A.The annual celebration of Easter is neither commanded nor commended by the Scriptures.
1.All of the traditions of Easter – eggs, rabbits, Lent, ham, etc. – have pagan origins.Like many holidays, Easter was adopted into Christianity as a means of accommodating and attracting pagans into the Roman Catholic church by the direction of Emperor Constantine (A.D. 272-337).
2.The First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) established the observance of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox.It is not directly tied to the Jewish Passover as described in the Old Testament (Ex. 12:1-27).
3.The King James Version of the Bible incorrectly uses the word "Easter” in Acts 12:4.In that verse, the Greek word pascha refers to the Passover rather than Easter.
B.Nevertheless, this day presents an opportunity to consider Christ’s resurrection and its meaning to us as a guarantee of our own resurrection.
1.A Christian’s memory of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection must be a daily exercise."Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel” (2Tim. 2:8).
2.On the first day of the week, that memory takes on a special form in the memorial of the Lord’s Supper observed in the assembly of the saints (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1Cor. 11:23-26).
3.As we consider Christ’s resurrection today, let us understand that it is essential to our faith and hope.Our text will be 1Corinthians 15:1-28.
II.OF FIRST IMPORTANCE
A.The core of the gospel message is the historical events of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (1Cor. 15:1-4).
1.Every Christian has heard this message, received (believed) it, stood in it, and been saved by it.No one can claim faith in Christ or salvation without an abiding conviction of these vital events.
2.For this reason, Paul says that these events are "of first importance.”
a.Every principle of the New Testament is meaningless without the truth of these events.
b.Moreover, every principle of Christianity is profoundly meaningful and important precisely because of these events.Every point of New Testament religion matters because it is the word of the Christ who died, was buried, and arose on the third day.
B.For us, it is vitally important that there were eyewitnesses to these events who left their testimony for us to know (1Cor. 15:5-11).
1.Without these witnesses, we could not know what happened concerning Jesus almost two-thousand years ago.Other sources, like Josephus, tell us of Jesus, but they do not give full and detailed accounts or explain the meaning of these events as Christ’s witnesses do.
2.There were many witnesses of the resurrected Christ, and most of them were still available to give their testimony when Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
a.Paul himself provided his own eyewitness testimony of what he had seen of Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9; 22:1-21; 26:1-23).
b.This abundance of witnesses and the agreement of their testimony was a great problem for the opponents of Christ in the first century, and it remains so today.Many efforts have been made to silence these witnesses and erase their testimony, but by the preserving providence of God, they still speak to us from the grave.
III.IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESURRECTION
A.If Christ was not raised from the dead, then the implications for our faith and hope are devastating (1Cor. 15:12-19).
1.The same Jesus who said about His own body, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19), also said, "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).If Jesus did not raise up His own body as He said, then He will not raise others at the call of His voice.
2.In Corinth, some Christians had been influenced to disbelieve in the general resurrection of the dead, but they had not realized how their disbelief impacted their faith in Christ.
a.If the resurrection is impossible, then Christ was not raised.This was a denial of a core event of the gospel which they had received, in which they stood, and by which they were saved (1Cor. 15:1-2).
b.If Christ was not raised, then Christianity is worthless.Preaching the gospel is vain, faith in Christ is vain, and every Christian, dead or alive, is still lost in sin and without hope.
c.Even worse, if Christ was not raised, then every Christian who professes the gospel is a liar and a false teacher against God.As such, Christians would incur an even greater judgment (Jas. 3:1).
d.All of these implications still hold for us today, for "[i]f we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1Cor. 15:19).
B.Because Jesus was indeed raised from the dead, our hope in Him is secure and wonderful (1Cor. 15:20-28).
1.In verse 20, Paul is very clear, bold, and affirmative, saying, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead…”All of the implications discussed in verses 13-19 are false, for Christ truly has been raised.
2.Saying that Christ is "the first fruits of those who are asleep” indicates that the resurrection of Jesus is only the first of many more to follow.As Jesus said in John 5:28, "[A]n hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth.”
3.In verses 21-22, Paul compares death in Adam to resurrection in Christ.Just as death has certainly come through Adam, so also life (after death) has certainly come through Christ.
4.Verses 23-24 give the order of events concerning the resurrection.
a.Christ is first, and of course He has already been raised.
b.Next are "those who are Christ’s at His coming.”Paul gives more insight into this event in 1Thessalonians 4:16-17, where he says:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
c.The final event is the delivery of the kingdom to God the Father.Clearly, "those who are Christ’s at His coming” are citizens of this kingdom and will be delivered to the Father.
5.Verses 25-28 expound upon the kingdom of God and the timing of the resurrection.
a.Jesus "must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”Indeed, He is reigning now over the kingdom from the throne of David at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Acts 2:29-36; Eph. 1:20-23).
b."The last enemy that will be abolished is death,” and that will occur in the fullest measure when Christ raises the dead.Jesus guaranteed this victory when he rose from the grave and rendered "powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14).
c.At last, when all things are subjected to Jesus and every enemy power and authority is abolished, the kingdom will be delivered and the Son will be subjected to the Father so "that God may be all in all.”
IV.CONCLUSION
A.The resurrection of Jesus Christ is truly a matter of life and death for us (1Cor. 15:51-57).
1.If Christ had not been raised, then death would be the only possible end for any of us.
2.Because Christ has been raised, eternal life is within reach of every soul through the gospel of Christ.
B.Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we are emboldened to live faithfully for Him."Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1Cor. 15:58).Our toil in the work of the Lord will be rewarded at the resurrection.
