Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this Tuesday,
Does your heart skip a beat when you hear someone say, “I have GREAT News for you“? Of course it does! So, I wonder what the greatest news is that you’ve ever heard?
In the mid first century, all across the Roman empire, life was difficult, especially for Christians who claimed to be followers of Jesus. Why? Well, for many of the same reasons life is difficult for Christians in many places in our world today. Christians claim God forgives them of their sin guilt and God frees them of their sin condemnation because they put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior! No other religion gives assurance any god will forgive sin!
Also, Christians live each day confident of eternal life with God in heaven beginning the moment of their earthly death, and no other religion makes that bold promise! Another claim of Christians is what the Bible calls “The Gospel”, it’s the greatest news of all time!
As the apostle Paul was writing his first letter to the Christians in Corinth in the mid first century, he dedicated his entire 15th chapter to this “Gospel”. For the next few days, let’s take a close look. This chapter has been one of the greatest sources of hope and assurance for Jesus followers all around the world, especially in high persecution areas, since the day Paul penned it!
Paul’s beginning words are for all Christians of all time: “Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this Gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…” (1 Cor. 15:1,2)
I see three very important statements here, do you?
First… The Gospel is the great truth of God upon which we can stand firm no matter how difficult the opposition or persecution against us.
Second… The Gospel is God’s TRUTH which explains the hope and certainty of our salvation from our sin condemnation found only in Jesus Christ.
It only saves if it is TRUE! But also this saving God TRUTH only saves if we fully and genuinely believe and hold firmly to it. God knows our hearts and therefore He knows the authenticity of our faith. Flippant faith; on again off again faith; conditional faith; is not saving faith.
Third... Paul declares that he received this Gospel and it is the MOST important information of all time. Paul did not contrive it nor discover it in some hidden ancient writings. Paul received this Gospel directly from resurrected Jesus Himself, as we’ll see in the next few verses.
Paul next declares, very specifically, the essential claims of the Christian Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “…that Jesus 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, and that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve…” (1 Cor. 15:3-5)
I wish I could pass the microphone to all of you, all around the world, right now, with this question: What are the specific ‘good news’ statements here, upon which Christians base their faith in God’s salvation promises?
I see five important, consequential statements.
First… “that Jesus Christ died for our sins”.
This statement identifies WHO died and WHY He died! Jesus is uniquely God the Son incarnate on earth, born in Bethlehem, crucified in Jerusalem. Jesus the Christ, is the Jewish Messiah, long promised by God. God the Son, Jesus incarnate, Christ the Jewish Messiah, died as an atonement sacrifice to pay God’s declared justice punishment for the collective sins of all humanity.
WOW, it’s important I ask you… do you agree with all those statements? They are horrific but great news! They are historic truth with profound spiritual implications for EVERY human being all around the world in every generation. To deny it is to disqualify yourself from God’s forgiveness of your sin.
Second…“He was buried” That’s important. Living people are not buried. Burial is acknowledgment of death. In order for God’s justice death payment for sin to be paid, it could ONLY be sinless Jesus Christ, God the Son, and He had to be totally, fully dead. (Romans 6:23)
Third… “He was raised on the third day” Dead and buried Jesus Christ was fully, totally, miraculously, bodily resurrected from the dead, on the third day after His verified death. (Matt. 28:1-10) This is vitally important for a dead savior is incapable of saving anyone from anything. Our Christian faith is built on the certainty of the resurrection of crucified Jesus!
Fourth... “according to the Scriptures”. Did you notice Paul repeated this phrase twice? Why? Because it is very important that these factual events where predicted several times by several different people, including Jesus Himself, before they ever happened! (Luke 18:31-33)
Fifth... “He appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living… Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also…” (1 Cor. 15:5-7)
Living, resurrected Jesus Christ APPEARED, bodily, physically, gloriously to many different people, on several different occasions, in several different places, over a period of 40 days! (Acts 1:3) They heard Jesus speak, touched Him, watched Him eat, watched Him do miracles. And even Paul had his life changing encounter with resurrected Jesus. (Acts 9:3-9)
That, Paul wants us to know, is the core, central truth of the Gospel, the greatest news of all time. WHY is it the greatest news? Because of the power it has to provide HOPE for all the miracles God is ready to unleash in a repentant person. What miracles?The miracles God accomplished which transform a person from a hell bound sinner to a forgiven, adopted child of God, living indwelt by the Holy Spirit and destined for eternity in heaven!
Oh my, we need to pause and praise, do you agree? So a great worship song awaits you, but first very powerful “lessons learned” notes which will help you even more fully understand and apply all these truths to your life! And I’ll be here tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: 1 Cor. 15:1-7
Choose below to read or listen.
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Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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