April 8, 2007 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

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. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

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 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.

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 was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

If you were to use one word to summarize our religion – that summarizes what we are all about – what we gather around - what would you use? If you were to ask a Muslim – that word would probably be “submission” – for that is what the word “Muslim” actually means. The whole purpose of their religion is to submit to whatever Allah tells them to do. If you were to ask a Buddhist, that person might say “meditation.” I don’t know for sure on that one – yet it seems that meditation is the core of what they do. But in answer to US – what would that one word be? Wouldn’t the correct answer be that we center on and around “the Gospel.” Isn’t that the one strand that stands behind the incarnation of Christmas, lies at the center of the cross, and shouts from the depths of the empty grave. It’s the Gospel that unites all of our teachings together as a golden strand.

Yet with every generation we run the risk of losing the Gospel. I fear that the “church” of today has become so worried about being “relevant” and “timely” and “applying” all that the Bible says to every day living – that the Gospel – the heart and core of what the Church stands on – has been lost in the shuffle. So it is good for us to review what the Gospel is today. That is what Paul was doing for the Corinthians. He said, 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. He was basically saying, “let’s remember what we’re really here for – what we’re really about. Otherwise, we have no business being here – this is all just emptiness.” Let’s do that as well. For it is the Gospel – not the Easter eggs, white dresses, or candy baskets - that stands as the core and anchor of the resurrection. It is the gospel that makes Easter so meaningful for us yet today.

The Gospel is the Core of the Resurrection

I. The gospel revolves around Christ crucified and risen

If we are going to talk about the Gospel on the Resurrection Sunday, it would be good for us to understand what exactly the “Gospel” is. Paul explains. 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. Notice that Paul said that this was of FIRST importance. Without the Gospel – the Church as we know it cannot stand and will not stand. It will be like a car with an air conditioner, power locks, power seats, heating, automatic windows – but no engine or battery to run it. The primary importance – the key to the Gospel is Christ. Note, his primary focus was not Christ on the Sermon on the Mount. His primary focus – the core of the gospel centered on Christ crucified, buried, and risen – according to the Scriptures.

This is so important because, as Paul says – Christ died FOR OUR SINS. Christ did not go to the cross for his sins. He went to the cross for our sins – Paul’s sins, your sins, my sins – yes – even the world’s sins. You see – this is what makes the Gospel sound so sweet to us – because the Bible calls us sinners. But the Bible goes deeper.

· Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

· Romans 3:10-12 “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

· Matthew 13:41-42 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It tells us that God is a holy God – who isn’t satisfied with sinners – who calls them worthless – and demands holiness to enter heaven. If they are not, they will be thrown into an eternal fiery furnace where people are crying forever. The worst thing it says is that no one meets his standards, no matter how hard they try. It’s absolutely terrifying. But then Jesus comes along, and the Gospel declares that Jesus died – FOR OUR SINS. When we see Jesus go to the cross, we hear Him tell us that He is going there to be God’s punching bag, God’s wrath catcher – for US. God held nothing back. He gave Jesus the most severe punishment that God can hand out on someone – death and hell. Christ died. He paid the price. He was buried. The world declared that Christ was actually dead. The spear in the side which shot out water and blood proved it. There was no need to break his legs. He was dead. He paid the price in full – FOR US. That’s the key. That’s the Gospel. It means that we who were declared worthless by God, are actually worth something in His sight now – worth a lot in His sight – more than many sparrows – as Jesus said.

Yet the Gospel could not be proved – would not be declared to us – if Christ had not been raised. Paul says in Romans 4:25, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” The resurrection proved to us that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice – that we really were declared not guilty. The resurrection also shows us that God’s Word is trustworthy. Jesus predicted he would raise from the dead – and He didn’t lie. Therefore, when Jesus also promises us, “because I live, you also will live,” and “whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies,” we too know that we will rise from the dead – through faith - just as He said. The Gospel – for those who have faith in it – means that Jesus blood and righteousness covers them from head to toe and makes them completely holy in God’s sight – even though they are filthy sinners. If the Gospel – Christ for us – is not at the core of His death and resurrection, Jesus will be no more than a circus clown in the end – a magical Houdini who does awesome things that we can clap at for a day and then go home. But if Christ is our Savior, our remedy for sin, and our hope for the resurrection – well then, Christ is going to permeate our every thought, word and action for the rest of our lives. This is what really gives us reason to CELEBRATE today – because Christ was raised – and God Himself declared through His resurrection that His sacrifice was acceptable to the Father. As Paul says, “by this Gospel you are SAVED.” The gospel is the core of the resurrection – because it proves that we really were forgiven.

II. The resurrection allows the gospel to be shouted

Although the Gospel lies at the heart and core of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, there really is quite a contrast between the two – isn’t there? Think about what happened at the cross. In the cross Christ was covered in bruises, blood and death. He didn’t even look like a man, much less God. In the cross the disciples ran from Christ – they couldn’t bear to look at Him or stand by His side. In the cross God appeared to be no more than a dead man – a failure. But in the resurrection everything changes. Jesus once again uses the power of God. He can appear and disappear at will. He can walk and talk. Nobody beats him. Nobody makes fun of him. Instead of being led and pushed to death – it is Jesus who then takes the initiative. After the resurrection, it is Jesus who goes seeking after the cowering disciples. It is Jesus who finds them and declares to them that He has won the victory – that they should stop being afraid and have the peace of knowing that He lives. It is the resurrection which proves that He was who He said He was.

If you think about it, it is the resurrection that provides the mouthpiece of the Gospel. The very name “apostle” means one who was sent forth by Christ. The prerequisite for being an apostle is usually thought of as one who saw the resurrected Christ. (Acts 1:22) So it was the resurrection that really made the apostles – gave them a foundation and a proof from which to preach. Without the resurrection – what witnesses would we have – what Gospel would we have? None of us would know if Christ was really victorious or not. There would be no witnesses – no one to tell the truth. Paul wouldn’t have known the truth, and all of Jesus’ disciples on earth would have died not knowing if Christ’s death was really successful or not. In the end – without the resurrection we would all be lost. Having the cross but no knowledge of the resurrection would be like having a car with a hot motor, perfect tires, and all of the bells and whistles – but losing the key to start it. Without the resurrection – the cross cannot get started. But there indeed was a resurrection – as we can see from Paul’s account. He writes that Christ “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 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.”

Remember that Paul was writing to the Corinthians – who lived hundreds of miles from Jerusalem. Most of these people were Gentiles. They had never seen Jesus. Yet there were still hundreds of witnesses who could look them in the eye and say, “I saw the resurrected Christ!” They could say, “yes, Jesus was crucified. But his death was a success – because He now lives!” The resurrection was what enabled Paul to go and tell the Corinthians about what Jesus did for them. Again, the resurrection is the core of the gospel – because it enabled the messengers and the message to go out.

III. The gospel resurrects us to live

It was the gospel of the resurrection that gave the apostles the courage to get out from the hidden rooms – to go forth and preach. They knew there were still dangers beyond their closed doors. They knew that the same men who led the crucifixion of Christ still hated His guts. As a result of their preaching, all but John died a martyr’s death. Peter was said to have been crucified upside down. James – the brother of John – was put to death by Herod. Yet now that they saw Jesus was alive – they were promised life after death. It led them to have an almost reckless abandon in their witness because they knew that death was not the end of life – but only the beginning. Paul faced shipwrecks, stoning, beating – and even fought wild beasts in Ephesus – because of the promise of the resurrection – and in order to spread the gospel of the resurrection. He wrote, 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 was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

What was it that gave Paul such a hard work ethic – the hardest of us all? He writes, “last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 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.” Notice that Paul referred to himself as being “abnormally born.” What does that mean? I can’t help but think that he is referring to his direct conversion by a vision of the Lord Jesus on the way to Damascus. Normally, people are born again through water and the Word – through the preaching and sacraments as administered by God’s called ministered. But in the case of Paul – God appeared directly with the Word made flesh and resurrected – and converted Paul. He was abnormally born – bound to be all but dead out of the womb – but then brought to life by the living Christ. It was this abnormal birth – this gracious second chance at life – that made Paul thankful and eager to live every moment of this life – in hope of the future life. I tend to think of kids who find out that they were born three months premature – whose lives were hanging on by a thread – their parents cherish every moment – every second - they have with them. Those same kids often go on to promote life – so that parents don’t murder their infants in the womb – because of their abnormal birth. This is an illustration of how Paul felt – now full of life and thankful for life that he was given by God’s grace – wanting to spread that life.

What was Paul’s purpose in reminding the Corinthians of the Gospel – of the importance of the resurrection? Brothers, 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. The last thing that Paul wanted was for the Corinthians to let go of this promise. They had already received it and taken their stand on it. Now it was not time to let go – in a time of peace or laziness. They had been spiritually resurrected – so it was time to live! It is time for us to do that – not just on Easter Sunday – but for the rest of our lives. If only you and I could learn to look beyond the veil – and see life the way it really is. In reality this life is only the beginning – a mere breath in comparison to an eternity in front of us. Physical death only serves to release our souls to be in heaven with God. One day our bodies will rise – without sin. If you will only see life the way it is by looking at the empty grave, you will live with so much less fear – and so much more courage.

Many years ago an old pastor in our fellowship was told after an exploratory operation that he had six weeks to live. A close friend of his, a young pastor, asked him three weeks later what it felt like to hear such a sentence of death pronounced. The aged man looked at his young friend and said, “You will never know until it happens to you. I always thought I was not afraid to die. But when the doctor said, "You have six weeks to live," I was afraid. I was so frightened I could no longer laugh. I could not even smile. I tried to make it look like I was smiling by turning up the corners of my mouth because I did not want anyone to know how frightened I was. But now I can laugh again.” And with those words he leaned back in his rocking chair and laughed as though he did not have a care in the world. To the question, "What made the difference?" he replied, “When I came home from the hospital I sat in this chair and all I could think of was "six weeks to live." You know that's only forty-two days, only a little more than a month. For three days I sat here trying to comfort myself by reciting all the Bible passages and hymn stanzas I know, but I did not finish any of them. They all ended with "six weeks to live." But on the third day I happened to think of John 10:27 and 28, where the Savior says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life." That was the first passage I finished and I said to myself, "If the Savior says, 'I give unto them eternal life,' why am I thinking about "six weeks to live?" And since then everything has been fine. The gospel is the core of the resurrection, because it assures us of eternal life NOW – enabling us to live NOW.

Every once in a while I will find myself walking down the stairs – and I’ll get into a room – and then I’ll say to myself, “what in the world am I doing in here?” I don’t know if it’s old age or what – but it’s been happening more and more. I think it’s because I’m always having to think about twenty different things – that I often forget the one task at hand.

Paul’s reminder to us on this Easter Sunday is very simple. “Here you have come to church on Easter Sunday. Don’t forget why you’re here. Don’t forget what this is all about.” We didn’t come here just to hear our favorite songs. We don’t come here to show off our new Easter outfits. We didn’t even come here just to celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. All of this is done in celebration of the Gospel. The resurrection proves that our sins are forgiven. The resurrection shouts that Jesus was victorious. The resurrection witnessed to Paul and the apostles that Jesus was who He said He was. It produced the witnesses that tell us Jesus sacrifice was accepted by God. The resurrection is about the Gospel – that our sins were buried with Christ and left in the grave. The resurrection promises us that we too will rise from the dead. It promises us that we will live forever with Jesus in heaven. We came here for the same reason we came to the Good Friday service. We came here for the same reason we are baptized, and the same reason we take the Lord’s Supper, and the same reason we go to Bible study. We came here for the same reason we go to work, take care of our children, and live every second of our lives. It’s all about the Gospel. The Gospel is the core of the Resurrection – and the core of life. Amen.