Resurrection of Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 15:1

Intro:
This past week, people that I’ve been working with, either at Jamba Juice or the golf course are either reminding or complaining to me how this weekend isn’t a holiday. All that they care about is whether or not they get paid time and a half on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. It’s somewhat disappointing and it opens your eyes to what this world is really about. Doesn’t this month, this weekend mean more than getting paid holiday rates?

It’s become so diluted. There’s no longer any meaning to it. Why don’t we commit an entire season to it? We do for Christmas. His birth was important. But if you think about it, His resurrection, His death, because it happened, is even more important. What would happen if He never rose from the dead? What are the implications of that? That’s why, no matter how important His birth was His death was even more important because, despite all the miracles that He displayed, it was His death that declared His deity.

Starting on this Resurrection Sunday, it is important to understand what this event means to us. We could spend the next weeks defending that the resurrection actually happened. But instead, we’re going to go a different direction. This time, we’re going to go in depth so that we may be able to thoroughly comprehend the significance of this resurrection and its impact on our lives.

I. The Reality of our Faith
Our study takes us to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. This is the explanation of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth about the importance and impact of the resurrection in their lives. “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you- unless you believed in vain.”

At this moment, the gospel is being preached throughout the world. And people may believe it or they may not. People may accept it and deny it later on in their lives. People may dispose of it out of fear, afraid of being mocked, persecuted, and ridiculed because of their faith. The weak Christians seem to never be able to hold to their faith.

Imagine, that on His death, our Savior was ridiculed. On His death, people denied Him. On His death, people scoffed and laughed at Him. This was the way He died. And is this what He died for? No, He died so that we may believe. The miracles didn’t force people to believe. His words, His perfect character, His sinless nature didn’t force people to believe. It was when the two on the road conversed with Him, it was when the twelve and then the 500 saw Him. It was when Thomas put his finger in His side and in His hand that they believed.

And now, because of belief, we have people, pastors, evangelists, who boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without fear, without worry of being ridiculed.

Let’s take a look at the two verbs here in verse 1. Look at the verbs “declare” and “preached.” The Greek word for “declare” means “to certify or give to understand. It can also mean to remind. Here’s Barnes: “Here it does not mean that he was communicating to them any new truth, but he wished to remind them of it.” The Greek word for “preached” means “to bring good news.” Now, here’s the interesting part of it. The verbs have different tenses. The verb “declare” is in the present tense while the verb “preached” is found in the aorist tense. What this means is that at one point in time, the Apostle Paul gave the church in Corinth, preached to them the Gospel in its entirety. And down throughout the days, he continues to remind them of what he preached to them, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not something that is brand new, something that they already knew of, but needed to be told again.

One of the things that we learned was that if you wanted to change a habit in the workplace, it would take at least three months of telling the same person the same thing over and over again, day after day. It wouldn’t be until three months that the habit would eventually take place, but not before being impressed into their minds. One could argue that preaching is the same way. It would take months to tell you over and over again the significance of sin, the resurrection, the Gospel. And it’s not just me, but the Apostle Paul who believes it also. That’s why we can never give up. I forgot who quoted it, but there’s a saying that describes the breaking of a rock by a tiny hammer. It’s not the last hit that broke it apart, but the 1000 tiny hits before it.

Now, let’s take a look at the verb “receive.” The Greek word for “received” is paralamban which means to “receive with approval.” This means that the church in Corinth received the Gospel intelligently.[1] They were not ignorant. They were not tricked into receiving the Gospel. They used their intellect to make a decision to accept Christ. Yes, some people may not thoroughly understand our faith. Sometimes we may not understand some of the things that we believe. But God has provided enough evidence for us to make a cognitive decision that Christ lived, that He died, that He rose from the dead and that we are sinners and are in need of a Savior. There is no doubting that.

Lastly, look at the verb “stand.” The verb “stand” is found in the present tense which signifies the strength and permanence in which the church in Corinth stood in the Gospel. Sadly, that strength and permanence may not be too evident in the world today. Yes, there are a lot of people who stay in the Word and hold tight to the Gospel. But I guarantee you that there is a far greater number who do not. You can just tell. A lot of us are good talkers. A lot of us are good liars. But there is no way that you can fake this.

Conclusion:
In the middle of this sermon, I was wondering, what is the theme of this sermon? What is it that God wanted to share with us? I was frustrated. I didn’t know where I was going. But eventually, God showed me. After a brief stint of prayer, I realized what the purpose of this message was. God gives us the ability to believe, the ability to have faith. Our faith is placed in Jesus Christ. And it is Christ and the fact that He resurrected Himself from the dead that makes our faith real.

We’ve all been preached to. We’ve all heard of the Gospel and we continue to be reminded of things that we already know. But we should never get tired of hearing how our Savior is risen and has already conquered the world.

[1] Isidro Annotated New Testament