Memory Text:
“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. . . . And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:14–17, NKJV).
When George H. W. Bush was still Vice President, he represented the United States at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. What moved him most was not the ceremony itself but a wordless protest from Brezhnev’s widow. She stood beside the coffin without moving until the very last moment. Then, as the soldiers reached for the lid, she bent down and traced the sign of the cross over her husband’s chest. It may well be one of the bravest acts of civil disobedience ever committed. There, at the very heart of a secular, atheistic empire, the wife of the man who had ruled it all was hoping that her husband had been wrong. She was hoping that there is another life, that this life is best pictured by the Jesus who died on the cross, and that this same Jesus might still show mercy to the man she was burying.1
Brezhnev’s widow was correct. There is another life. It was proved by the God-Man who was crucified, buried, and resurrected.
In this lesson, we will explore the resurrection in greater detail through Paul’s excursus in 1 Corinthians 15.
The Resurrection Is Real (Past)
One major point that 1 Corinthians 15 teaches is the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. Skeptics abound today who question whether Jesus really rose from the dead. One might wish to travel back in time, thinking that he or she would have a better chance of believing. That might be true. But even back then, some were already wrestling with doubts about the resurrection of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:12 NLT
But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?
Paul’s major argument for the historicity of the resurrection is the presence of eyewitnesses. “Ask them! They saw the resurrected Jesus.” That is basically what he was saying. Just look at how many people saw Jesus after He was resurrected.
1 Corinthians 15:4–8 NKJV
and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, [5] and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. [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. [7] After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. [8] Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
One might ask: What if these followers of Jesus simply talked among themselves and agreed to make up a lie? That’s possible. They could have invented a story. The only problem is that they were willing to die for that story. This greatly adds credibility to their witness! If I were lying about something and were told that I would be electrocuted for it, I would tell the truth right away. I’m not going to die for a made-up story!
“While many people will die for a lie that they think is truth, no sane person will die for what they know is a lie.”2
There’s plenty of evidence that points to the resurrection being real. We can’t escape it. The only logical and honest conclusion is that Jesus indeed rose from the grave!
“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether you like his teaching but whether he rose from the dead.”3
The Resurrection Has Real Power (Present)
The resurrection isn’t only real. It didn’t just happen. It has real power. It can affect you and me.
1 Corinthians 15:17–18 NKJV
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! [18] Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
The wages, or the result, of sin is death. Hence, the physical proof that Jesus won over the power of sin is His conquest of death. Jesus rose! That means you can be forgiven. You, too, can conquer sin through the same divine power that Jesus relied on. All of this is possible because Jesus rose from the grave!4
“This same resurrection power is that which gives life to the soul ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ . . . The dominion of evil is broken, and through faith the soul is kept from sin.”5
Jesus’ abode is not the grave; it is your heart.
He rose for you, and now He wants to live His life in you.
The resurrection isn’t only history. It is His story being written in your life.
As we see ourselves weak and prone to go astray, may we never forget that there is power when we let the resurrected Lord sit upon the throne of our hearts. In Him and through Him, we are more than conquerors!
The Resurrection Will Be Real (Future)
The resurrection of Jesus foreshadows what will happen in the last days. Paul uses the word firstfruits to indicate that Jesus’ resurrection was a micro yet powerful model of what He will do when He returns the second time.
1 Corinthians 15:20 NKJV
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
What do we mean by firstfruits? It’s a foretaste of something bigger! Thomas Schreiner explains:
In the Old Testament the firstfruits were offered to the Lord. They were the first instalment of the harvest, guaranteeing that the rest of the harvest would come.6
Hence, the fact that Jesus was resurrected assures us that all who put their trust in Him, though they die on this side of eternity, will be raised to life once again!
1 Corinthians 15:26 NKJV
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Death is not the end. Death is not goodbye. Death is see you later.
Discussion Questions
- If Jesus did not rise from the dead, what would happen to Christianity?
- Why do we sometimes live defeated lives even though we believe in a victorious Christ?
- What would life be like if death really were the end? How does the resurrection change that picture?
Notes
- Gary Thomas, “Wise Christians Clip Obituaries,” Christianity Today, October 3, 1994, 26. ↩︎
- Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Riverhead Books, 2009), 210. ↩︎
- Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 293. ↩︎
- Wright writes: “If Jesus has been raised, the power of death has been broken, and final victory over it is assured (verse 26). Death, as always in biblical thought, is the result of sin, as humans turn away from the life-giving God and vainly attempt to find life elsewhere (see Romans 5:12–14). So if death has been defeated it must mean that sin has been defeated as well.” Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 209. ↩︎
- Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), 209–10. ↩︎
- Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, vol. 7 of Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2018), 312. ↩︎
Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are a powerful study of Christian life and witness. As we look at the message of the Cross, the power of the resurrection, and the grace that forms God’s people in love and fellowship, may our lives be drawn closer to Christ and His mission.