Why the Resurrection Must Be Real - An Easter Message

Krisan Marotta: Good morning and welcome to Wednesday in the Word. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Today we're gonna think about Easter and 1 Corinthians chapter 15. If you'd like to follow along with lecture notes, you'll find them on the link below this podcast, or you can go directly to Wednesdayintheword.com slash Easter 23. Glad to have you along. I suspect many of you have potlucks at your church meetings, celebrations, and events. Imagine hearing this announcement when you show up for a Church Easter celebration that includes a potluck. Thank you for bringing such wonderful food to the celebration today. We realize the true meaning of your contribution is the thought and effort that everyone put into their cooking, and the true significance of this potluck is the opportunity we have to fellowship with each other and celebrate our church community. Since the real significance of the food is the thought behind it, instead of eating today, we will parade by the tables in single file and admire the food appreciatively. Feel free to snap a few photos on your phone and share them to your social media account. We want everyone to remember how good the food looked and how abundantly everyone provided, but no touching and no eating. The idea of food is what's important. Are you laughing? Well, of course the significance of food is eating it, not the idea of it and certainly not looking at it. But sometimes we're told that the thought is what really matters. That's what counts, not reality. Now it's true if someone gives you a birthday gift and it's not something you really want or you really need, it's good to be reminded that it's the thought that counts. We should appreciate the fact that a friend took the time and trouble to give us a gift, and the thought and intention behind a gift are important. Of course, ideas and intentions matter, meaning and significance are very important, but sometimes it makes a big difference whether something is real or not. Whether or not we have food on the table makes the difference between being full or going hungry. Regardless of how much we appreciate the idea of food, it makes a big difference whether our physical bellies are full or empty. It also matters whether an idea is true or not. On Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. His body was buried in a tomb where it remained for three days, but on the third day the stone door of the tomb was rolled away and the tomb was empty because God raised Jesus from the dead. It's not enough to say, you know, Jesus raising from the dead is a beautiful idea. It gives me hope to think about a concept so wonderful as coming back from the dead, regardless of whether it's true or not. The historical fact is Jesus really did rise from the dead, and it makes a big difference that he did. At least that's what Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to a group of people in Corinth who considered themselves very sophisticated and enlightened. They thought the physical resurrection of the body was a silly idea. They thought it was foolish to believe that people would have life after death in a physical body, and they were too modern and too cultured to hold such a silly notion. Well, Paul responds to them by reviewing the gospel he preached to them, the gospel they accepted and now claim to believe, and he reminds them that this gospel will save them if they continue to believe it, and this gospel involves a bodily resurrection. And he argues if they are right, if the resurrection is just a beautiful idea, then the gospel would be all for nothing. Here's what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 verses one through four. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you received in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Paul says that the part of the gospel that is of first importance, the part that is crucial is that Christ died for our sins and that he was resurrected just as the Scripture predicted. Now for us today, the fact that Christ died for our sins is a familiar concept. If you've been around a good church for any length of time, you've probably heard that language often. Unfortunately, today it's not spoken of in many churches as many American Christians today find the cross offensive and they try to downplay its significance. They prefer to talk about God's love instead and they ignore the cross. But Paul insists here that the idea that Christ died for our sins is central to the gospel, and the fact that he died for our sins is a significant part of the gospel. One of the central concepts of believing the gospel is that we realize we are sinners in need of a savior. We are not the people we should be. We don't love others like we should, we don't make the right choices, we are selfish, thoughtless, cruel, and evil, and we stand in rebellion to God. Sin is not this unfortunate circumstance that makes life unpleasant. Sin is wrong, it's evil. We've broken God's law and we stand guilty before him. We will be judged by our creator and he will condemn us unless someone pleads for mercy on our behalf, and that someone who can plead for mercy on our behalf is Jesus Christ. Many, many people saw Jesus die, they took his body down from the cross, they buried it in a tomb, and his body lay dead in that tomb for three days. Then, just as predicted in Scripture, God raised him from the dead on the third day. Jesus was dead and buried, and then he was alive again. How do we know? Lots of people saw him. They saw him die and they saw him alive again. That's what Paul goes on to say in first Corinthians. We're going to start back in verse four and go to fifteen eight. That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all as to one untimely born, he also appeared to me. Now Paul does not list every encounter that folks had with the risen Jesus. For example, Paul doesn't mention the meeting between Mary Magdalene and the risen Jesus. He's making the point that many people saw Jesus alive in a physical body after many people saw him dead and buried. Now Paul wrote this letter approximately 20 years after the resurrection. If I started questioning something that happened 20 years ago, lots of you listening would say, wait a minute, I was there. I saw it or I remember it. Well that's the situation Paul's in as he writes. The resurrection of Jesus is still very recent history. Lots of people still alive today were alive when it happened. They saw it, they remember it. Now Paul's not making an apologetic argument to a non-believer. He's talking to believers. He's reminding them what they know to be true. At the time he's writing, the resurrection is only about 20 years in the past, and people still alive remember it and talk about it. Paul is trying to make very clear that the gospel he preached to them was true. The reason he told it to them in the first place is because it was true, and it makes a difference that the gospel is true. The gospel is not just an idea that we can appreciate. The gospel is based on solid historical fact. Lots of people saw Jesus, they saw him die, and they saw him alive again after he was buried for three days. Now Paul goes on to say, Well, if you don't believe me, believe the other eleven apostles. This is chapter fifteen, nine through eleven. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit 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 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, whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Paul points out that none of the other apostles started out hating Jesus or trying to kill his followers, like Paul did, and Paul says, Look, if you stop and think about it, I am not worthy to be an apostle. If God gave me what I deserve, I would be guilty and condemned. I would get exactly the opposite of what I have. It's only by the grace of God that I was given this role in building the church. I don't deserve this role because I was trying to wipe out that church before Jesus appeared to me. So I don't deserve to be an apostle. I am the least of the apostles, but nevertheless, I am an apostle by the gracious gift of God. But even if you think that the original eleven apostles are a bigger deal than me, it doesn't make any difference. We preached the same gospel, we witnessed the same risen Lord. We all tell the same story. Jesus died, Jesus was buried in a tomb, and God made him alive again. We saw him alive again. The resurrection happened as a true historical fact. Jesus was not a ghost, he was not an apparition, his resurrection is not just some beautiful idea someone made up. He was a human being who died and then God made him alive again, and we saw him and we touched him and we talked to him. And he says, Corinthians, that's the story you believed. When I, Paul, preached among you, and you said you wanted to be a follower of Jesus, you accepted the resurrection as part of the truth I taught you. It's not just a nice idea to know that someone in history was raised from the dead once. It's important for us to know that Jesus was raised from the dead, and Paul goes on to explain why that's so important. This is twelve through fifteen. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain, and we are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. Now think about all this testimony Paul just gave. The gospel is about Jesus of Nazareth. It's about a person who is the Messiah, the Christ. All these people, including the apostles, knew him. They saw him, they worked with him, they followed him, they heard him teach. Jesus the man lived, died, and was buried, and God raised him from the dead. The gospel is based on this resurrection of a human being. But if you don't believe that the resurrection of human beings is possible, then not even Jesus has been raised. And if people cannot be raised from the dead, Jesus couldn't have been raised either, and if he hasn't been raised, then our preaching is futile. If there is no resurrection, then we have nothing to hope for, and all our preaching is in vain. If there is no resurrection, then this gospel does not have the power to save anyone, and it's all futile. If Jesus wasn't raised, then we apostles are liars because we've been telling you that he was raised. And if we're liars, why would you believe us? If the dead are not raised, then we're crazy because we've been telling you we know the gospel is true because Jesus was raised from the dead. He goes on in sixteen through nineteen, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Notice that Paul sees the resurrection as the foundation for the forgiveness of sins. If Christ was not raised, then he was not the Messiah, and his death did not atone for anyone. We're all still guilty of our sins, and we will be condemned on judgment day. But when God raised Jesus from the dead, it proved that his death worked. God demonstrated that he willingly accepted Jesus' sacrifice as payment for our sins. God raised Jesus to show, yes indeed, this man is the Messiah, and I accept his sacrifice on your behalf. The resurrection is central to the gospel because the forgiveness of our sins, the very thing we're seeking to be saved from, is tied to the resurrection. Without the resurrection there is no atonement and the dead will stay dead. The resurrection shows that God found Christ's death to be an acceptable atoning sacrifice for our sins. So if you deny the resurrection or you think it's just a nice idea, and it doesn't really matter whether it's true or not, you are undermining the very salvation we believers hope for. Without the resurrection, we are still guilty before a holy God. Not only that, if there is no resurrection, then we Christians are to be pitied. If there is no resurrection, then death is final, and we have wasted our lives chasing a lie. The reason we put our hope in the gospel is because it's true. All the events described in the gospels really did happen. There was an actual historical man called Jesus of Nazareth. He lived, he taught, he died, he was buried, and he was resurrected. The story is more than a nice idea. The story is true, and we believe it because it's true. The gospel is not a whatever works for you kind of story. The gospel is not a case of, well, if you believe it, then it's true for you. The gospel is a case of if you believe it and it turns out to be a lie, you're a fool. Paul claims this story about Jesus is true. If it's not true, we are the most foolish people on earth. We will have spent our lives hoping for a promise that will never come. But we know the story is true, and part of the way we know it's true is that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. Paul is not arguing, well, my life is better off because I'm a believer. It doesn't really matter whether the gospel is true or not, because the gospel makes me feel better. I like all my church friends, it's great to be part of a community, so I'm going to continue to believe it regardless of whether it's true or not because it makes me happy. That is not his attitude. Paul says investing yourself in a story that isn't true is foolish. People who do that are to be pitied. There is no value in believing a religion that makes you feel good but isn't true. We invest in the gospel because it's true. We're looking for salvation from our sins. The gospel tells us that we will find that salvation in the blood of Christ. And part of the reason we know this is true is God raised Jesus from the dead. On Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an event that really happened, and it makes a difference that the resurrection happened. You and I have hope because the resurrection happened. When we say that God loves us, we're saying something more than how God feels about us. It may be a comforting sentiment to think about a powerful being who feels kindly toward me, but our God demonstrated that he loves us. Our God took concrete actions to prove that he loves us. He sent his son to die in our place and pay the penalty for our sins. Then God raised Jesus from the dead to show that it worked. And that's what we celebrate on Easter Sunday. Let's pray together. Father, if you had not reached out to us through the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, we would be lost. We know we would be lost and without hope. We need you to save us. We celebrate Easter today because we believe you sent your Son to save us from our sins. You raised him from the dead, and we are grateful. We know that Jesus' death on the cross is the very rescue that we need, and you showed us that it's true by raising him from the dead. Teach us, make us wise and humble before you. Help us understand how important these things are. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. You've been listening to a special Easter edition of the Wednesday in the Word podcast. My mission is to teach you both what the Bible means and how to figure it out. I pray this podcast has blessed you, and if it has, please share the podcast with someone you think will benefit from it and leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen. You can find other teaching series on my website, Wednesdayintheword.com. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates. You can find his music and CVs on heartfeltmusic.org. Thank you for listening today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I hope I'll see you at Wednesday in the Word.