1 Corinthians 15:1-34 - Part A

Because the resurrection is not just Jesus' resurrection, but because of Jesus' resurrection, that guarantees our resurrection. It's part and parcel of the gospel, is the redemption of our physical bodies. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to straighten out a lot of spiritual matters, and one was the resurrection of Jesus. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip explores these fascinating truths, not just about Christ's resurrection, but yours too. Now, we want to tell you about a resource that will encourage you to be a part of cultivating a more loving church than ever before. The United States fought the devastating civil war to overcome a deeply dividing issue. As followers of Jesus and people who represent his love, we can help one another deal with this topic today.

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It's a sin in the heart. So now it's our job to begin to guide them and to have a biblical mindset and also having sympathy and empathy for those who are trying to live out this Christianity and their skin may be a little bit darker than yours. Cultivate the empathy that comes from gaining a biblical perspective on racism. Get your copy of this conversation between pastors Skip and Tony when you give $20 or more today. We'll also send you Pastor Skip's booklet, The Church and Racism.

Call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay, we're in first Corinthians chapter 15 as we join Skip Heitzig for today's study. If you know anything about the 15th chapter of the book of first Corinthians, you first of all know it's very long.

There are 58 verses in it. Now I originally came here thinking I'm going to do 15 and 16 and we're just going to finish it out. I'm a realist at this point as I sit before you in all honesty and I often realize that all my intentions never or rarely are seen to fruition when it comes to how much territory I can cover on Wednesday night. Now if we had a couple hours of Bible study perhaps I could do that but we don't. So we have under an hour so we're going to look at the 15th chapter and we like to be able to finish it but you know how that goes.

We'll just go through until our time is up. If you had to pick a list of the 10 greatest chapters in the Bible, I believe you would need to put first Corinthians 15 on that list because of its doctrinal content, because it is the definitive chapter on the resurrection, our resurrection, Jesus' resurrection, the resurrection as it pertains to the whole gospel message. It is just one of the greatest chapters in in Scripture. As you know, the Corinthians were a group of people, a church, in a city that was riddled with problems and Paul writes first Corinthians as a polemic, as a corrective to adjust their errant perspective on a number of behavioral and doctrinal issues and evidently they were confused in regards to the resurrection and perhaps that's why Paul made it so long is because this was so vital, so important that he wanted to take his time, belabor the issue because the resurrection is not just Jesus' resurrection but because of Jesus' resurrection that guarantees our resurrection. It's part and parcel of the gospel is the redemption of our physical bodies and thus he writes about the resurrection. Now why was there confusion in the Corinthian church about this issue? By the way, I find there's a lot of confusion today in church, in churches regarding the resurrection, regarding life after death.

I've done a lot of funerals over the past several decades and I listen to people, I listen to church-going people as they talk about the death of a loved one and I know the comments may be emotional comments and I think that they're probably well-intended comments but inaccurate comments nonetheless. Well, I know George is up there right now playing golf. Really? You think that's what heaven is? What about people who hate the game of golf?

That sounds like hell, that sounds like hell, not heaven to them, especially if you have a bad game. But nonetheless, I digress. Really, he's up in heaven so there's his body in that casket and yet he's up there playing, now how is he playing golf if his body's here? Oh well, he has a new body.

You think so? And do you think that in the future that body is just going the way of all the earth or does God have plans for that body? If that's a saved individual, what will become of that body? Well, if you are a Bible-believing Christian, there's only one way you can answer that.

That body will one day, though it is in the process of decaying and decomposition and will turn to dust, at some point will be raised. There will be a resurrection. But I find that even believers are very sketchy when it comes to the details of this, like the Corinthians. But back to the question, why were the Corinthians so confused about the resurrection? Answer, they lived in a Greek culture. The Greeks abhorred the idea of a resurrection. Paul had been in Athens and when he was in Athens, which is a city just a few miles away from Corinth, and he was on the Areopagus on Mars Hill, part of Paul's message was the resurrection from the dead.

And they laughed at him. They thought that was so bizarre because to a Greek, the idea that you would ever want this body to come alive again was absolutely and was absurd because the Greeks taught and thought that the body was a tomb for the spirit. Death liberated the spirit. And so why would you ever want to be shackled and imprisoned, entombed again in a physical body?

That's how they saw it. So they did not believe in nor entertain the thought of a resurrection. That's the culture of Corinth, a Greek culture. Also, it was culturally a Roman province and the Romans did not believe in a resurrection. You remember when Paul stood in Caesarea and he preached to Festus and he talked about the resurrection from the dead. He spoke about the death burial and resurrection of Christ and that I believe in the resurrection of the dead, he said. And Festus interrupted him and said, Paul, your much learning has made you mad.

Dude, you have been hitting the books reading so much it just drove you nuts. I mean, that's crazy. That's absurd. So the Greeks didn't believe in resurrection. The Romans certainly didn't believe in resurrection. And a whole group in Judaism didn't believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees, the Pharisees did, but the Sadducees, they were pure materialists. They did not believe that there were angels or spirits and they didn't believe in the resurrection.

In fact, they came to Jesus one time with a trick question. They said, you know, we had this guy and he was married to a gal and she couldn't produce any children for him. So he died and she married his brother, according to Old Testament law. And then he died and didn't produce children. And then she married another guy. So she had like seven husbands. They all died. And then they thought they had Jesus in the resurrection.

Whose wife will she be? What they were trying to do is point out the absurdity of once you're dead to have that body come back. And I love Jesus' answer. He said, you're ignorant.

Well, that's not all. He said, he didn't put a period at the end of it. He said, you are ignorant, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. Scriptures say there's a resurrection and the power of God guarantees the resurrection. Not hard for God to resurrect a dead body and bring it back to life and reorganize all of the atoms, no matter where they are, any more than it was for God to create life to begin with. So that's why Paul, when he stood before King Agrippa, he said, King Agrippa, why do you think it's an incredible thing that God raised the dead? If it's God raising the dead, then raising the dead isn't hard for the God who creates life to begin with.

So there was confusion in Corinth. And so Paul introduces the topic of the resurrection. First of all, Jesus' own resurrection as a premise for our resurrection.

And you'll see how they tie in together. I can almost guarantee I won't get through the whole chapter of chapter 15 tonight, but it's important enough that we'll slow down through it and get a comprehensive view of it, maybe two parts. Maybe, but nonetheless, it is so important that in the book of Romans, chapter 10 in verse 9, Paul said, if you confess with your mouth, listen, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. In other words, you can't be saved. You're not a true believer, a saved person, if you deny the resurrection. It's part and parcel of the historic Christian gospel. So again, in chapter 15, the first few verses, he is laying the foundation, showing us evidences of Jesus' resurrection.

Why? Because Jesus' resurrection is the first fruits, that's a word he will use, or the template for our physical resurrection. One guarantees the other. So moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel. Gospel means the good news, which I preached to you, which you also received. I preached it, you heard it, you then received it, you internalized it, you made it your own, and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. Evidence number one for Jesus' resurrection, number one, the fact that there were believers in Corinth. That in this pagan city, there were some who believed the message that Paul preached, and in believing the message that Paul preached, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it totally transformed their lives. That's the first evidence, is the existence of Christians in Corinth, because he says, you also received it, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold fast that word to which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. So the fact that there are people in Corinth, who were Gentiles, who believed the message of Christ, death, burial, and resurrection, which is the gospel, as you will see, that's the first line of evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. You believe the gospel, inherent in the gospel, is the resurrection of Christ from the dead. You see, a dead savior can't save. A dead savior does no one any good. The idea that Jesus lived a good life, he was a good person, he taught some wonderful things, then he did, he died, he's dead, and never came back. So what?

So what? That's a philosophy. That's not transformative. What is transformative is the guy who died, got back up, which means he can conquer death. If he can conquer death, and by the way, he predicted that that was going to happen. No man takes my life from me.

I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down and take it again. Anybody that has the power to do that, has the power to do anything else he promises.

So if he promises he can transform your life, so if he promises he can transform your life, then he can and he will if you let him. So that's the first line of evidence, the existence of Christians in Corinth. Evidence number two, the prediction of the resurrection found in the scripture. Verse two or verse three, for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received. When did Paul receive that? When did Paul receive the gospel? First, well, the Damascus road was his moment of transformation. He had heard from Stephen about Jesus, but when he really embraced the gospel was the Damascus road.

He received it. Then he spent three years in Arabia sort of working through the theological implications of that, internalizing it before he went out before he went out and shared with the rest of the world. So he heard it, he received it, he was transformed by it. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. That he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The scriptures predicted the suffering of the Messiah. Isaiah 53, graphic detail, the suffering servant, actually the end of Isaiah 52, the rest and then Isaiah 53.

In graphic detail, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, by his stripes we are healed. Then you have Psalm 22 which uncannily describes death by crucifixion hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented by the Persians and adopted by the Romans. And you have a list of these things that are predicted in the scriptures.

So evidence number one, changed lives in Corinth. Evidence number two, fulfilled scripture from the old testament predicting the death of Jesus, the burial of Jesus, also Isaiah 53 says he would be buried along with the rich and then it says and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Now we have something interesting because you need to ask where exactly does the old testament predict the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day?

Well you could, like Peter, look at Psalm 16, that's what Peter did on the day of Pentecost, he reached back to Psalm 16 quoting what David said in Psalm 16. David said you will not allow you will not allow your holy one to see decay or corruption. And Peter makes the point that David wasn't talking about himself because he died and his tomb is here in Jerusalem and his body did decay. So when he said you won't allow your holy one to see decay, Peter said he wasn't talking about himself he was talking about the son of David, the ancestor of David, Jesus the Messiah who did not see decay, he was in a tomb and rose again. So he quotes Psalm 16 but still you don't have three days. Jesus himself goes back to the book of Jonah and announces beforehand for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale or the great fish three days and three nights the son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. So Jesus points to Jonah, however there's nothing in Jonah that announces the burial and residing of Jesus or the Messiah in the tomb for three days prior to her resurrection. But interesting in the prophet Hosea, Hosea said that God spoke through the prophets in similitudes or in parables. So that's why we believe and we know that there are types in the old testament that are fulfilled in the new. So let me throw something out at you. In Genesis chapter 22 there's the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac or almost sacrificing Isaac because the Lord said take now your son your only son Isaac to a place that I will show you a mountain that I will show you the mountain of Moriah and you will sacrifice him there for me. Now that's interesting wording because Abraham didn't have a single son an only son he had two sons he had Ishmael and then he had Isaac so when God said take now your son your only son Isaac Abraham could have said pardon me God first of all your premise is all wrong I have two sons not one but the point is God didn't recognize the son of the flesh the work of the flesh he only recognized the son of promise Isaac but the wording is interesting take your only son it sounds a lot like John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son take now your son your only son whom you love the very first time the word is of love is used in the bible it's used there in Genesis chapter 22 and it's remarkable because the first time in the bible the word love is used it's used of a father sacrificing his only begotten son on a certain mountain the mountain of Moriah fast forward a few thousand years Jesus was crucified on Calvary Golgotha mount Moriah okay so Abraham goes probably he was down in Hebron he goes toward mount Moriah which would become Jerusalem eventually and he sees the mountain afar off it says on the third day Abraham looked up and saw the mountain that he was to sacrifice his son what does that mean it means that for three days Isaac was dead in the mind of Abraham take your son your only son and kill him and he said okay I'll do it so he's taking his son and he travels to Moriah for three days for three days his son was dead to him he knew that he was going to kill his son but Abraham had a little bit of a quandary didn't he because God promised him that through that son Isaac all of the promises of God would be fulfilled throughout history so if I kill him how is God going to fulfill the promise well the book of Hebrews answers that question it says Abraham by faith took his son Isaac to sacrifice him supposing that God could and would raise him from the dead so he's taking his son his son is dead to him and for three days he takes his son he's going to follow through he has the knife lifted up but by faith he believes I'm going to kill my son then God's going to resurrect him so he goes his son says dad we got the wood got the fire but where's the sacrifice listen to the answer of Abraham my son God will provide himself a sacrifice not provide for himself as a God will provide himself a sacrifice and then he says in the mountain of the Lord it shall be seen that was a prophecy a prediction in the mountain of the Lord mount Mariah gogeth the Calvary it was seen so once again back to first Corinthians 15 he was he died he was buried according to the scripture and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures plural so line of evidence number one the resurrection of Jesus Christ saved people in Corinth number two the prediction of the scripture evidence number three post resurrection appearances Jesus appeared to people after he had risen verse five and he was seen by Cephas that is Peter then by the 12 after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remained to the present but some have fallen asleep that's Skip heitig with a message from the series expound first Corinthians now here's Skip to tell you about how you can keep encouraging messages like this coming your way as you help connect others to God's truths the Bible tells us that every day draws us closer to the return of Jesus one day the Lord will return and that means our time to reach others with a gospel is urgent people need to hear the good news that changed your life and mine so today I'm asking for your help to reach more people around the world with these teachings from God's word here's how you can partner with this ministry to make that happen you can give online at connectwithskip.com slash donate that's connectwithskip.com slash donate or call 800 922 1888 800 922 1888 tune in tomorrow as Skip heitzig shares about the evidence Paul gave for Jesus resurrection explaining why you can trust in God's promises and power look at these post-resurrection appearances he was seen by Cephas remember Jesus thought that it was important that he had a special meeting with Peter after the resurrection Peter do you love me he asked him three times he was restoring the apostle who fell Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross, cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.