What’s A Church To Do?
Studies in First Corinthians
35^th in the Series

What’s the big deal about Jesus death? When you think about it, everyone dies. The pages of our history books are filled with accounts of death. Of course, they generally only record in detail the deaths of the powerful or notable figures of history. The ordinary people are generally only dealt with as a group, such as when a plague killed thousands. The dictators and despots generally get more notice. Historians will even record the gory details of how they were executed or assassinated or otherwise passed from this earthly existence. But the point is that they all died. And we know that we will all die.

We know from history that the Romans executed many thousands by crucifixion. These were non-Romans, of course. Execution by crucifixion was far too gruesome a practice to inflict on Roman citizens. Jesus was executed by crucifixion. But he was only one of many, many thousands. At the time, his death by crucifixion might have seemed fairly insignificant. After all, by most worldly measures of success, Jesus wasn’t very successful. He was the son of a carpenter. He was an itinerant rabbi preacher, who wandered from place to place. He was not wealthy, not politically connected, not a ruler or even part of the Jewish Council, known as the Sanhedrin. The number of his followers varied, from 12 regulars to crowds of thousands, but the thousands never stayed long.

So again, why all the furor? Why all the controversy? What’s the big deal about Jesus death? And make no mistake about it, there were many then, and there are many today, who make a big deal over his death, both positively and negatively.

You see, his death changed everything! Even time is marked by him. We divide it into B.C. and A.D. What caused his death to divide history? Even today, when a movie is made depicting the death of Christ, it creates a firestorm of argument.

Think about it. Mel Gibson has produced a movie depicting the last 12 hours of Jesus life, which includes his arrest, trial, scourging and crucifixion. Over 100 movies have been made concerning the life of Christ. Although I have not seen them all, I have seen many of the ones made in my lifetime, and they all, with few exceptions, deal with the events concerning his last hours in generally the same way. Yet, even before people had seen the movie, they had attacked it and labeled it anti-Semitic.

Why all the hostility? The answer, I believe, is found in the Bible. On the pages of the Bible is where we find out who Jesus claimed to be, why he died, and what difference it makes to those who receive the message we call the Gospel. The text before us tells us the facts of the Gospel and also what Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection does for those who put their faith in him.

But why should you care? Do you really know what the Gospel of Christ is? Do you know what it does? And does it make any difference to you, practically speaking? Is it all just an intellectual endeavor to satisfy your curiosity? Is there more to the story? Is there a power from God that makes an eternal difference through what happened that day when they nailed Jesus to the Cross–– that day when he willingly laid down his life for us?

And if it does make a difference, how do we get in on it? There are certainly lots of opinions concerning Jesus. There is plenty of speculation concerning him, who he was, who he claimed to be. And there are also loads of opposition to how Christians have defined Jesus–– as divinity incarnate, God the Son. As Christians, we must turn to our primary source material, the Bible. What does the Bible say concerning Jesus–– his birth, life, teaching, miraculous powers, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection? This is where we will find a revelation, because that is what we need. We need more than mere intellectual knowledge concerning Jesus. If we believe in Jesus as we believe in Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, or George Washington, then it will be merely an intellectual exercise that does nothing for us practically or eternally. And it will do both.

We need to come to two essential comprehensions concerning the Gospel, if we are to really understand, at more than a superficial level, what the Gospel is and what the Gospel does. The great apostle Paul said that the Gospel was the power of God for salvation to all who believe. Our text will give us the basics and the benefits of the Gospel. Our text actually presents the benefits first, but we will reverse the order so that we might get a clear look at the basics before we examine the benefits.

Sometimes I wonder just what the average Christian would say if he or she were pressed to give a simple and basic definition of the Gospel. What would they include and what would they exclude. There is no doubt that it is vital that we be able to clearly explain the essentials of the Gospel, without adding to it or subtracting from it. Paul said it was of first importance.

It is of first importance because the Gospel has the power to change the hearts of people. In fact, I believe that one of the reasons why the recent movie that focuses on the last hours of Jesus’ life has been so viciously attacked is because it is a pictorial representation of the basic truths of the Gospel.

Paul understood it because he had received it. We read in Galatians 1:11-12, "I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ." So we see that when Paul says that what I received I passed on to you, he is referring to a direct revelation from Jesus Christ himself of the basics of the Gospel message. And it contains three elements.

The first element is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. It is interesting that Paul does not begin with the birth of Christ, although that is such an important truth. In fact, without the truth of the virgin birth of Christ, we would have no Gospel. Neither does he mention the sinless life of Christ that enabled him to be the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. He does not mention the miracles of Christ, displaying his divine power. No, he begins with the death of Christ because that is where the Gospel begins. It begins with his sacrificial death in payment for our sins.

Jesus Christ died on a Cross. But it is in the reason why he died where we find the power that can transform our lives. You see, it is not simply that Christ died, but that he died for our sins. This was the very purpose for which he came. He left the glory of Heaven, became a man, in order to accomplish something that only he could do. He came to willingly die a sacrificial death in order to atone for our sins. We read in 1 Peter 2:24, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." Peter no doubt had in mind the great messianic prophecy by Isaiah, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (53:5)."

This is the first essential element of the Gospel. What had been prophesied in the Scriptures concerning the coming Messiah was fulfilled when Jesus died for our sins on the Cross, fully satisfying the divine justice of God.

The second element of the Gospel is that he was buried. On the surface of it, this seems like something almost unnecessary to include. Why include this? What significance does his burial have that it would be necessary to include it as part of the Gospel? The answer becomes clear as you more closely examine what his burial speaks to. The fact that he was buried speaks to the reality of his death. In other words, Jesus died a real death.

Some, who oppose Christianity, speculate that Jesus did not really die, but just passed out. It is called the swoon theory. The idea here is that Jesus merely passed out, or lapsed into a coma like state. But if you understand anything about how they prepared a body for burial, you would also understand how this theory could not be true. No, it was clear to the Roman soldiers, after they had pierced his side with a spear, that he was dead. His body was handled by those who carefully wrapped it and the burial shroud. They would have certainly noticed any signs of life. The simple fact is that he was buried because he was dead. Jesus did not just suffer on the Cross for our sins; he literally died there, and was buried as a result.

Now we come to the third element of the Gospel. It is the powerful truth that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Again, all this was predicted in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He was not merely resuscitated to the same life he had before but resurrected to a new dimension of life. He is no longer dead. He is alive! And these are the facts of the Gospel. He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, just as he said he would. These are the basics that every Christian should know. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the good news that God has made forgiveness possible.

We might also observe that this is a picture of the Christian life as well. The Scriptures teach that we must all die to our old way of life. We must turn from it in repentance, deny ourselves, and take up our Cross daily. We must bury the old life by putting it away and burning our bridges behind us. Only then can the resurrection happen in our lives, which is the spiritual transformation that we call the new birth, being born again, or born from above. This is what we symbolize in believers baptism by immersion. As they are fully immersed in the baptismal waters, the symbol is of their dying to the old way of life and being buried. As we raise them up from the waters, the symbol is of their being raised to walk in newness of life. Through baptism they identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and pledge their allegiance to him as their Lord and Savior.

Now we can turn our attention to the benefits of the Gospel. As we looked at the basics of the Gospel, we looked at what the Gospel is. As we see the benefits of the Gospel, we will see what the Gospel does.

And just what does the Gospel do? It does so much that we need to be reminded from time to time of how wonderful it is. This is how Paul begins, by saying, "I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you." It is so easy to forget all that God has done for us. We take his benefits for granted so often.

Paul had personally preached this Gospel to them. And they had personally received the Gospel which he preached. In fact, more than that, they had made this Gospel their foundation, "on which you have taken your stand," he said. And so can we also take our stand on the Gospel. It becomes our foundation, a steady, sure, immovable foundation. It is our fortress. Christ becomes the solid rock on which we take our stand.

One of the marks of a Christian is that he is not tossed around by every new fad that comes his way. Is your life characterized by stability, discipline, hope, faithfulness, confidence, optimism, and steadfastness? Do you have the foundation of Christ? The old gospel songs says, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand."

He further goes on to say that by this gospel you are saved. One of the benefits of the Gospel is that it saves you. Actually, we are being saved, because salvation is a process that includes spirit, soul, and body. It begins when we surrender to Christ. This is the point of our new birth. It is also known as regeneration. But it is only the beginning. Then we enter into the process of discipleship, or sanctification, to put the big theological word on it. But don’t be scared away by it. Sanctification simply means being progressively set apart for God’s purposes. Through this process our emotions and will are conformed into the image of Christ. Finally, at his second coming, we will be raised from the dead and given new bodies, spiritual bodies. This is called glorification. Technically, until we have been glorified, our salvation is not fully complete. But one day it will be fully complete, because God will finish what he began in us, of that you can be sure.

But notice that there seems to be a condition here. He indicates that you are saved if you hold firmly to the word. What does he mean? Does he mean that our salvation depends on us, on something we must do? I do not think that is what he means at all. I believe that he is underscoring the fact that our salvation is not based on head knowledge–– some intellectual understanding. We are not saved by some abstract belief in certain historical facts that we can then count on as some sort of fire insurance policy that will keep us out of hell. What he is saying is that the proof that you have not believed in vain is that you do hold firmly to the word.

The reason some people seem to fall away from the faith is because they had no foundation to begin with. Their belief or faith was vain or empty. In other words, it was not true faith at all. True faith is always seen by the change it makes in our lives. It has been said that we are saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone–– it is always evidenced by works. The way you know you really believe what you say you believe is that it makes a difference in the way you live. Let me share with you something from the personal experience of Ray Stedman, who is now with the Lord, but was then pastor at the Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California:

So the challenge to us is clear. Our challenge is to receive the Gospel with all of our heart–– no strings attached and no conditions added. Total and complete surrender is what receiving Christ means. Then we are to take our stand on the Gospel. We must burn our bridges that take us back to the old way of living and stake our very lives on the truth of the Gospel. Additionally, we are to hold it firmly. Hold on. Be faithful. Do right. Don’t quit. And finally, we are to live out our salvation in practical ways every day. We are to work out what is within, showing by our life the difference that Christ makes when he is allowed to live in and through us.

What is holding you back? What excuses do you make? The passion of the Christ is about his suffering for you and me. He laid down his life and gave all. There is a little chorus we used to sing that says, "He gave his all, what more could he give? Oh how he loves you and me." The Gospel, which means good news, is that because of God’s great love for you, he himself suffered and died to pay the penalty for your sin and offer you forgiveness. Will you receive his offer, surrendering yourself to live for him and not for you, or will you continue to do things your way? For God so loved the world–– you! How are you loving him back?

Copyright © 2004 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

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