The Significance of the Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:1-20
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up–if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Today we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. People respond differently when you talk about the resurrection of Jesus. There are unbelievers who want to disprove the fact of His resurrection. There are Christians who major on apologetics to confirm the His resurrection. Many in our secular humanistic culture simply want to ignore the resurrection. They are happy to consider Jesus as a teacher of morality, but not as the Son of God who died for sins and was raised from the dead.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul deals with the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The reason that Paul addresses this subject of resurrection is that some in the church at Corinth were denying the resurrection of the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15:12 Paul writes, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” It seems that they were not explicitly denying the resurrection of Jesus, but they were denying the whole concept of a future resurrection for people. This is not a new heresy that only showed up in the Corinthian church. Denying the resurrection of the dead is seen in several different forms in the New Testament. The Greek pagans denied the resurrection of the dead, as we can see from the Book of Acts. In his sermon to those in Athens, Paul preached these words:
30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” (Acts 17:30-32).
The Greeks philosophers may have believed in the immortality of men, as spirits, but they mocked the teaching of bodily resurrection.
The Jewish sect called the Sadducees—which included the High Priest and many of the elders of Israel—they denied the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead also. Acts 23:8 says, “For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit.” The Sadducees were anti-supernaturalists—they did not believe in miracles or an afterlife.
Later in the church at Ephesus there were those who professed to believe in the resurrection of the dead but who insisted that this “resurrection” had already taken place. Paul writes to Timothy,
16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:16-18).
They taught that the “resurrection” was only present spiritual possession, not a future bodily resurrection.
We are not told exactly what form the denial of the resurrection of the dead took at Corinth. I am inclined to think it was the same kind of error Paul exposed in Ephesus (2 Tim. 2:16-18), where Paul told Timothy that such error would “increase to more ungodliness” (verse 16). While the doctrinal error regarding the resurrection of the dead is not adressed until chapter 15, the ungodly fruits of this error are apparent in chapters 1-14.
So in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is arguing for a future bodily resurrection. In so doing, Paul gives one of the clearest, most concise definitions of the “gospel” found anywhere in the Bible. He shows how a denial of the resurrection of the dead is a denial of the gospel itself, and how believing in the gospel gives us hope for the next world as well as for the present.
Paul makes his argument for the resurrection from: 1. The truth of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-11); then, 2. The fallacy of denying the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12-19).
1. The Truth of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-11)
A. The importance of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-2)
First Paul reminds the Corinthians of the gospel that he preach and they believed because the resurrection of Jesus is an essential part of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2:
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.
Paul addresses them as brethren, believers. Do you know what the word “gospel” means, by the way? In the original language of the New Testament, the word translated “gospel” basically means, “the proclamation of good news” or “the preaching of good tidings”. Paul had the privilege of preaching the gospel to them. They received it. They stood fast on the truth of the gospel and continue to stand on it. It is the gospel that saved them, is even now saving them, and will save them continually.
The result of what was preached and what you received and where you stand is that now you have a present salvation. This is important. Our salvation is not some fabricated fairy tale for the future. It is a present reality with eternal consequences.
Paul is declaring the gospel that they heard and received and are standing and are saved. But now he adds a conditional clause. Paul says (1 Cor. 15:2), “if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.” When he says they are saved, he is assuming that something is true. He is assuming that they are holding fast to the message that he preached to them. If they are not holding to the gospel message preached to them—then they are not saved. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message that saves. You must receive it, believe it, stand on it, and hold fast to it.
What is this gospel message? What was the gospel that Paul first preached to them?
B. The message of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:3-4)
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
First, Paul wants them to remember that he did not invent the gospel message, he received it. He faithfully passed on to the people of God what he himself had been given from the Lord. In Galatians 1:11-12, he wrote;
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).
The saving gospel can be summed up in three basic points:
1) “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” — “Christ” is the Greek title for the Hebrew word Messiah. The apostles preached that Jesus is the Christ, the promised anointed prophet, priest, and king. Then Paul says “Christ died for sins.” As I showed last week from 2 Corinthians 5:21, God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” He was our substitutionary sacrifice. He bore the penalty for our sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Our sin was imputed to Christ on the cross and His righteousness is imputed to us when we believe. And don’t miss the phrase “according to the Scriptures.” Jesus’ sinless life and His atoning death fulfill the prophecies of scripture in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 and many others foretell the death of Christ for sins.
2) “and that He was buried” – Jesus really died. He didn’t just swoon and then somehow recovered in the cool, dark tomb. He was dead for portions of three days. A large stone was rolled over the entrance to His tomb. It was sealed and guarded. The Jews and Romans made sure that no one could have stolen the body or faked a resurrection.
3) “and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” — The Scriptures prophesied that the Messiah would be raised from the dead. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted from Psalm 16 and showed how David referred to Christ: “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” (see Acts 2:24-32). Here in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul refers to Christ’s resurrection as the “first fruits” (15:20, 23). In the Old Testament, the first fruits were presented to God on the day following the Sabbath after Passover (Lev. 23:9-14). Jesus died as our Passover lamb on the Jewish Passover and His resurrection on the day after the Sabbath fulfills this scripture. Other Old Testament Scriptures, when read in their context, clearly refer to the death and resurrection of Christ (Ps. 22:22ff. with Heb. 2:12; Isa. 53:10-12; Jonah, with Matt. 12:38-41). Jesus Himself predicted several times that He would be killed and raised up on the third day (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 27:63; John 2:19). The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus are the gospel.
So if you’re one of those people–and there are a lot of them today–very nice people that say, “I love the ethical teachings of Jesus. I just don’t believe all that stuff about Him being the Son of God and raised from the dead.” That isn’t the Jesus offered in the gospel. If you want to be saved you’re going to believe these things: Jesus is Messiah and He died for our sins; and He was buried; and He was raised again on the third day; all according to Scripture. Paul is saying to the Corinthians, “How did you miss this?” You believed this message for salvation; how is it that you missed the resurrected Christ?
So Paul has shown the importance of the gospel and the message of the gospel. Next he gives evidence of …
C. The witnesses for the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:5-8)
Paul lists a number of people who saw the risen Savior. None of these were expecting a resurrection, especially not Paul. The sheer number of witnesses (500 at one time!) argues against the possibility of hallucination. Many of these eyewitnesses were still alive when Paul wrote this letter. The message of the gospel could be verified by them. The moral integrity of the witnesses—men who gave the world its highest moral teaching—precludes the possibility of fabrication. To doubt the resurrection of Jesus you have to say that all of these witnesses were deceived or deceivers. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a confirmed, historical fact.
And finally there is ….
D. The results of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:9-11)
Paul mentions last his own transformation. He had been a persecutor of the church of God, but now he was pouring out his life on its behalf. We also know that Peter and the other apostles were transformed from depressed, fearful men after the crucifixion to joyful, courageous witnesses after the resurrection. It is hard to explain that change and their willingness to suffer for Christ even unto death, if they knew the resurrection to be a hoax. The resurrection changed Mary from a mourner into a messenger. It changed Thomas from a doubter into a believer. It changed Peter from a denier into a preacher. It changed James from an unbeliever to church leader. It changed Paul from a persecutor into a missionary.
And then there is the evidence of the changed lives of those who have believed through the witness of the apostles. The Corinthians had believed (15:11) and were transformed (6:9-11). Millions of others in every century and culture have testified to the life-changing power of the risen Savior.
The evidence for the resurrection of Christ is solid. It is the message of the gospel that saves. It fulfills prophecy. Eye-witnesses confirm it. The life-transforming testimony of the church confirm it. The truth of the gospel proves that there is a resurrection of the dead.
Now that Paul has given the overwhelming evidence of the truth of the gospel and Christ’s resurrection he then makes an argument for the resurrection of the dead from logic. He shows the absolute absurdity of denying the resurrection.
2. The Fallacy of Denying Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12-19)
Paul writes to those who denied the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:13), “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.” Then he goes on to show the logical fallacy of this statement. If Christ has not been raised then several things logically follow:
A. The gospel is empty (1 Cor. 15:14)
Paul says, “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty” (1 Cor. 15:14). “Empty” means vain, fruitless, meaningless, devoid of truth. If Christ was not raised from the dead, then the gospel is false; it is emptied of truth. Furthermore, since the apostles preached Christ crucified, buried, and raised again from the dead, their ministry would be empty if Christ did not actually rise from the grave (1 Cor. 15:14). It would be in vain in the sense that these men risked their lives and made monumental sacrifices for a message that was false and which had no saving power. Both the gospel message and the apostles’ ministry would be worthless.
B. Faith is empty (1 Cor. 15:14, 17)
1 Corinthians 15:14, “… and your faith is also empty.” Not only would the apostles’ preaching topple if the resurrection of Christ had not occurred, but the faith of those who believed their message would also worthless. The gospel Paul preached at Corinth is the gospel which proclaimed Christ’s resurrection. It is also the gospel the Corinthians received, by which they are being saved, and in which they stand (1 Cor. 15:1-2). If Christ did not rise from the dead, their faith is without foundation; it is empty and useless.
C. We are false witnesses (1 Cor. 15:15)
“Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up–if in fact the dead do not rise.” If the gospel they have been preaching is a false gospel, then the apostles are actually in serious trouble with God. They are “false witnesses.” They have misrepresented God, making false claims about Him by proclaiming that He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. They have defamed God. They are not only liars, they are blaspheming liars. They would be false prophets (Deuteronomy 13 and 18:14-22) if Christ had not risen from the dead.
D. You are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:16-17)
“For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” If Christ is not risen their faith worthless, for they have trusted in a dead man, a man who staked the integrity of His ministry and message on His resurrection (see Matthew 12:38-40; 27:62-64). If Christ was not raised from the dead, then His death on Calvary was meaningless. Take away the resurrection and you pull the rug out from under the atoning work of our Lord. It is not merely His death, but His death, burial, and resurrection which saves sinners. To deny the resurrection of our Lord is to say Christ’s death meant nothing. Therefore, your sins were not atoned. There is no forgiveness.
E. The dead have perished (1 Cor. 15:18)
“Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” There is hope beyond the grave, if Christ is not raised. They are dead and gone. Those who die have perished. You will never see them again.
Finally Paul says …
F. Christians are to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:19)
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” Paul says: If the dead are not raised – if this life of risk and sacrifice is my only life – I am a fool. A pitiable fool. What are we all doing here today? Why not just give up? What’s the bottom line if Jesus is not risen? Paul gives it in 1 Cor. 15:32: “If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”” In other words, live for yourself and for pleasure now, because that’s all there is. In this sad state of affairs, brought about if Christ did not rise, Christians should be pitied for their stupidity.
Conclusion
The argument Paul plays out in verses 12-19 is a purely theoretical one. His “If … then …” argument was simply to show the folly of rejecting the resurrection of the dead, a claim which directly contradicts the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Paul already proved the truth of the gospel in verses 1-11. And so he concludes in 1 Cor. 15:20, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In other words, what happened to our Lord is sure to happen to those who have fallen asleep, those who have died trusting in Him. In the Old Testament, the “first fruits” are the first offspring or crop to be obtained by the farmer. It was proof that there was more to come. Christ’s resurrection is our proof that more resurrections will follow.
Therefore the opposite of all these fallacies are true. Christ is risen! He is not dead. He is alive and will come again. The dead in Christ will be raised. Which means, first, our preaching of the gospel is not vain, “it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Second, your faith is not futile, for you have placed your faith in Christ who is alive and reigning in power at the right hand of God. Third, we are not false witnesses; we are proclaiming the most important truth that person can ever tell to another. Fourth, you are not in your sins but Christ paid for them with His own blood on the cross and you are forgiven—there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Fifth, those who have died in Christ have not perished. We know where they are and we will be reunited with them. Someday you may hear the Richard Sipes is no more. Don’t believe it! Jesus is the first fruits of those who are raised. He is the promise and the guarantee of a great harvest of souls at the day of resurrection. I will be there, more alive than ever! And sixth, don’t pity me. I am not deceived, deluded or insane. All our self-denial, all our obedience, all our persecutions are worth it, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). The Christian life is not one to be pitied; it is one to be envied!
Christ is risen. All these things are true. Have you believed it? The Bible says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Saved from sin. Saved from judgment. Saved from hell. Saved to forgiveness. Saved to a new life in Christ. Saved to a sure hope of heaven. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). You have heard the gospel of Christ. Call on Him today and He will save you now.
