Pastor's Sermon Notes - April 8, 2007

A Resurrection Catechism
1 Corinthians 15:12-19

[12] Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead,
how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
[13] But if there be no resurrection of the dead,
then is Christ not risen:
[14] And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain.
[15] Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God;
because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:
whom he raised not up,
if so be that the dead rise not.
[16] For if the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised:
[17] And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain;
ye are yet in your sins.
[18] Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
[19] If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.

Introduction:

Review the outline of 1 Cor. 15 - 1-11, 12-19, 20-28, 29-34, 35-50, 51-58
Many Easter messages are confined to the first section of this chapter.
We will be considering the second, verses 12-19.

This will probably be unlike any "Easter" message you have ever heard.
It involves reasoning from the resurrection, and reasoning to the resurrection.

You will notice the "if...then..." clauses that structure this section. Even in verses 12, 17 and 19 where the "then" is not expressed, it is implied and understood.
This requires the ability to reason - to think reasonably.

Faith is not a leap in the dark.
The place for logic must be appreciated - to think logically.

Faith and understanding are not mutually exclusive.

There is thus the need to catechize - to think catechetically.

We must ask questions and get answers.
Go to Scripture with questions. Ask and ye shall receive.
Go to God with your questions. Seek His answers in His Word.

Human hands abused, crucified and buried Christ. Now it is God alone in the tomb!

Grief, doubt and questioning consumed Christ’s disciples for three days.
And then...God’s power, God’s greatest miracle took place.

Yet even the empty tomb was not enough to convince all of them!
The question some came away from the empty tomb with was, "Who stole His corpse?"

Strangely, not long after this the Apostle Paul had to write to a church:
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead,
how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Cor. 15:12)

There were serious issues at stake here, and they should have known better! Here is Paul’s response to this false teaching:
"I speak this to your shame..." (1 Cor. 15:34)
"Fool..." (1 Cor. 15:36)

We are not certain what created this situation. It may have been related to the issue we find Paul dealing with in 1 Th. 4:13-18 (and also in 1 Th. 5) that developed over a concern over the delay in Christ’s return, or confusion regarding those who were dying after His resurrection.

We have our own issues to contend with in these days due to those who would profess to be Christian leaders and teachers, and who would subtly deny the reality of the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb.

N. T. Wright (Anglican Bishop), and John Dominic Crossan (Jesus Seminar, Prof. Emeritus at DePaul University) debated this issue at the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum held at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (March 11, 2005). At one point in the debate Crossan denied that the empty tomb and the post-resurrection appearances of Christ were sufficient causes for the belief in the resurrection among those in the early Church. He said, "Something else is absolutely needed to make that leap of faith [to belief in a literal, bodily resurrection]....If you want to debate what has to be taken literally and what has to be taken metaphorically, it is a perfectly valid debate. But there is something else - the question of meaning....Those who disagree over the mode of the resurrection, whether literal or metaphorical, will find common ground in the area of meaning."1

Let our response to such shameful foolishness be clearly understood at the outset of our consideration:
1. Nothing else was needed!
2. Faith is not a "leap"!
3. There is no debate, and no validity to the supposition that the resurrection is debatable!
4. There is no "common ground"whatsoever "in the area of meaning" or elsewhere with those who deny the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!

There are serious issues at stake, and they should have known better!
"I speak this to your shame..." (1 Cor. 15:34)
"Fool..." (1 Cor. 15:36)

Explain the empty tomb!

Frank Morrison tried to explain it away, and the result was his book Who Moved the Stone! Gen. Lew Wallace was another who attempted to disprove the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Christ, and the result was his book Ben Hur!

Are you satisfied that you have explained away the empty tomb?

You shouldn’t be!

You’ve just begun!
Now explain over 500 eye-witnesses and their testimony to the literal, physical, bodily appearances of the risen Christ!

You have your work cut out for you, and the united faith of Christians over 2,000 years cries out that the burden of proof lies with any who would continue to deny the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ bodily from the dead in the face of such evidence and testimony!

Consider the testimony of Carl F. H. Henry on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

"Only the reality of the resurrection welded Jesus’ followers into a joyful community ready for a world task."2
"The resurrection of the crucified Jesus becomes in New Testament context the central historical reality upon which resurrection faith focuses."
"The New Testament portrays the resurrection of the crucified Jesus as a threshold event, one that inaugurates the new eschatological age and guarantees the future resurrection of mankind." "The force of physical death is experientially neutralized since the believer identifies himself with the historical death and resurrection of Christ who in his coming final victory will completely abolish physical death."3
"...in an age when Greek philosophy wholly excluded the bodily resurrection of mankind, and when even Jewish culture confined the hope of the resurrection to the future eschatological age, Jesus’ followers affirmed his third-day resurrection and staked their lives on its factuality."4

Now let us direct our attention to this passage of Scripture, and to questions which may be drawn from this passage. My prayer is that this will aid you to understand the inspired reasoning of the great Apostle concerning this fundamental of our faith.


Q. 1. What connection is there between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of all others?
A. There is a direct connection. They stand or fall together. A denial of either one of these realities necessarily involves a denial of the other.

[13] But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
[16] For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

Q. 2. What is the immediate consequence of denying the resurrection of the dead?
A. Christ is not risen.

[13] But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
[16] For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

Q. 3. What are some of the secondary consequences of denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?
A. Our preaching is vain, our faith is vain, we become false witnesses of God.

[14] And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
[15] Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God

Q. 4. What connection is there between the preaching of the Gospel of the resurrected Christ, and our faith in that Gospel?
A. There is a direct connection. They stand or fall together. If one is empty, then so is the other. If one is futile, then so is the other. If one is meaningless, then so is the other.

[14] And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Q. 5. Why do we become false witnesses of God if Christ is not risen from the dead?
A. Because we testified concerning God that he raised up Christ from the dead, and that is not true if the dead will not be resurrected.

[15] Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

Q. 6. What are some other secondary consequences of denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?
A. We remain in our sins, and those Christians who are already dead died in their sins, and will remain in that condition.

[17] And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
[18] Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

Q. 7. What does it mean we are yet in our sins?
A. To remain in our sins means that we are unforgiven, unjustified, unredeemed, unreconciled, unpropitiated. It means we remain under the condemnation and wrath of God. It means that we remain bound to the power and penalty of our sins, our sin nature, and the eternal consequences of our sins at the final judgment of God.

The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 17
Q45: What benefit do we receive from the "resurrection" of Christ?
A45: First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, that He might make us partakers of the righteousness which He has obtained for us by His death.[1] Second, by His power we are also now raised up to a new life.[2] Third, the resurrection of Christ is to us a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.[3]
1. I Cor. 15:15, 17, 54-55; Rom. 4:25; I Peter 1:3-4, 21
2. Rom. 6:4; Col. 3:1-4; Eph. 2:5
3. I Cor. 15:12, 20-21; Rom. 8:11

Romans 4:25 - Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
1 Peter 1:3-4 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1 Peter 1:21 - Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Romans 6:4 - Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Col. 3:1-4 - If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. [2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. [3] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Ephes. 2:5 - Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Rom. 8:11 - But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Q. 8. What is the final secondary consequence of denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?
A. Our hope in Christ is limited to an illusion in this life, a temporary self-delusion without any benefit in eternity, and providing no benefits in the face of death and the judgment to come. As a result we are the most pitiful creatures on the face of the earth.

[19] If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Conclusion:

Two final questions:

Q. 1. Is this the last word?
A. No!

But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Cor. 15:20)

Q. 2. What does this mean?
A. The dead shall rise!
Christ is risen!
Our preaching is not vain!
Our faith is not vain!
We are found true witnesses of God!
We are delivered from our sins!
Our hope in Christ transcends this life, and is secured in eternal glory!
We are of all men most to be envied, of all men most blessed, of all men most glorious!

Footnotes:

1. Gary D. Myers, "Tom Wright Debates The Resurrection", The Banner of Truth (June 23, 2005); http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/articles/article_detail.php?806.

2. Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, Vol. IV, God Who Speaks and Shows, Fifteen Theses, Part Three (Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher, 1979), pg. 29.

3. Op. cit., Vol. V, God Who Stands and Stays, Part One (1982), pg. 80.

4. Op. cit., pg. 408.