1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Christ Was Raised According To The Scriptures

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 NIU UBF 2/28/10
Key verse 15:3-4

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...."

I thank God for the upcoming Easter season. It is time that we can throw off the coldness of a long winter and face the spring with new life and new hope. God has filled spring with budding trees and young plants, pushing their way up through the wet soil. The birds are starting to sing. Young, expectant couples are driving around looking at potential, new starter homes. Yes spring! A time for new life and new hope. That is the essence of Easter. Jesus brought us new life, through his death on the cross, freeing us from the cold, dark, confines of our sins and into the warm, life of God. He has given a new hope and new life full of potential and expectation, extending all the way into eternity. During this month, let us deeply accept the Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Let us prepare for the upcoming Easter conference at Hamburger University.

In this first message, Paul begins his letter by bringing the Corinthians back to the cross of Jesus, highlighting some of the core elements of the Gospel. He mentions many resurrection witnesses, including the witness of the Scriptures. He wants the Corinthians to find new life and freedom from their personal and ministry problems that have entangled them. When they accept the Gospel newly they could fly like birds set free from a cage and be witnesses of the Risen Lord. May your soul be released from all that entangles it through being reminded of the Gospel of Jesus and be filled with new hope and new life direction.

Part I: Let’s Be Reminded Of The Gospel (1-4)


In verses 1-4 Paul summarizes the contents of the gospel. First, the gospel is the solution. Look at verse 1. "Now brothers I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand." Why did he remind them of the gospel? It was because they were losing gospel faith as time passed by. At first, they had accepted the gospel through Paul with great joy, confessing their sins, and standing firm in faith. They were born again. A new church was born. It was an exciting time. They came out of the darkness and into the light of God. These new believers had come into a vital and fresh relationship with Jesus. Everything was new to them. They were excited about their faith and God was working powerfully as he introduced the gospel to the Gentile world. Praise God for their new and fresh faith! But as time passed, their spirit waned. Their spiritual life became routine and habitual. The temptations of this sinful world wore away at their souls. They became weak spiritually and entertained false ideas and bad cultural influences, such as sexual immorality, which they had previously been delivered from. They began to drift in the current of the times. Some things that were happening in the church sound shocking to us. So Paul gave them the only “surefire” solution to all of their problems that he knew….he reminded them of the gospel. Paul knew that by this gospel they were saved, if they held firmly to the word he preached to them. Otherwise, they had believed in vain (2).

The Gospel is given to us by God as a most precious gift. Look at verse 3a. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance...." The gospel is not a man-made story, but a God-made story. Paul received it personally and passed it on to the Corinthians. The gospel has been passed on through the generations, from one gospel servant to another in along chain, all the way to us. I received the Gospel through the Bible teaching and prayers of the Canadian missionaries, especially through those of missionary Ruth Hwang. The gospel grew and developed in my heart through the preaching of Pastor Teddy and more lately through the ministry of Chicago UBF. God wants to pass the gospel on to the next generation through you and your Bible teaching/discipleship raising ministry. Can you remember who passed the gospel onto to you?

The gospel is the most important thing in our lives for when we hold firmly to the gospel, we are saved for our sins, the power of death and from condemnation. Let us think a little more deeply about this Gospel that God has given to us. Let’s read verses 3b-4. "...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...." In the gospel there are two main elements: Christ's death, and Christ's resurrection. Let’s think about the first part, Christ’s death. What are peoples’ fundamental problem? Nowadays, it seems to be a poor economy and world wide terrorism. But the Bible says our core problem is our sin problem. What is sin? Sin, means to separate or to cut. Sin cuts man's relationship with God and with one another. Sin is not accepting God as God, nor glorifying God, nor giving thanks to him (Ro 1:21). Sin is disobedience to the word of God and rebellion against God. Sin grows through pride-trying to make us live without God. The consequences of sin are very serious. Because of sin, people lose the glorious image of God and degenerate to the “animal level”. Many people think sin is enjoyable. However, sin destroys our character, our bodies, our families, our relationships with others and society. Sin brings unbearable guilt and shame, tormenting peoples’ consciences night and day. Before the fall of man, Adam and Eve did not sin. They had unbroken fellowship with God. They had eternal life. But now, after the fall, people die in this world because of the wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23a).

People think that death is the end of everything. They think that they can escape death by ending their lives, like the Marie Osmond’s son and the actor from “Growing Pains”, Andrew Koenig. But death is not the end. People are destined to die once and after that to face judgment (Heb 9:27). No one escapes God's judgment (2 Cor 5:10). No one can endure the eternal punishment (Rev 21:8). It is so horrible that we don't want to think about it. But it is real and we should never opt for it. Knowledge of our death and judgment brings anxiety, fear and despair into our lives.


Mankind has not been able to solve their sin and death problems on their own. People have tried hard through various means. Some try to overcome a burdened conscience through forgetting about it all in the cyber world, or electronic entertainment; through enjoying hedonism; travelling endlessly; sleeping a lot; adopting an empty philosophy of life to believe in. They try to immortalize themselves through health and exercise, through writing books, producing music, sports achievements and, like my father, documenting genealogy. Some have frozen their brains in liquid nitrogen (cryogenics) in hopes that their minds can be resurrected in a new body sometimes in the future. (That is if anyone cares enough to do so.) But no matter how hard people try, there is no way overcome our sin and death problems, and the fruits of such, on our own.

The great news is, is that God has solved this problem for us. Verse 3 says that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Christ shed his precious blood on the cross to pay off the demand of sin. Christ forgave our sins and freed us from the consequences of sin. Our souls are set free from all condemnations. We no longer have to live in unsettled feelings, anxiety and in the expectation of judgment. Our souls are set free through the power of God’s forgiveness and his grace. Our sins are forgiven and we granted and new beginning with a clean, fresh start. When we know this, we can have strength to move forward in our lives and bear the fruit of the Gospel. We can rest in the knowledge that we are children of God and have been granted eternal life. Thank you Jesus for solving our sin and death problems through your precious gospel.


Let’s think a little more deeply about Christ’s resurrection. Look at verse 4. "...that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...." Christ defeated the power of death through his resurrection (Ro 6:9). To me this is a fantastic hope. As a nurse death is always before me. I know how short life is. Nobody can fool me on this. I would suffer so much that the sands of time are running out on me. But because Jesus’ resurrection I know that death is not the end. Those who are found in Christ will be raise with Jesus. And by the blood of Jesus I am one of those who are found in Jesus. By his grace I have a living hope in the kingdom of God. (1 Peter 1:3,4) This hope frees me from the confines of this world, the depression of thinking that my own time is short, and it gives me a great and glorious hope. I am no longer swimming in a sea of death, but in an ocean of living water. The same is true for anyone who repents of their sins and come to Jesus by faith. Christ's resurrection gives us final victory over the power of death. Christ's resurrection gives us a living hope in the kingdom of God. Praise God!

The words "according to the Scriptures," are important. The Gospel did not happen by chance. It was planned long ago by God and fulfilled by God. We have the words of the prophets. There are so many references to Jesus and his ministry and this gospel in the Old Testament. The gospel, that we hold, has a solid foundation in Scripture and history. We can trust the gospel and entrust our lives and future to Jesus.


Part ll: The Witnesses Of The Gospel (5-11)

Second, Paul refers to many witnesses of the resurrection (5-11). In the gospels we can find the evidence of Christ's resurrection, such as the empty tomb, the words of angels, and Christ's appearance to women. However, Paul introduces only male eyewitnesses to prove the fact of Christ's resurrection. In a court of law, in Jewish society, and even in Mediterranean society this would be the strongest evidence. Let’s think about these witnesses. The Risen Christ first appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve as they hid in an upper room, including doubting Thomas. After Jesus appeared to Thomas, his doubt turned to worship. He said, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28) Over a period of forty days, Jesus appeared to his disciples and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. (Acts 1:3) Paul mentions that the Risen Christ appeared to more than 500 believers at the same time, most of whom were living when Paul wrote this letter. Then the Risen Christ appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, to Paul also. These men were changed from fearful to courageous, from selfish to sacrificial, from self-centered to God-centered. Among them, Peter and Paul are the best examples. Only the power of a living, resurrected Jesus can ever change the lives of these witnesses.

Let’s think about Peter. Peter loved Jesus. However, he had many weaknesses and made many mistakes. Most critically, he denied Jesus three times during Jesus' passion. Then Peter met the Risen Christ. He was changed into a courageous man of God, the rock of Jesus' first century church. Paul had persecuted the church of Christ the most. He consented to the stoning of St. Stephen. Then, on his way to Damascus to arrest believers, he met the Risen Christ. He was born again, and became a witness of Christ's resurrection. In the past Paul had been very proud. But after meeting the Risen Christ, he became so humble, the least of all. He remembered what kind of person he had been and how Christ had been so gracious to him. To bear this grace he worked hard, harder than all the others. Paul and the other witnesses preached the resurrection of Christ. The Corinthian believers heard the message and believed.

The witness of the Risen Jesus did not end here. Jesus rose again from the dead. That means that he is alive right now, reigning from heaven. He is still working in the hearts of his people to transform them into new creations. He is revealing his grace and mercy in their lives and their transforming power. We can see the work of God working powerfully in each of our hearts and lives. There are five kids living for the glory of God. There is Andrew offering up is talents for the glory of God. There is Tim breaking down walls and making new beginnings in Jesus. There is Kathleen growing in the word of God and trying to lead her family to Jesus. There is Julie faithfully co-working with one of the most difficult people in the world, i.e., me. When we believe, we too can meet the Risen Christ, be changed and become resurrection witnesses. This Easter let God work in your hearts and lives and let’s be set free and transformed by the power of the Gospel. Let us become resurrection witnesses to the risen Jesus who is alive and at work in each of us. Let us tell the world that the only solution to their sin and death problem is the gospel of Jesus and death and resurrection.

In this passage we learned the essence of the gospel, "...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...." This gospel saves us and gives us forgiveness, new life and a new hope. The gospel makes us witnesses of the Risen Lord. This gospel is the solution to all of our problems in life and ministry. Will you hold onto to Jesus’ gospel as of first importance? Will you make time in your life to hold firmly to the word that was preached to you? Make time…don’t be so busy. For this Gospel is the only source of salvation given to us. It is tried and true. There is no other way but Jesus. Give your heart and life to him and the power of the gospel will work and miracles will happen.