If Christ Has Not Been Raised . . . (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
Ministry can be difficult, and the hardest day I ever spent in ministry was Tuesday, May 4, 2004. Around 2 am, Tammy was shaking me awake and said, “That was Stella on the phone; you need to go to the hospital, because Sandy’s son has been shot.”
I threw some clothes on and headed for the hospital. What I witnessed at the hospital remains one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life. Jeremy had been in his home with several friends when he shot himself in the head, whether it was a suicide or a game of Russian roulette gone wrong, I never learned—all I know is that the police were investigating.
Jeremy was brain dead when he arrived at the hospital, but the family had not yet been informed. When the doctor walked in to tell the family that Jeremy had no brain function, I got up to leave the room, but the nurse, who was a member of the church, grabbed my arm and said, “No, Justin, you need to stay.” I have never heard such screaming and yelling, before or since. Charles and Sandy, Jeremy’s parents, asked everyone to leave the room so that they could be alone. I got up to leave, but Charles said, “No, preacher, you stay.” After everyone else had left the room, Charles collapsed into my arms and sobbed and said, “Preacher, pray for my boy.”
Each one of you has had hard days in your life. Perhaps you’ve been weighed down with grief over the loss of someone you loved more than life itself. Maybe you’ve been weighed down with worry because you lost your job. Or you might have faced a diagnosis that left you wondering how long you’d be in this world. Your marriage might have broken up, and you might know better than many of us why the Scriptures say that God hates divorce.
At times like that, have you ever wondered, “Is life really worth the effort?” What’s the point of life if it’s just a series of disappointments? Well, Paul, in a roundabout way, answered that question in this morning’s text. Some in Corinth were saying that there would not be a resurrection of the dead at the end of time. Paul took his inspired pen to say, “Hold up! If there is no resurrection, then Jesus has not been raised, and if Jesus has not been raised, your life has no meaning.” This morning, we wish to learn this truth: “If Christ has not been raised, life is hopeless.”
Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
verses 12-13:
Some in Corinth were saying that the dead would not be raised at the end. Those who were saying that seem to have been influenced by Greek concepts of the afterlife that didn’t include a resurrection.
However, Paul said, if there isn’t a resurrection at the end of time, not even Christ has been raised. And, Paul will go on to say that Jesus’s resurrection was the precursor of the final resurrection; so either, Jesus was raised and all the dead will be raised or Jesus was not raised and no one else will be raised.
verse 14:
If Christ was not resurrected, then the preaching of the apostles is empty and the Christian’s faith is empty.
verses 15-16:
Bearing false witness was a serious offense, and lying about God (for example, falsely calling on God to attest to an oath) was an extremely serious matter. If Jesus had never been raised from the dead, Paul would not only be a false witness, but he would also be a false witness about God and deserve swift and severe punishment.
verse 17:
If Christ has not been raised, each Christian still bears his sin.
verse 18:
If Christ has not been raised, each person who has died in Christ has been damned to an eternal hell.
verse 19:
If Christ has not been raised, Christians deserve pity above everyone else. I’ve heard people say that even if Christianity isn’t true, it’s better to live as a Christian and find out Christianity is false when we die than not to live as a Christian. And that’s about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! Paul said that if Christ is still dead, Christians are to be pitied for living as we do. It’s foolish to live as a Christian if Jesus is dead.
verse 20:
The fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead, and he is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In Palestine, the firstfruits were the beginning of the harvest, and the firstfruits guaranteed that there would be a further harvest. Jesus as the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” was raised from the dead, and his resurrection guarantees that all who sleep in the earth shall be raised.
Application
“If Christ has not been raised, life is hopeless.” Jesus’s resurrection gives purpose and meaning to life. The fact that he walked from his tomb on the third day never to die again says that you will walk from your tomb on the day when he comes again to live with him eternally. Life may be full of ups and downs, but through all your struggles you can know that life is worth living because one day you will live with Jesus—one day, you won’t struggle anymore; one day, your body won’t ache anymore; one day, your loved ones won’t die anymore; and one day, you won’t sin anymore.
How should you live since Christ has been raised from the dead?
One: You must Believe.
You must Believe that Jesus was raised from the dead to go to heaven: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). If you love the Lord with all your heart, you cross every t and dot every i, but you don’t believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will go to hell. Your belief in Jesus’s resurrection is that serious!
Do yourself a favor and secure your faith in the resurrection of Jesus the Christ, and you know there’s only one way to do that: Spend time in Scripture. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). This week, spend time in the Gospels where the authors recount the empty tomb and the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.
Also, read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 as though you were a member of the Corinthian church just receiving this letter. Paul wrote that Jesus’s resurrection from the dead is a fact, and he then listed several people besides himself who saw the Resurrected Christ. Paul basically said, “If you don’t believe my testimony, go ask these other folks if they saw Jesus bodily raised from the dead.” The Corinthian church could have done that. Jesus wasn’t raised in secret, but many saw him after he was bodily raised from the dead.
The resurrection of Jesus is a fact. Do you Believe?
Two: You must Behave.
You must Behave the right way in light of the fact that Jesus walked from his tomb three days after being killed: “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame” (1 Cor 15:32-34).
Do you understand why you must Behave? Because Jesus’s resurrection opened heaven, and if you want heaven, you must live righteously: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 Jn 2:17). If you do God’s will, you shall be raised to life eternal.
What does your life say about you? Do you Behave, or do you need to begin behaving this morning?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.