The Gospel of Christ

1 Corinthians 15: 1-11

Key Verses 3-4

As we have learned thus far Paul had a shepherd heart for the Corinthian church. He made several missionary journeys and visited Corinth, and each time he preached a lot while there. Paul saw a lot of problems in their church now and was trying to help them. He rebuked them for idolatry, sexual immorality, for frivolous lawsuits against one another, and for some of their bad theology - like their belief that “everything is permissible”. While helping them he did not use heavy handed tactics to get them in line, but took a very prayerful approach.. He addressed each problem in his letters, and then wrote to them about love in 1^st Corinthians chapter 13. Now as we are nearing the end of 1^st Corinthians, Paul tells them some final instructions which are the most important of all. He reminds them of the gospel. We see they already knew the gospel, but they needed a reminder. Like when we were children, and our parents would tell us the same thing over and over, and say “why do I always need to remind you?” We also need a reminder about the gospel, what it means and how we must hold onto it.

First, Paul Gives the Corinthians a Reminder (1-2)

  Let us read verse 1. “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.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 does not teach the Corinthians something new. According to verse 1, Paul previously declared the gospel there. These Corinthian Christians knew the gospel. In fact, they probably knew it very well.  Paul had spent a year and a half teaching them God’s word as a self supporting missionary.

Yet it seemed that when Paul wasn’t around, things started to go south a little, and they forgot the gospel. The Corinthian church became like a bunch of children without supervision. Their dark inclinations took over. There was divisions in the church between rich and poor, and an attitude of unforgiveness was prevalent, and there was rebellion against spiritual authority. Unbearable toxic elements took over like Cliques, factions and tribalism, which have no place in any church. So what happened did the gospel change? No. The gospel never changes, rather, the Corinthian Christians had changed.

When we look at verse 1, we see the Corinthians had previously taken a “stand” on the gospel. They faced a lot of persecution in Corinth, where there were large populations of Jewish people who persecuted Christians. They would go around and beat up and harass Christians in the city. Taking a stand is an act of defiance against evil, and standing for good no matter what the consequences are. To take a stand could be compared to some of the pivotal moments in history. Such an example might be when Nazi Germany invaded France. France and Britain had an agreement to defend each other against Germany if either was attacked. So this was a challenge to Britain. Germany tried to ply Britain to stay out of the war promising to leave them alone and they would have peace and not be attacked. But Winston Churchill did not agree, and with a much smaller army and a very small amount of military hardware by comparison, he challenged Germany and decided to send the British Army to invade at Dunkirk, to help France. It was difficult and they had to retreat in order to regroup. His contemporaries told him he was crazy for this and to stay out of the war. Then Winston Churchill gave his famous speech and vowed to “never surrender” which we still hear replayed today. By the tone of his voice it is evident he believed in what he was saying while he was speaking. And the whole country of Britain took a stand against Nazi Germany and didn’t give up until Germany was defeated with help of United States.

The Corinthians had taken a stand on the gospel in a corrupt city like Corinth. Even Paul said he was afraid while there, but he just kept preaching boldly too. Taking a stand is our identity as believers in Jesus. We are only superficial Christians if we do not do so. Yet it is not easy. It require risking relationships, giving up old sinful habits, and can result in persecution. Some have left their family and relatives behind in another country and set out as missionaries and had to start over. But the gospel is what brings us salvation. The gospel is the truth, and in it we have healing, freedom, and forgiveness. It is worth taking a stand for. May God help us to courageously take our stand on the gospel, in this corrupt culture which is like a modern day Corinth.

Let’s read verse 2. “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain.”  This verse describes what the gospel of Christ does, it saves us. Here the word “saved” implies that without it people are in serious danger. We are in danger of living a meaningless life on earth, even worse they were in danger of hell and eternal destruction without salvation. But through Jesus’ death on the cross we are saved. This is why the gospel is good news for us, the word gospel literally means good news. In the world there is seldom good news on the television or on social media. There is a lot of bad news about war, inflation, a shrinking economy, pandemics, etc. But the gospel is good news! And it is good news for all of you, not some but all of you!

Probably over time however, many of the Corinthian Christians loosened their grip on basic gospel faith, and were holding to it loosely not firmly. They focused on other things in life, and still followed their sinful desires. Maybe they kind of thought as the gospel as something more theoretical to them, and not useful to hold on to. We can think of a lot of things people hold firmly to. They hold firmly to their wallet. Their car keys so they do not get lost, I have an electronic locator on my keys just in case, came in handy once or twice. They might hold onto a relationship, or a job. These things are important but they are only temporary, certainly not eternal. Paul is telling us that holding to the gospel is how we are really saved. It is how we really are delivered from the power of sin, and experience joy and eternal life.

What happens when we do NOT hold firmly to the gospel? Paul says we have believed in vain. Here the phrase “in vain” has the meaning of doing something that has no purpose. People make jokes about activities that are wasteful and “in vain”. They might make a comparison of standing in a long line, or waiting for a flight all day saying it was like “watching paint dry “ or “watching grass grow.” In other words they are saying it had no positive result at all. I don’t think any of us here spend our busy lives doing things like this.

How can we hold firmly to the gospel? First of all we need to be rooted in a Christian community. We cannot do it by ourselves. There is no such thing as a gospel worker who is a lone hero, like the Lone Ranger, our young people probably have not seen that show. We need a community of spiritual people around us, who live according to God’s word. Second we must study the Bible and learn it’s deep meaning by studying the scriptures. Finally, I have found that giving thanks often to God for sending Jesus is very helpful to remember the gospel. Sometimes I just thank God for Jesus, I don’t have all the answers and there are always struggles but I just thank God for Jesus. May God help each of us to hold firmly to the gospel. Amen.

Second, the gospel of Christ (3-4)

Let’s read verses 3-4 together. “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….”  Paul breaks down the essence of the gospel here plainly in three parts, Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins, his burial, and his resurrection.

We can see how serious of a problem sin is, so serious that God had to deal with it by subjecting Jesus to a horrible and painful death on the cross. The images we may have seen in movies or pictures, which reenact the crucifixion are not unrealistic based on the historical evidence.. Maybe even in real life what happened was even worse than what is graphically portrayed in films.

We tend to trivialize and rationalize our own sin. We shift blame, make excuses or try to forget about our sin. Some might kick the can down the road for a while, thinking they will repent later in life. We might feel a little better in the moment with some kind of excuse. It might seem like we think we can make our own way of getting rid of our sins. But it doesn’t’ work. Sin is compared to a contagious disease. It spreads from one person to another, and it grows and becomes a bigger and bigger problem. Unless treated, it never gets better but gets worse. It spreads within a person and ultimately causes physical and spiritual death. It is worse than the bubonic plague or leprosy.

Sin and death work together like a sinister tag team, and they are tools of Satan to separate men and women from God. Sin is the most fundamental problem to all people. The impending thought of one day dying causes a person to sin even more with compounding effect. It creates a need for people to feel like they just want to forget about all of it. This pattern or way of thinking is called nihilism, the thought that everything is going nowhere and people should just enjoy the moment. One contractor who did work for me told me he had to spend 17 months in prison for getting four convictions for driving while drunk. I wondered how this could happen. It seemed that he only believed in the present during this period of his life, and his focus was on this world and what happens now. This is selfish and irresponsible behavior. He apparently wasn’t thinking about the safety of someone he could have killed while driving intoxicated. Ultimately at the root of all kinds problems is sin and a fear of death.

God is just and he is holy, and he and deals with sin and wrongdoings with justice. Justice is the punishment required to pay for sin. Romans 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death….”  One pastor sometimes poked a little morbid humor in his sermons and said things like, “last time I checked the death rate is hovering right around 100%.” His point is valid, that we cannot escape death and all people will ultimately die.

It almost seems to much to think about or talk about. During our weekly Bible study I wanted to quit talking about the negative things but realized we have to address these issues. We need the truth, even if it is scary or negative. So what did God do for us when he saw mankind in this horrible predicament? Did he just look at the problem and ignore it? No, he is solution oriented and he fixed the problem for us, a problem we ourselves cannot fix. I sometimes tell my children or friends or people I work with not to complain but be solution oriented, and then the problem will be fixed. God is the best problem solver in the universe. The justice required to pay for our sins he paid for himself, so that we would not have to suffer!

The Bible says that God gave us the gift of God, that is, eternal life in his one and only Son Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23b. "...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." The Bible assures us that God gave us his one and only Son as a ransom sacrifice to save us from our sins.

John the Baptist, who realized this, said in John chapter 1 that Jesus is “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” God, in his great mercy, sent his one and only Son to save us from our sins. When Jesus came into the world he humbled himself. He healed the sick and preached the kingdom of God. But Jesus was despised and rejected by evil men. Because of our sins he was crushed and smitten. Fin­ally, he was cru­ci­fied on the cross in our place to save us from our sins. He shed his blood on the cross. By his blood our sins are washed away. By his blood our sins are forgiven.

How can we be saved from our sins? John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who be­liev­ed in his name, he gave the right to become child­ren of God..." We are too weak to save ourselves. But when we be­lieve in Jesus he gives us the power to become the children of God. The way of salvation comes simply by our belief. We are saved simply by hear­ing his word and believing in the Son.

Let’s read verse 4 again. “... that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Jesus’ burial is mentioned to emphasize that he really died. He was buried in a tomb for three days. It is indisputable evidence that Jesus really physically died. It is symbolic that sin completely died too, and has been completely eradicated through Jesus’ death on the cross. Thank God.

Then what happened after Jesus died and sin was defeated? Jesus rose from the dead! This is the best story ever and it is a true story. It is a story of trials, suffering, tragedy and victory! All stories, and even Hollywood movies now basically imitate the story of Christ. Even ET, and Superman are just another form of the gospel and resurrection story. Only God can originate such an amazing narrative, made even more spectacular and amazing made by the fact it actually happened. The remainder of the chapter mentions many resurrection witnesses, including Paul himself. These are examples of people who were changed by the gospel and resurrection of Christ. They were changed from negative people, lost in sin and nihilism, into devoted followers of Jesus with hope of eternal life. When we believe in Jesus we have eternal life. By following him and his Word we are resurrected also. Thank God for Jesus who takes away our sins and gives us eternal life. Amen.