Easter 2009

The rest of the story!

Read text…

1Co. 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

1Co. 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.

1Co. 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

1Co. 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

1Co. 15:5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

1Co. 15:6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

1Co. 15:7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

1Co. 15:8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

1Co. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

1Co. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1Co. 15:11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Pray

Intro

√ Happy Easter

Or, as many of us prefer…

“Happy Resurrection Sunday!”

It would be my guess that all of you present here today understand the significance of this Sunday, Easter Sunday?!

We’ve gathered to celebrate…

Jesus’ victory over sin – at the Cross

Jesus’ victory over Satan – in the Grave

Jesus’ victory over death – at the empty tomb

And yet, the story of Jesus doesn’t end at the empty tomb.

√ The rest of the story

I’d suggest that the…

Death

Burial

Resurrection

…of our Lord is only the beginning of the story – the foundation of God’s plan of redemption.

The story continued in the lives of Jesus’ first disciples and spread down through the ages…

…to this present day and now continues in the lives of people like you and I who have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Well, what’s our part in the story of God’s plan of redemption?

Where do you and I fit in this cosmic struggle for the souls of Men and Women?

May I suggest the Lord’s plan for our Easter celebration is much more than just a day to have the family over.

That He might impart into our lives and hearts a fresh awe of the fact of His resurrection and a passion to share His message with the lost.

That we might leave this morning with clear picture of our part in the rest of the story.

Ap. Let’s look this morning at how the life, death and resurrection of Jesus should continue to be told in and through our lives!

Declare the Gospel (vs. 1-2)

1Co. 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

1Co. 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.

√ Declare the Gospel

Paul begins by reminding the Christians at Corinth that he was the one who first declared to them the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ.

Remember the context…

Instructions regarding the use/misuse of spiritual gifts

Correction regarding their lack of Agape love

Rebuke for embracing unrepentant sinners

In short, Paul has spent the first 14 chapters of his letter dealing with all the problems in their church. Now we find him bringing them back to the foundation of their faith…

…the Gospel message where they began their new life in Jesus.

√ The foundation of our faith

The reason that he does is that is that all of the promises of God to Mankind are predicated upon the Gospel message, that is, the promise of…

Forgiveness

Eternal life

Joy

Peace

Freedom from sin and shame

Relationship with God

…are all built upon the foundation of the Gospel message.

Without knowledge of the Gospel we do not have the means to receive the promises of God.

As one of our friends has for her e-mail address…

“graceb4peace”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the door that opens the Way for a person to enter into all of God’s promises.

Paul’s reminder here to the church in Corinth is that their new lives began when they first heard and received the Gospel that Paul preached!

Ap. We must continue to declare the Gospel!

Friends, as Christians we have a divine duty, a privilege to declare the Gospel message to our world.

We can’t separate the promises of God from the Gospel message.

It is unfortunate that many in the Church today are offering a “Gospel” that is sort of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” filled with lots of feel-good antidotes but devoid of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

The problem with that message is that it is powerless to change people!

Ex. Can’t offer people peace with God without the Gospel!

So, we recognize that the Gospel message is the heart of the message of the Church!

Having said that, we best define what that message is as we live in time in which people, denominations, and religious movements are redefining the Gospel to pander their own sins.

Let’s look at how the Bible defines the Gospel.

Define the Gospel (vs. 3-4)

1Co. 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

1Co. 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

√ Define the Gospel

Christian, mark these verses in your Bible!

Why?

Because what we have here is the Biblical definition of the Gospel message…

…which (note!) Paul received from the Lord Himself and preached throughout the ancient world.

The Gospel according to Paul is (vs. 3-4)…

Christ died for our sins

He was buried

He rose again the third day

That is, the Gospel message is all about Jesus and His work to save us from our sins. It has nothing to do with…

Being good enough

Belonging to a specific church

Performing some religious ritual and sacraments

Keeping the Law

Wearing certain clothes

Rather, the message that Paul preached and the people in Corinth believed in unto salvation was simply to trust in Jesus’ finished work accomplished through His death, burial and resurrection!

It’s really that simple.

God has placed salvation within the grasp of every person!

Ex. “How to” get saved

Don’t take my word for it, nor anyone else’s! Look at what the Bible says regarding how you and I can be saved…

Rom. 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Rom. 10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

That’s it!

Don’t add to, nor take away from the Gospel message

To add anything to the Biblical definition of the Gospel is to change it and make it something other than what God has committed to us.

When we add anything to the message we are in essence saying that what Jesus did for us is not sufficient to save us from our sins!

We’re all going to stand before the Lord one day do you really want to have to explain to the King of the Universe why you believed and taught others that His death on the Cross wasn’t enough to save you!

Ex. Additions

Since the Church began people have been adding things to the simple Gospel message…

Membership in our church

Baptized in our church or our way

Wearing certain clothes

Speaking in tongues

Don’t do it! To say that you need….

“Jesus and…”

…anything to be saved is to deny that the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus has the power to save us.

√ Don’t take anything away from the Gospel

Note that Paul preached Jesus Christ…

Crucified

Buried

Raised

…and that each is important to the work of Jesus to save us.

Note vs. 3-4 again…

1Co. 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

1Co. 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

The Bible tells us that it was…

At the Cross that the penalty of our sins were paid in full!

In the Grave that Jesus defeated & disarmed Satan and Hell!

Through His Resurrection He defeated Death and won for those who trust in Him the same power!

If we remove any part of that Gospel message we also lose the power of the Message!

Ex. The Cross

Many churches today have removed anything to do with the Cross-of Jesus and His blood from their worship and their liturgy.

They tell us…

“People don’t want to hear about blood and sin anymore, they want to hear how they can be better people!”

The problem of course is that we can’t be better people without the Cross!

The Cross-of Jesus is where we find the power to free us from our sin and selfish nature.

The Gospel without the Cross-is a powerless message!

Ex. The Resurrection

Like the folks in Corinth, many people today don’t believe in the literal resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

More than half of the graduating students of our finest seminaries today do not believe in a literal resurrection!

They like to tell us…

“The Resurrection isn’t to be taken literally, rather, it is symbolic of the new life we can have by following Jesus’ example.”

The problem here is that if we gut the Gospel of the Resurrection…

…then we have no power to live the new life!

In fact, Paul tells the Corinthian’s…

1Co. 15:17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

So, the Biblical definition of the Gospel is that…

Died for our sins

Was buried in a tomb

Raised from the dead on the third day

And by believing that a person can be saved!

Don’t deny the Gospel (vs. 5-11)

1Co. 15:5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

1Co. 15:6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

1Co. 15:7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

1Co. 15:8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

1Co. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

1Co. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1Co. 15:11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

√ Believe the Gospel

Everything we’ve talked about this morning…

Our duty to declare the Gospel

The Biblical definition of the Gospel

…is simply academic if we don’t believe it.

That is, regardless of whether you’ve read the Gospel’s, or whether you’ve seen the movie…

…it’s of no value to you unless you believe it!

You see, the rest of the story after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is told in the lives of the people who believed in Him.

Note that in verses 5-11 Paul reminds the folks in Corinth that this isn’t some fairytale…

…rather, the Gospel message is a fact of history!

Thus he points out that anyone who desires to examine the evidence can ask any one of the hundreds of eyewitnesses!

Ap. Do you believe?

Celebrating Resurrection Sunday without having faith in Jesus is sort of like celebrating someone else’s anniversary!

You can throw a party, dress up real nice and have a great meal…

…but at the end of the day you’re still alone.

The rest of the story concerning Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is that anyone who believes His message will find forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Belief unto salvation is more than intellectual ascent, even the demons believe in Jesus!

But they aren’t saved!

Belief that brings salvation implies an implicit trust in Christ by which the redeemed surrenders their life to Jesus trusting that by His death, burial and resurrection they will be saved!

Close

√ Christian

Declare the Gospel – it’s the heart of our mission

Define the Gospel – the power of God is in it

√ Lost

Believe the Gospel today for that is the result that God is looking for in the lives of those who hear the Easter story.