SUNDAY - APRIL 20, 2025 EASTER “As of First Importance” 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

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This morning we're going to be in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

In this passage today, paul is going to provide a summary of the gospel message, one of the most concise and clearest summaries I think that we find in all of the Bible of what is the gospel.

That's a word that we use often in our church.

It is the gospel, and if you ask someone what is the definition of gospel, they will say it is the good news.

But what is it?

What is the good news?

What is the definition of gospel?

They will say it is the good news.

But what is it?

What is the good news?

What is the gospel?

And if you go out on the street and you ask that question, you get lots of answers.

Most of them are very similar.

But what Paul is providing for us in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 is a concise message of the gospel, of exactly what it is and so what we can take from this.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

And he is providing this gospel message To affirm the church that their hope is in Jesus and it's for confirming that to the church at Corinth and, hear me today, desoto Hills, in this place, we have the same hope in the same gospel message that Paul proclaimed to them.

So our challenge for us today is this Hear this gospel message, and not just hear it, but believe in Jesus.

So, if you're able this morning, I invite you to stand with me as we read 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

We're going to start in verse 1 and read down through verse 8.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and which you stand, and by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word that I preach to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time.

Let's pray together, last of all, as to one untimely born.

He appeared also to me.

Let's pray together, god, we are thankful for today and we are thankful for this opportunity that we have to come and declare that you are alive and to sing praises, that you are the King of kings and the lord of lords, because you have arisen from the grave and you offer to us hope and you offer to us life today.

So we pray that today, through your gospel message, that you will change us for all eternity.

Jesus, it's in your name we pray, amen, you may be seated.

A couple of things that I want us to see here right before we get into the meat of this summary of the gospel, which we find in verses 4 and 5, but there's some things that I want us to see in verses 1 through 3.

First of all, I want us to look at the verbs in these first three verses.

There's four here.

The first two verbs point to an action that took place.

Paul said I preached.

That is something that he did.

He stood before people, like I am doing today, and he preached the gospel message to them.

The second thing that we see happening is they received that message.

They heard it and they received the message.

And then the next verb that we see is a verb that the tense of the verb tells us that it happened, but it continues to happen.

It says in which you stand.

That is something that happened when they received the gospel message.

They stand in that message and they continue to stand.

But then he says this and you are saved.

This is a verb that tells us that it is something that continues to happen day after day after day in our lives.

We find salvation for every day, and it's not something that we have to constantly say God saved me, god saved me, god saved me every day.

That's not what he's.

The point.

The point is is he saved us and that continues to happen every day as we live our lives.

We are being saved.

So we see the verbs here, but there's also a little phrase that he ends, verse two, with.

He says unless you believe in vain.

Now, now, why would Paul say something like this?

Well, there was a group of people in the Corinthian church that didn't hold to the resurrection.

They didn't believe in a resurrection.

They didn't believe that Christ had come back.

But this provides a problem for the church, because if Jesus didn't arrive, listen, he is just another zealot who has been martyred.

It's the resurrection that gives us hope.

It's the resurrection that gives us life after death.

It is only in the resurrection that we can find hope that once we die, he's coming back and we can be arisen.

It is only in resurrection that that we can hope and that we pray that that, while we are dead in our sins, he can make us alive together with him, and that only happens because of the resurrection.

They, they needed the resurrection and if they didn't believe in that, listen, they believed in vain.

Listen.

And if you are here today, I would say you probably acknowledge the resurrection and at least would give ear service to at least that's what we believe.

But listen, I hear all the time people who claim to be Christians, who preach a gospel different than this gospel, than the gospel that Paul preached, than the gospel that Paul preached, than the gospel that is presented to us in the New Testament.

And hear me, if you believe any gospel other than this gospel, you believe in vain.

This is the gospel message, and Paul says in verse 3 that he has made it in his ministry of first importance.

So if we, if the message that, if the gospel that we believe is not the gospel message and paul made it of first importance we need to understand what this gospel message is.

So the question that we want to answer today, the question that we are seeking to, to seeking to find resolve to, is what is the gospel message?

What is this message that Paul made of first importance.

So he begins in verse four, or verse three.

At the end of verse three actually says the first part of this is that Christ died, that Christ died.

Listen, history tells us that Christ died.

Again, if you are here this morning, even if you don't believe that Christ died, you would probably at least acknowledge that that is what we believe, that Christ died.

So why, why did Christ die?

Why did he have to go to the cross?

Is it something that had to happen?

Well, why?

Why?

Well, paul tells us Christ died for our sins.

He died for our sins.

So why did he have to die for our sins?

Well, paul explains that in Romans, chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

In Romans, chapter 3, if we start reading in verse 21, paul says this but now the righteousness of God has been manifested, apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

For all who believe, there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Paul tells us here in Romans this that the righteousness of God has been manifested to us.

It has been revealed to us and, for those who believe in Christ, it has been given to us.

The righteousness of God has been given to us.

But there's a problem with that that righteousness is not free.

I know you hear all the time well, salvation is free, a free gift.

Salvation is a free gift to you and it is a free gift to me, but salvation is not free.

Here's the problem.

We have all sinned, you've sinned, I've sinned, the choir has sinned, the orchestra has sinned, we've all sinned.

And because, because of that sin, we stand guilty before a righteous God, and because God is righteous and because he is just, justification has to happen.

Justification means that something has to happen with our sin.

A price has to be paid for our sin.

If it falls on us, it means our death, and not just our physical death, it means our eternal death.

But God sent Jesus.

God sent Jesus to be a propitiation or an atoning sacrifice for our sin.

God sent Jesus, who lived a perfect life, who was holy and righteous and perfect in every way.

And Jesus died on the cross, taking upon himself the wrath of God, the punishment for your sin and my sin.

Jesus took that on the cross.

He died for our sin and Jesus took that on the cross.

He died for our sin.

Therefore, a just God and justification could be given to us because the price was paid.

We have been redeemed.

Now that redemption that he offers to us is a free gift if we believe in Jesus.

So he is the just, he lived a perfect life and he is the justifier.

He is the one who offers us redemption, who offers us justification through his redemption, because he died for us.

Jesus died for our sins in accordance with Scripture.

Listen, I would contend with you this morning that all of Scripture points to the fact that Jesus and that all of Scripture points to the fact that a Messiah was coming to die on the cross for us.

And Jesus is that Messiah.

All throughout the Old Testament, even right here in Romans, he tells us for the law and the prophets pointed towards it.

But this morning, if you will endear me to read to you one of the prophets and how he described this Messiah In Isaiah, chapter 53, isaiah wrote this who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of the dry ground.

He had no form or majesty that we should look upon him and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men.

A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces.

He was despised and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

We esteemed him.

Stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

He was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to slaughter, like a sheep that is before its shearers is silent.

So he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment, he was taken away.

And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people, and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.

He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt.

He shall see his offering.

He shall prolong his days.

The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge.

Shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Hear that Isaiah is telling us this that the crucifixion of Jesus was no accident.

Jesus is not a victim of the crucifixion.

He is not a victim of the Roman government.

He is not a victim of the Sanhedrin.

He is not a victim of the Roman government.

He is not a victim of the Sanhedrin.

He is not a victim.

Jesus came because God loved us so much that he sent his only son to die on the cross for our sin.

It was a plan given by God before the foundation of time.

Jesus died for our sins, in accordance to scripture.

Then he was buried.

Well, you say, grant, of course he was buried.

I mean, that's what we do, right?

We do something with a dead body, something happens to it.

We bury it or we do something with the body.

We just don't leave it lying around.

He was buried, but there's two things we see in His burial.

First, it affirms to us the reality that Jesus died.

He was dead.

He didn't just pass out, he was dead.

He actually quit breathing.

If this was a plan given by God before the foundation of the world, a plan would not include laying a live person in a tomb for three days.

They're not going to live very long there.

He was dead.

It also affirms to us the reality that his corpse was reanimated.

It was a dead body that became alive.

It wasn't a zombie, it wasn't a walking dead situation that we had happening.

It was a dead body who took breath and came back to life.

Jesus died on the cross.

In accordance with Scripture, he was buried and he rose on the third day.

In accordance with Scripture, he was raised.

Listen, we've already talked about how Scripture points to the fact.

It points us that all throughout history, the prophets, the law, pointed to a Messiah coming, living, dying, rising.

The third day basically seems like a statement of fact that on the third day he was raised.

It happened.

So he was raised on the third day.

But there's a couple of things that I want us to see again in this verb of he was raised, want us to see again in this verb of he was raised.

First of all, this is a passive tense verb, which means the action happened to jesus.

He was raised.

Someone raised him, who god?

He was raised by the power of god almighty.

He was raised because god looked down upon him and brought life back into him.

The father brought life back into him.

Jesus was raised by God and what we can find in this is that the sacrifice that Christ paid for us, that he died on the cross for our sins, that sacrifice that he offered for us, hear me was acceptable and sufficient for God.

It was an acceptable sacrifice to God.

It was enough to cover our sins and we know that because God raised him, he raised him.

We also see in the tense of this verb that it happened.

He raised him, and the force behind that resurrection remains in effect today.

He was raised and is still alive.

Listen, we find throughout the Bible other people who were resurrected from the dead.

We even see Jesus resurrecting people from the dead, right.

Do you know what happened to all those people who were resurrected, except for Jesus, though?

They died again, but not Jesus.

He was raised and is still alive.

And what scripture teaches us is that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father, praying, making intercession, praying for us.

Hear me, if that Jesus, who died for our sins and by the power of God, was raised for us, if he is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father praying for us, who shall stand against us?

No one.

Jesus died for our sins in accordance with Scripture.

He was buried.

He was raised on the third day, in accordance with scripture.

The last aspect of the gospel message that we see here is this he appeared, he appeared.

Listen, you don't just have to take the words of the apostles, you don't have to just take the words of the 12th.

Now he gives us an order of appearance.

It says paul says he appeared first to p.

Take the words of the 12.

Now he gives us an order of appearance.

Paul says he appeared first to Peter and then to the 12.

But we don't have to just take their word for it.

If it was just them, you would say, yeah, of course they were his followers.

But here, who else?

He appeared to 500 at one time, to 500 people at one time.

Take any court, take any case to court, and if you have 500 eyewitnesses who claim that they saw what happened, the court is going to decide in favor of 500 witnesses.

You had 500 people to whom Jesus appeared and they became witnesses.

But you may make the argument, grant, still though they were his followers, okay, but see what happened to his followers.

They were beaten, they were tortured, many of them were killed.

And again you might say but Grant, zealots die all the time.

They are martyred all the time for something that you claim to be untrue.

Okay, fine, but hear the difference in the martyr of any other religion and the martyr of someone who is a Christian and the martyr of someone who is a Christian.

All other religions.

What they are trying to do is they are trying to earn favor with their God.

They are working to get to their God and, of course, the ultimate sacrifice would be death.

So if they can die to earn the favor of their God, surely their God will accept their sacrifice.

They are trying to earn His favor.

But that is not so with Christianity.

People are not dying to earn favor with God because we believe that you can't work your way to a relationship with God.

We believe and we contend that our relationship with God is not based on our work.

It's based on the work that Jesus died for our sins in accordance with Scripture, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day, in accordance to Scripture.

So people are not dying to earn favor with God.

These witnesses died because they were in favor with God, because of what Jesus had done for them.

We need to believe in this gospel.

Paul tells us exactly what that means.

He says I preached.

You have heard the gospel message.

He said you received, you received.

You hear the gospel message in which you stand.

Here's where it comes.

Here's where we get to the nitty gritty.

You can hear the gospel message and not stand in it.

You can hear the gospel message and not stand in it.

You have to hear the gospel message, believe the validity of that gospel message that Jesus did come and die for your sins, that he was buried and that he arose for us, and then we have to trust Him with our eternal security and be saved continuously.

Listen, I don't know where you are today, but if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, if you have never believed this gospel message, if you have never put your whole life into this fact that Jesus died for your sins, that he was buried and that he arose, we invite you to do so today.

We're going to sing a song of invitation in just a moment and if you have never trusted Christ, if you've never believed in Christ as your Savior, we invite you to come.

We'll be down here, we will share with you, we'll pray with you, there will be people who can take you out and share with you how you can trust Christ.

But if you have, maybe this morning you are not living in the assurance of your salvation.

Hear me that salvation.

When we accept Christ, we stand and we continue to stand, not by our strength, but by His strength.

We are saved, and salvation is something that we experience every day, not because of my goodness and not because of your goodness, but because of His goodness.

Maybe this morning you need to go back to that place.

Maybe this morning you just need to come and kneel on these steps, make them your altar and seek forgiveness and confess.

Maybe this morning you would like for us to pray with you.

We'll be here.

We will pray with you.

We'll be here.

We will pray with you.

But as we sing this hymn of invitation, we invite you to come.

However, god is moving and working in your life.

As we sing this hymn of invitation, we invite you to come.

Let us pray with you, let us help you and let's walk together and believe that Jesus died for our sins in accordance with Scripture, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance to Scripture, and that he appeared and we can trust Him.

Let's pray, god.

We are thankful for today.

We are thankful for how much you love us.

We are thankful for all that you have done for us, jesus, that you came and that you lived and that you died and that you arose so that we may have life.

I pray for those who are here this morning, who need you.

God, call them, give them the faith they need to respond.

God, as you move in this place today, soften our hearts, draw us to you, jesus, it's in your wonderful name that we pray.

Amen.

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