1 Corinthians 15:12-20
I have here some visual aids. I don’t usually do this, but today I’m going to talk about symbols, and I wanted you to see and be able to visualize the symbols I’m referring to.
This is a Star of David, one of the symbols of Judaism. It’s made of two interlocking triangles which form a six-pointed star, and its Hebrew name, magen David, literally means "Shield of David." Over the years, it’s gone by many different names and represented different concepts.
The origin of the Star of David is rather mysterious. There’s almost a 100% certainty that it has nothing do to with the reign of King David. It probably originated under a different name as the "Seal of Solomon."
The star was associated with various movements for Jewish emancipation, and by the 17th century it had become the Jewish counterpart of the Christian cross. Although the symbol has no biblical or Talmudic authority, it’s one of the major signs of Judaism, easily recognizable all over the world.
This is a symbol of Islam. It’s a crescent moon and a star. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding this symbol, because many Muslims shun the use of symbols of any kind. I think it’s more or less something that just gradually evolved over time. I’m not sure it’s ever even been formally acknowledged as a symbol of Islam at all, but when we see it, we automatically think of Islam.
This is a symbol you’re all probably familiar with. It’s called the yin/yang. It’s a symbol of Taoism, which is more of a philosophy than an actual religion. Its principles are simplicity, patience, contentment, and harmony. The yin/yang symbolizes balance - male/female, good/evil, dark/light.
This is a crucifix. I know you’ve all seen these. It’s a cross with Jesus hanging on it, depicting the Crucifixion. The practice of putting the figure of Jesus on the cross began near the end of the sixth century. At first no artist dared show Jesus in his pain and humiliation. He was dressed in a long royal tunic, sometimes with a gold crown, and only his hands and feet were bare to show polite little nail marks. It was a triumphant image, with Jesus open-eyed and smiling .
The first image of a suffering Christ appeared in the tenth century, and was very unpopular. It was in fact condemned by the pope as blasphemy.
Gradually over the next three hundred years, artists started putting a suffering Jesus on the cross, deepening the wounds in his hands, changing the gold crown for a crown of thorns, and adding liberal drippings of blood. The long tunic shrank to a skimpy loincloth to further show the marks of Jesus’ torment, such as the scourge marks that covered his body.
The Star of David, the crescent and star, and the yin/yang all have some things in common. When you look at them, you see no messiah come to save the world. No Son of God made flesh to dwell among us. There’s no savior who died to save us from our sins. And since no savior died, there’s also no hope of resurrection or life everlasting.
As far as the crucifix is concerned, we can tell by looking at it that the Messiah has indeed come. The Son of God has been sent to us, and a savior has died to redeem us. However, 2000 years later, there’s still an agonized, bloody, dead Jesus hanging on this cross.
Now look at our cross. We have a cross on the Table there, and there’s a beautiful cross hanging just over the baptistry. What do you see when you look at this cross? Nothing? Well, in one way we see nothing, and in another way we see the hope of the world.
Today’s scripture comes from the first letter to the church at Corinth. Evidently the Corinthians had sent Paul a list of questions, and he answered them in a way meant to correct abuses in the church and to show how important it is that they live what they believe.
Verse 12 reads, "But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" The church at Corinth was in the heart of Greek culture. Most Greeks didn’t believe that people’s bodies would be resurrected after death. They thought that the soul was the real person, imprisoned in an earthly body.
At death, the soul entered into immortality, but the body stayed dead. Christianity holds that the body and soul will be united after resurrection. Because these Greek Christians were having a hard time believing in bodily resurrection, Paul wrote this part of his letter to clear up the confusion.
Verses 13 and 14 read, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." To me, this pretty much sums up Christianity in a nutshell.
We celebrate Easter every year because Christ rose from the dead. Easter is what it’s all about for Christians. It’s the season in the life of the church that lets us know that we’ve been redeemed, that Christ is alive, and that we’ve all been promised eternal life.
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ wasn’t raised either. And if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead, what good is our religion? What good is my preaching? It would be a complete waste of time for me to stand up here and tell you that God sent his son to die for us if that’s the end of it.
Big deal. Jesus was born, Jesus died so we’d be forgiven, Jesus is still dead. What good is that to anybody? You might as well have faith in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. Your faith would be useless.
The next verse, verse 15, says, "More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised." In other words, if there’s no resurrection, then Christ hasn’t been raised from the dead. And if that’s true, then Christianity is all a lie, and all the preachers for the last 2000 years have been lying to you about God.
We’ve lied when we said that God sent his Son for our sake. We lied when we said that Jesus died to redeem us from our sins. We lied when we said that Jesus rose from the dead. We lied when we said that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. In fact, Jesus himself must have lied when he said that.
If Christ wasn’t resurrected, then we’ve lied about God’s promises, and about God’s love for us. The scriptures have lied about the end times, about how we’ll all be taken to the throne room, where we’ll spend eternity with God. So they must also have lied about God wiping every tear from our eyes and granting us eternal peace.
In verses 16 and 17, Paul repeats himself a little. This was a device used for emphasis back when this letter was written. So what Paul is saying here is something he considered important: "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins."
Your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Wow. All this time we’ve been practicing a faith that means everything to us. We worship God; we strive to be like Christ. We go and try to make disciples by spreading the Good News as we know it. We tell everyone that our sins have been atoned for; that their sins will be forgiven; that they’ll get a fresh start at living a Godly life. We tell people that they’ll be washed white as snow, purified, sanctified by the blood of the Lamb.
And now Paul is saying that if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead, we’re still in our sins. That means that nothing has been forgiven. Nothing has been atoned for. Our sins count against us just as they always did. Our souls are just as unclean as they always were. We’re no better off than we ever were, and we’re no better off than the people we’ve been trying to convert.
Next, Paul says, "Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost." That means that everyone who’s ever died, whether they believed in Christ or not, is dead. Not just dead as we’ve always thought of it - dead for now - but completely dead. Like the witch in the Wizard of Oz. Not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.
They’re dead, gone, not coming back. They’re not in Heaven with the heavenly host. They’re not in the throne room with God. They’re not walking golden streets wearing golden shoes. They’re not singing in the Choir Invisible. Their souls are dead, irretrievably lost forever, with no hope of resurrection.
Verse 19 was a little difficult for me. It says, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." What Paul is saying is that believers should be pitied if there were only earthly value to Christianity. Why would he say that?
In Paul’s day, Christianity often brought a person persecution, ostracism from family, and in many cases, poverty and death. There were hardly any tangible benefits from being a Christian back in those days. It was most certainly not a step up the social ladder. It offered little or no career advancement. Christians were even being told to forfeit everything for Christ. To take up their crosses and follow Christ. To sell everything they had and give the money to the poor. So it’s a cinch that Christianity didn’t serve to enhance a person’s earthly lifestyle.
What Christianity did offer, and even promise, was a better life than this one. This was something that people could take to the bank. They were going to have complete freedom from persecutors, relief from their burdens and cares, complete peace and love and contentment. Jesus promised them mansions. All they had to do was repent of their sins, believe in him, believe that he died for them, and believe that he would return in glory.
So even more important than what Christianity brought a person on this earth is the fact that if Christ had not been resurrected from death, Christians couldn’t be forgiven for their sins and would have no hope of eternal life. So there would be no reason to practice Christianity at all. Life would be much easier for those who denounced Christianity and returned to the more popular pagan religions or went back to Judaism.
Then in verse 20, Paul gives the Corinthians the reassurance that they were looking for. "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Firstfruits were the first part of the harvest that faithful Jews brought to the temple as an offering. Although Christ was not the first to rise from the dead, he was the first to never die again. He’s the forerunner for us, the proof of our eventual resurrection to eternal life.
The Corinthians had a hard time believing in the resurrection of the dead, so they had a hard time believing that Jesus was resurrected. We shouldn’t have that hard a time, because we have eyewitness accounts of Jesus appearing to people after he died on the cross. At Matthew 28 we can read about Jesus appearing to the women at the tomb. Then he appeared to eleven disciples on the mountain.
At Mark 16, verse 6, an angel appeared to three women and told them, "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here."
At Luke 24, Jesus appears to two believers traveling on the road on the very day of his resurrection. At John 20, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene at the tomb and calls her by name, then he appears to his disciples who were hiding behind locked doors. At John 21 Jesus appears again to the disciples and helps them catch fish.
There are also accounts of Jesus appearing to a crowd of 500, to his brother James, and to people who watched him ascend into heaven.
So let’s look at these religious symbols again. Star of David - no messiah, no savior, no redemption, no resurrection. Crescent and Star - no messiah, no savior, no redemption, no resurrection. Yin/Yang - no messiah, no savior, no redemption, no resurrection. Crucifix - messiah, savior, redemption, but the cross is still occupied.
Now let’s look again at our crosses. What do we see when we look at these crosses? Messiah? Yes. Jesus was the Messiah. Savior? Yes. Jesus saved us from ourselves. Redemption? Yes. Jesus redeemed every one of us.
But there’s something else we see when we look at our cross. It’s empty. There’s no one there. What does that mean? Jesus was on the cross. He died on the cross. But he’s not still hanging there, because he’s been resurrected. Jesus said he would be resurrected. He said he was going to prepare a place for us. He said we would be given eternal life.
And because Jesus was resurrected, then what he said was true. And if what he said about being resurrected was true, then everything he said must be true.
The resurrection of Christ is the center of the Christian faith. Because Christ rose from the dead as he promised, we know that what he said is true - he is God. Because he rose, we have certainty that our sins are forgiven. Because he rose, he lives and represents us to God. Because he rose and defeated death, we know we will also be raised.
Look at the cross. What do you see there?
