In his book, A Case for the Real Jesus, Lee Strobel said... "A reporter on the streets of Chicago soon develops more than a passing acquaintance with death. Often the people directly embroiled in an unfolding tragedy—the car accident, the gang fight, the convenience store robbery gone awry—are too bewildered and disoriented to fully comprehend their predicament. But from the detached perspective of the reporter, the grim outcome is much more foreseeable. And when death finally does seize its victims, when their eyes stare blankly, then all hope is gone. They've spoken their last word, they've breathed their last breath, and their time is done—they won't be coming back." (Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus, 474.)
Mark 15:37 (NIV)
[37] With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
Lee Strobel describes death with the detail of a man who has been in the presence of the moment of death many times. Listen to his words again...
"And when death finally does seize its victims, when their eyes stare blankly, then all hope is gone. They've spoken their last word, they've breathed their last breath, and their time is done—they won't be coming back." (Strobel, The Case for the Real Jesus, 475.)
When Jesus screamed and the air rushed out of His lungs for the last time, it seemed to the disciples that all hope was gone. They turned from the cross and gathered in a room cowering in fear for their own lives. Today the work of those disciples of the early Christian faith is as strong as it was from the beginning. What was it that brought hope back into the lives of these original disciples?
The Christian Faith is not based on tradition built upon legend or mythology. The Christian Faith is not a collection of religious statements that are pseudo in nature. The Christian Faith is something you can stand firmly upon with hope for eternal security. The one thing that makes the Christian Faith different from all other religions is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle Paul establishes this bedrock foundation for the Christian Faith.
1 Corinthians 15 (NIV)
[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.
Paul's words, "receive and take your stand", are significant for us today. It is important to understand that there is a point at which one must enter into Christianity by both
belief and a life changing commitment. The Bible is clear in it's proclamation that Salvation has conditions.
In this first verse the Greek word stand is translated in various ways. English words like fixed, stand firm, hold, stopped, came to a halt are all used to describe this Greek word. It is important to get the picture here. When I was in the USAF, in technical school, I was a student squadron commander. Once a week we had to march in parade before the school commanders and officers. I had 600 men marching in formation behind me. As we came the
center of the parade grounds I gave a single command, "halt", and all 600 men would come to a complete standstill. No one ran into each other, no one fell, in perfect unison they all came to a standstill. This is the picture Paul wants us to see here. When these people had come to believe in the Gospel message their lives came to a complete standstill. They turned the focus of their life in a completely different direction. They had not practiced for hours and hours in formations to learn the perfect cadence of marching. They were not used to hearing the command, "halt", like a trained soldier is used to hearing. So what was it that made them stop in their track and turn their lives around? We will see the answer to that question in a moment but first Paul wants his readers to understand another important fact about Christianity.
[2] By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
It is also just as important to understand that once one enters into Christianity there is the necessity of a lifelong commitment to the Gospel message. That is what Paul meant when he said they had taken their stand. But that brings a question to the surface of our mind: Why should I believe with this kind of lifelong commitment?
After extensive research which brought Lee Strobel from
atheism to a strong belief in Christ, he makes a comment about 1Co 15:3-8 that is noteworthy for you and I today. He said, "The apostle Paul preserved a creed of the early church that was based on eyewitness accounts of Jesus' return from the dead— and which various scholars have dated to as early as twenty-four to thirty-six months after Jesus' death.", (Strobel, The Case for Faith, 73). This early statement of faith was the statement of belief formulated by the men and women who lived with Jesus and saw Him after His resurrection. Listen to the words of this early creed...
[3] For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
[4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
[5] and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
[6] After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
[7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
[8] and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
"...he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living..." These words, are one of the strongest proofs of the resurrection of Jesus that can be found today. These words express the reality of eye witness testimony. Jesus did not just appear to a few people here and there, He appeared to 500 at once and most of them are still alive at the time of the writing of this statement. If this had been a lie, there were plenty of people who were still alive that could have refuted it. But they did not, and this is a confirmation of the reliability of their testimony. A dead man has come back to life again.
This early statement of faith radically changed the lives of those who believed, took their stand, and held firmly to this word. But most people do not to want to make such a commitment because the throne of their heart is occupied by self. This kind of commitment takes setting self aside and
allowing Christ to occupy that throne. Paul continues...
[9] For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
[10] But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
[11] Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
[12] But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
[13] If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
[14] And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
[15] More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
[16] For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
[17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
[18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
[19] If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
In the last couple of years many among our congregation and friends, have lost loved ones. There is a natural process that one goes through when they loose a loved one.
~ There is denial and disbelief.
~ There is anger and resentment.
~ There is sorrow and deep grief.
~ Eventually there can be acceptance and peace.
This acceptance and peace does not indicate a complete loss of sorrow and grief but it is a release from the kind of sorrow and deep grief that cripples one emotionally. One's belief in the resurrection can bring that
acceptance and peace. But if Christ has not been raised from the dead... I don't want to think about what our world would be like if there were no hope for life after death.
[20] But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
[21] For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
[22] For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
[23] But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
[24] Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
[25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
[26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Remember what we said a few weeks ago about hope? Hope is based on a reliable promise from a reliable source. Christ came out of the grave, a reliable source. Christ promises that one day we will come out of our grave. Don't be timid in thinking about death and what eternal life might be like for you or any of your loved ones. On resurrection day, everyone will get what they wished for in this life. No one goes into eternity without God unless that is what they want, and the indication of what an individual wants is shown by the life they live. We either live for God or for self, and we will spend
eternity with God or with self. Paul goes on to talk about what life after death will be like for the one who lives for God.
[42] So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
[43] it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
[44] it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
[45] So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
[46] The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
[47] The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
[48] As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
[49] And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
Remember what we learned about hope? Hope is based on something beyond myself; something greater than myself.
[50] I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
[51] Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
[52] in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
[53] For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
[54] When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
[55] “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
[56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
[57] But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[58] Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Listen to Paul's words. No! We cannot just listen to Paul's words, we must take them into our hearts if we want the kind of hope of eternal life that he speaks of in these verses.
~ Stand firm!
~ Let nothing move you!
~ Give yourselves fully!
~ Your labor in the Lord is not in vain!
Why? Because we have a reliable promise from a reliable source. Because Jesus came out of the grave, we too shall come out of our grave with an imperishable body to enjoy eternal life in the presence of the King of kings.
NIV - The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2003.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for Faith, (Palm Reader edition). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for the Real Jesus, (Palm Reader edition). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007.