1 Corinthians 15:1-3 ~ 20150322 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
03/22 1 Corinthians 15:1-3 The Gospel of the Cross; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20150322_1cor15_1-3.mp3
1 Γνωρίζω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ παρελάβετε, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἑστήκατε, 2 δι’ οὗ καὶ σῴζεσθε, τίνι λόγῳ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, εἰ κατέχετε, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ εἰκῇ ἐπιστεύσατε. 3 Παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον, ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, 4 καὶ ὅτι ἐτάφη, καὶ ὅτι ἐγήγερται τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, 5 καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς δώδεκα· 6 ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ, ἐξ ὧν οἱ πλείονες μένουσιν ἕως ἄρτι, τινὲς δὲ ἐκοιμήθησαν· 7 ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ, εἶτα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν· 8 ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι ὤφθη κἀμοί.
1 Corinthians 15 [ESV2011]
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
We are in the final major section of 1 Corinthians. Chapter 15 deals with probably the most crucial theological issue the church in Corinth faced. And thank God, because we have in this chapter a treasury of teaching on the resurrection. What he teaches here, as he says in verse 3, is of first importance. Paul has truly saved the best 'till last. This is essential. This is of first importance.
Making the Gospel Known
Paul is going to make something known to them. We have it translated 'I would remind you', because we find in the rest of verse 1 that they had already heard it, they received it, and they were standing in it. So it is a reminder, but literally Paul says 'now I make known to you, brothers', as if they didn't really know it, hadn't ever heard it, didn't really understand it. In the first chapters of this letter, we see that the Corinthians prided themselves on what they knew. They were proud of their wisdom. Paul has asked them 10 times in the course of this letter 'do you not know?' a question that assumes that there are basic fundamental things that they ought to know, that by their actions they are demonstrating that they are acting out of sync with, demonstrating that they do not know them. Here he is going to make something known to them that they ought to know. He is going to tell them something that he assumes that they do know, at least on a level. But sometimes when we think we know something, we do not yet know as we ought to know. So to those of us who think we know this already, I would invite us to listen afresh to what Paul wants to make known to us. Maybe we do not yet know as we ought to know. He is going to make known the gospel.
He asked toward the end of the previous chapter
1 Corinthians 14:36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
They were acting as if the word of God, the gospel came from them and was for only them, as if they were entitled to re-define the gospel any way they like. But the gospel did not originate with them. The gospel does not terminate on them. The gospel is not all about you. The gospel is so much bigger than you. Everything he has said on every issue he has addressed is rooted in and grows out of a proper understanding of the gospel. The gospel literally changes everything. So Paul, here at the close of this letter, is going to preach the gospel to the church. He is going to make known to the believers the good news.
He prefaces his proclamation of the gospel message with their history with the gospel.
Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.
The gospel (or evangel) is good news. It is a good message. A joyous proclamation. A positive pronouncement. This gospel is the good news that he preached to the Corinthians. We have record of this in Acts chapter 18. He is making know to them the evangel with which he evangelized them. (We will look at the content of this evangel or gospel in a few minutes). This gospel message they received. They not only heard the message, they identified with it, they took it in. They received it to themselves.
But this is not a message that once heard, can be merely tucked away in the memory banks like a good joke. 'Have you heard the one about Sven and Ollie and the outhouse? No, I don't think I have, tell it to me. Well it goes like this... Oh yes, I have heard that one. How does the punch line go again?' The gospel is not like that. The gospel is a message to be received, and it is a message to stand on like a building stands on its foundation. This is a message that is foundational, that I build my life on, that defines everything I am and do. Everything I think and feel and do is shaped by this message. The fact that I am standing and have not fallen is due entirely to this message.
This is a message they were being saved by. The word 'saved' means to be rescued, to be delivered, to be healed, to be made whole. This message is in the process of fixing what is broke in me. Are you being saved by the gospel? Today? Is it penetrating your deepest hurts, fixing what is wrong with you? Healing what is broke in you? The gospel is a message that transforms. How is the gospel saving you today?
Warning
There is an 'if'. And the 'if' is there as a warning to us. There is an 'if' and an 'unless'. You received the gospel, are standing in the gospel, being transformed by the gospel, if you hold fast to the word. Not being transformed, not standing fast in the gospel, is evidence of believing in vain, a worthless, empty kind of believing that gains nothing. Jesus warned repeatedly of this danger in his parables. He told of different soils that the word of God penetrated. Along the path the gospel did not penetrate at all, and the evil one snatched it away. On rocky ground it seemed to spring up quickly, but when persecution came that one quickly fell away. Among the thorns it seemed to take root, but was choked out by the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. Good soil hears and understands, endures affliction, is not choked out by other desires, and bears much fruit (Matthew 13). Jesus warned that immediately after sowing good seed in the field, an enemy sowed weeds in the field, and they will grow up together. In the end by their fruits they shall be known. There is a real possibility that among those who claim to believe the gospel, among those who claim to follow Jesus, there are some, maybe many, who are trusting in a false gospel, who are not holding fast to the true gospel, who are standing in and being transformed by the gospel, and it will be empty and worthless. It will get them nothing. In Jesus' parables:
Matthew 13:49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
But Paul believes better about his readers. He calls them brothers. And he is eager to make sure by preaching the gospel to them again.
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
This is the gospel message. It consists of two main points. Christ died and he was raised from the dead. And the two sub-points confirm the two main points. He was buried -demonstrating that he was really and truly dead; and he appeared – demonstrating that he was really and truly raised from the dead. We will focus on the first point this morning.
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared...
Notice, the 'that'ness of the gospel. It is a message entrusted to be passed on, and it is a message of facts. That Christ died, that he was buried, that he was raised, that he appeared. The gospel is an historical factual message rooted in real events that really happened.
This, remember, is a message of first importance. This is the number one thing. The way Paul says this 'I delivered to you what I also received' is a formal way of saying that he had been entrusted with a message that he was responsible to pass on faithfully. He used this same wording back in chapter 11 referring to the Lord's supper.
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
This, by the way, is the theological reason we choose to remember the Lord's supper every week. The gospel, the message of the Lord's death and resurrection, is a message we must cling to, stand in, and be transformed by. It is a message we must always keep in focus and never lose sight of. Communion is the way Jesus commands us to 'proclaim' to ourselves, to each other, and to the world 'the Lord's death until he comes'. Like the Lord's supper, the gospel is something with which the apostle was entrusted and he faithfully entrusts it to us.
What is the message of the good news that we are to stand in?
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried,
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That is the essence of the gospel. This contains the identity of Jesus. He was the Christ, the Messiah, the promised, anointed one, the divine King who would sit forever on David's throne. It contains the historical fact. Christ died. He was crucified by the Romans outside of Jerusalem. It contains the theological reason 'for our sins'. And it contains the fulfillment of scriptural anticipation. It was 'according to the Scriptures'.
If we look back at the beginning of this letter, Paul began by emphasizing the gospel message. He says in
1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The gospel message is the word of the cross, the cross of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The gospel Paul preached is Christ the power and wisdom of God; Christ crucified. He says in chapter 2
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The gospel, the cross of Christ, the word of the cross, Christ crucified, Jesus Christ and him crucified. Here at the end of the letter, Paul says it is of first importance that Christ died for our sins. Like bookends, he begins and ends with the message of the cross. Christ died for our sins. The reason the divine Messiah King who will rule and reign forever, whose kingdom will never end, the reason he died, was 'for our sins'. He did not die for his own sins; he was perfect. He did not die because things didn't go his way; he was in absolute control. His death was no accident, it was for something. He died on my behalf. He died as a substitute. He died to satisfy the demands of sovereign justice against all my offenses. Christ died for our sins. I am standing in the gospel and being saved by the gospel because the cross of Christ continues to point out my issues and my brokenness and my self-centeredness and my need.
In Accordance With The Scriptures
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
What Scriptures? All of them! Jesus said:
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
Jesus said in:
Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
Matthew 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” ...56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Luke 22:37 For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”
Before going up to Jerusalem,
Luke 18:31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
After his resurrection, Jesus met two of his disciples on the road:
Luke 24:25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Then to all his disciples:
Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
We could go back to the writings of Moses where God promises at the very beginning after man disobeyed that the seed of the woman would be crushed by the serpent, but would ultimately crush the serpent's head. We see Abraham sacrifice his only son, the one all the promises are to come through. We see the deliverance of God's people from slavery by the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. We see all the sacrifices and the high priest entering the holy place with blood to satisfy God's wrath. We feel the need for the perfect prophet, priest and king. We cry out with Job for a mediator and with Ruth for a kinsman redeemer. We see disobedient Israel who will go into exile, but one day will be restored as an obedient son.
We could point to specific passages like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 50-53 which graphically portray the crucifixion hundreds of years prior to the event:
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
...6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
...14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
Isaiah 52:14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus is the one who bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, who was smitten by God, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastised to bring us peace, wounded to bring us healing; the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, he was cut off and stricken for the transgression of my people, crushed by the Lord to make an offering for guilt, his anguish satisfies God's wrath, he bears our iniquities and we are counted righteous in him, he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for me.
The good news is the word of the cross, the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified, 'that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures'. We must hear and believe this and receive this as good news, cling to it alone as our only hope, stand firm in it, hold fast to it, be transformed by it, allow it to define us, to expose our brokenness and need, to bring healing and rescue and wholeness.
Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared...
Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org