The Most Important Message

1 Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. 2 You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing. 3 I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, 4 he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures. 5 He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, 6 and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time. 9 I’m the least important of the apostles. I don’t deserve to be called an apostle, because I harassed God’s church. 10 I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. In fact, I have worked harder than all the others—that is, it wasn’t me but the grace of God that is with me. 11 So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed.

The Most Important Message.

Every day I receive a lot of messages. They may be phone messages. People call and leave me a message to call. It might be from one of my patients, or a probation officer, or a CYS caseworker. They always are looking for information or giving me information.

I get lots of email messages throughout the day. Many I just delete because they don’t apply to me or they are not important. Some require a response.

I get a few text messages throughout the day. If they are from Darlene, I know that I had better answer them as soon as possible.

Some messages are important. Our scripture this morning is about the greatest message that was ever given to us.

This scripture passage is concerning the central tenant of what we believe and that is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Without the resurrection there would be no church, no Christianity. Do you realize that the very reason that we worship on a Sunday morning is because was raised from the dead on Sunday morning? That is why it is called the Lord’s Day.

This entire chapter of 1st Corinthians Paul is writing about the resurrection. In the first 11 verses Paul lays the ground work for our belief in the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. This is at the very core of what we believe because if Jesus hadn’t been raised from the dead our belief would be in vain. If Jesus hadn’t been raised from the dead, he would be no more than just another religious person who was killed while claiming to be God.

Paul starts this passage why telling the Corinthians in verses 1 and 2:

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 CEB

It is important that we get reminded from time to time of the important things in life. We follow the Christian calendar so that annually we are reminded of the important events in the life of Jesus. Advent reminds us to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Christmas reminds us that God came to us in the person of Jesus. Jesus moved into the neighborhood. Epiphany is that time that Jesus was shown to the world when the Magi came to worship him. Lent reminds us that apart for God we are hopelessly lost. Easter is the celebration that Jesus died and was raised from the dead because of our sin. Pentecost reminds us that God knew that we couldn’t live the Christian life on our own we needed His power. In the Ordinary Days we are challenged to live our Christian faith daily.

Paul says to the Corinthians “I want to call your attention to the good news.” The Gospel, the good news that Jesus lived, died, was resurrected, ascended to the Father and will one-day return. Paul wants to remind them of that good news!

It is important to be reminded where we came from to where we are today. I think about my grandparents or great aunts who would tell me the stories of our family. It was important for them to remind me of my ancestors. It is important to pass those stories on to the next generation. I feel bad for people who never heard the stories of their family.

Paul is telling the story and reminding the Corinthians of how they came to believe in Jesus, and it was through the message of the Gospel that was preached to them.

Paul, it appears, is concerned with whether the Corinthians indeed are truly believers in Jesus. He writes in verse 2:

1 Corinthians 15:2 CEB

2 You are being saved through it if you hold on to the message I preached to you, unless somehow you believed it for nothing.

There are people, friends and relatives of mine who I am very much afraid for when it comes to their eternal destiny. They talk about loving God, they say Christian things, they do good deeds yet they live as if Jesus hadn’t done anything in their lives. Paul wrote about holding firmly to the word that he had preached to the Corinthians. That is the challenge for each of us every day, to hold firm to the Gospel. You see when we begin to pick and choose what we are going to believe about Jesus then our belief in Him is really in vain.

When we talk about the Gospel, about what Jesus death and resurrection, we are talking about facts. When Paul was writing to the Corinthians he could think of men and women who were witnesses to the fact that Jesus had really died on the cross and that he was buried and that he had really risen from the dead. He could point those people out and they could testify to what they had seen. It wasn’t some abstract thought to him, but it was a belief founded in facts.

We are confronted with so many options today when it comes to belief in God. If you don’t like what this church is preaching, you can go down the road and find one that pleases you. It doesn’t take much to find someone who preaches what you want to hear. The question however that we need to ask is are they preaching the Gospel. The other question we need to ask is “Am I holding firmly to the gospel?”

When Peter and John were hauled before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, Peter said to them:

Acts 4:12 CEB

12 Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved.”

There is no other way to God except by Jesus. Salvation comes only through Jesus. If our faith is not founded in Jesus life, death and resurrection then we believe in vain. We are just wasting our time because no matter how sincere we might be in our beliefs then we are missing it.

The truth is that about 2,000 years ago God came to us in a baby born to Mary who they named Jesus, Emanuel, God with us. When he was about 33 years old he was arrested, put on trial, found guilty and sentenced to death. He was crucified on a cross, buried and then on the third day he arose from the dead. Those are the facts in a nutshell.

One writer said:

These facts are inevitably linked together: if you take anything away, you have no gospel. A cross without a resurrection is no gospel. These things: He died, He was buried, He rose again, constitute the basic elements of our Christian faith. Twelve simple men, most of them fishermen, could never have turned the world upside down unless all these facts were true.[1]

Why did God do that? Why did God come to us? In Romans we read:

Romans 3:23 CEB

23 All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory,

Every one of us has sinned, we all fall short of the glory of God. There wasn’t anything that we could do about it so God came to us. We all know that verse, you’ve heard time and time again. But, have you ever read it in the context of what Paul wrote? Listen to what Paul was saying:

Romans 3:22–26 CEB

22 God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. 23 All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, 24 but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus. 25 Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness in passing over sins that happened before, 26 during the time of God’s patient tolerance. He also did this to demonstrate that he is righteous in the present time, and to treat the one who has faith in Jesus as righteous.

Paul doesn’t just tell us that we have all sinned. If we only look at that one verse, we might be tempted to think what’s the point! We’re all sinners, there is nothing I can do about it. I might as well just live my life the way I want to live. Paul doesn’t leave that option open to us because he writes

Romans 3:24–25 (CEB)

24 but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus.

25 Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood.

God came to us, Jesus was the sacrifice, the only sacrifice that could take care of that sin problem. Through his shed blood we can be justified. Justified is a fancy way of saying that we are restored into a right relationship with God, just as if I’d never sinned. That justification comes through faith in Jesus who lived and died and rose again, for you, for me!

This is the greatest news that has ever been delivered. Look there at verse 3 and see the urgency that Paul has.

1 Corinthians 15:3 (CEB)

3 I passed on to you as most important what I also received

The Message paraphrase really conveys the urgency:

1 Corinthians 15:3 (The Message)

3 The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me

What was the message of urgency? Look at what Paul writes there in later part of verse 3 and on into verse 4

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (CEB)

3 Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures,

4 he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures.

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures Paul writes. The great prophet Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 53:5–6 CEB

5 He was pierced because of our rebellions and crushed because of our crimes. He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his wounds we are healed. 6 Like sheep we had all wandered away, each going its own way, but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.

The sins of the entire world were laid on Jesus when he died on the cross.

In that tremendous moment when Jesus cried with a shout of victory, “It is finished!” the hand of God stretched forth from heaven and took hold of the veil of the Temple and ripped it from the top to the bottom. No human hand could have done that: the veil, which kept humanity back from the glory of the presence of God, was torn aside. [2]

In that moment the way was made for use to be reconciled to God because of Jesus. The way has been opened. What Jesus has opened for us can be shut by no power. The Gospel is for all people, everywhere. It is a free gift that we are invited to receive. It is free yet it cost Jesus his life, yet he arose from the dead.

Paul stating the facts wrote beginning there in the later part of verse 3:

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (CEB)

3Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures,

4 he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures.

5 He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve,

6 and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once—most of them are still alive to this day, though some have died.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

8 and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time.

For Paul those are the facts. That is the gospel. When someone is accused of a crime and the case goes to trial. The jury that is hearing the case is supposed to make a decision on guilt or innocence based on the facts that are presented during the trial. They don’t make a decision based on feelings but on the facts.

The disciples did not expect the Resurrection to take place. The things that Christ said to them about it beforehand somehow did not register. At first they saw nothing but crushing defeat in the Cross. They were confused, fearful, disorganized, and whipped.

Then we read that when reports that Jesus had risen first came to them, they did not believe the news. Though Christ had said that He would rise again, they somehow missed His point and did not expect it to happen. It wasn’t just Thomas but all of the disciples who had to be convinced by Christ’s personal presence in their lives. These are not gullible witnesses who are testifying to what they had hoped would happen. Rather, they had to be convinced by the hard evidence.[3]

Paul here is concerned not only about the facts that he has laid out for the Corinthians but he is really concerned about how the Corinthian church has responded to the facts, how have the responded to the message of the gospel.

That is a great concern today for us as well. How have we responded to the message of the gospel? The facts are just that, the facts. How have we responded to them? What has happened to our lives since we have heard the gospel? Has it had any impact in how we live our lives.

The gospel, the good news of Jesus is transformative in its very nature. Before coming to faith in Jesus we were sinners, enemies of God. When we receive those facts and put our faith in Jesus we are born again, born into the family of God. The work of transformation by the Holy Spirit is begun in our lives to change us from what we were to how God intended us to be when He first created man in His own image.

There are three implications of the Gospel that we can take hold of this morning. The first is that Paul recognized his own sinfulness. Paul wrote there in verse 8 “I Corinthians 15:8 “8 and last of all he appeared to me, as if I were born at the wrong time.” The truth that Paul was confronted with was his own sinfulness. In his letter to the Philippians he wrote:

Philippians 3:4–7 CEB

4 though I have good reason to have this kind of confidence. If anyone else has reason to put their confidence in physical advantages, I have even more: 5 I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews. With respect to observing the Law, I’m a Pharisee. 6 With respect to devotion to the faith, I harassed the church. With respect to righteousness under the Law, I’m blameless. 7 These things were my assets, but I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ.

Paul is not writing about his immorality or impurity; he is writing about his arrogant proud heart. Pride, selfishness is at the very heart of sin. When Paul meet Jesus he was confronted with the fact that he was a selfish arrogant and proud man and for him that is the core of sinfulness.

Unless this implication has really reached you, you are not a Christian, no matter what you say you believe. It is the crossing out of the capital “I,” when you begin to recognize that sin is primarily not immorality or impurity. Of course, that is the fruit of it, but the basis of it all is the wretched, arrogant independence of your own selfishness.[4]

The second implication of the gospel is a revolution of character. Paul continued in Philippians to write:

Philippians 3:8–11 CEB

8 But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ 9 and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith. 10 The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death 11 so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead.

Something happened in the life of Paul that revolutionized him. He was transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why he could write in his letter to the Romans “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That is our goal in life as a Christian, to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

Is that you chief concern in life? Is it your desire to be transformed into the image of Christ?

The third implication of the gospel in Paul’s life was a redirection of his energies. Before he came to faith in Jesus he was busy confronting the church and persecuting it. No that he has been confronted by the facts of the gospel, his life had been totally transformed and his energies have been redirected. He wrote there in verses 13 and 14 of Philippians 3:13-14

Philippians 3:13–14 CEB

13 Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. 14 The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.

Has the gospel of Jesus so gotten a hold of you that it is no longer a theory but it is a reality? I can tell you with absolute certainty that if the recognition of sin in your life has not brought you onto your face before Jesus then you are not saved! If there hasn’t come a moment in your life where the Holy Spirit has shown that sin is not only being immoral or impure but that it is self, selfishness in all its ugliness then you don’t know anything of salvation.

If you have come face to face with the reality of what sin truly is has there been a transformation of your life? Has the Holy Spirit begun the work of transforming you into the likeness of Christ? Where is your time and energy directed towards since that encounter? If it is not directed towards God then have you believed in vain?

My prayer for each of us this morning is that we will not just believe in theory but that we will know Jesus who was crucified and is risen from the dead and that we have experienced the power of the resurrection in our own lives as the Holy Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Christ. If that is not true for you today, why not respond to His calling on you today!

[1]Redpath, Alan. The Royal Route to Heaven: Studies in First Corinthians. Westwood, N.J.: Revell, 1960. Print. [2]Ibid [3] Chafin, K. L., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1985). 1, 2 Corinthians(Vol. 30, pp. 177–178). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc. [4]Ibid

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