June 9, 2024
Corinthians 15:12-19
“Resurrection: Faith’s Foundation”
Service Overview: In this text, Paul addresses doubts about the resurrection. He argues that if Christ has not been raised, then their faith is futile, they remain in their sins, and those who have died in Christ are lost. The resurrection is essential to the Christian faith.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20 (NIV)
Background Insights:
- Located near Athens, Corinth was greatly influenced by this Greek mind-set. Being a city that valued pleasure above learning, Corinth left the thinking to her Athenian neighbors, adopting without question their attitudes toward the resurrection of the body. The eagerness to appear “wise” by the world’s standards had been a constant objective among the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:18-25). In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, we discover that some felt tempted to succumb to the pressure of philosophical respectability by denying one of the make-or-break doctrines of the Christian faith: the bodily resurrection (anastasis [386]) of Jesus Christ. (Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on 1 & 2 Corinthians, 220)
- The position of some in the Corinthian church is specified in verse 12 (“How can some of you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?”), and it is to this challenge that Paul responds. By denying the resurrection, the Corinthians were almost certainly not denying life after death; virtually everyone in the ancient world believed in that. Rather, they would have been disputing the Jewish and Christian doctrine of bodily resurrection and endorsing one of the more Greek forms of belief that limited the afterlife to disembodied immortality of the soul (cf. 2 Tim. 2:17–18). (Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, 395)
- Corinth was a Greek city, and the Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. When Paul had preached at Athens and declared the fact of Christ’s resurrection, some of his listeners actually laughed at him (Acts 17:32). Most Greek philosophers considered the human body a prison, and they welcomed death as deliverance from bondage. This skeptical attitude had somehow invaded the church, and Paul had to face it head-on. The truth of the resurrection had doctrinal and practical implications for life that were too important to ignore. Paul dealt with the subject by answering four basic questions. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Wise, 163)
- Most Greeks did not believe that people’s bodies would be resurrected after death. They saw the afterlife as something that happened only to the soul. According to Greek philosophers, the soul was the real person, imprisoned in a physical body, and at death the soul was released. There was no immortality for the body, but the soul entered an eternal state. (Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Corinthians, 221)
If not for the resurrection…
- Faith would be futile.
(vv. 13-14, 17, 19 | Ecc. 12:8; Isaiah 64:6; Acts 4:33; Rom. 8:18-21; 1 Thes. 4:13; Heb. 11:1)
Without the belief in the Resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, His crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of His being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of His career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead. (William Lane Craig, Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection, 116)
If Christ has not been raised from the dead, Christianity collapses like a house of cards. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 279)
A dead Savior cannot save anybody. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Wise, 163)
Without [the resurrection], [Jesus’] death becomes the heroic death of a noble martyr, the pathetic death of a madman, or the execution of a fraud. (John MacArthur, Acts, 64)
- Sin would still result in death.
(vv. 17-18 | Dan. 12:2; Mat. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25; Rom. 5:12; 6:9; 6:23; 1 Cor.6:9-11)
Paul does not permit a perspective on Jesus that views him merely as a good, moral teacher or on Christianity that considers it simply an admirable collection of proverbial truths about how to live. If the resurrection is false, Christianity is worthless. If Christ was not raised, death, the penalty for sin, is not conquered. And his death in particular could not provide forgiveness of our sins, since it would not have eradicated death (cf. Rom. 3:23–25; 4:25). (Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, 406)
The fact that Christ died has always been undeniable. Even a skeptical critic of Christianity will acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth died. It takes no faith to believe this irrefutable fact of history. That Christ died for our sins, however, is a matter of faith not directly evident in the events of Christ’s death and burial. (Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on 1 & 2 Corinthians, 222)
- Life would merely have finite meaning.
(vv. 14, 19 | Job 8:9; Psalm 39:4; Ecc. 3:11; 8:8; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27)
For the resurrection of the dead is the Christian’s new birth, because it brings us into a new and better life. (Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation)
The disciples were transformed. Something happened to Peter. Just a few days earlier his hopes had been dashed and he had denied Jesus in front of a few people he had never met. Yet just a few days later, he was fearlessly preaching about Jesus and explaining Jesus’ death to the very people who killed Him. From dashed hopes to death-defying faith – not just in Peter, but in all the disciples. (Mark Dever, It Is Well, 140)
Because of the resurrection…
A. Our debt of sin can be cancelled.
(Romans 3:10; 3:23; 4:25; 6:5-6; 6:8-11; 6:23; Titus 3:5; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; 5:11-13)
The resurrection is God’s receipt to us that our sins have been paid in full. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 276)
The Good News of Christ is not primarily that Jesus will heal you of all your sicknesses right now, but ultimately that Jesus will forgive you of all your sins forever. The Good News of Christ is not that if you muster enough faith in Jesus, you can have physical and material reward on this earth. The Good News of Christ is that when you have childlike faith in Jesus, you will be reconciled to God for eternity. (David Platt, Follow Me, 62)
Why is the Resurrection so important? Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has broken into earth’s history. Our world is now headed for redemption, not disaster. God’s mighty power is at work destroying sin, creating new lives, and preparing us for Jesus’ second coming. (Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Corinthians, 222)
B. Our physical death becomes a mere door.
(Isaiah 26:19; John 6:40; 14:2; 14:19; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 6:14; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16; Hebrews 11:16; Revelation 21:4)
The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith and the assurance of our own resurrection. (John Wesley, Sermon 130: On the Resurrection of the Dead)
The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important than that fact that I will die, and the fact that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too, will be raised on the Last Day. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 54)
C. We have a forever hope that starts now.
(John 14:19; Acts 24:15; Romans 6:4; 8:11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 3:2)
The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom… it is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven. (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, 234)
On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away, and in varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth. (G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, 261)
The gospel is not a message about what we need to do for God, but about what God has done for us. (Kevin DeYoung, Don’t Call it a Comeback, 29)
Gospel Connection…
Because Jesus has risen, those in him are also risen; risen to new life now and life forever.
(Isaiah 25:8; Luke 14:14; Acts 4:12; Romans 6:23; 8:34; 10:9; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:8-10; Revelation 20:6)
the Jesus who is worthy of our faith is a resurrected Jesus. The Jesus who makes it worthwhile to live a life of faith is a resurrected Jesus. The one who serves as the foundation of our faith, gives feet to our faith, and replaces fear with faith is only a resurrected Jesus. It is simply foolish to place your faith in anyone—regardless of the quality of his life, the brilliance of her teaching, or the quality of his or her example—if that person died only to stay dead. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 281)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- Why is the message of the resurrection so vital and in fact of first importance?
- Does it really matter for the Christian and the whole church to believe in a literal, physical resurrection as opposed to a simply “spiritual” resurrection? Explain your answer.
- How does the resurrection impact our ability to be forgiven of our sins?
- If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, what does that say about our family and friends who believed in Jesus and then died?
- What is it about the gospel that makes it so different from every other message that every other religion in the world has to offer?
Quotes to note…
Christ’s miraculous, bodily resurrection from the dead is not up for grabs. It never has been and it never will be. (Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on 1 & 2 Corinthians, 220)
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the central fact of Christian history. On it, the church is built; without it, there would be no Christian church today. (Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Corinthians, 222)
A denial of the resurrection does not figure in early anti-Christian apologetics. That would be the obvious thing to attack if you wanted to stamp out this fledgling religion, right? But no one attacks it. Why do you think that is? I think it was because too many people knew it was true. There may have been bewilderment about its significance, but the fact of Jesus’ resurrection was never denied. Jesus was clearly raised from the dead. The argument was simply about what that could possibly mean. (Mark Dever, It Is Well, 141)
Most other religions are based on their teachings. Christianity is based on the death of Christ and the Resurrection that attests its efficacy. The idea of the Resurrection was scorned by most people, as the response of the philosophical Athenians to Paul indicates: “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered” (Acts 17:32). But Christianity has stood the test of time. This is significant because Christianity is the only religion that stands or falls on the truthfulness of an event. Its survival is evidence that its unique basis, the Resurrection, is indeed valid. (Ajith Fernando, The Supremacy of Christ, 253)
Christianity does not hold the Resurrection to be one among many tenets of belief. Without faith in the Resurrection there would be no Christianity at all. The Christian church would never have begun; the Jesus-movement would have fizzled out like a damp squib with His execution. Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the Resurrection. Once disprove it, and you have disposed of Christianity. (Michael Green, Man Alive, 61)
The truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation. (John MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 398)
The resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith; without it, there would be no Christianity. It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions. Through the resurrection, Christ demonstrated that He does not stand in a line of peers with Abraham, Buddha, or Confucius. He is utterly unique. He has the power not only to lay down His life, but to take it up again. (Hank Hanegraaff, Resurrection, 15)
We understand and acknowledge that the Resurrection has placed a glorious crown upon all of Christ’s sufferings! (A.W. Tozer, Renewed Day by Day, Christianity Today, v. 40, n. 4)