on whom He would establish His church on earth. They were capable, honest and reliable witnesses to the most important event in history.

THE FIVE HUNDRED – v.6

When Paul spoke of specific men like Peter and the twelve he was speaking of the quality of the witnesses. Here is speaking of the sheer quantity of the witnesses. At the same time, and the same place, over 500 witnesses saw Jesus alive after His resurrection.

JAMES THE HALF-BROTHER OF JESUS – v.7

James was a skeptic – like most of Jesus' family, they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ (John 7:5), but something happened – later when you read the book of Acts James has become a leader in the early church and actually wrote an the epistle of James.

What changed Him? It clearly was the post resurrection appearance by Jesus. He saw the resurrected Christ and like the others, it transformed his life.

THE APOSTLE PAUL – v.8-11

The phrase “and last of all” is a time reference – Paul saw the resurrected Christ post ascension (Acts 9). The radical change in the Apostle Paul’s life is a great testimony to the truth of the resurrection. Paul went from persecutor to persecuted – from scorner to scorned.

The phrase “as to one untimely born” has in it the idea of an ill-timed birth. Paul came too late to be one of the twelve yet he was privileged to see the resurrected Christ!

Verses 9-10 makes it clear that Paul understood this to be a pure act of grace on God’s part. Because of his encounter with the resurrected Christ Paul had experienced three great changes.

First – he had gained a deep recognition of his own sin nature.

Second – he experience a revolution in character – he went from being the church’s greatest persecutor to its greatest defender.

Third – he went through a dramatic redirection of his energy. As zealous as he once opposed God’s people he now served them.

Why would these men and women give their lives up for a myth? For a lie?

In the end their testimony, their lives, their commitment are proofs of the reality of the resurrection.

Jesus’ Appearances After His Resurrection
Mary Magdalene	Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18
The other women at the tomb	Matthew 28:8-10
Peter in Jerusalem	Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5
The two travelers on the road to Emmaus	Mark 16:12-13; Luke 24:13-35
Ten disciples behind closed doors	Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25
All eleven disciples	Mark 16;14; John 20:26-31; 1 Corinthians 15:5
Seven disciples while fishing on the Sea of Galilee	John 21:1-14
Eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee	Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18
More than 500 believers	1 Corinthians 15:6
James the brother of Jesus	1 Corinthians 15:7
Those who watched Jesus ascend into heaven	Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-52; Acts 1:3-9

Most Often Used Theories to Explain Away the Resurrection
Explanation for empty tomb	Evidence against this explanation	Scriptural reference
Jesus was only unconscious and not really dead	A Roman soldier told Pilate that Jesus was dead The Roman soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead; instead they shoved a spear in his side Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped his body and placed it in the tomb	Mark 15:44-45 John 19:32-34 John 19:38-42
The women made a mistake and went to the wrong tomb	Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses witnessed his body placed in the tomb On Sunday morning Peter and John also went to the same tomb (i.e. they all knew which tomb Jesus had been buried)	Matthew 27:59-61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:56 John 20:3-9
Unknown thieves stole Jesus’ body	The tomb was sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers	Matthew 27:65-66
The disciples stole Jesus’ body	The tomb was guarded and sealed	Matthew 27:66
The various appearances of Jesus’ were really just hallucinations on the part of the witnesses	Over 500 people, some hostile, all witnessed at various times and locations, a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus’	1 Corinthians 15:5-11

So is the resurrection important? Absolutely!

If Christ has not been resurrected then the Gospel is powerless to change lives.
If Christ has not been resurrected then the message of the Scriptures is in error.
If Christ has not been resurrected then testimony of the many witness is untrustworthy and their lives have been lived in vain for a false cause.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20

HAPPY EASTER!!!