1 Corinthians 15
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.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
What do you believe to be the truth? Who is Christ? What has this truth which you believe done to you? We need to look at these questions and answer them to ourselves.
Let us look at the confessions of Christians throughout the ages. Let us summarise what we believe (See also the full confession on this website):
We believe in God the Father Creator and Sustainer of all things, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Self-existent, Immutable, Spirit, Incomprehensible, Eternal, Sovereign and Master of the universe, infinitely perfect in love, goodness, holiness, and justice.
We believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried. He arose the third day again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the full Deity and full personality of the Holy Spirit and in His work in regeneration and sanctification, and His work of uniting His Church.
We believe in the community of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection from the dead.
All these things you confess to believe with your whole heart – that you will even die for it.
But the question is, what has this which you believe done to your lives? What has it worked out in your lives. If Christ be not risen our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. If our preaching is in vain then we are preaching a false message. This portion shows us that without the resurrection of Christ there is no hope for forgiveness from sin, no salvation and no resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is vital to our faith.
The whole of Christianity depends on the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
It is the confession of the apostles of Jesus. It is part of the apostolic creed. It is the confession of our church.
We believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The empty tomb is the historical fact which point to the resurrection. Even to this day the fact of the empty tomb is not disputed.
Do you understand that you cannot ignore Christianity. You cannot argue it away. Why? Simply because no one has been able to successfully explain away the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And the essence of Christianity is based on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There are many faiths and religions, but only four are based on personalities and not on the philosophy of man. Buddhism believes Gautama Bhuddha is the founder of their faith. The Muslims look to Muhammad. The Jews see Abraham as the founder of their faith.
Abraham died. His grave is still there. Muhammad died 8 June 632, was buried in Medina and his tomb is still there. Millions of Muslims go there to see the grave. When Bhuddha died his followers said, everything has come to an end. Only Christianity is based on a risen Christ, risen and alive, with an empty tomb. The women were told, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
When Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection Thomas only believed after he saw and touched the wounds of Jesus.
Peter’s sermon was based on the resurrection of Christ. In Acts 2:32-36 they boldly proclaimed the risen Christ.
For these men at Pentecost the resurrection of Jesus Christ turned catastrophe into victory for all. Jesus was proclaimed as Lord and God and Messiah, because God had raised Him from the dead.
The resurrection is crucial for us for it completes our faith. It testifies that we are saved from our sins and delivered from death. The resurrection distinctly distinguishes Jesus from the founders of all the other faiths.
His tomb is empty. He is risen and alive.
Jesus Himself claimed that He would die and be raised from the dead on the third day. Jesus never predicted His death without adding that He would rise again. The resurrection is a historical fact.
We may, when we think of the resurrection, make it into a theological discussion of philosophy, and that might be what it’s about. But it is crucial to remember that the resurrection is a historical fact.
To this day when you go to Israel the place of the tomb will be shown to you. The owner of the tomb will be mentioned. The tomb can be seen to be cut out of a hill as the Bible said. The guards were not ghosts but flesh and blood men placed there at the request of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders. A multitude of literature testifies that Jesus was a real person and so too His disciples were real people. Pontius Pilate was a real person who judged Jesus to be put to death.
When He rose from the dead, it caused a commotion right through Jerusalem. One can read about it in the writings of that time. Saturday used to be the holy day, but because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, we celebrate it by meeting on a Sunday to worship God, just as the early Christians did.
God by His grace has put into history the evidence of His Son by raising Him from the dead. The evidence stands firm, even though it has been ridiculed, scrutinized, attacked, belittled. The evidence has been victorious over 2000 years. Josh McDowell has written a book, “Evidence that demands a verdict”, which lists many proofs of these facts.
When Jesus was crucified the disciples fled like scared rats, but after His resurrection he appeared to them and they were transformed so that till their death they would not deny Him, though they were tortured and died the most agonising deaths. Is it possible that these weak men could each one be so transformed unless Jesus actually did rise from the dead?
About seven weeks after Jesus rose from the dead Peter preached the sermon where his whole sermon was saturated with the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and 3000 repented and gave their lives to Christ.
Jerusalem was turned upside down as the disciples continued to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus. It upset the religious leaders. They were terribly upset but could do nothing except persecute and threaten them.
The disciples clearly saw the risen Lord and they believed.
Now we are 2000 years later. What is the truth? Today many debate this truth. They say, what is true for you is not necessarily true for me. But truth is something which corresponds with reality. And when we speak about the resurrection we find an empty tomb, transformed disciples, 2000 years of victory against all odds. Truth is absolute and not relative.
It stands firm absolutely as Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me”.
Will we take this truth and make it our own or be like Pilate who stood in front of Jesus and said, “what is truth”. The Truth was right in front of him and he received Him not. What will you do?
We believe the Truth is a person as testified in the Bible, and not the relative truth proclaimed in many circles today.
Does what you believe change your life, like the lives of the people at Pentecost? Why is sin so prevalent? Why so much sin that bring down the children of Christ?
Remember what Jesus said in John 14, “if you love Me you will obey My commands”. So when you do not do what He says to you, you are sinning and that’s why other things have victory over you. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit with us today to overcome.
Another characteristic of sin is unbelief – unbelief that sin is real or that we can be victorious over that sin. When you focus on yourself, your strengths and weaknesses in stead of on Christ, sin will conquer you. You must look to Him who has conquered, then you will overcome too.
We need to practice what we preach. We must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, purposefully and deliberately.
The nine fruits of the Spirit should be evident in our lives as a way of living with Christ daily. Everything we say and do should be touched by our living faith in Christ. We need to live the living Christ.
May our testimony of the living Christ be matched with our lives.