Just As He Said

Introduction

This is the place to comment on "The Reality of the Resurrection", my sermon from Sunday, October 14, 2007.

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There are Witnesses to the Fact

How many people need to say they saw things in the same way before you say "these witnesses proove that X happened?" Well, it says in verses 1-6 that over 500 men actually saw Jesus physically risen from the dead. Now this is important, it is not that 500 men believed He rose, but 500 men SAW His risen. There are around one billion Christians today, they believe that their Savior died for their sins and then rose fom the dead. But there are also one billion Muslims who genuinely believe in the doctrines of their faith. It's not the numbers who believe that validate the facts. It is the number of witnesses that can testify to having seen the teachings in action.


Our Faith Rests on the Fact

Imagine a Christianity without the resurrection. Imagine all the doctrines are the same but the resurrection is missing. Paul goes down thie rhetorical path for a while with the Corinthian church in verses 12-17. His conclusion: if Christ didn't rise then we are still in our sins (forgiveness didn't happen) and our faith is meaningless. There can be no Christianity without the physical resurrection of Jesus.


All History Culminates in the Fact

From beginning to end, all of history points to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In verses 20-26, Paul goes into a comparison of Jesus to Adam. Adam, the beginning of human existence brought death to his descendants. Jesus brings life to those who are "in Christ." And so, all of human existence points to the moment when God resolves our sin and death.


The Future Depends on the Fact

The Scriptures say that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And so our future depends on what Christ has really accomplished on Calvary. Without His resurrection, we have no hope of eternal life. But the opposite is indeed true, He promised that even if we would die, we will still live.

Wrap-Up

What are your thoughts on 1 Corinthians 15?