1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Last week– The resurrection of Jesus Christ was clearly established.
O.T.scriptures, Peter, the other apostles, 500 believers, James, Paul.
Paul clearly presents evidence to prove that Jesus rose from the dead.
If that point is proven, then all the other points he presents will make sense.
15:12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is
no resurrection of the dead?
● The church at Corinth had been saved through the preaching of Paul.
● Paul said that they were standing in that message, and that that message had saved them.
● That message included the doctrine of Jesus rising from the dead.
● They had been saved through that message.
● Paul had just given evidence to support that truth.
● If all that was true, then why were some of them saying that there was no resurrection?
● How could they say that the dead do not rise?
● When seeking to defend the resurrection of Christ, Paul brings forth facts to verify his argument.
● This was not a point to be debated, or discussed, or analyzed.
● It was a fact to be recognized and accepted.
15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
● If the case was true, that resurrection from the dead was not possible, then it stands to reason that Christ had not been raised.
● If it was a physical impossibility for a dead body to come back to life, then that same fact would have applied to Jesus Christ.
● If the Christians at Corinth were going to deny the fact of bodily resurrection, then they of necessity must also deny Christ rising from the dead.
● That was their premise: “the dead do not rise.”
● The result then had to be: “Jesus never rose from the dead.”
15:14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
● If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then Paul’s message, his preaching, his teaching , was useless.
● It was not a worthwhile message.
● It was not worth following, because it was an untrue message.
● If it was untrue that Jesus was raised from the dead, then the gospel message could not help them either, for
it was a false message.
● Jesus was a false teacher.
Jesus had said these things about his own resurrection:
John 14:19,20 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Luke 9:20-23 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
If Jesus was not raised as he predicted He would be, then he was either an imposter, or a lunatic.
1 Cor 15:15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up; if in fact the dead do not rise.
● If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then Paul and the others were false witnesses concerning the things of
God.
● What they spoke about God was untrue.
● Not only would Paul and the others be mistaken about the truths of God.
● They would be guilty of saying untrue things about God.
● They would be guilty of misrepresenting God.
15:16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
● Repeated for emphasis.
● The fact that Christ rose was the main fact of the Christian faith.
● W/o the resurrection of Christ, there is no Christianity.
15:17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
● The gospel says that Christ would die for our sins, be buried, and raised.
● Now if any part of that message is untrue, the whole message is unreliable.
● If Jesus was an impostor or lunatic, who only thought he would rise from the dead, then how can we trust Him as our Savior?
● If He was untrustworthy on his own resurrection, then how can we trust Him on salvation?
● If Jesus was not raised, He was an impostor, and you are still in your sins.
● All this, of course, was an argument from a position of assuming that they did know that their sins were forgiven.
● They did know that their lives had been changed through the power of faith in Christ.
● They did know that practical sanctification was being worked out in their lives, since they believed the gospel message.
● Paul argued from the position of them being convinced of these hypothetically negative statements.
15:18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
● Another consequence which comes from denying the resurrection of the dead.
● If Christ perished in death, then those who died believing in Him have also perished.
● If He was not raised from the dead, then those who have died can have no hope of bodily resurrection.
● Paul argued again from that position of asking them if they really believed this.
● Do you believe that your friends and loved ones, whose lives you saw changed through faith in the gospel message, do you really believe that they have perished forever?
● Do you believe that your deceased Christian friends have no hope for heaven?
● Do you really believe that they were not saved, and suffer the same end as the wicked?
● Paul wanted to know if they were going to embrace the doctrine of no bodily resurrection, and then continue on to say that these things were true of their friends.
15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
● The Christian deserves the most pity of any other person, if the resurrection is not true.
● He has been fooled, deceived, and had committed his life to a lie.
1. The Christian has the highest hopes of any class of men, therefore, will experience the greatest disappointment of any class of men.
2. They had, as a group, suffered more than any other group of men. For their faith they had gone through more hardship, and if it was for a falsehood, then they were to be pitied more than any other people.
3. The Christian does not engage in the sensual pleasures the world has to offer. They willingly deny themselves these experiences, and if it is all for nothing, then they are to be most pitied, when they could have indulged in worldly behavior, and not been any worse off for it.
4. The great disappointment would be that there was no resurrection.
15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
● Paul finally gets back to the reality of the matter: Christ was risen from the dead
● Their faith was not in vain; their friends had not died in vain; they, as Christians, were not to be pitied, for they would not be disappointed.
● Firstfruits- that which is first, in the beginning, or is first in priority.
That which is first in regards to being ahead of that which will follow. The first portion of the whole which will follow in it’s entirety later on.
It is a pledge, or a sign of that which will come later.
The first portion of the harvest which signified that more would follow.
There was an offering of firstfruits, as the farmer would bring the first portion of his harvest before the Lord,
thanking Him for what he had, and for what would follow.
Jesus was not merely the first to be raised from the dead.
Lazarus, and the widow’s son were raised by Christ himself.
Paul isn’t talking just about priority of time in regards to resurrection.
Jesus was the firstfruit of a harvest which was unto eternal resurrection, never to die again.
Lazarus and the widow’s son died again.
Jesus rose to never die again a physical death.
He was first in regards to the harvest that would follow.
He the first unto everlasting life, then the Christians who would follow.