Gospel Chapel
The lynchpin of Christianity is the conviction that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. If this is not true, Christianity is a farce, a false religion, and needs to be abandoned. If this is true, everything changes.
Over the next weeks we will be working through 1 Corinthians 15, as Paul defends the truth, the necessity, and the missional implications of the resurrection. This is the cornerstone of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ESV
Four Basic Theories
1. Swoon = Jesus just passed out and woke up later...
2. Wrong Tomb = Jesus' followers got the wrong spot...
3. Theft = Jesus' followers stole the body and made up the story...
4. Vision/Legendary Development = grief stricken disciples "saw" Jesus, but it was the overwhelming emotions, and they began to believe that Jesus was among them in a spiritual/emotional sense, and the story grew.
The only answer as to what happened on Easter Morning that makes any sense, that takes into account 1st Century Jewish thought and theology, the events as they are described, and the results that followed in the lives of the Apostles and Early Church, is that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, that his body was no longer in the tomb, that his body was transformed into the glorious body that inhabits both heaven and earth in a physical reality that remains to this day.
A REMINDER OF THE GOSPEL (1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11)
1. The Source of the Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:1-3 ESV
2. The Content of the Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV
3. The Confirmation of the Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:5-8 ESV
4. The Effect of the Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:9-11 ESV
The Good News - the Gospel - transforms our expectations and hopes, and centres them on the person and work of Jesus Christ; the one who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and who appeared. This is the unchanging powerful Gospel. On this we must stand firm.