(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)
Easter offers an opportunity to review the content of your faith, what you believe about what God has done, especially His providing for you the prospect of new life.
Paul's letter to the believers at Corinth begins (chapters 1-6) with his counsel on various difficulties that have arisen in the church, problems with...
In answering the question, What Is Foremost?, I began with Jesus' candidates in Matt 22: "The Foremost Commandment" (to love the Lord) and "The Foremost Complement" (to love one's neighbor). As I searched for other examples of God's priorities, one that came readily to mind was Paul's statement in 1 Cor 15 about...
XXXIX. The Foremost Content1
...which advances...
This belief in a general resurrection of everyone prepared the way in people's minds for a special resurrection of the messiah.7 as the prophet Isaiah predicts in...
The apostle writes believers at Corinth to assure them that what he had told them earlier is trustworthy.8
The first tenet is that...
The second tenet is that...
Regardless of what others may surmise or suggest, your faith rests on the certainty of God's words. This singular event at the heart of the good news has the support of written revelation, but it does not rely only on ancient sources. Paul tells the Corinthians that it has contemporary support as well. He also says to them...
Some Christians are able to go through life and never have any serious doubts about their faith. They accept what they were taught in church and SS without question. For others, something causes them to reconsider. It may be a significant event or a simple encounter, but it makes a person wonder if what he was taught is truly reliable, enough to use as a guide for life. His doubts may be brief or extended, but doubts are still unsettling. When those doubts are serious enough, they can have serious ramifications, even a complete loss of faith and a subsequent moral decline.
I had a 'crisis of faith' in college, nothing that threatened my relationship with God but one that caused me to re-examine what I believed about Jesus. I had no trouble with the Old Testament, which I had studied enough to appreciate its reliability. It was the New Testament that gave me pause. I knew the resurrection was the pivotal event, but were the accounts reliable? Was there sufficient evidence, and was that evidence dependable enough to support a decision that would affect the rest of my life?
There is not a lot of suspense here. You know how it turns out. You might wonder, though, at the process. How did I make the determination that what is recorded in the New Testament really happened 2000 years ago? The process started with a little paperback someone recommended by F.F. Bruce, a British New Testament scholar, entitled, appropriately, New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? It is somewhat technical, dealing with the trustworthiness of Greek manuscripts, dry reading in spots, but it answered several of my questions. As my quest for confirmation continued, I found other helpful sources, as well. In the end, I came to the conclusion that what the New Testament records, including the account of the resurrection is, indeed, dependable enough to support a decision that continues to affect my life today.
Paul's testimony in 1 Cor 15 is a vital piece of that resurrection record. Because the apostle has been shown to be reliable in other matters that are historically verifiable, there is good reason to believe him here. The main objection to the resurrection is by those who reject the supernatural, who think we live in a closed system with no involvement by God. I have not found that position at all compelling, realizing it actually takes more faith to believe God is not involved than to believe God is involved. In any case, I was satisfied that the pivotal event in the New Testament was true, and my doubts disappeared.
That said, there are disadvantages to my approach; it has ruined my appreciation of certain Christian music. For example, I have trouble singing the popular hymn, He Lives. The verses are fine; the problem is the chorus, in particular, the last line.
While I am confident Jesus lives, and I appreciate his being with me, when someone asks about my faith, his presence in my heart is not a compelling argument for the truth of the most important gospel tenet. So, if "you ask me how I know he lives," my answer will not be—cannot be—something so subjective that only I can verify. My answer must be what compelled me to believe: the certainty of God's words and the testimony of Jesus' witnesses.
Easter is a good opportunity to rehearse what Jesus' redemption provides for you: pardon from God and eternal life with God. It is also a good opportunity to review what Jesus' resurrection offers to you: a compelling way of communicating your faith, a way that is not merely personal, with meaning relevant primarily for you, but a way that is universal, with meaning relevant for everyone.
I have not yet found an alternate ending for the chorus of He Lives, something that scans better than...
The alternate ending needs more work, but that evidence is what constitutes The Foremost Content,18 the certainty of God's words and the testimony of Jesus' witnesses. That is what supports your faith.
Having considered The Foremost Content, we will look next at The Foremost Consecration, which develops the purity of God, in Lev 20:7,26.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
It was Easter morning, and the minister was preaching about the prospect of new life for believers. He would often illustrate his sermon with a visual aid, and he had come prepared with a good one. Holding up an egg, he asked, "What's in here?" There was a pause as the congregation considered the answer. Then a small voice exclaimed confidently... "Pantyhose!"Easter offers an opportunity to review the content of your faith. Paul conducts a similar review, although his answer is different, as he describes The Foremost Content.
Paul's letter to the believers at Corinth begins (chapters 1-6) with his counsel on various difficulties that have arisen in the church, problems with...
- Division (1:10-4:21)
- Discipline (5:1-13)
- Lawsuits (6:1-11)
- Immorality (6:12-20)
- Mixed marriage (7:1-40)
- Idolatrous food (8:1-11:1)
- Corporate worship (11:2-16)
- Observing communion (11:17-34)
- Spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40)
- Bodily resurrection (15:1-58)
- Weekly collections (16:1-4)
In answering the question, What Is Foremost?, I began with Jesus' candidates in Matt 22: "The Foremost Commandment" (to love the Lord) and "The Foremost Complement" (to love one's neighbor). As I searched for other examples of God's priorities, one that came readily to mind was Paul's statement in 1 Cor 15 about...
XXXIX. The Foremost Content1
...which advances...
- The plan of God (1 Cor 15:3-8)
1 Cor 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.Paul is addressing this topic because some people, perhaps some at Corinth, have been asserting "that there is no resurrection of the dead" (v. 12b) for anyone, including Jesus. It was a notion Paul had encountered in Athens before he paid his first visit to nearby Corinth (48 miles east).2 About Paul's trip to Athens and his conversations with the residents there, we read in...
Acts 17:32a When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered....Resurrection is not a new idea. It has been the hope of God's people for millennia. Job, for example, some two thousand years before Jesus, expressed his confident expectation that he would be raised.
Job 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!Similarly, Daniel looked toward a time when God would raise the dead,3 both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Dan 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.Still, not everyone among God's people believed that He would raise the dead, such as the Sadducees, the dominant political party in the first century, who denied this doctrine.4 Nevertheless, most of God's people did believe in the resurrection. That expectation was a fundamental tenet of the Pharisees, the dominant religious party in the first century.5 It was a position that Paul, being a Pharisee, believed and promoted in his letters, such as his letter to the church at Corinth.6
This belief in a general resurrection of everyone prepared the way in people's minds for a special resurrection of the messiah.7 as the prophet Isaiah predicts in...
Isa 53:11a After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life]....While many Jews in the first century did not make the connection to Jesus, those who did saw in his experience confirmation of a general resurrection. So, Paul says in...
1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.There will be a general resurrection of everyone.
The apostle writes believers at Corinth to assure them that what he had told them earlier is trustworthy.8
1 Cor 15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.Paul then explains, in the verses that follow, about the basis for the one event that lies at the heart of the good news and that serves as the basis for everything they believe.9 He says to them...
1. Your faith rests on the certainty of God's words....and the apostle cites two tenets "of first importance" that have impeccable authority, because they are "according to the Scriptures." Paul does not quote the Old Testament passages he has in mind. Evidently, he expected that his readers would be familiar with them. We can surmise, though, what he may have been thinking, perhaps about Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 53. It is a messianic text that covers both the crucifixion and the resurrection, and it is one you can use to show that your faith also rests on the certainty of God's words.
The first tenet is that...
a. Christ died (v. 3; cf. Isa 53:8), which accords with...
There are modern skeptics who deny that Jesus died. They theorize he merely swooned on the cross and later revived in the cool of the tomb. Isaiah's prediction and the gospel accounts agree that he died, and scripture trumps speculation.Isa 53:8c ...he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
The second tenet is that...
b. Christ rose (v. 4; cf. Isa 53:11), which accords with10
There are modern skeptics who deny that Jesus rose. They theorize that the resurrection sightings were hallucinations (or apparitions), wishful thinking on the part of his followers. Again, Isaiah's prediction and the gospel accounts agree that he rose, and scripture trumps speculation.Isa 53:11a-b After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; [he] will justify many....
Regardless of what others may surmise or suggest, your faith rests on the certainty of God's words. This singular event at the heart of the good news has the support of written revelation, but it does not rely only on ancient sources. Paul tells the Corinthians that it has contemporary support as well. He also says to them...
2. Your faith rests on the testimony of Jesus' witnesses....and the apostle offers a catalogue of individuals who actually saw the risen Lord (vv. 5-8).11
a. "He appeared to Peter" (v. 5; cf. Luke 24:34).
Luke 24:34 ..."It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon."
b. He appeared to the eleven, "the twelve" minus one12 (v. 5; cf. Mark 16:14).13
Mark 16:14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
The gospels (or Acts) do not seem to record this meeting. It is significant, though, that Jesus appeared to such a large group "at the same time." This rules out one of the common ways skeptics dismiss the other appearances, saying that Peter and the disciples were hallucinating. (It is unlikely that five hundred people would have the same hallucination.14 Furthermore, Paul says that most of these witnesses "are still living," which means that the Corinthians can verify the event with them.c. He "appeared to more than five hundred" (v. 6).
This is probably James, the brother of Jesus. If the meeting was private, the gospels (or Acts) do not record it.d. He "appeared to James" (v. 7).
This may refer to his extended stay in Jerusalem. Hallucinations do not last "forty days."e. He appeared "to all the disciples" (v. 7; cf. Acts 1:3).15
Acts 1:3 He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
f. He appeared to Paul (v. 8; cf. Acts 9:35).16
This is not an exhaustive list of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances. The New Testament records others who also saw the risen Lord,17 but the list makes Paul's point and is one you can use to show that your faith also rests on the testimony of Jesus' witnesses.Acts 9:3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
Some Christians are able to go through life and never have any serious doubts about their faith. They accept what they were taught in church and SS without question. For others, something causes them to reconsider. It may be a significant event or a simple encounter, but it makes a person wonder if what he was taught is truly reliable, enough to use as a guide for life. His doubts may be brief or extended, but doubts are still unsettling. When those doubts are serious enough, they can have serious ramifications, even a complete loss of faith and a subsequent moral decline.
I had a 'crisis of faith' in college, nothing that threatened my relationship with God but one that caused me to re-examine what I believed about Jesus. I had no trouble with the Old Testament, which I had studied enough to appreciate its reliability. It was the New Testament that gave me pause. I knew the resurrection was the pivotal event, but were the accounts reliable? Was there sufficient evidence, and was that evidence dependable enough to support a decision that would affect the rest of my life?
There is not a lot of suspense here. You know how it turns out. You might wonder, though, at the process. How did I make the determination that what is recorded in the New Testament really happened 2000 years ago? The process started with a little paperback someone recommended by F.F. Bruce, a British New Testament scholar, entitled, appropriately, New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? It is somewhat technical, dealing with the trustworthiness of Greek manuscripts, dry reading in spots, but it answered several of my questions. As my quest for confirmation continued, I found other helpful sources, as well. In the end, I came to the conclusion that what the New Testament records, including the account of the resurrection is, indeed, dependable enough to support a decision that continues to affect my life today.
Paul's testimony in 1 Cor 15 is a vital piece of that resurrection record. Because the apostle has been shown to be reliable in other matters that are historically verifiable, there is good reason to believe him here. The main objection to the resurrection is by those who reject the supernatural, who think we live in a closed system with no involvement by God. I have not found that position at all compelling, realizing it actually takes more faith to believe God is not involved than to believe God is involved. In any case, I was satisfied that the pivotal event in the New Testament was true, and my doubts disappeared.
That said, there are disadvantages to my approach; it has ruined my appreciation of certain Christian music. For example, I have trouble singing the popular hymn, He Lives. The verses are fine; the problem is the chorus, in particular, the last line.
"You ask me how I know he lives; he lives...within my heart."
While I am confident Jesus lives, and I appreciate his being with me, when someone asks about my faith, his presence in my heart is not a compelling argument for the truth of the most important gospel tenet. So, if "you ask me how I know he lives," my answer will not be—cannot be—something so subjective that only I can verify. My answer must be what compelled me to believe: the certainty of God's words and the testimony of Jesus' witnesses.
Easter is a good opportunity to rehearse what Jesus' redemption provides for you: pardon from God and eternal life with God. It is also a good opportunity to review what Jesus' resurrection offers to you: a compelling way of communicating your faith, a way that is not merely personal, with meaning relevant primarily for you, but a way that is universal, with meaning relevant for everyone.
I have not yet found an alternate ending for the chorus of He Lives, something that scans better than...
"You ask me how I know he lives;
he lives because there is sufficient evidence to support it."
The alternate ending needs more work, but that evidence is what constitutes The Foremost Content,18 the certainty of God's words and the testimony of Jesus' witnesses. That is what supports your faith.
Having considered The Foremost Content, we will look next at The Foremost Consecration, which develops the purity of God, in Lev 20:7,26.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Relevant and civil comments are welcome. Whether there will be any response depends on whether Dr. Manuel notices them and has the time and inclination to respond or, if not, whether I feel competent to do so.
Jim Skaggs