Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
1 Corinthians 15:12 But if it is preached that Christ has
been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not
even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our
preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found
to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised
Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not
raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised
either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are
still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are
lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people
most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
-- several
years ago, this couple was visiting the Holy Land with the wife's mother --
while they were over there, her mother got extremely sick -- and despite all
the doctor's best efforts, she eventually died
-- the
man's wife was understandably distraught, so the husband went to the funeral
home to see what could be done for his mother-in-law's body
-- the
funeral home director told him that it was very expensive to ship a body back
to the United States -- and that it would cost at least $5,000 -- but, if the
man wished, he could bury her in a special graveyard there in the Holy Land for
just $150
-- the man
thought about it for only a second and said, "No, I don't care how much it
costs -- we want her shipped home" -- the funeral home director said,
"You must have loved your mother-in-law very much, considering that you
would want to spend all that extra money to ship her home when you could just
have buried her here"
--
"No," the man said, "it's not that. You see, I know of a case many years ago when
you buried a dead man here in
-- now I
have a good relationship with Judie, so I can get away with telling jokes like
that -- but this little story does introduce us to the final clause in the
Nicene Creed, as we finish up our sermon series on the foundations of our faith
-- this
morning, we are going to be looking at the section of the Nicene Creed that
proclaims,
“We look for the
resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen”
-- so far
in this sermon series, we have looked at the foundational truths of who God the
Father is – of the incarnation of the Son and what it means for Him to be fully
man and fully God – why Jesus came to earth and the result of His death and
resurrection for all mankind
-- we discussed the role of the
Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians and in the world today – we discussed baptism
and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ – and this morning, we
close our series by looking at one of the most important foundational truths
that we have in the church -- the doctrine of the resurrection
-- our religion hinges on the
truth and promise of the resurrection and eternal life with Christ -- without
the resurrection, we have no religion -- without the resurrection, our faith is
in vain -- without the resurrection, we have no hope and we are wasting a
perfectly good Sunday morning because we are here for no reason at all
-- Gerald
O'Collins put it this way:
"Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity
without its final chapter. It is not
Christianity at all."
-- we sing in
our hymns that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and
righteousness, but it is the truth of the resurrection that proves Jesus’ claim
to be God and that proves His victory over sin and death forever
-- so, we stand on the
foundation of Jesus’ death – that He died on the cross at Calvary for our sins –
and we stand on the foundation of the resurrection – believing that God raised
Him from the dead three days later – and that, because of this, we will be
forgiven of our sins and be raised to life with Christ for all eternity
-- this is
a foundational truth that is not optional – it is not debatable – it must be
believed and trusted in – for you cannot be a Christian if you don't believe in
the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the body
-- so, this
morning, we’re going to close out our series on the foundations of our faith by
discussing the doctrine of the resurrection
II. Scripture
Lesson
-- as we begin
to consider the doctrine of the resurrection, let me share this fact about the
promise of the resurrection with you – the idea and the promise of the
resurrection did not originate with Jesus – it didn’t find its beginning in the
gospels – it wasn’t developed by the Apostles or the early Christians at a
later date
-- no, the promise of the
resurrection is first found in the Old Testament, and was believed by many Jews
through the time of Christ, with Orthodox Jews today still believing in the
promise of the Resurrection
-- the Pharisees, who we tend to
criticize so harshly in our readings of the Bible today, were believers in the
resurrection – they looked forward to the end of the age when their bodies
would be raised from the dead and they would live with God forever
– many Jews in Jesus’ day
believed in the resurrection, even before Jesus’ death and before He rose from
the dead -- Martha, Lazarus’ sister, made this same point when she told Jesus
that she believed her brother would rise in the resurrection at the last day
-- and many saints in the Old
Testament also put faith and hope in the resurrection -- in the Book of Job,
Job proclaims in Job 19:25-27, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the
end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my
flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not
another. How my heart yearns within me!”
-- In Isaiah 26:19-20, we read,
“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust,
awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give
birth to the dead.”
-- and in Daniel 12:2, it says,
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
-- so, make sure you understand
this – the promise and the doctrine of the resurrection are not something that
we find only in the New Testament with Jesus – God Himself gave the Jews the
promise of the resurrection when He established His covenant with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob – and even before that, the promise of the resurrection from
the dead was known and believed – we know this because Job knew of the promise
of the resurrection, even though he was likely a Gentile who lived at the same
time as Abraham
-- so,
let’s look now at the doctrine of the resurrection and the life of the world to
come – look back at 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 1-8
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to
remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you
have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to
the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he
appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same
time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he
appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to
me also, as to one abnormally born.
-- as I
said, the resurrection of Christ is the core of Christianity -- in fact, the
emphasis of the early church was not on the cross like ours is today, but on
the resurrection of Jesus
-- if you think about it, the
church today tends to emphasize the cross, in our preaching – our teaching –
our songs – and our symbology – we focus on the cross, for that is the place
where Christ died to atone for our sins – but that only gives part of the
picture, and doesn’t demonstrate the full scope of what Jesus did for us and
what our faith is built on
-- I had a coworker in the Air
Force who was granted a temporary security clearance that was higher than Top
Secret – I’m not sure the official name, but he called it “Keyhole Clearance” –
he said that he was given access to information and documents that were
classified above secret – above top secret – but he wasn’t given access to all
the information they included
-- instead, he was only given
access to part of it, so that he could analyze only that small part, while
others analyzed other parts of the same information – he said it was like
looking through a keyhole at a room and describing only what you could see from
that vantage point – but when his keyhole information was added to other’s
keyhole information, together they told the entire story
-- that’s what it’s like when we
focus solely on the cross and neglect the resurrection – we’re only emphasizing
that one part that we can easily see and we don’t see the whole picture – but
we need the full gospel of Christ – we need the Way and the Truth and the Life
– if we are to fully understand and praise God for what He has done for us
-- we cannot neglect the
resurrection or just distill it down to one day a year and just talk about it
on Easter Sunday – for the resurrection is the heart of the promise that Jesus
gave us and that His death on the cross pointed to
-- the
early Christians understood this – they lived with death – death on a cross was
not foreign to them – they saw it every day – but the resurrection was a
miracle – it was supernatural – it proved their faith and pointed to their
future
-- and so, if you read the
gospels and the epistles – if you read what the early church emphasized and
taught – you’ll see their focus was not on the cross, but the resurrection and
the eternal life they looked forward to
-- even when they respond to the
suffering and the persecution they faced, the message was always future-focused
– you can go through anything, because your hope is not in this world, but in
the life to come – that because of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, we look
forward to the time when we will be raised as He was, to eternal life with the
Father forever
-- so, the resurrection was the emphasis and
focus of the early church – and it was something that they could point to and
proclaim to others, "The resurrection happened -- we saw it with our own
eyes -- after Jesus died, He appeared to Peter and then to all twelve of the
apostles -- and then He appeared to over five hundred other believers at one
time -- He appeared to James, His brother -- and finally, He appeared to
Paul"
-- "if
you want to know if the resurrection was real, ask us -- ask any of them -- we
know that everything Jesus taught was true because He died and rose again --
and because Jesus died and rose again, we know that we will, too!"
-- this
emphasis on the resurrection doesn't negate the atoning death of Jesus on the
cross -- but that happened in another realm -- the atoning of our sins -- the
judgment that came against Jesus -- was in the spiritual realm -- no one
watching Jesus die on the cross that day could point to Him and say,
"Look, our sins are being taken away" -- it was only after the fact
that the Spirit revealed just what had occurred on the cross as Jesus offered
His body and blood as an atoning sacrifice for us -- the atonement of our sins
is a spiritual truth, not a physical truth
-- but the
resurrection was different -- it happened in our physical world -- and the
early Christians could point to it and say, "This proves Jesus was the
Messiah"
-- like I
mentioned earlier, the Pharisees also believed in the resurrection -- it was
one of the distinct differences that set them apart from the ruling Sadducees
-- but their view of the resurrection couldn't make room for Jesus returning
from the dead
-- kind of
like us, the Pharisees lived in the real world -- they believed in the
immortality of the soul -- that at some point in the future, there would be a
resurrection of the spirit and that all who died would be resurrected -- some
to eternal life and others to eternal punishment
-- they
taught that they would be given a new body at this time and that believers
would live with God forever -- but for the Pharisees, that was in the future --
that was something that would happen in the spiritual realm -- they never
envisioned someone in their day walking out of a burial tomb three days after
being crucified -- it was a matter of faith -- something that was talked about,
but couldn't be proven
-- but for
Peter and James and all the other disciples and apostles, the resurrection
ceased to be theory and became a fact -- their faith had been given sight
-- in other
words, they believed in the resurrection of the body because they had seen a
dead man raised -- they knew, without a doubt, that Jesus was dead -- they had
witnessed His crucifixion -- they had seen His body taken down from the cross
-- they knew He was as dead as dead could be
-- even though Jesus had tried
to tell them many times that He would be killed and would be raised from the
dead on the third day, they didn’t understand – so on the day when Jesus was
laid in the tomb, the thought that He might physically come back to life again
never even crossed their mind
-- but they
learned otherwise – with their very eyes, they saw Jesus alive – risen from the
dead -- not as a disembodied spirit --
but as a living, breathing person who spoke with them, ate with them, and let
them touch Him
-- as Peter
said in Acts 2:31, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all
witnesses of the fact. "
-- the
early Christians believed in the resurrection and taught the resurrection as
fact and emphasized the resurrection as part of their faith -- not because they
had been taught about it from a book – not because it was something they had
learned from the Rabbis or the scriptures -- but because they had witnessed it
with their very own eyes -- and that is why it became the most important part
of Christianity and the emphasis of their message to others
-- look at
verse 12-13
1 Corinthians 15:12 But if it is preached that Christ has
been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not
even Christ has been raised.
-- now, as always happens, false teachings
will begin to circulate in the church -- in this case, some people in the
church at Corinth had apparently begun to teach that there was no resurrection
of the dead -- a position similar to that of the Sadducees
-- this had the people concerned --
if this was true -- if there was no resurrection of the dead -- what did that
mean? – where did that leave them?
-- so, Paul addresses the false teaching about the resurrection here by
pointing out that the evidence of Jesus' death and resurrection are
proof that the dead will be resurrected at the last day -- he tells the Corinthians, “If we preach that Jesus was
raised from the dead -- if we are eyewitnesses of this fact -- how can you say
that there is no resurrection?
-- “If you
believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then you have to believe in the
resurrection of all of us -- because, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus
cannot have been raised, either -- nowhere in the Bible does it say that only
the Messiah will be raised from the dead -- it's all or none – and because
Jesus is the firstfruits, the rest of us can look forward to the promise of the
resurrection in our own lives, too”
-- in John
11, when Martha told Jesus that she knew her brother would rise again in the
resurrection at the last day, Jesus responded, "I am the resurrection and
the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever
lives and believes in me will never die."
-- don’t
miss that – “whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die” – with that
statement, Jesus is telling us that the resurrection is for all – and the point
that Paul is making here is that Jesus' resurrection is proof that His word
will come true and that all believers will be raised to eternal life with Him
-- now Paul
shifts his focus and addresses the question of why the resurrection is
important -- what does it matter? -- look
at verse 14-20
1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised,
our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then
found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he
raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are
not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised
either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are
still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are
lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people
most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
-- these
false teachers had been telling the Corinthians that there was no resurrection
– it wasn’t true – and Paul said, “If there is no resurrection, then that means
Jesus wasn’t resurrected, either” – and the implications of that are profound
-- he goes on in these verses to
point out that if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then we have no
chance at being raised from the dead, either -- and, so, he makes the argument
that if the resurrection didn't happen, then it doesn't matter what you believe,
for we have nothing to stand on
-- you can believe that Jesus was
the Son of God -- you can believe that He paid the penalty on the cross for you
-- you can trust Him for eternal life -- but if Jesus didn't rise from the dead
on the third day, then that’s as far as it goes – when you die, you die – and
your existence is ended – there is nothing beyond death
-- but if there is an eternity
beyond death, Paul says, you have to have the resurrection – because the
resurrection proves that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins and to
reconcile us with the Father – and if that didn’t happen – if the resurrection
didn’t take place, then we have not been saved – and we will awake after death
to condemnation
-- our whole faith hinges on the
proof of the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of our own bodily
resurrection at the end of the age
-- Do you
see why I said that the resurrection of Christ is the most important aspect of
Christianity? -- Do you see why the early Christians didn't just preach about
the cross but emphasized the fact that Jesus rose from the dead?
-- As Lee
Strobel wrote, "The resurrection is the supreme vindication of Jesus'
divine identity and his inspired teaching.
It's the proof of his triumph over sin and death. It's the foreshadowing of Christian
hope. It's the miracle of all
miracles."
--
The resurrection of Christ confirms His deity.
It proves that He bore the price of our sins on calvary. It proves that He has conquered satan and
death. It proves that there is an
eternal life after physical death. It
proves that believers will one day be physically resurrected as well.
III. The
Resurrected Body
-- there
were two false teachings about the resurrection that Paul was countering here
in the book of 1 Corinthians – the first was that there is no resurrection from
the dead – and Paul has countered that by proving that since Jesus was
resurrected, that proves that the promise of the resurrection is for us, as
well
-- the second false teaching had
to do with the form of the resurrection – how will we be resurrected? – what
does the resurrection look like?
-- many of
those who believed in the resurrection, including the Pharisees, did not
believe in a physical resurrection of the body – they believed the resurrection
was only a spiritual resurrection
-- this
belief continued in the early days of the church, and was taught by various
sects and cults – and it was in response to these teachings, that creeds like
the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed were formulated
-- one such group who was very
active in the early days of the church were the Gnostics -- this group believed
that the material world was inherently evil -- and that we were nothing more
than spirits trapped in a physical body
-- they
taught that the reason Jesus had come was to free us from our physical body by
making possible the resurrection of the spirit – doing away with the body for
eternity
-- they were steadfast in their
beliefs that Jesus did not have a physical body when He was on earth -- and, if
Jesus didn't have a physical body in the first place, then He was not
physically resurrected but only spiritually resurrected and just appeared to
have a physical body
-- so, what is the truth? – will
we experience a bodily resurrection, or will we only experience a spiritual
resurrection?
-- look
down at verse 42-44
1 Corinthians 15:42 So will it be with the resurrection
of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is
raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
-- Paul
makes it clear here in these verses -- our resurrection is not a spiritual
resurrection -- Jesus didn't die and be raised on the third day so that our
spirits could be released from our physical bodies – Jesus didn’t die to put
the physical to death -- Jesus died to heal us and make us whole again – He
died that we might be resurrected to new life -- and this new life includes a
new body
-- Paul
spends these verses comparing our old body with our new, resurrected body --
which he calls a 'spiritual' body
-- now
don't get confused with the term "spiritual" here -- Paul is clear
that we are not going to be bodiless spirits -- we are going to have a body --
he is using the term "spiritual" here to distinguish it from our
current, natural body
-- Paul
says that our natural body is perishable -- that it is weak -- that it is
corrupt and dishonored – that is the result of the fall – that is the result of
sin entering the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden –
our bodies were corrupted – our spirits were corrupted – we were filled with
this sin nature that allowed our fleshly desires to take hold
-- but Paul is pointing out here
the restoration and healing that will occur when we are resurrected – we will
be recreated as God originally intended us to be -- we will be given a new body
to house our new spirit that we received through Christ – and this new body
will be imperishable -- it will be filled with the power of God and it will be
perfected through the grace of God
-- our new
body will be similar to the resurrected body of Jesus -- in 1 John 3:2, John
wrote that "we shall be like Him"
-- contrary
to the teachings of the Gnostics, Jesus did not come back after death as a
spirit -- but He came back with a physical body -- a new, perfect and
imperishable body -- the disciples were able to touch Him and He was able to
eat, so it had substance – but it was different from our bodies today – it was
whole and healed and restored through the power of Christ
-- when we
are resurrected, the Bible tells us that we will be like Jesus -- we will not
be resurrected as spirits -- but we will have a new body and a new spirit – and
we will live with Him forever here on this earth
IV. Closing
-- let me
close by sharing with you a story about Gilbert Haven -- Gilbert Haven was a
Methodist Episcopalian Bishop -- he was known as an able writer, a zealous
reformer, an earnest preacher, and an indefatigable laborer -- He died on
Saturday morning, January 3, 1880, in Maiden, Massachusetts.
-- In his
last few hours of life, Bishop Haven's family allowed many of his friends to
see him one more time in this life -- Many were near at hand -- Others were
summoned by telegram and by messenger, until groups gathered around that couch,
touched with the light of immortal glory, to muse over the transition from
death unto life.
-- A
physician who was present said: "I never saw a person die so before."
-- A fellow clergyman remarked: "To me it did not seem that I was in the
presence of death. The whole atmosphere of the chamber was that of a joyous and
festive hour. Only the tears of kindred and friends were suggestive of death. I
felt that I was summoned to see a conquering hero crowned."
-- Bishop
Haven's last words were: "Oh, but it is so beautiful, so pleasant, so
delightful! I see no river of death. God lifts me up in His arms. There is no
darkness; it is all light and brightness. I am gliding away into God, floating
up into heaven." -- and, with a final breath he proclaimed: "I
believe in the resurrection of the body!"
-- when we
stand and say together, "I believe in the resurrection of the dead,"
we are proclaiming our belief in Jesus -- we are proclaiming that we trust in
Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- we are proclaiming that we believe that God
raised Him from the dead on the third day -- and we are proclaiming that we believe
that we will be physically raised from the dead and given a new body, just as
Jesus was raised from the dead
-- and so,
we end our sermon series on the foundations of our faith – and I would like to
close today by joining together to share holy communion as the body of Christ
here in this community of faith – and I would like us to recite again the
Nicene Creed, as the final proclamation of what we believe and what we stand on
as the people of God, saved by Christ for eternal life with Him
-- so,
please turn in your hymnals to page 880 or read along on the handout I gave
you, and let’s recite the creed together, and then we’ll share holy communion
following our last hymn
The Nicene
Creed
We believe in one
God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one
Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the
Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic* and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
-- let us
pray
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