1 Corinthians 15 - Resurrection & God Saves

Tom Shrader examines the foundational importance of Christ's resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15, arguing that without the resurrection, Christianity is meaningless. He presents historical evidence for the empty tomb and Christ's appearances to witnesses, then explains how the resurrection gives believers hope beyond death and strength to live faithfully in difficult circumstances.

“If you don't believe in the actual, physical, literal resurrection of Christ, what I think the scripture says is there's no salvation for you.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Doctrine

Recorded: 2011

Duration: 57 min

Themes: resurrection, hope, death, salvation, faith, evidence, testimony, eternal, facing death, doubting faith, new believer, seeking truth, questioning Christianity, grieving loss, struggling believer, investigating claims

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, Galatians 1:12, Acts 2:24, Acts 4:12, John 3:16

Theological Themes: resurrection, apologetics, gospel, soteriology, eschatology, eternal life, biblical evidence, salvation doctrine

Full Transcript

If you have Bibles, open them to the book of 1 Corinthians. If you need a Bible, raise your hand. That is page 624 if you get it from us. So it's 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Somebody said today, "How's it going?" I said, "It can't get much better than this." Five weeks from yesterday, first Iowa football game. So we're ready. I was watching a game on tape this weekend and they were wearing throwback uniforms. So look, I went retro today. I did my throwback too. So I'm ready for it, five weeks, and we're looking forward. Devils are supposed to be pretty good too. We'll see what happens.

Embracing This Doctrine Series

We are in week nine of a 13-week series on doctrine, and I'll be honest with you. I was not that excited about doing this series. I kind of wanted to get in and do a book, and that's what we do. The way we decide now is essentially, Justin, Luke, and I are the three primary teachers at the different campuses, and we got together, and the two of them wanted to do this.

I was neutral on it, and a lot of people don't really get it, but I'm pretty coachable and very easy to work with, honestly. So I said, "Okay guys, if you want to do it." I told them last week, I was wrong. This has been a great series, and each week I get a little more excited about it, probably on two levels.

One, I'm always learning, and I'm starting to see that big picture. I think to be reminded over and over again is that God's writing this story, and we need to see where we fit into it. We fit into it as a church, we fit into it individually.

God's Work in Hearts

Probably the other thing, and this is even more important to me, we've had just a huge response from people, especially people who are here at Redemption who are not Christians. Last Sunday, we had five different people come up with our staff. We've started, however long ago, after every service, we have staff or members of ministry teams who are in the front to pray with you. We had five different people come up last week and pray to receive Christ for the very first time.

I understand that. I mean, I got the theology of that, I know that's God doing that in the Holy Spirit. But when we talk to them, what they're seeing is seeing that sequence of things come together. So God is doing something, we've noticed it at Redemption Church.

We're seeing so many people that we don't know that are here for the first time, and many who are coming not just from other churches, but people who are brand new and questions. Maybe that's a little bit about what happens right now, and maybe it's a little bit of economy, a little bit of uncertainty, and so God's doing something in people's heart.

Now maybe you're here today, and that's you. Maybe you came with questions, and we love to say that you came to the right place because we've got answers. But not because we're so smart, but we know the God who created it all, and we know Him, and He gives us answers. So we're not afraid of questions.

We love the fact that God touches people's hearts and prompts you, and maybe even creates a little bit of agony and tension and friction in there. That's okay, that's good. That oftentimes is the Holy Spirit doing something in your life.

Retracing Our Steps

Let me retrace our steps very quickly, and just in sequence of the studies. We began by looking at the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and then we've subsequently seen them at work. Then we looked at Revelation, so we said we can know about a God or a higher power just by looking around.

So I should be able to look at a sunset, at the universe, so look up, or look down to biology, and I should see, "Gosh, there's got to be a creator here. It's just unimaginable that this whole thing's an accident." Now that doesn't in and of itself get me to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but that tells me there's something bigger than me. Then God reveals in His word who He is, who we are, how we as sinful people can come to know Him, a holy God.

So we looked at Revelation, and then creation, that God created all of this, and then we spoke about the capstone of creation, which is you, that God made us in His image, different than a dog or a cat or a cheetah or a mountain or a river or a spider. You're made in the image of God. However, man sinned and shattered that image. So now there's a distortion around us.

Then God said, "You know what, but I'm going to save for me a people." And then we said, the last two weeks plus this week, form a little mini-series within the broader series. We look at God promises now, "I'm going to send a savior to my people," and we look at the incarnation. So the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

God became man, sinless, holy God, becomes human for a specific reason. Not to show us how to live, though He does. Not to teach us, though we're taught. But He does that to live a perfect life, so He's the perfect sacrifice. That's what we saw last week, the power of the cross. And I do think when you proclaim that, so often God just uses that to touch people's heart.

Target-Rich Environment

I would go back and say, it's just a rich, here you go, it's a target-rich environment in which we live. There's so much hurt, so much pain, so much uncertainty. So many different things going on that people are searching.

I remember my hero, my friend Larry Wright, there were years ago, not unlike now, there was a drought in Texas. The governor had called for a day of prayer. There was a letter to the editor that said, "My God, has it come to this?" And so that's kind of where some of us are. We kind of tried everything and looked around, and we keep coming up empty.

We work harder and harder and harder at trying to have fun, and pretty soon it just isn't fun anymore. And many of the things

In your life that you thought would bring you satisfaction have instead brought you hurt and pain and destruction. My guess would be that there are some of you here who've inflicted enormous pain on the people around you, and you're very sorry for it, and very broken, and maybe even feel like, is there even hope, or is there a way out, or can I find redemption or forgiveness? The answer is yes, in Jesus.

So that was the cross. On that cross, Jesus said, "It is finished." The angel told Joseph, "Listen, don't put Mary away. She's going to have a son. You'll name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sin." Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, to give His life a ransom for many. On that cross, He says, "It is finished." Mission accomplished.

The Resurrection is God's Amen to Jesus

Here's the thing: the resurrection is God's amen to Jesus, "It is finished." I try, just in life, to under-promise and over-perform. I'm not prone to be swayed by a lot of hyperbole. I watch enough television and listen to enough people that it's not only good, but if you act now, we'll double the offer. I've seen enough that I don't want to be somebody who says this is what it is and we can't deliver.

But I will tell you this: we are at today as important a topic to the Christian faith as we can ever encounter. I want to read you some comments by three men—Mark Driscoll, James Boyce, and Ray Steadman—about the resurrection.

Driscoll writes this: "If Jesus is dead, then Christianity is dead. If Jesus is alive, Christianity is alive. Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no savior, no salvation, no forgiveness of sin, no hope of resurrected eternal life. Apart from the resurrection, Jesus is reduced to just another good but dead man, and therefore is of no considerable help to us in this life or in life after. Plainly stated, without the resurrection of Jesus, the few billion people today who worship Jesus as God are gullible. Their hope of a resurrection life after this life is the hope of silly fools who trust in a dead man to give them life. Subsequently, the doctrine of Jesus' resurrection is without question profoundly significant and worthy of the most careful consideration and examination."

What Biblical Scholars Say About the Resurrection

James Boyce—I love Boyce, love reading, and many of you probably are not familiar with James Boyce, just a wonderful author. I love the way he writes, he's a brilliant guy, love to listen to him, great voice, he just sounds a little like Dan Aykroyd, really, but I love to listen to Boyce. He writes this: "The resurrection proves that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be and that He accomplished what He claimed to have come to earth to accomplish. The resurrection is the historical base upon which all other Christian doctrines are built and before which all honest doubt must falter."

Steadman: "Everyone here who is a Christian knows that the fundamental question upon which Christianity ultimately rests is, did Jesus Christ actually, literally, physically rise from the dead? Everything hangs on that question."

Now I've shared with you my admiration really for all of those men and others who would affirm that, but you know what, there's a trump card to all of it. You've got it right in front of you: 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look at verse 13 and 14, and it's not Boyce or Steadman or Driscoll—it's the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Paul's Definitive Statement on the Resurrection

This is how big the issue of the resurrection is. Paul says, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain."

From the New Living Translation, it's a paraphrase: "If there's no resurrection of the dead, Christ has not been raised either, and if Christ is not raised, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is useless."

Eugene Peterson, paraphrasing in The Message: "If there's no resurrection, there's no living Christ, and face it, if there's no resurrection of Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors."

That's how big this resurrection is. Let me make it, if I can, even bigger.

The Resurrection is Essential for Salvation

Romans chapter 10 verse 9, Paul writes this: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." What can we deduce from that? Pretty simple: if you don't believe in the literal, physical, actual resurrection of Jesus, salvation is not available to you. That's a huge deal.

So we'll hear those conversations all the time, and naturally they flow with the church calendar, but we'll hear all sorts of conversations around Easter, and you'll hear them in different talk shows, and we'll go, does it really matter? Jesus, did He really raise Him? That doesn't really matter, because at best it was just an illustration. No! Paul says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." If you don't believe in the actual, physical, literal resurrection of Christ, what I think the scripture says is there's no salvation for you. That's big stakes, isn't it?

Examining the Proofs of the Resurrection

Now I want to talk about the specifics around the resurrection, just some proofs and some things that God put in place so that we can know, and I would say beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus rose from the dead. But look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1. We'll spend a little bit of time in this, we'll try to prove this, and then I want to look at the so-what of it.

So Paul writes this: "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, by which also you were saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believe in vain." The NIV deals with that first phrase, and it says this...

Paul's Consistent Message

Paul begins by saying, "Indeed I remind you." Paul's saying this shouldn't surprise us, because Paul tells us he preaches one thing: Christ and Christ crucified. Death and resurrection. It's really the two sides of the same coin—you really can't separate those. Paul says he's reminding them because he comes to them again and again and again, and everything he preaches, he preaches around the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ.

Paul is not saying that's the only topic he deals with. Paul says he'll talk about marriage and family and work, and he'll talk about sexuality and all these issues, but always in the context of the death and resurrection of Christ. That's our power. That's what separates us from the rest of the world, from every other faith or every other religion. We serve a risen Christ.

Paul's Deep Love for the Corinthians

He addresses them, and I love this—he says, "you're my brethren." Chapter 1 verse 10, chapter 2 verse 1, chapter 3 verse 1, chapter 10 verse 1—in all of those he calls them brethren, brothers. But at the end of this, look at verse 58 of chapter 15, he says, "therefore my beloved brethren." We need to understand that Paul's saying he loves them deeply, and especially in this letter of 1 Corinthians. In the course of this, Paul's dealing with sin within that local body, he's dealing with all sorts of issues, and he's right in their grill. He doesn't back off at all, but he's saying he does this because he really loves them. He's telling them this because he really cares.

So again, we'll see these things often. I'll talk to people, and they'll say, "You know, I got my brother, I got my sister, I got my best friend, and I just don't want to talk to them about the gospel, because I'm afraid it'll divide us. I'm afraid it'll become an issue between us." And then my only conclusion is, then you don't love them very much. You'd rather spend a few fleeting moments with them here on earth than eternity in heaven.

A World That Hates Faith

"My brethren, I love you. I want to make known to you, remind you of the things which I preach to you, which you received, and which you also stand." I was in town this week watching a lot of TV, and if you watch TV—most of you are gainfully employed, so you don't have time to watch TV. That's why God gave me to you, to do this for you. There are ads for everything, and there's one that says, "In these rocky times," and there's this ship out, and this storm is coming, and where do you invest?

You live in a world that absolutely hates your faith. They hate you because of your faith. I really do think one of the few groups left that you can absolutely attack, without fear of repercussion, is born-again evangelical Christians. In the midst of that, by the way, that's good, because that gets us in the game. That's good, because that gives us an opportunity to go after it. I don't mind that one bit. I like it. Let's bring it on. Let's talk about it. In these rocky, stormy times.

Our Personal 9/11s

After we finish this series, we're going to spend five weeks talking about the hard sayings of Jesus. Then we have two weeks to talk about whatever we want at the different campuses. Then we're going to study 1 Thessalonians. 9/11, the 10th anniversary, is on a Sunday this year. So I want to speak about 9/11 in the context of hard sayings of Jesus. I went back and found the file that I did, the first lesson that I did after 9/11. I was going back through that, and I just saw how we're coming back again to stand firm, how it's coming back again and again and again to the Word of God. It's kind of what He says in verse 2: "By which you are saved if you hold fast."

Here's what I discovered. We had a corporate 9/11. 9/11 is just one of those—that's all you got to say, and everybody's on the same page right now. Here's what I've discovered: we're having our own personal 9/11s all the time. Some of you had a 9/11 this week. Some of you had somebody that you love really desperately say to you, "You know what, I don't love you anymore." Had a kid that you've poured your heart into—time, energy, effort, love—and they say "No thanks." You've had a boss that says, "It's tough times, we're going to downsize. It's not a big downsize, just you."

Finding True North in the Storm

We have our own 9/11s all the time. The doctor calls and says, "You know, I thought that was okay, but you need to come in and see me, we need to talk." In those 9/11s, how do I find my footing? How am I not just blown to and fro with all of the circumstance around us? Because that's the way life is, right? Very difficult.

Many of you right now are at rock bottom, some of you are kind of in the middle, some of you everything is going real well. By the way, if everything is going real well, I've got a message for you: this too shall pass, my friend. I bank on it. Well how do I get my bearings? How do I find my true north? How do I find stability in the midst of this?

I stand firm on the Word of God. It's the Word of God in which you—look at verse 2—in which you are saved, present tense.

This is us now, we're saints. Not because of anything we've done, we're saints because if we are in Christ, believe in Christ, with Christ, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We're in Christ. I love this idea, as certain of heaven as the saints that are already there.

The Gospel in a Nutshell

Now He gives us the gospel. Larry used to call 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 3 and 4, 5, the gospel in a nutshell. He said, "For I deliver to you of first importance," in other words it's foundational, it's fundamental to our whole understanding, to our belief. "I deliver to you of first importance what I also received."

Paul writes to the church of Galatia and he says in Galatians 1:12, "For I neither received it," meaning this truth and teaching, "from man or was I taught it, but I received it through the revelation of Jesus Christ." He said Christ showed me this. The Holy Spirit taught me this.

He said here's the gospel, you see it there, verse 3, "Christ died for our sin according to the scriptures, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures." And then we're told in verse 5 He appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, to the twelve and then to as many as five hundred. There's the gospel.

Christ Died for Our Sins

Let's touch on it, be reminded. Christ died for our sins. That Christ died is not Fox News alert stuff. That Christ died is nothing. Listen, I think they say there's something like six, six and a half, seven billion people alive now, roughly the same number of people who have lived and died. So the fourteen billion plus or minus people who have lived, they've all died. Enoch screws this illustration up, but Him aside, they've all died. Don't stop the press that Jesus died. He knew based on all empirical data that when He was born He was going to die.

But what the scripture tells us is that He died for our sin. It's what we studied last week in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. "God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him," in Christ. He took our place. He died for our sin.

That's our faith, that we've sinned and our sin is an offense to a holy God, and a holy God and His justice and His holiness and His righteousness demands payment for our sin. And it's a payment, a perfect payment, a perfect sacrifice that we can't make. That's why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Christ died for our sin.

The Resurrection Changes Everything

And then, I don't want to read too much into it, but they buried Him. They buried Him because He was dead, but then He rose again. It's the story we see in the Gospels. The tomb is empty.

One author writes this. The father of Buddha writes of that religious leader, when Buddha died it was with utter passing in which nothing whatever remains. Muhammad died on June 8th, 632, at the age of 61, and his tomb there is visited yearly by tens of thousands of Muslims. But they come to mourn his death, not to celebrate his resurrection, yet the church of Jesus Christ, not just on Easter, but at every service, celebrates the resurrection. We serve a risen Christ, a God who's alive. Not just a teacher, not just a role model.

A Teaching Aside

By the end of the week, or by the end of the day last Sunday, every lesson gets different. So the first, I always tell the 8:30 people, you're the rough draft. Then 10:30 is when we tape, this is the one that goes on the website. By the night, it's a little more developed, it's a little different. There's different emphasis.

So I was using an illustration last week, by the end of the day, I don't think I used it in the morning, that I'm a really simple guy. Here's to me, here's what I want to eat: meatloaf, cheeseburgers, lasagna. The worst thing I can hear when I come home is, "We're going to try something new for dinner." I don't want anything new for dinner, why would I want something new for dinner? And I mean that.

I mean, those three things, I have shredded wheat in the morning, and I have a little shredded wheat, I throw some nuts in it, that's fine. I can eat something for noon, but meatloaf, lasagna, cheeseburger, that's all I need. And I do that, I do the same thing, I go to the same restaurant. Why would I go to a new restaurant? I like that one, I like that table, and when I go to that restaurant, what do I order? The same thing. I don't want to try anything. I go, I don't care, couldn't care less what your special is, save it for Oprah. I don't want a cheeseburger or a lasagna, right?

Well the same thing is true in teaching, and much to your chagrin, when I find stuff that I like in teaching, I just go back to them over and over again. Usually because they're incredible illustrations that work for me.

The Jefferson Bible

So in my hand is a book that many of you are familiar with, but not all of you, and it's called the Jefferson Bible. And so what Thomas Jefferson did, is what many of you would love to do. He took the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and he took out the people, the sections he either didn't like or didn't believe.

And so, he's writing to John Adams, and he says, "When I'm done with this, there will be found remaining the most sublime, benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man. And I will perform this operation for my own use by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book and arranging the matter which is evidently His."

Now this is interesting. Here's what he's saying. I look at this, and I take out the stuff that's obviously His, would raise a question, what? How do you know that?

He writes this, "I too have this wee little book," and he talks about this material, and he said, "A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen. It is a document and proof that I am a real Christian. That is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus."

Whoa! You hear nuance there? Depends where the definition of is is. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics...

I have never seen. It's a document and proof that I am a real Christian. That is, I'm a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus? No, no, no. I'm a disciple of Jesus. It's not the teaching of Jesus that saves me, it's Jesus that saves me.

Isn't that what Jesus said to the Jewish leaders? You read the scripture because you think in them you'll have life. No, no, no, no, no. I'm the way, the truth, and the life. So what Jefferson said is, I've got this great moral, I've got this great ethic, I've got these pithy little sayings that I can live my life by, and obviously the teaching of Jesus is certainly something that we ought to incorporate in our life, and we see the value of it. But I'm not saved by the teaching of Jesus, I'm saved by the person of Christ, by His death and resurrection.

The Jefferson Bible's Fatal Flaw

So it makes absolute sense that when you read the Jefferson Bible—and I'll spare you, how many pages are there? 132. I'll spare you this, but again, it's nuanced. It begins with, "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." And this goes on, and Jesus is born and He's lying in swaddling clothes in a manger.

But something's missing. What's missing? No virgin birth, nothing supernatural. Here's the last sentence of the Jefferson Bible: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed." No hope there.

This guy, no mistake about it, he may be as smart as any person that's ever lived but he's dumb as a brick when it comes to this stuff. He's not filled with, inspired with, or convicted by the Holy Spirit. And he makes the mistake that so many make: I want a good teacher, I want a moral leader.

Gandhi's Great Error

That's what Gandhi said. Gandhi said, "I reject the idea that Jesus or anyone else could die for my sin but I read the Gospels every day and I follow the teaching of Jesus," and the Mahatma was an extraordinary man. So to make sure we all get it, that's why I always say, based on his own testimony, he could well be the nicest guy in hell.

But we know he's in hell based on his own testimony because he rejected Jesus. Either Jesus is the way or He isn't. If the Mahatma or anybody else can get there outside of Jesus, why are we here? Let's go home. It's almost time. Let's get ready for some football. If that's what we're going to do on Sunday, why aren't we doing that on Sunday? See that? Because this stuff is really true. Jesus died for our sin. He was buried. He raised again. And this was all based on what the Scripture says.

Four Responses to Sin

Now I've got, it depends on how we cut it, let's say 20 more minutes roughly. It'll feel like an eternity to you though. But I can make it feel worse. What are you going to do with this? So along comes this truth that you're a sinner. What are you going to do with it? I've got four options.

You can deny it. No, I'm really not. You can admit it—this is what most people do by the way—and resolve to fix it. Moral realignment. You can do better. The third option is to admit it and be filled with despair. The fourth is to admit it and turn to repentance and faith in Jesus.

The Story of John Newton

Many of you might not know the name John Newton, but you know his most famous work. It's probably the most recorded song in the history of songs and songwriting: "Amazing Grace." Newton was indeed the wretch that he wrote the song about. "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." He was a slave owner, slave trader. Amazing stories of how he would force his female slaves to have sex with him. All the stuff. And then God saved him.

At age 82, Newton wrote this: "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things. That I'm a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior." See, that's your story too.

On his tombstone it reads this—not John Newton, writer of "Amazing Grace," not John Newton preacher. It says: "John Newton, clerk, once an infidel, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and in His case appointed to preach the faith he long labored to destroy."

That sounds a lot like the Apostle Paul, doesn't it? Man, I was trying to beat this up. I tried to wipe it out. That can be your story too. God will preserve, restore, pardon you today. It's a matter of coming to Him in repentance and faith.

The Gospel Message

So that's the gospel. When we read all this, what's the gospel? Christ died for our sin according to the scripture, and He was buried, and He rose again, and then He appeared to Peter. And you look in verse 5, to Peter, and then the 12, and then the others.

And it doesn't tell us how or what that meeting with Peter was like. I have to believe that if there was any who needed to see the risen Christ, it was Peter. It was Peter who had said, "I never knew Him. I never knew Him."

Peter's Transformation

It was Peter who was intimidated by this little servant girl. I always have this picture of this little girl. Like I keep in my mind a picture of girls I think could beat me up. Like I'll see a girl at the gym and go, I think she could beat me up. It's almost everybody. But I see in my mind this little servant girl, and this big rugged fisherman. And she says, "You were with Him too." And he said, "No I wasn't."

And one of the gospel writers tells us at that moment, Peter's eyes and Jesus' eyes met. They locked. And Peter went away and wept bitterly. The exact same response that Judas had, but a different outcome, because Judas was filled with despair. Peter, not on his own, but with the Holy Spirit, is now filled with hope.

And this fisherman is intimidated by this little servant girl. By the time we get to Acts chapter 4, verse 12, he is standing up to all the power of the Jewish leaders, risking his life, and he says, "Here's the deal boys, there's salvation and no one else, for there's

no name under heaven that's been given among men by which we could be saved. So that's the story of the gospel. That's the resurrection.

I want to encourage you to call a friend. I want to encourage you to, when you get home, Google evidence of the resurrection or some variation of that. And there's all sorts of information. Years ago, Josh McDowell wrote a very detailed book called Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Within that was a little section on the resurrection. And out of that came a little book called The Resurrection Factor. That book was in and out of print very quickly. I got online and found something that threw me back into almost a re-release online of that book. It's really a helpful book. Part of what it does is talk about crucifixion, what crucifixion is like, but then the hardcore evidence of the resurrection.

The Evidence of the Empty Tomb

So we know this. We'll touch on it just briefly. When Jesus died, He was buried in a tomb and that tomb was sealed with a rock that covered the entrance to that tomb. It weighed somewhere between one and one and a half tons. And then across that was put the label, the seal of Rome. It represented the authority and the power of Rome. So that if anybody broke that seal, the wrath of Rome would be on you.

And then because they were afraid that something might happen, they weren't sure what was going to happen here. They were afraid maybe somebody would steal the body or they didn't know. They put in front of it a Roman guard. It would be 16 professional killing machines. They weren't afraid of you. They were afraid of the power of Rome. So what they would do is they would sleep and stand guard. There would always be at least four soldiers standing guard to ensure that that tomb was sealed.

But on that first Easter morning, the seal was broken. The guards had vanished. They knew exactly what would happen. They were subject to capital punishment at that moment. The tomb is empty. The stone is gone. We get the sense that it's almost as though it was literally picked up and moved over here. The tomb is empty except for the grave clothes that Jesus was buried in. And then it's as though the body has evaporated. Then this risen Christ appears to Peter, the 12, James, 500. On that first Easter morning, here's the reality: the tomb was empty.

Debunking Alternative Theories

I always get a little bit of kick out of the explanations that go with it. Two of my favorites, maybe I'll give you three here. One is that the body was stolen. Here's the deal. The problem with that is you've got to ask yourself, who would steal the body? The Jews want evidence that it's there. They benefit not from a stolen body. The Romans have put in elaborate safeguards to make sure the body doesn't disappear. And all of Jesus' guys are hid out in an upper room. Stolen body makes no sense.

The other two are always fun. This one: they went to the wrong tomb. They didn't have GPS. Well, here's the deal. Think with me. If they went to the wrong tomb, it would be easily corrected, wouldn't it? You made a left. You should have made a right. We don't have any problem here. We'll just go back to the right tomb.

My favorite of the explanations is what's called the swoon theory. And the theory is this: that Jesus didn't die. He fainted from exhaustion and loss of blood. Everybody thought He was dead. The fact He'd been beaten, spear rammed in His side, blood and water separated, a sign of death. The fact that a Roman professional executor signed a death certificate, all that aside, Jesus really didn't die. He just fainted. And they wrapped Him in these body clothes, and they put Him in a tomb. They just laid Him there, and it was a suspended coma state. They laid Him there, then they put this one and a half ton rock in the door, and Jesus came to and shook it all off, threw off the clothes, and blew the rock away. How much faith does that take?

Scholarly Testimony to the Resurrection

So here's the reality: on that first Easter morning, the tomb was empty. One scholar writes this: "Taking all the evidence together, it's not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the previous assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficient proof." In other words, he's saying you came in with a bias.

Another author writes this: "I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in history of mankind which is proved by better and more fuller evidence of every sort to the understanding and fair inquirer than the great sign that God has given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead."

Another scholar: "If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable according to the canons of historical research to conclude that the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually emptied on the morning of the first Easter, and no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources or archaeology that would disprove this statement." Here you go. Take it to the bank. Jesus is alive.

So What?

Now, so what? What we encourage you to do when you listen to someone speak is to ask yourself, what did he say? Is it true? So what? Here's what I said: that Jesus rose from the dead. Physically, literally, rose from the dead. Is it true? I believe so, based on Scripture and all the other things. Here's the so what.

Drop down to verse 58 in the passage we're looking at in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul's building a conclusion here. That's why the first word is "therefore." "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." He said, because

All of this is true because Jesus rose from the dead. You can stand sure, you can stand steadfast, you can be immovable. When those challenges of faith come, and those challenges of life come, you can stand steadfast. How? You stand on the rock of God's Word, on the person of Jesus Christ, on the reality of that truth.

It is not to say that life is easy. Life is very, very difficult. But what Paul tells us is that this has a very, very pleasant ending for us. Verse 51, same chapter: "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye."

Understanding the Mystery of Death and Resurrection

I want you to turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Paul's writing to the church at Thessalonica, and there's some confusion about what happens when we die in this resurrection. So Paul says, "Listen, I don't want you to miss this."

Verse 13, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13 - this is the book that we will be studying next. Paul writes: "I don't want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as those, the rest, who have no hope." He said there's a whole bunch of people who, when death comes, their heart is broken. There's a whole bunch of people - it's called "the rest." It's those who aren't in Christ, those who aren't believers in Christ, those who aren't followers of Christ. They have no hope.

He said, "For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus" - those who are in Christ, those who believe in Him. "God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that those who believe in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." There's the theme over and over again.

"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who've fallen asleep." He said there'll be Christians who are dead and Christians who are alive. We won't precede those. "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 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 in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."

So whether you are somebody who's alive when this happens, or dead, it doesn't matter. We're going to be together. And here's the words at the end of verse 17: "And we will always be with the Lord." Here you go, here's the so what: "Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

The Victory Over Death

In that passage we're looking at in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 55, Paul writes: "Oh death, where's your victory? Oh death, where's your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power and the law, but thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul tells us that Luke tells us in Acts chapter 2 verse 24, that God raised Jesus up again and put an end to the agony of death. What does that mean, the agony of death? Years ago we were formed as East Valley Bible Church, and there was a lady in our church. She was a wonderful, wonderful lady, got cancer, very, very sick. The doctors treated her in every way they knew. They said, "There's nothing more we can do for you, but if you'd like you can go down to the Medical Center at Tucson. There's some experimental drugs and things we're working on."

She did, and I would go down - I was in Tucson once a week - and I would go and I would visit her. I just watched her die. Agonizing death. The chemo that they were giving her was so strong that it was actually eating from the inside of the skin out. Her face was just fiery red.

So "put an end to the agony of death" - He certainly doesn't mean the physical agony. This lady loved Jesus. It puts an end to the uncertainty of death.

A Powerful Example of Faith in the Face of Death

Almost every night as part of my wind down, I'll YouTube - I think YouTube is a little bit like TiVo, it's one of those few inventions that really lived up to its billing. I'll watch different things on YouTube. Sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, some speeches. I was watching the other night a speech, and I began to look and check other sources. I thought I'd show you this clip.

Last night at like 10, I emailed Josh, and I said, "Hey, can you get this up for tomorrow?" And he said, "Yes, a minute and 32 seconds." My point - there's a political aspect I imagine to this, and my fear in showing you this is you get distracted by the political part of it, and you miss what the speaker is saying. I think it's so powerful and so moving. The audio may not be the best, and it's off of a television show from years ago, a newscast, but I think you'll get the idea.

[Video clip shown]

"Martin Luther King Jr. was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee, shot in the face as he stood alone on the balcony of his hotel room. He died in a hospital an hour later. Last night, he said this: 'We've got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.'"

It's awesome, isn't it? If you go to Memphis, the Lorraine Hotel is right across the street. It's amazing how close the area is. It's a very condensed area. It's kind of like Dealey Plaza in Dallas. You're struck by how small it is. Dr. King had been warned...

about don't go to Memphis. But he went anyway. If he was afraid, he was an easy target standing out on that balcony. I don't want to get in the politics of it. And if you want to start emailing me about political stuff, that's okay, because I can press delete faster than anybody in the world.

I want you to see, because I believe that you hear him say, listen, I'm not afraid to die, which means I've got the strength to live. I'm not afraid to die. Here's what strikes me: everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. We say all of this stuff, but when push comes to shove, we'd rather be here in the land of the dead than go to the land of the living.

That's the power of the resurrection to me. I would hold up Dr. King and say, okay, I got it. It's not a perfect life. But to say, listen, I'm here to do God's will in my life, God's will as I understand it, God's will to the best of my ability. The reality is to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and that gives me the strength to live.

The Practical Power of Resurrection

See, that's the so what of all of this. The incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection. Christ died, and if you believe in Him, trust in Him, if He's your Lord, your Master, your Savior, you're as certain of heaven as the saints that are already there.

So when all of this stuff comes—debt, ceilings, firing, pain, physical, emotional, relational—it's not to say it doesn't hurt, it's to say it has an eternal perspective. It's not to say that life is easy and smooth and you're never going to have a problem. That's just not true. But I have to weigh it against the eternal weight of glory. That's what God's called us to.

I love studying doctrine. I don't think it's dull and boring. I think it's fascinating and interesting. It's spellbinding and profound, but it's extraordinarily practical. That's what I like.

Ready to Live Because We're Ready to Die

You and I, as followers of Christ, we're ready to die. Therefore, we, more than anyone else, should be ready to live. Not afraid of any man or any person or any force. It's not to say we don't get scared. It's not to say that if you're walking down the street and somebody jumps out at you, you're not going to flinch. But when I take my breath and everything settles, I understand that greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world.

It's enormously practical and enormously profound and yet simple. It's available to every person in this room here in the chapel or in the conference center today by simply coming to Christ in repentance and faith.

An Invitation to Respond

In front of each of the two rooms after this service and every service, every Sunday, we have people from our staff who are here to answer any questions you have, to pray with you as those five people did last week, who became new creatures in Christ at that moment, who are saved, who are in right relationship with God. Maybe you've been around this all your life and you've never responded. Today might be the day to respond. Or maybe you're brand new. You don't even know why you're here. Something just happened and got you to come here.

Maybe you're hurting. Or maybe everything's going great and you go, it's going great and it's still empty. These men and women are here to talk to you, to pray with you. And if you're someone who is a follower of Christ, we know that doesn't mean the end of the difficulties in the world. One of the most powerful tools we have is to pray. So they're here to pray with you.

For us, those of us who say Jesus is Lord, this is a great moment in our service because now we come to the time of communion. Tim's going to come here in the chapel. He's going to lead us in communion. Then the guys, the band, are going to lead us in our time of worship together. Then we're going to release you and you continue to worship all week long as you serve God in everything you do. If you are in the conference center, Tim will be over there in just a second to close your service.

Let me pray as Tim comes. Father, thank You for these extraordinary truths, these amazing truths. God, we love the doctrine, not for the sake of study, not for the sake of head knowledge, but for the sake of life transformation. God, transform our hearts and inform our minds so that our lives are lived in a radical way for Your honor and Your glory. God, we pray to You in Christ's name. Amen.