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10-1Corinthians-C15-The_Resurrection.hwp|
1 Corinthians 15:1-58(2010, April, 4) Key Verse: 15:3-4 Christ Was Raised According To The Scriptures "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...." Generally many chriatian says April is the season of resurrenction. Last winter was long exceptionally, snowing frequently. And it was cold till the ends of March. But if you look around, we can easily find trees are busy preparing to burst its blossoms, These flowers will appear before our eyes suddenly in a few days. Then we all will enjoy many beautiful flowers on the trees - white magnolia blossom, golden bell and cherry blossom. All these seem to get these beauty and life from nothing. Life comes mysteriously. We know God is the author of life. Life comes from God. Resurrection come from our God, too. Today, you know, is the Easter. It is the greatest day all the year. It is the day our Lord Jesus rose again from death. Let's give thanks and glory to our Lord Jesus. Now, we are going to share the grace of Jesus' resurrection on the base of the chapter 15 in I Corinthians Apostle Paul wrote for the church. Our Lord tells us the truth of resurrection through this chapter. Paul began his letter by bringing the Corinthians back to the cross of Jesus. Paul ends his letter by reminding them of the resurrection of Christ. The two pillars of Christian faith-the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ-are like bookends of Paul's letter. The resurrection is recorded in all four gospels, which mostly tell the facts of the event. In this passage, Paul explains the meaning of the resurrection most profoundly and completely. There is a cycle of life in this world. We are born as little babies, grow up, marry, have children, and die. Death seems to be the end of everything. This is our human agony. This is why people despair. We need eternal life and eternal hope. How can we have this? It is through the gospel of Jesus' death and resurrection. Especially, resurrection is important. Christ's resurrection gives us eternal life, the kingdom of God, and eternal victory. There is power and glory in the resurrection. It is a true hope, worthy of our lives. Let's accept resurrection faith in our hearts through this message. I pray that God permits grace of resurrection to all of us. In verses 1-11 Paul teaches them the fact that Christ has been raised from the dead. To do so, he summarizes the contents of the gospel and presents the witnesses of the resurrection. First, the contents of the gospel (1-4). 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. As time passed, their faith became weak because they entertained false ideas and bad cultural influences, such as sexual immorality. They began to drift in the current of the times. So Paul reminded them of the gospel. By this gospel they were saved, if they held firmly to the word he preached to them. Otherwise, they had believed in vain (2). 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 and passed it on to the Corinthians. The gospel has been passed on through generations and generations and finally to us. The gospel is the most important thing in our lives. When we hold firmly to the gospel, we are saved. Gospel tells us what we should believe for our salvation. So it is important for all of us to know what Gospel says. In the gospel there are two main elements: Christ's death, and Christ's resurrection. Look at 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...." What is man's fundamental problem? Nowadays, it seems to be money. They think all in terms of money. They think they could be happy if they have much money. They try to earn much money anyway, believing money will solve all my problems. bringing their happiness. Some politicians think the most serious problem is that of energy. The amount of energy in the world is rapidly decreasing these days. Is it possible to develop new energy replacing nowadays - oil in the near future. Some Korean people says Korean problem is political problem. Like this, there are many so-called fundamental problems they think seriously. There are some truth in what they say. But the Bible says man's sin is fundamental problem. Sin, "hamartia" in Greek, means to separate or to cut. Sin cuts man's relationship with God. 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 is pride-trying to live without God. The consequences of sin are serious. Man loses the glorious image of God and degenerates himself to the level of animals. Many people think sin is enjoyable. However, sin destroys man's character, body, family and society. Sin brings unbearable guilt and shame, tormenting people night and day. Man dies because the wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23a). People think that death is the end of everything. So they shouts from time to time, "I will die. Don't touch me." But it is not. Man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment (Heb 9:27). No one can escape God's judgment (2 Cor 5:10). No one can endure the eternal punishment in the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Rev 21:8). It is so horrible that we don't want to think about it. But it is real. When I worked in the company about 22 years ago, my senior asked me like this. "Hey, Mr. Kim. Does the hell really exist? I don't believe it." I answered, " You will see it when you die." Mankind has not been able to solve this problem at all. People have tried hard through various means, yet there is no way. But God 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. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins. This is very gracious story of Jesus Christ. But this beautiful story never ends here. If the story ended with Christ's death, it could be another poignant yet sorrowful tragedy, like Shakespeare's plays. Did you read Shakesphere's tregidies. They all end with sorrowful deaths. So we call it tragedy. However, 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). 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. The words "according to the Scriptures," are important. This did not happen by chance. It was long ago planned by God and fufilled by God. The events of Christ's death and resurrection are facts of history which fulfill the promise of God in the Scriptures. Second, 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, this would be the strongest evidence because there were many witnesses. The Risen Christ first appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve as they hid in an upper room-including doubting Thomas, whose doubt turned to worship. Then 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. 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' 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. Through this he was born again, and became a witness of Christ's resurrection. In the past Paul had been very proud. But after seeing the Risen Christ, he became so humble, and introduced himself as the least of all. He remembered what kind of person he had been and how Christ had been 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. If we see the arosen Christ, we will live a changed life just for Jesus Christ. When I began to believe Jesus, I was deeply moved with Jesus's sacrificial life, especially for his death on the cross for our sin. Jesus's death saved my soul from the fear of judgement for all my sins really. I was happy by the fact that Jesus's blood washed my sins away. Because of this grace, I worked for the works of God with all my heart. But one day I found that I was not happy man even if I believed Jesus. I could not find what the problem was in me. But God gave me a grace. He helped me to study Bible, Jesus' resurrection. Then I realized that I had held on to the grace of forgiveness only, forgetting Jesus resurrection. Learning the truth and grace of Jesus' resurrection, I began to apply the grace of Jesus' resurrection in my real life. The great light of Jesus resurrection came to my heart fully. New hope for eternal life began to work in me. After that, God could use me as his servant in his redemptive works. I became a witness of Jesus resurrection. Knowing Jesus's resurrection really made me happy man, happy shepherd. I believe death is not the end of our life on this earth. We are the promised God's people for new life, and new glorious body in the kingdom of God. Till the day comes, we are the witness of Jesus's resurrection. I thank the Lord for this happy easter. My God use us as witness of Jesus' resurrection for the people who live sad lives without knowing Jesus's resurrection. |
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