Castlebar Christian Fellowship

1 Corinthians 15:12-22

IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED

INTRO - OPTIONS FOR WHEN YOU DIE
In the world today there are a number of views on what happens to a person after death. Some believe in soul sleep, in which the body dies and disintegrates, while the soul or spirit goes into a state of rest. Others believe in extinction, that when you die that's it, the lights go out and that's it all over. Others believe in reincarnation, where the soul or spirit is continually recycled from one form to another - from human to animal or animal to human. Others believe that when a person dies the spirit, or a part of the spirit, returns back to its source, and is absorbed back into an ultimate divine mind or being. If you were to go to the mind, soul and body sections in bookshops, which in most bookstores has replaced the religion section you will find a mixture these views.
But when you think about each of those views I have mentioned and take them to their logical conclusion. You find that, in them, personhood and individuality are lost forever... For example if you believe in reincarnation then when you die you become something else, so who you are now is lost forever. Or if you believe your spirit is absorbed into an ultimate reality or a divine being of some kind then your personhood is lost as it is absorbed into that ultimate reality and you become a wave in the ocean in some other realm or something... So if you were to adopt any of these views I've mentioned then you would have to come to the conclusion that the people around you this morning, your family, your friends, the people you love will no longer be the people you know after life on earth is over, their personhood will be lost forever. There will be no hope of seeing them again beyond this life, which is a depressing thought and offers little comfort in times of loss...
But thankfully this morning there is another option, the bible offers us another option, a hope filled option! And as Christians we know this option to be the truth that exposes these other ideas as false. And, in this biblical option we must put our hope, because instead of personhood being lost, as Christians, we believe that when we die we will be raised again and perfected and transformed to be all God intended us to be! When that happens we'll be completely set free from all the confines and influences and frustrations and sicknesses and failures and imperfections put on us by a world infected with sin! But you will still have your personhood, you will still have your identity, you will still be you, the liberated you, the totally rescued you, the addiction free you, the happiest and most satisfied you, the sin free you, the totally perfected you, the complete you, the Christ like you. That is the hope filled reality we can begin to experience in part now through Jesus. And this is the hope filled reality we will experience in full in the future because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This hope filled reality is called - RESURRECTION! We believe in the resurrection of the dead! Because Christ was raised from the dead we also will be raised!
This section opens with these words; "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised."
Paul is correcting an error in the minds of some of these Corinthian Christians. They had been confused by some false teaching they had heard on the resurrection of the dead. Most likely they did believe that Jesus had been raised, but for some reason they didn't believe they were going to be raised, they didn't believe in their own resurrection. They couldn't see the connection between Christ's resurrection and their own resurrection. They didn't believe it was possible for themselves to be raised after death. So he corrects their thinking with the reasoning; "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised." In other words if you don't believe it is possible for yourself to be raised then you have to conclude that neither was Christ raised. However if Christ has been raised then you have to conclude that yes resurrection is possible therefore you also will be raised... The two go together, you can't have one without the other and if you deny one you deny the other. Then he goes on and asks the question, if you do not believe in the possibility of resurrection then what on earth are you doing putting your hope in Christ, in his claims and in the teaching of his appointed apostles? Because listen this is how it is:
[V14-19esv] "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied."

1. If Christ has not been raised our preaching and faith is in vain!
If Christ has not been raised then everything we say and do as Christians is in vain! If Christ has not been raised then all we teach, all we hope in, all we're building our lives upon, all our efforts to extend God's Kingdom on earth are in vain, it's all pointless and needless... Why? Because without the resurrection, Jesus could not have conquered sin and death and hell! Without the resurrection the gospel - the good news - would be bad news, there would be nothing worth preaching. Without the resurrection the gospel would be an empty hopeless message of meaningless sentimental nonsense. Without our Lord Jesus rising from the dead and conquering sin and death to make a way for us to follow in that victory there is no gospel to proclaim. Therefore if Christ has not been raised then our preaching and faith our in vain...
2. If Christ has not been raised we are misrepresenting God!
If Christ has not been raised, then every person who ever claimed to have witnessed the risen Jesus and every person who has preached the risen Christ is either a liar or deluded. And deluded people delude other people. Either way they are misrepresenting God. In fact if Christ has not been raised the apostles who wrote the NT are nothing but liars and strangely most of them chose to die for the lie rather than recanting it. So if Christ has not been raised then we may as well throw away our bibles or at least the NT because it cannot be trusted. Also if Christ has not been raised then we continue to misrepresent God by teaching from the NT and by calling others to trust in Jesus as their risen Saviour. If Christ has not been raised then the Christian Church has to be defined as evil, because it is misrepresenting God and holding out false hope and false teaching to the world by encouraging people to live, and in the case of some to die, for a lie! Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus.
3. If Christ has not been raised we are still in our sins!
If Christ has not been raised we are still in our sins separated from God without hope of forgiveness or restoration to God. If Christ has not been raised we have no advocate, no mediator, no intercessor, no one to represent us before a holy, righteous and just God, we have no one to rescue us from sin, death and hell! There is no good news if Christ has not been raised!
4. If Christ has not been raised then Christians who have passed away have perished!
If Christ has not been raised all those who have died as Christians have perished. All those who have built their lives on the assurance that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is enough to restore's them to God and prepares them for death have perished. They are no better off than anyone else. All those who have given their lives to serve God faithfully with the hope of eternal reward have perished! All those who have been persecuted and killed for their faith in a risen saviour - they have all perished. All the believing, all the sacrificing, all the effort, all the suffering was unneeded, misdirected and pointless if Christ has not been raised! Every saint, all the big names of Christianity have perished without God and without hope! Their faith would have been in vain, their sins would be unforgiven and their destiny would be damnation if Christ has not been raised.
5. If Christ has not been raised we are of all people most to be pitied!
If Christ has not been raised then we are the most misguided people in the world and should be pitied more than anyone! Without the resurrection and the salvation and blessings that flow from it, Christianity is pointless. Without the resurrection we have no saviour, no forgiveness, no gospel, no meaningful faith, no eternal life, no hope of any of these things. If Jesus is dead, then he cannot give us eternal life, he cannot help us in our lives now, he cannot transform us, he cannot give us peace in hardship, or joy and satisfaction and he cannot save us from our sins. If Christ has not been raised then we are the most deluded people on planet earth because our whole lives are centered on one big fat lie. As Christians we claim to have no saviour but Christ, no redeemer but Christ, no rescuer but Christ, no mediator but Christ, no atoning sacrifice for sin but Christ, no advocate but Christ, no way back to God but Christ, no Lord but Christ. Therefore if he was never raised, if he is dead then so are all of our hopes and so is our faith, and our Christian lives are pointless, and we are the biggest joke in the world...
6. If Christ has not been raised there is no point in celebrating Christmas!
Christmas is the time when we celebrate the Incarnation - God becoming a man in the form of Jesus Christ in order to identify with us and save us from our sins. Today and over the next week we are going to be celebrating the birth of the saviour of the world. We're going to be singing carols like Hark the herald angels sing. Listen to verse 3 "Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace, Hail the Sun of Righteousness. Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. Mild, he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth born to give them second birth." But listen if Christ has not been raised then the message of Christmas, the message of God coming down to earth to save us from our sins is hopeless. It is nothing but a nice sentimental story about little Jesus meek and mild lying in a manger. If Jesus was not raised from the dead then he was not the new born king, he was not the Incarnate Deity, he was not the everlasting Lord, he is not our Emmanuel and he will not raise the sons of earth because he was not even raised himself!
The Christmas message stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We do not come to worship a baby in a manger. We come to worship the Risen Saviour, we sing Carols about and to a risen saviour who is the second person of the Holy Trinity, who humbled himself by coming into this world through the miracle of the Virgin Birth, and grew up to live the perfect life so that he could become the perfect sacrifice to atone for sin when he was crucified on the cross. If things had have ended there we would still be in our sins, and Christianity would be pointless. But we don't believe it did end there, do we? We believe that just like his earthly existence began with a miracle of life in the Virgin Birth it ended with an even greater and even more significant miracle of life in the resurrection. Everything in our Christian faith hangs on whether or not Jesus Christ was raised from the dead!
If Christ has not been raised then he is not an overcoming saviour, we have no evidence he was God, we have no hope of being raised, the gospel is a lie, many Christians are being persecuted and killed for a false faith, we are wasting our lives, our preaching and faith is in vain, we are misrepresenting God by leading others to put their confidence in nonsense and we are all still in our sins...
So there's no point in celebrating Christmas! We may as well forget about the Carol Service tonight, go home and take down our Christmas trees and put away our nativity sets… - You can still open your presents that might cheer you up a little bit - We may as well stop singing songs about a risen savior… We may as well close down the church and forget about everything we've ever learnt from the NT because if Christ has not been raised we have been wasting our time and wasting our lives…
[V20a.esv] "BUT IN FACT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD..."
Paul doesn't say "but maybe Christ has been raised" he doesn't say "but I'm 99% sure Christ was raised, no he says "BUT IN FACT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED". Paul was 110% convinced that Christ had been raised from the dead because he had encountered the risen Jesus and his whole life had been turned upside down and transformed. Paul was a hater of Christians before he encountered the risen Jesus, he killed them and he tortured them, because as a devout religious Jew he viewed them as heretics, as blasphemers! So for Paul to change his mind about them and about so many other things, for Paul to walk away from the religious tradition he was steeped in it had to take something pretty convincing for him to change his mind to the point that he turned from Christian killer to Christian pastor, right? The explanation is the Risen Jesus himself appeared to him on the road to Damascus and floored him and told him he was wrong and needed to change and by the grace of God he did! This is the man who is telling us "BUT IN FACT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD..." A man who was willing to turn his back on his religious tradition, a man that was willing to lay aside his privileges, a man who was willing to be imprisoned, and beaten and often near death, a man who was willing receive the 39 lashes and stonings for his belief in Christ. A man who was willing to endure hardship, danger, sleepless nights, starvation and exposure to the elements, and on top of all that the pressure of his ministry! Then he went on and paid the ultimate price when he was murdered for his faith in Jesus! This is the man who is telling us "BUT IN FACT CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD..."
[V20-23esv] "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."
What does he mean by firstfruits? Well before the Israelites harvested their crops they were expected to bring a representative sample, called the firstfruits to the priests as an offering to the Lord. The full harvest could not be made until after the first fruits had been presented. Also the nature and quality of the crops indicated the nature and quality of the rest of the crop. Christ's resurrection therefore was the firstfruits of a harvest of resurrections still to come. In his death and resurrection Jesus made an offering of himself to God the Father as the firstfruits!
The analogy of Christ as the firstfruits also indicates something else, it indicates that the harvest of the rest of the crop is to follow. In other words Christ's resurrection has secured our resurrection. His resurrection is the first fruits of the resurrection harvest to come! Because Christ has been raised we also will be raised never to die again when he returns to set up his everlasting kingdom!
Paul then goes on to explain how Christ's resurrection reverses the consequences of the fall of mankind. The bible teaches us that Adam's sin infected the whole human race, so that ever since every human being has been 'born in sin' with a sinful human nature which shows itself in act's of rebellion against God. The bible also tells us that the wages of sin is death - death is the consequence of sin. However because Christ paid the consequences of sin on the cross and rose victorious over death things can be reversed. Through one man sin came into this world like a contagious and deadly disease that infected all of us, but in the death, burial and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ we have the cure. "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." Adam is the representative of all who die and Jesus is the representative of all who will be raised to eternal life. Those who are identified with Adam - every person who has ever been born - is subject to death because of Adams sinful act. Likewise, those who are identified with Jesus - every person who has experienced New Life and believed in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus - is subject to resurrection to eternal life because of Christ's righteous act! In Adam all die, but in Jesus all who belong to him are raised to eternal life! "Christ is the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."
So the question is who is representing you today Adam or Jesus? If your representative is still Adam then you are still in your sins, unforgiven and separated from God, and if you die in that state you will spend eternity without God in hell - the place of eternal death and separation for those who don't repent and believe. But today you can change your representative by admitting you're a sinner just like the rest of us... and by putting your trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus! Today you can enter the hope filled reality of true faith in Jesus and lay hold of him as your representative. If you are already trusting in Christ's death, burial and resurrection then you already have Jesus as your representative and you are forgiven and restored to God so death for you means resurrection and eternal life with God in heaven forever.
CALL TO ACTION
What difference does believing this make in our lives here and now? Let me read this to you. (The Case for Christ, from bottom of page 325-327)
If there's a resurrection there's a reason for hope! Hope of forgiveness, hope of restoration to God, hope of freedom from sin and sickness and addiction, hope of rescue, hope of better days to come when all our desires will be satisfied, hope of being changed, hope when life hurts most, hope of others changing, hope that suffering will end, hope beyond the grave, hope that our lives aren't meaningless, hope of perfection, hope that all the evil in this world will be dealt with...
Because Christ has been raised from the dead he is the overcoming saviour, we have evidence that he was God, we have hope of being raised, we can put our full confidence in the gospel, all the suffering we go through in this life will be worth it, we are not wasting our lives, our preaching and faith is not vain, we are not misrepresenting God but calling others to a hope filled reality and we are forgiven and restored to God... and others can be too!
So theirs is a point in celebrating Christmas by singing about the wonder of the Incarnation, because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and our hope is in him who has conquered the grave!