The Resurrection of Christ

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.-1 Corinthians 15:1-8

        In 1 Corinthians 15, we find the great hope of our faith. The resurrection is addressed here by Paul. First, The Resurrection of Jesus, then the resurrection of the dead, and third  he speaks of the resurrection body. But like Paul, I want to focus on the Lord’s resurrection, because if he is not alive today then are faith is in  the teachings of a man who died over 2000 years ago on a cross, not the God-man who conquered the grave and is reigning today. How you view Jesus effects how you live for him. I pray, this post and the three to come will bring you great joy in the risen King. Let’s dig in to the Scriptures:

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.- 1 Cor 15:1-2

In the opening verses of chapter 15, Paul is reminding the Corinthians of the good news they have belived. False teachers were spreading lies in the church that Jesus did not rise, and that there is no resurrection from the dead. This lie is still being proclaimed in our day, and like Paul we need to encourage people with the truth.  And in verses 3 and 4 Paul exalts the gospel again. These verses sum of the message of Christ cleary, leaving no doubt what Christians believe:

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,- 1 Cor 15:3-4

      We must believe the whole Gospel, not just that he died for our sins, because our justfication(being made righteous by God) depends on the death and resurrection of Christ. Romans 4:24- 25 says :

24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

“This means that by his death he paid the penalty for our sins and purchased our acquittal, our justification, our forgiveness. And since the achievement of the cross was so complete and the work of our justification so decisive, God raised Jesus from the dead to validate our forgiveness and to vindicate his Son’s righteousness and to celebrate the work of justification.”

- John Piper

          Jesus being alive validates all the claims about him as our Savior. It proves that he had the power to die for our sins and he truly is the Son of God. He lives not in our imagination or in spirit form, people saw him in a resurrected body. Focus your heart on verses 5 through 8:

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 proof is overwhelming and brings me great joy. He appeared to Peter,James, and Paul. But also to over 500 people. At this point you may be thinking, yeah but only as a ghost. No, It was in the flesh and bone. Here is what scripture says:

Jesus and Thomas (John 20:24-29)

24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin,  was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus appears to the disciples and Eats (Luke24:36-43)

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,  43 and he took it and ate before them.

Even these disciples thought they were seeing a spirit, but Jesus assured them he was not merely a spirit but flesh and bones, and even ate with them.That is awesome news for us. It should bring you great joy that we worship and serve a LIVING GOD in Jesus Christ. This means:

We are not still in our sins(More on this next week)

He hears us when we pray

He loves and cares for us.

He is the source of eternal life!

He is God!

If  Your a Christian be strengthen by the truth that He Lives. If you read this and had questions about if christianity can be trusted, I pray that you have been moved to desire the forgiveness that only a risen Christ can offer. To my friends in the disability community who have  a hard time believing  the idea of the “new body”, please stay tuned. I’ll adress those concerns in the next blog posts. But I want to encourage you to take your questions to Jesus. It’s in him where you’ll get answers. God Bless.

I want Jesus to have the Last Word:

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.-Revelation 1:17-18