1 Corinthians 15:12-20

In one of my Bibles the page where today’s passage is found is all crinkled.  The reason is because at one Montana Easter sunrise service, meetings outdoors in the local cemetery, one of our church Elders spoke from this passage.  We got a light snow and before I realized it my Bible was a bit damp.  That is just our way of saying that there might be no more popular passage from which to preach on Easter than this one.  In a negative way it declares loud and clear the positive blessings of the resurrection of Christ.  

Greek for resurrection (anastasis) means literally to stand again.  Paul noted in 15:1 that the Corinthians standing was in the gospel.  It is a standing by which, though the body dies, yet it will stand again.  But if there is no resurrection …

·        Christ was not raised.  Death could not hold Him.  He was victorious, the firstfruits.  Our resurrection depends on His dealing with our ultimate enemy.

·        Our preaching is empty.  The resurrection of Christ was and is essential to the gospel message (15:1-4).  Every apostolic sermon declared the resurrection of Christ.  The Apostles were designated witnesses of the resurrected Christ.

·        Your faith is empty.  Thus if there is no resurrection then there is no object of faith that will satisfy our deepest longings.  Twice in v14 we see the word empty or vain.  There are three terms for vain in 1 Cor. 15.

o   15:2: vain means to have no good cause.  Their faith would fail because it lacked a true focus on Christ.

o   15:10,14ab: vain means to be empty of substance or truth.  The words were many but meaningless; the believer believed in nothing.  It’s like when we believe in ourselves; we try hard to erase doubts but we are usually trusting ourselves for something out of our control.

o   15:17: vain means to be empty of results.  You are full of faith, having no doubts, and yet what you hope for still doesn’t happen.

·        The eyewitnesses are liars (again, if there is no resurrection).  The Old Testament lied.  Those 500 plus eye-witnesses lied.  The Apostles lied.

·        There is no answer for sin.  The saving work is done on the cross; the resurrection affirms the work is satisfactory and also makes it possible for us to live a changed (resurrected) life now.

·        There is no hope beyond the grace.  Fallen asleep refers to death.  The resurrection has to do with the body.  The soul, for both the righteous and the wicked, continues to live.  Death is like sleep because it is temporary (15:22).

·        We are to be pitied.  We are miserable, without mercy and hopeless!

But now Christ is risen from the dead.  These words allow us to go back and reverse every one of the above phrases.  There is, in fact, hope for the hopeless!