1 Corinthians 15:12-28 Our Hope: The Death of Death

You are listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan. Our desire is to help you draw near to God by growing in faith, community, and service. This message is by Pastor of Teaching and Vision, Don Filsack.

Thanks for listening.

Resurrection Sunday and the Centrality of the Empty Tomb

Good morning. Welcome to Recast Church. Glad that you guys have all gathered together on this Resurrection Sunday. Thank you very much to the band for leading us. Every morning we really ought to worship the risen King.

I don't know if you think about that, but I mean, obviously, especially here on Easter Sunday. But every morning we should wake up reflecting on the cross. But certainly this morning is a culturally, it is a culturally appointed day.

Something that our nation actually recognizes. And if you think about it, today is one of the only national holidays that really focuses on what is purely miraculous, and that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Obviously, we, our culture wraps it up with all different kinds of things like bunnies and eggs and all kinds of things like that. But when it really comes down to it, we understand what the heart of this really is about, and it's about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And so I'm glad that you've gathered together this morning to hear from the word of the Lord and ultimately to kind of think some thoughts about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A couple of things to kind of get out of the way before we get started here this morning is the connection card that you received when you walked in.

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They're sitting right on the other end of the desk there from the black box. Just our way of saying thanks for joining us this morning. Then also when you walked in, you received an offering envelope.

We don't pass an offering plate. Again, these just go in the black box. If you would choose to give this morning, there's a place to recycle them right next to it if you're not going to use it. But also remember that any envelopes or any checks that have expansion fund written on them will go towards the hope that we have of a building.

We do currently have the property, 11 .6 acres, paid in cash. And so as of this past Wednesday, we closed on the final section of that. So praise God for that. And it's all his doing. I'm in awe of the way that God has blessed us and the way that that's come through just regular giving over the past couple of years to be able to pay in cash for that property.

And obviously our goal is eventually down the road to build on that property a facility that will meet our needs for meeting in there. If you've got something to write this down, I can give you the address of it, but we're not all going to go out there and make a mass exodus to the location because one of the things is parking.

We don't have a parking lot there yet. And so if we were to all go like say next Tuesday night and all go at the same time, I'm just fearful that we would end up clogging the main entrance to the horse farm there and we wouldn't have good relationship with that next door neighbor.

And so we want to make sure that we leave that open. But you can go out there anytime. We own it. And so you're allowed to go out and walk on it. It's 22969 East McGillan. Just up the, if you're going up the hill past the Java joint, go up the hill heading east out of town.

You cross the railroad tracks at the top of the hill on the right hand side, immediately after the railroad tracks is our property. And there's a white house that sits there out by the road. You can go back on the dirt road.

That's actually on the property as well. And everything to the right of that dirt road is ours. So check that out if you get a chance. And I encourage you to just go out and pray and praise God and thank him for his provision for us.

And it's a pretty cool thing. This morning we're going to walk through an explanation by the Apostle Paul regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Kind of makes sense. Did you have any hint that we're probably going to talk about resurrection this morning, being Easter Sunday?

But the problem is for us, I think, is many of us, raise your hand if you were, you'd say you were at least raised around church or you at least have some notion, maybe from childhood you were, so resurrection is something that you're probably already somewhat familiar with.

Easter, I'm going to say you've been to a few Easter services, been to a handful. So you kind of have the same notions in your mind of what resurrection is and what are we going to talk about this morning and all of that.

And it would be very easy for us in the text to follow Paul's logic, to grasp the academic information that we're given without any movement in our hearts and souls. Have you experienced that where you've come in contact with some story from scripture or something from the Bible that's like routine and it's wrote and you've been there and you've done that and you've read it so many times and you're just like, I'm just going to skip over that and move on to the next thing because I already, I got that pretty well.

Have you been there? If you're honest, you're reading through the Bible in a year maybe and you read through David and Goliath and you're like, I remember that story, skip. Or something like that. I want to make sure, my prayer, and this is something that's very much out of my control and so I do pray for this, that God would press in on our hearts' awe and wonder about the implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That is, what does it have to do with us? Have you ever thought about that? Okay, a guy 2 ,000 years ago rose up from the dead. Some of you in the room are like, I don't even know if that's true. That seems kind of incredible.

Resurrection of the dead, incredible? Is that amazing? Does that require some faith? Yeah. So a guy 2 ,000 years ago rises from the dead, so what? What's that got to do with me? And that's pretty cool, right?

But then what? And that's what we're going to look at this morning is the then what? What about, what's that have to do with us where we live today? And I really have one simple conclusion I'm going to be driving towards this morning and that is the idea of worship.

The resurrection ought to lead us to worship. The resurrection is nothing less than the vindication and the victory of Jesus Christ over death. How many of you would say that death is something that's kind of a little bit scary, being honest?

It's kind of like a big enemy of our lives. It's something that's constantly, whether we are thinking about it or not, it's something that's pressing down on us because how many of you live your life like you've only got a limited amount of time anyways?

Like you recognize that, like there's things that I can't do, things that I can't accomplish and I'm constantly making choices based on I know this is not, I'm not going to keep doing this. This is going to come to an end at some point.

And so we're looking at Jesus Christ's victory over our greatest enemy. And that resurrection centuries ago we're going to see in our text is the first fruits, the word that Paul uses, and I'll explain what that means later, but it is the first fruits, the start of an amazing harvest that is coming.

The resurrection ultimately of all of those who belong to Jesus Christ at the end of time. And so I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15 verses 12 through 28. If you take that Bible out of the seat back in front of you, you can turn to page 823.

It's an easy way to find 1 Corinthians 15, it's on page 823 there. If you don't own a Bible, please take that one with you. We do want everybody to have a copy of the word of God. And I preach out of the English Standard Version, not because it's the required one from God or something, it's just my preference.

But if you don't own an English Standard Version of the Bible, you can take that one as well and check it out. But 1 Corinthians 15, 12 through 28, I encourage you to have your Bibles open during the service here.

Follow along as we read the very words of God to us this morning. 1 Corinthians 12, 15, I'm sorry, 12 through 28. 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. For 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.

For 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 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. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then it is coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that He has accepted who put all things in subjection under Him.

When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him that God may be all in all. Let's pray. Fathers, we have an opportunity to look at just a taste of hope here.

We have an opportunity to see the connection between the resurrection of Jesus Christ centuries ago, a historical event, and what does that mean for us, and that means hope for us that one day we too could partake in resurrection as a part of the harvest of what you are doing here in the world.

Father, I pray that you would make this clear through what Paul has to say and give us hope, give us a sense of rejoicing. Father, we are a people, many gathered in this room today are people who belong to you through Jesus Christ, who have given their lives over to you and have recognized your sacrifice for them.

And so Father, I pray that you would move in our hearts to bring us to a place of rejoicing. Father, that you would work in us a sense of awe and wonder as we think about Jesus Christ from Friday, died on the cross for our sins, the sinless sacrifice, gruesomely slain there on that hill outside of Jerusalem for us, buried in the grave, and then three days later raised up to new life and power and victory over death.

I pray that you would help us to exalt and rejoice in you through Jesus Christ our Savior, and it's in his name that I pray, amen. Thanks a lot to the band for leading us. I'm very grateful for the work and time that they put in every week.

Just want to encourage you to make sure you still have your Bibles open to page 823 there to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 12 through 28. We're going to walk through that, so it's good for you to have that available in front of you.

And then also remember, I know we just took a break, so you're able to get up and get some more coffee, but if you need to do that at any time during the service, feel free. You're not going to distract me unless you come up and give me a hug in the middle of my message or something like that, but other than that, there's more coffee and juice and stuff like that.

Men's bathroom back there, women's bathroom back here, and then there's also a cry room in there. I don't ever mention that, but there is a room in there for, that's if I make you cry. No, that's not what it's for.

If you've got a young child who is acting up, it's probably going to bother you more than it will me anyways, but that's available for you back there for the ladies in the ladies' room. So there you go.

The Problem of Denying Resurrection in Corinth

As we dive in here, we're going to start right in verse 12, and Paul clues us into what he's addressing right away. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection from the dead?

We're going to get right into seeing what the problem was. Paul's writing a letter to this church in Corinth that he founded. He was their church planter and had gotten them off the ground and then has left, and he's writing a letter back to them.

All kinds of issues and problems. If you were to read 1 Corinthians, you'd see it was a pretty messed up city, a pretty messed up area, and even the church had a lot of the characteristics of the city in it.

But we're jumping into the middle of the thought of the argument of an entire book here, and so many of you know I like to go chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and we're doing that through Genesis right now.

We're just taking some time off. So I think it's beneficial for us to understand what are we missing here. 1 Corinthians has been written to basically help to correct some of the behaviors and some of the problems and get this church rooted in Christ.

All kinds of divisions and problems going on in this church, and we're going to find that they didn't just have wrong behavior in some ways, but they also had wrong thinking about a couple of things, including resurrection from the dead, and so that's why he's addressing it here.

The reason I'm starting in the middle of the chapter and not starting with verse 1, I'm going to summarize verse 1 through 11 and what its message is. So many resurrection messages, Easter Sunday messages, focus on those first 11 verses, because in the first 11 verses, Paul is giving evidence for the resurrection.

He's saying, here's some historical evidence for it, and so that becomes a very popular thing for us to talk about on Easter, but what I'd like us to do is move past the evidence for the resurrection and talk about its significance.

To answer the question, so what? So he rose from the dead, and you see throughout verse 11, he appeared to James and all the apostles, in verse 7, he appeared to over 500 at one time, he appeared to Cephas back in verse 5, and Paul is basically saying, the resurrection is central to the core meaning of the gospel, that Jesus didn't just die on the cross and that was it, died and buried, died, buried, and rose again three days later, and that's the good news.

That whole thing is the good news, not just his death on the cross, not his burial, but his death, burial, and resurrection is the whole package, that is the good news of Jesus Christ. And Paul also goes on to say at the end, in verse 8, last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared to me also.

Personally, Paul testified and said, I saw Jesus Christ risen from the dead, I saw that with my own eyes. Now we know the situation in this scenario where he saw Paul, where Paul saw Jesus was on the road to Damascus and a bright light and all of that, but he actually saw the risen Lord and he was confident, we're going to see how rock solid his confidence was to actually declare that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was fact, he's going to use the word fact by the time we get down to verse 20.

But it really isn't until verse 12 that we find that the people of the city find out that they didn't, in Corinth, believe in resurrection. Now how many of you would acknowledge that resurrection, when we talk about something that's dead, coming to life, does that go against the common everyday life things that you experience?

I mean, being honest, does it? Or you guys see resurrection happen all the time? Okay, so maybe right from the get-go we acknowledge that there's something of faith in this already, right? We're seeing that there's a level of faith that's required to believe the words of Scripture are true, that resurrection can occur.

What we see in Corinth, they were like, probably similar to our culture in general, they were just saying, you know, resurrection, resurrections don't happen, that doesn't happen. And in one sense, the Corinthians were trying to have their cake and eat it too, many of them had embraced the gospel, but they were almost kind of saying, well the resurrection of Jesus was something different, resurrection doesn't in general happen.

Paul here is going to make an argument in verse 12 saying, if people aren't raised, then how can you say that Jesus was? So you've said that you agree to the gospel and that Jesus died and rose again three days later, you said, you told me you agree to that, and now you're saying resurrection doesn't happen, generally speaking, that's nonsense, you can't have that both ways.

And one thing I want to point out is that it doesn't take, skepticism is not just a modern invention of an industrial scientific nation, would you guys agree that that kind of defines America, industrial, scientific, modern culture?

But I want to point out that even in the Apostle Paul's time, there were questions, I mean Christianity has been facing questions for 2 ,000 years now, it's been, you know, give or take a dozen or so, but we've been facing questions all down through and that's part of why Paul is writing this, is to address that question, what about resurrection, what's going on here, why is that significant?

And even in the days of the Apostle Paul, they were questioning whether or not resurrection was real. It's unclear what the Corinthians actually believed, it's possible that they believed that the soul goes on after death and that we will go on to be with God but without any physical reality and I dare say that that's what many people in the church have some fuzzy, hazy notions of today, that we don't have a really rock solid understanding of physical resurrection, that is that our bodies and our souls will be reunited to live on a new earth that God creates for us forever and ever and ever, right?

So what tends to be the thought in common to Christians is that one day, you know, we'll die and then our souls will go to heaven to be with God there forever and eternity and that's the end of it. We don't have a really well formed concept of resurrection, that our bodies at the return of Jesus Christ will actually be reunited with our souls and we will go on forever as the way that we were created, the way that Adam and Eve were created, body and soul to worship God for eternity and fortunately, the awesome thing will be that that will be without sin going forward, an awesome thing.

But so, the Greeks had a really common understanding of this, they had, they commonly believed dualism or Gnosticism, two words that just ultimately mean that the spiritual things are good and physical stuff is evil, not just that it's like, okay, you know, it can be used for good or it can be used for evil, but literally that what a human is, is a human is a soul that is imprisoned in a body and that the goal, this is Gnostic teaching, and that the goal is that the soul could escape the body and eventually get back to God and then we'll be okay.

And does that sound like some theology that you've heard through the church? Does that sound like some things that you've heard taught or, it's quite common in churches and in books that you can pick up at family Christian stores for that to be the notion, as if this table is an evil table and we need to escape the evil table or like there's material evil, are you getting what I'm saying in this?

And that's a false dichotomy, that God created us both body and soul and his desire is that we would one day worship him in body and in soul on the new earth forever and ever, and that's our destiny. Okay, so that's what's at stake here in Paul's argument, is he's making a strong case for physical resurrection, that one day body and soul will be reunited.

So verse 12 -13 set up the problem, he says, you Corinthians, if you're right, there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Jesus Christ has been raised. And if Jesus Christ has not been raised, then there's going to be some significant issues because Paul has tied so closely the resurrection of Jesus to the good news that he's saying, you can't have this both ways, and in verse 14 he says, there are dire consequences to suggesting that Jesus has not been raised.

He goes so far as to say that if Christ was not raised, then his preaching is in vain and their faith is also in vain. In vain means empty, worthless, pointless. Okay, you're not going to very often hear a preacher who stands up and says, my preaching is vain or is empty or pointless.

Preachers don't tend to do that, they obviously, my goal in preaching is to preach that which is true, right? I mean, that's, when you're teaching, hopefully that's your goal, when you're talking with somebody is to speak that which is true.

And yet he's saying, if it's not true that the dead are raised and that Jesus Christ rose up from the grave, then this is all pointless is what he's saying. It's empty, useless. My question to all of us here at Recast is how central is the resurrection to your faith?

Do you understand it is central or is it kind of like a tack on at the end of the story that kind of ends well, so it just kind of makes it kind of flowery and nice? Or is the resurrection central? Is it core?

Is it an essential part of the gospel? Or have we understood it that the cross is it and the resurrection, take it or leave it, it's okay, you know, it's good for one day of the year and then we'll get back to the cross eventually here.

Paul tells us that the message of hope he proclaimed rises and falls on the resurrection. Do you realize that if Christ did not raise that this is all a charade? Who are you worshiping? Who are you praying to?

Who are we singing songs to if he's dead and in the grave? You getting what I'm saying? I mean, is it kind of pointless if he's not there in heaven at the right hand of the Father as the text tells us?

If that's false, then what else is false? And on we go. You see, the cross is the sacrifice, but the resurrection is the victory. The crucifixion is the atonement, but the empty tomb is the vindication.

The suffering of Jesus is the love of God towards us, but the resurrection is the power of God toward us to win. The resurrection is the victory of God that demonstrates his power to win over our enemies, the greatest enemy being death.

Not Satan, death, according to the text. Without the resurrection, the Bible doesn't have a happy ending. The story, actually, is pretty flat and lame. The story is kind of dumb in a sense if it ends without resurrection.

What it is, is here's a story in a nutshell, the story of Jesus without the resurrection. God came in flesh and we killed him, the end. Okay, is that just like, wow, that is cool, that's a great story, good news, awesome.

Do you see where the resurrection kind of matters? Does it matter? Is it pretty significant that God came in flesh and that he was the sacrifice for us and the way we know that he was the sacrifice for us is that God raised him from the dead to vindicate him, to justify him, to ultimately say, this is my guy and I accepted him and see, I'll prove it by bringing him back and demonstrating victory over death.

Pretty significant, the resurrection. You see, it doesn't have a happy ending without the resurrection, but that's not the only point. But reality is, Friday leaves us heavy. Any of you feel a little bit heavy on Good Friday, just generally thinking about the cross?

Does that cross your mind on Good Friday this past week? Any of you watch The Passion of the Christ? Raise your hand if you've seen that movie at some point. A handful of us came here on Friday evening and watched it together here on these screens and it's not really a popcorn and pop kind of movie.

Have you noticed that? I mean, it's not entertainment. The best way I can say it is that when you watch that movie, you endure that movie, right? Those of you who have watched it, you know what I'm talking about.

And yet, Friday is a reality. Friday leaves us heavy. Friday is bloody. Friday shows humanity flying our colors. Because what does humanity look like when it's acting like humanity acts after the fall?

It looks like us slaying the Son of God. That's what humanity looks like. If we're honest, that's what our hearts look like, is rejecting God and putting Him down and saying, you know what, we don't really need you in our lives, we will do it our way, we'll go our way, thank you very much, but I've got this.

And so, there at the cross was the ultimate picture of our rebellion on Friday. But Sunday morning brings to us the power of God to restore the victory of God over death and sin and the mess and the crud that we have done.

I truly believe that few Christians can adequately convey the importance of the resurrection. And so, for that reason, I'm going to show you a video clip of a man who's got it. Now, I wonder how many of you, really in your testimony, if you were to talk about what Jesus Christ has done for you, does the resurrection factor into that?

So many testimonies I've heard and so many times I've shared what God has done for me with very little to no reference of the resurrection at all. Are you getting what I'm saying in that? It's like, Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that's it.

And then, oh wait, oh by the way, He rose from the dead three days later. Tack that on at the end just to kind of flavor it a little bit or season it. It's kind of cool. How central is it? I'm going to show you a video clip of a guy.

His name is Phil Robertson. Any of you know who Phil Robertson is when I say that? How about if I say Duck Dynasty? Does that kind of bring it into focus a little bit? Raise your hand if you've ever seen Duck Dynasty.

Okay, a handful of fans. Some of you maybe have seen this testimony before. I'm going to show it. I think it's powerful, even the second or third time. But I want to show you, and what I want you to listen to in this testimony is for Phil.

Phil's a sharp guy, okay? He can get past the big beard and the accent and stuff, and I think a lot of that show is just a show. This guy's going to use some terms in here that are, he knows what he's talking about.

But here's the thing I want you to watch for. I want you to look for his understanding of how the resurrection impacts his life. He's going to tell you a testimony of not just about the cross, but he's going to testify about the resurrection's impact.

So I'm going to sit down. This is going to take about four minutes, but watch this dude's testimony. It's awesome.

I'm currently 66 years old. That's how long I've been on planet Earth. When I was 28, I was sort of into sex, drugs, and rock and roll, as they say. So at 28, some guy with a Bible came in a beer joint that I was running, and he wanted to talk it over.

So I basically ran him out of the place. My sister is the one that brought him, and while he was in the back trying to get a Bible study going with the old guy here, yours truly, my sister was up on the front, and she's handing out Bible tracts.

So that created a little bit of a ruckus in the beer joint. So I had to go out there and tell everybody, look, the girl wants to hand out Bible tracts. Take them, throw them in the trash can, do whatever you want, but don't be messing with my sister here.

I'll break your legs. So I ran the guy off, but later on, I looked him back up when my life was pretty well going south in a hurry. So at 28, I finally sit down and listen for the first time in my life to the story about Jesus of Galilee, the one we're all counting time by.

It is currently 2013 years since Jesus got here, 2013 A .D., Anno Domini. So we're all counting time by Jesus. I just decided to follow him 38 years ago when I heard that he, in fact, was God in flesh.

Not only was he God in flesh, it took the blood of God to remove my sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle, sin. That's the price. While I'm sitting there listening to that, I thought, man, that was a mighty kind thing to do for a scumbag like me.

Not only that, it really would do no good to have my sins removed, which are many. It wouldn't do me any good, though, if something could not be done about the six-foot hole I'm going into, and you too, by the way.

So we're all sinners. Jesus dies on a cross to remove all of them so you can go, I'm guilty no longer. The price has been paid. God coming down in flesh did that. It's actually too wild a story to dream up by human beings, especially sinful ones.

Three days later, he guarantees me not only did he have the power to remove my sin, but he had the power to energize dead, cold flesh so it can stand back up on the earth again. Because of what Jesus has done, his death on a cross and his resurrection, he's guaranteed that you will live.

So as Jesus would put it, whoever lives and believes in me will never die. If you're not a believer and you don't believe God exists at all, about the only hope you have is he not be there, that's your hope.

Maybe he's not there. What we're saying is, we trust that he is.

It's a good understanding of resurrection, where he talks about the six-foot hole and how ultimately the cross takes away our sin, and he talks about that moment where the burden is lifted off, but for what end?

To what destiny? Without resurrection, it might be for the next 30 years or 40 years or 60 years or however old you are, and then you go to the grave and there's nothing to deal with that six-foot hole that you go in, and great, it's been a good life.

But he's identifying the value and the importance of the resurrection. Do you hear it in what he said? Do you hear the understanding of how the resurrection also is a central part of the gospel that shows that God has not just dealt with your sin, but he's also dealt with your problem of death with your enemy that was ruling over humanity that will one day be broken, and Paul's going to go on and explain that in more clear terms.

The resurrection shows that God can animate cold, lifeless flesh, and the resurrection of Jesus specifically shows that God intends to do just that with those who are in Christ. And in verse 15, it says, we are even found to be misrepresenting God, he's still going from the perspective of what if there is no resurrection, taking what the Corinthians believe and carrying it to its logical conclusion, and Paul ratchets up his testimony and not saying that if Jesus did not indeed raise from the dead, then he has been lying, then Paul has been misrepresenting God by saying that he raised Jesus from the dead.

Paul who traveled the world telling everyone he saw Jesus raised and spread the testimony of the apostles that they saw Jesus raised, Paul who told the world that the tomb was empty says, I fully know that if this is a lie, it's a lie about a holy and righteous God.

Now for a religious man like Paul, he knows how dangerous this is if he's falsely testifying about a holy and righteous God. In verse 16, he repeats his basic premise that if the Corinthians are right in their view that people don't raise, then Jesus must not have either, and again he's just saying you can't have your cake and eat it too, you can't say that there's no general resurrection, that people don't raise from the dead and still believe that Jesus did.