Of First Importance - The Resurrection

Why don't we pray together?

Our gracious Father, we pray that as we open your word,

you would illuminate our minds and our hearts.

And Father, we pray that we may live in the light

of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And we pray these things in his name.

Amen.

And talking of things that,

people missing things that are important,

I love that story that was in the newspapers

just this last week of this very kindly lady

who thought she saw a hedgehog at the roadside,

picked it up, put it in a box and gave it some milk,

although it wasn't in a mood to drink milk apparently.

And she took it to the vet.

The vet took it out of the box only to discover

that actually it wasn't a hedgehog,

it was the bobble of somebody's bobble hat

she picked up and put in a box.

We know that, and as I said,

sometimes it's just trivial stuff that we miss

that's important.

But sometimes things are really important.

And I want to suggest to you today

that maybe the important,

the most important fact in the whole of Scripture,

we may not see as important as in fact it is.

In 1 Corinthians 15,

we have one of the earliest texts in the New Testament.

It was written pretty,

within 20 years very likely,

of Jesus' ascension into heaven.

And what the verses we read talked to us about

is what the theologian C.H. Dodd called the kerygma.

That is the first expression of actually what the gospel,

what the good news of Jesus Christ actually is.

And you can read it there,

and I shall read some of it to you now.

So, this is really important.

So, Paul writes this,

for what I received I passed on to you

as of first importance.

This, for believers,

is not, you know,

some kind of random set of verses

that we might casually like to kind of

gently take note of.

No, this is of first importance,

and it was handed down.

And in the church today,

we're a little less clear

as to what that might look like.

What are the truths

that have been handed down to us?

Well, somebody asked me that question,

I would say,

the truths are included here

in 1 Corinthians 15,

the kerygma.

I received what I passed on to you

as first importance,

that Christ died for our sins

according to the scriptures.

Christ died for my sin

and for your sin.

According to scripture,

there is nothing that you could do

that God couldn't forgive

apart from

the idea of sinning against the Holy Spirit.

That is refusing to accept

what God has shown to be true.

Sometimes I think,

as somebody who's been brought up

in and around evangelical churches,

we rather treat the resurrection

as if it was just a kind of nice end

to a rather promising story.

We don't get that the resurrection

is absolutely basic

to the whole gospel,

the whole good news

about Jesus Christ.

Tony Campolo wrote a book

some years ago.

It was called

It's Friday and Sunday's Coming.

And his point was

that too often

we Christians,

particularly if I may say so,

Christians who regard themselves

as biblical Christians,

live in the shadow of the cross

rather than the light

of the resurrection.

That was Campolo's

very point.

And so,

I need to ask you

this morning,

do you live the risen life

or do you live

something less than that?

Let me say that again.

Do you live the risen life

or do you live

something less?

Say more about this

when I come to the conclusion

of what I want to say

to you this morning.

But what the resurrection means

is we have the hope

not just of heaven

and that would be a promise

enough, wouldn't it?

But we have the promise

that through the resurrection

we may never lose hope

that we might rise above

our problems in this life

in order that we might live

the risen life.

So I want to say to you

three things this morning

about this passage.

Firstly,

the resurrection

is fundamental

to our confession

of the Christian faith

and our salvation.

In Romans chapter 10

Romans 10 · chapter mention

and verse 9

we read this.

If you confess

with your lips

that Jesus is Lord

and believe

in your heart

that God raised him

from the dead

you will be saved.

It's that simple

but it's that profound.

If you confess

with your lips

that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart

that God raised him

from the dead

you will be saved.

That must be

either the most

stupendous lie

ever written

or the most important

truth

ever written.

Interesting

that Paul

says there

believe in your heart

and many of us

in the 21st century

actually think

that it would be

more important

that we would believe

in our heads.

But of course

within Judaism

round about

the time

Jesus was around

and before

the heart

was thought

not just to be

the seat of the emotions

incidentally

together with the bowels

but also

the seat

of our intellect.

So when Paul says

believe in your heart

he's appealing

not only to what we feel

but to what we think.

If you believe

in your heart

that God raised Jesus

from the dead.

One of the things

that's fascinated me

is that people

who are far smarter

than me

and have much more

forensic minds

than I do

have sat down

to disprove

the resurrection

of Christ

the most famous

of which was a guy

called Frank Morrison.

Frank Morrison

was a silk

a queen's counselor

a barrister

who decided

he would write

a book

that would charter

without any doubts

that Jesus

never rose

from the dead.

ended up believing

when he looked

at the evidence

that Jesus

is alive.

Lee Strobel

atheist

legal correspondent

of the Chicago Tribune

he disbelieved

everything

and was very

aggressive

about his

hatred

of the Bible

till his wife

Leslie

started to go

to church

and eventually

gave her life

to Christ

and Lee

noticed such a change

in his wife

that he thought

he better go along

to the same church

and find out

what was happening

and there

he gave his life

to Christ

and is now

a Christian apologist

his book

The Case for Christ

is one of the most

significant books

you could read.

Listen

if

if Jesus

wasn't raised

from the dead

if he wasn't

raised from the dead

would we be here

today?

Would we be here

even if

in our own minds

we're a little shaky

about

did this really happen?

Would we be here

today

if

the truth

that Paul says

in 1 Corinthians 15

had not been done

for us?

Let me remind you

of those words

for what I received

I passed

on to you

as of first

importance.

I thank God

for the saints

in the church

I don't just mean

those who appear

in stained glass

windows

St. Paul

as far as

St. Paul is concerned

if you're a disciple

of Jesus Christ

you are a saint

you're a saint

not sure I'd want to see

any stained glass

that you appeared in

but you're a saint

and I'm grateful

that before me

went men

and women

who trusted Christ

often

in the most

adverse conditions

they remained

faithful to God

and received

his promise

some of the finest

minds

in human history

and let me just say

to you

that

you may have read

that

Richard Dawkins

now

that well-known

Oxford atheist

is now reported

that he describes

himself

as a cultural

Christian

cultural Christian

what he thinks

is right

it's just

I mean

I find this

harder to believe

than I find the

resurrection

to be honest

but he believes

that cultural

Christianity

what he means

by that

is

he'd be horrified

if all our

cathedrals

and churches

disappeared

but he's very

glad that

Christian

attendance in

churches

is declining

in numbers

you see

that won't do

will it

you see

you either

believe the

resurrection

or all you're

doing

is following

a kind of

ethic

or trying

your best

to follow

an ethical

code

if the

resurrection

isn't true

there is

no hope

for us

I'm glad

that the

saints

handed on

what was

of first

importance

throughout

history

to people

like us

if you

confess

with your

lips

that

Jesus

is

Lord

and

believe

in your

heart

that God

raised him

from the

dead

you will

be saved

could

Jesus

be

Lord

without

the

resurrection

what it

means to

confess

that Jesus

Christ

is Lord

is not

just to

sing a

hymn

about it

or say

a prayer

about it

what it

means is

to bring

your life

under the

lordship

of Jesus

Christ

to take

yourself

off the

throne

of your

existence

and put

Christ

there

that he

may be

your friend

may be

your guide

and will

be your

saviour

but will

be your

Lord

on Easter

Easter

tide

we celebrate

that Jesus

is alive

if there

were no

resurrection

then I

suspect that

Jesus

would be

just

registered

in history

as somebody

who generally

did good

people like

a bit like

Nelson Mandela

or Gandhi

and of course

you can go

and see

their graves

today

without the

resurrection

every claim

that Jesus

made about

himself

would be

invalidated

confess

with your

mouth

Jesus

is

Lord

I

wonder

if there

are people

in church

this morning

who want

a saviour

they want

to be

saved from

the consequences

of their

sin

but aren't

quite so

sure

whether

they want

Jesus

as Lord

maybe

today

in this

church

the Holy

Spirit

might

whisper

to you

that you

might

confess

that Jesus

is Lord

and believe

in your

heart

that God

raised him

from the

dead

second thing

I want to

say to you

is

and one

of my

home group

reminded me

of this

in a

text on

Easter

morning

the

resurrection

changes

everything

as I've

said

without the

resurrection

the story

of Jesus

would just

be a

story

that

ended up

going

no place

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15

and verse 14

the great

apostle writes

these words

if Christ

is not

raised from

the dead

we have

nothing to

preach

and you

have nothing

to believe

it's hard

to believe

isn't it

that Paul

himself

could ever

think of

a circumstance

where he

wouldn't have

anything to

say

if Christ

is not

raised from

the dead

we have

nothing to

preach

and you

have nothing

to believe

the

resurrection

changes

everything

the

apostles

ministry

that

started

the whole

movement

of

Christianity

after

the death

and resurrection

and ascension

of Jesus

that whole

movement

would just

have

collapsed

when you

look in

the Acts

of the

Apostles

chapter 2

verse 24

very early

on

chapter 3

verse 15

chapter 4

verse 10

chapter 15

verse 31

every time

one of the

apostles

addresses a

crowd of

people

they're very

keen to

affirm

Jesus

is raised

from the

dead

the passage

we had read

this morning

we're reminded

that 500

people at

one time

saw Jesus

historians

of the church

Josephus

Eusebius

Irenaeus

people like

this

all reference

the physical

resurrection

of Jesus

the resurrection

changes

everything

it takes

our darkness

and transforms

it into

light

it takes

my hopelessness

and turns

it into

hope

it takes

my problems

and doesn't

necessarily

eradicate

them

but helps

me to

rise above

them

without the

resurrection

people today

and people

throughout history

would just

have been

duped

by a

funny idea

let me say

from my

own point

of view

I remember

George Carey

told me

one day

about a

man called

Willie Sutton

who was a

famous bank

robber

in the

USA

and

somebody

said to

him

he was

being

arrested

for an

armed

robbery

for the

umpteenth

time

and he's

going to

a police

car

and the

journalists

are there

with those

big

flash gun

cameras

that they

used to

have

back in

the 1920s

somebody

shouted

Mr.

Sutton

why do

you keep

robbing

banks

Willie Sutton

just said

because that's

where the

money is

why am I

a Christian

because I

believe that's

where truth

is

and because I

believe the

only way I

can make sense

of this mess

that we've

created in this

world

is through

faith in

Jesus Christ

the only hope

I can have

in the face of

these terrible

problems that we

have right now

overwhelming

problems

problems that

a lot of people

are sitting down

in despair

over saying

we have no

way of

solving this

I believe

faith in

Jesus Christ

will see

as home

not just

in

when we

die

but in

this life

as well

the final

thing I need

to say to

you is the

resurrection

means hope

sometimes

Christians

in our past

have made

the Christian

faith sound

like it

to use

that phrase

pie in

the sky

when you

die

of course

the

resurrection

has an

impact

on our

physical

death

it means

that when

you die

you will

not face

a brick

wall

but you

will face

a gateway

into

something

better

something

so

better

you can't

begin

to imagine

it

there is

no

analogy

no

allegory

that human

being can

tell

which

describe

exactly

what it

will be

like

to be in

the presence

of God

for eternity

if you

read the

book of

revelation

through

especially

the

chapters

four

to the

end

you will

read there

of a

writer

who is

desperate

to try

and find

the right

kind

of

language

to describe

the realities

of God

but of course

he fails

because he

has a

finite

mind

and God

is

infinite

night

look

I don't

want anybody

to leave

this church

this morning

without

understanding

how significant

how important

how basic

how fundamental

the resurrection

is to why

we're here

to why

in a few

moments time

we'll celebrate

the Holy

Communion

together

but of course

the resurrection

isn't just

hope

that when

we die

we will

be received

into heaven

it's also

about

spiritual

death

the Bible

teaches us

that without

God

as revealed

in Jesus

Christ

in our

lives

we are

spiritually

dead

in Ephesians

Paul writes

about this

chapter 2

in the first

verses of

chapter 2

Paul writes

for this

very very

graphically

when he

talks about

what we were

like before

we knew

Christ

just listen

to this

it's not

my idea

this is

Paul writing

as for you

as for you

you were dead

in your

transgressions

and sins

in which you

used to live

when you

followed the

ways of this

world

and of the

ruler of the

kingdom of the

air

the spirit

who is now

at work

in those

who are

disobedient

all of us

lived among

them

says Paul

at one

time

gratifying

the cravings

of our

sinful nature

and following

its desires

and thoughts

like the

rest

we were

by nature

objects

of wrath

what the

gospel will

do for you

is

it will

save you

not only

from your

own sin

but it will

save you

from the

wrath of

God

try and

persuade me

that that

is not

important

I don't

know what

you make

of the

resurrection

I've tried

to make

the case

to you

this morning

that it

is the

most

significant

truth

in human

history

maybe

some of

you struggle

with it

because you

are

intellectually

proud

or you're

ignorant

Paul

says

we need

to believe

in our

hearts

we need

to trust

God

and if you

want a

working

definition

of faith

I think

faith is

taking God

at his

word

and then

living

as though

you believe

it

you believe

that word

I hope

today

there may be

those of you

who've not

quite

envisioned

the significance

and importance

of the

resurrection

might think

again

that those of

you who are

in grave

doubt as to

whether or not

God's salvation

is yours

might think

again

as Paul

said

to end

that reading

we had

an amazing

statement

which surely

breathes

hope to all

us

having

meditated

on

the

kerygma

the gospel

Paul then

says

by the grace

of God

by the grace

of God

I am

what I

am

can you

say that

my friend

wouldn't you

love to say

that

by the grace

of God

not by my

effort

not by my

confusion

not by my

intellectual

superiority

and pride

but by the

grace of God

I am

what I am

may that

grace

this morning

be poured

out into

your hearts

that you

may know

that Jesus

is alive

and he's

got a plan

for your

life

and that he

loves you

and that he

longs to see

that plan

fulfilled

in you

and through

you

why don't we

pray

Lord I

pray for

anybody

in the

house

this

morning

who

probably

fits the

description

of cultural

Christian

rather than

faithful

disciple

and Lord

I ask

that in

your grace

and your

mercy

and in

the power

of your

spirit

their eyes

might be

opened

that they

may behold

you the

risen

Jesus

Father I

pray for

anyone in

the house

who feels

bound down

by the

problems

that they

experience

in their

lives

Lord may

the truth

of the

resurrection

touch

their hearts

Lord that

they might

rise above

their problems

and Lord

we ask

that as

your people

you would

help us

not just

to enjoy

the shadow

of your

cross

but Lord

to rejoice

in the

light

of your

resurrection

so

Father

would you

please

come this

morning

surprise us

by your

presence

and Lord

by your

word

and we

pray these

things in

Jesus name

and the

people who

agreed

said

together

Amen