1 Corinthians 15:12-17 Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

The Sadducees – the liberal crowd of Christ’s day – came into the Church teaching that “the dead rise not”. They did not believe in a life after this life. There are a lot of people like this in our world today. They live in the now, for they believe there is no afterlife. Some of these people will even say that Jesus was a great teacher and a wonderful leader of a moral revolution. But Jesus died, like all founders die. The Apostle tells us:

1 Corinthians 15:16-17 … if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

If Christ is not raised from the grave, then “your faith is vain”. The word “vain” is the Greek (mataia), which means “unreal, unproductive, ineffectual – without any standing in reality”. The fact that Jesus rose from the Grave is imperative to the Christian faith.

If Jesus Did Not Die And Rise Again,
He Is A Liar And a False Prophet

Throughout His ministry, Jesus was very clear that He was going to lay down His life for His people. We read in:

Mark 9:31 {Jesus} was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

And again:

Matthew 16:21 (ESV) … Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Matthew 20:18-19 (ESV) “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Jesus had to die on the Cross of Calvary to make payment for the sins of man. We are told in our text today:

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

When Adam sinned against God by taking of the forbidden – putting himself in the place of God – he brought spiritual death on the entire world. That spiritual death was immediate. Though Adam would physically die at 930 years old (Genesis 5:5). But spiritual death – separation from God – came immediately in Adam, and on all his children. Adam’s act of hiding from God demonstrated his separation from the Lord (Genesis 3:8), as does his deflection of his sin by blaming it on his wife (Genesis 3:12). The Bible tells us that:

Romans 5:12 (ESV) … sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned …

The Bible says that all are “dead in trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1) because of Adam. So God sent His Son to die on the Cross of Calvary for us. Jesus Christ is the “Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29-32). Jesus willingly laid down His life for us. Jesus said:

John 10:11, 14-15, 17-18 (ESV) … I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. … 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. … 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

No one took Jesus’ life, but Jesus laid His life down for us. He stood in our place of punishment. He paid for Adam’s sin, for your sin, and for my sin. Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary. He did not swoon – He died. Jesus told us:

Matthew 12:40 (ESV) … just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus died on that Cross, just as He said He would. And Jesus rose from the grave three days and nights later, just as He said He would. If He did not, He was a liar. Liars cannot pay for sins. Liars cannot be the Lamb of God. Jesus is not a Liar, He is the Lord of Life!

The Resurrection Of Christ Proved That
What Christ Did Was Acceptable To God

The day that Christ came into this world – God becoming perfect Man – the Angel told the Shepherds:

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is CHRIST the LORD …

The word “CHRIST” or Christos means “The Messiah”. The Messiah is the “LORD”. He came into the world to “save HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS” (Matthew 1:21). How did Jesus save us? We are told in our context:

1 Corinthians 15:3 … Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

It was prophesied in the Scriptures that Christ – the Messiah – would die for our sins. The Prophet Isaiah (53:1-12) foretold that when the Messiah came He would be “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief … He would be PIERCED for OUR TRANSGRESSIONS … He would be CRUSHED for OUR INIQUITIES … upon Him was the PUNISHMENT that should have been ours … His WOUNDS would heal us”. The Prophet Daniel (9:24-26) foretold that “One will come to put and END TO SIN, and to COVER INIQUITY, to bring in RIGHTEOUSNESS … an ANOINTED ONE would come Who would be CUT OFF”. The Prophet Zechariah (13:7) said that “The Shepherd WOULD BE STRUCK and the sheep scattered”. And the Apostle Paul – quoting the teaching of Deuteronomy 21:23 said:

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Jesus proclaimed that He died for our sins. But how do we know that He was not just a deluded, misunderstood man? How do we know that He is the One and only Messiah?

Because of the Resurrection.

The Bible says in:

Romans 1:1-4 (ESV) Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

The Gospel is not just that Jesus died on the Cross – but that Jesus resurrected from the dead. There were many named “Jesus” who walked the earth when our Lord did. Pastor G. Campbell Morgan wrote:

“The angel came to Joseph and announced the name, “You shall call His name Jesus.” It was just an ordinary Jewish name, about as common in Judea as John is common to us. The name had not the significance that we understand today. It was a beautiful, Jewish boy’s name, a common name of the common people. … Jesus is a Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, meaning Savior. Other men have had that name. Many a mother called her boy Joshua in the hope that he would be a Savior and break oppression and set the people free. Now the angel said: Give that name to this Boy; “It is He that shall save His people from their sins. … They are “His people.” Give Him the name as one of His people; calling Him by the ordinary name of His people; He is coming to identification with them.”

How do we know that our Jesus is the right Jesus, the saving Jesus? Because He rose from the grave. Peter preached confidently on the Day of Pentecost:

Acts 2:24 (AP) … God raised Jesus up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it

This is why we are told:

1 Corinthians 15:17 … if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

We know that our Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the One Who covered our sins because God the Father raised Him from the dead. The Apostle explains the death and resurrection of Christ this way:

Romans 4:25 (NKJV) {the righteousness of God} shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Jesus was “DELIVERED UP BECAUSE OF OUR OFFENSES”, that is, He was lifted up on the Cross at Calvary to pay for our sins. But Jesus was “RAISED BECAUSE OF OUR JUSTIFICATION”. When God raise Christ from the dead, this was His clear declaration that GOD WAS SATISFIED with what Christ did. God accepted His payment for us. Because of Christ’s death, we are JUSTIFIED, made RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Our sins were nailed to the Cross of Christ (Colossians 2:14) – and the resurrection proves that the Father received what Christ did for us.

The Resurrection Of Christ Assures Us That We Serve A Living Savior, And That He Watches Over Us

The Apostle tells us that:

1 Corinthians 15:4-8 {Jesus} was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

The day that Jesus died “HE WAS SEEN” as dead. The Centurion in charge of His execution saw Jesus die, and said:

Luke 23:47 … Certainly this WAS a righteous man ..

He had seen many executions, and he knew that Jesus was dead. The other soldiers in charge of His execution inspected Jesus. We read:

John 19:32-37 (NKJV) … the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Experts in execution saw Jesus was dead. He was removed from the Cross, wrapped for burial, and laid in a tomb. The tomb was sealed, and guards were placed on it’s seal. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jesus was dead.

Then He was SEEN ALIVE three days and nights later.

Jesus was seen first by “Cephas”, which was Jesus’ name for Simon, the leader of the Apostles (John 1:42; 1 Corinthians 1:12; 9:5; Galatians 2:9). Then Jesus was see by “The Twelve”. It was after this that Judas Iscariot killed himself, realizing his part in crucifying the Lord of Glory (James 2:1). Then Jesus was seen of “five hundred brethren at once”, which proves that Jesus was not a figment of the imagination. Jesus then went to His stepbrother “James”, and after this went back to visit with the eleven remaining Apostles. Then Paul says “I SAW HIM”. Paul saw Jesus on the Damascus Road when the Lord knocked him down and got his attention.

We do not follow a dead Savior, but the Living God.

The Bible says:

Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV) {Jesus} because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

The day that you received Jesus as lord and Savior, He promised “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) and “I will be with you till the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus could not be a Good Shepherd to His Sheep (that’s us) if He ceased being with us. He died, but He rose again so that He can always be with us. The Bible says:

Romans 8:34 (NKJV) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Because Jesus Defeated Death,
We Need Not Fear Life Nor Death

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Jesus defeated spiritual death by making payment for our sins on Calvary. Jesus defeated physical death by rising from the Grave. We are told that Jesus is “the firstfruits of them that slept”. The “FIRSTFRUITS” is a technical term for the first crop harvested from the field. We who are Christians are told:

Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming

As Christ was resurrected from the grave and occupies a glorified body, every Christian shall one day receive a glorified body. We are promised in the Scripture:

Romans 8:11 (ESV) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Death has no hold on the Christian. Jesus has defeated death and damnation. The body you have is NOT the body you will have in glory. In the latter part of this chapter, the Bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:36-44 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The body you now have MUST DIE. The body you now have is flawed with the effects of Adam’s sin. You cannot enter Heaven with this mess you have right now. We are told:

1 Corinthians 15:50 … flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

There must be a change. There will be a change. Each and every person in this room will one day physically die. But if you are SPIRITUALLY alive in Christ, your soul will continue on to be with Jesus. And Jesus has promised that He will give you a glorified body wherein is no sickness or death, no disease nor sinfulness. Oh how I look forward to that day.

Do you know Jesus? Is He your Lord and Savior? If He is, then you are encouraged to keep on living your life for the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

That blessed day will come when you meet Jesus face to face. If you are not saved by faith in Him, your next stop – if you will reject Him – will be eternal damnation. Oh, how I pray you will give your lives to Him. May the Holy Spirit make this a reality today. Amen and Amen.