Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from 1 Cor. 15. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- The message of Holy Scripture, and of Christianity, is the “Gospel.” Gospel literally means “good news.” Sadly, there are times when the church has not spoken the “good news” in Scripture faithfully. Sadly, also, the church has at times substituted a different message of “good news,” one more appealing to mankind.
- There are a variety of reasons as to why the “good news” of Holy Scripture is not appealing to human beings. It has to do with the reality of our sin, the reality of death, and also the reality of God’s grace and mercy and love, which “saves” and rescues us from spiritual death.
- Some want to “apportion” this grace out to others, controlling it, and thus coercing and manipulating others. Some don’t want to acknowledge their sin, their need for God’s mercy and gracious salvation. They want to be affirmed as being good, capable, and without need of help from God.
- This is why we Lutherans stick to the “Gospel” message of Holy Scripture, the Gospel which Paul writes of in our text. It is what he preached, what Jesus preached, what all of the prophets and apostles preached. It is the only truly “good news,” the only “good news” that is completely true. Therefore one is able to “stand” in this Gospel, and in it, by it, we are being saved.”
- This Gospel has to do with the work of God, specifically His work for us and for our salvation in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. The Scripture assures us absolutely that this work is “NOT IN VAIN.” But it can be “IN VAIN” for individuals – if we do not “stand” and continue “believing” in this one and only true Gospel! In our text Paul urges us not to allow this to happen – that we might have believed in vain, only later to forsake the faith. This would be tragic, and it is tragic whenever it occurs. So let us remember today and always, that:
I. What Is Of First importance Is What God Has Done For Us In Christ
Text: “Now I would remind you, brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the Word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.”
A. Christ Died For Our Sins – They Are Taken Away From Us, They Are Gone
Text: “I delivered to you of first importance what I also received [from God, by personal revelation of Jesus Christ]: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.”
John 1:29 John the Baptist, of Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
2 Cor. 5:19 “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
Eph. 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness or sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
1 John 2:2 “He is the blood atonement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
B. Christ Was Buried For Three Days – That Death And The Grave Might Be Overcome, And Have No Power Over Us
Text: “ I delivered to you as of first importance . . . that He was buried.”
Romans 6:8-11 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
C. Christ Has Risen Again From Death, On The Third Day – And We Too Shall Rise Again, And Be Glorified As He Is
Text: “I delivered to you as of first importance . . . that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Romans 6:4,5 “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”
John 11:25,26 “Jesus said to her [His good friend, Martha], ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.’”
Phil. 1:21-24 [Paul reflecting on life and death] “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
John 14:2,3 “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Statement: This is the “good news,” in brief. Your sins are forgiven, washed away, cleansed completely from you in the death of Jesus Christ. Your time in the grave has been sanctified by the three days Christ remained in the tomb; what is futile is your burial, and all the sorrow that goes with it, for you shall certainly rise again. In the interim, when we die we “go to be with Christ, which is far better.” On the Last Day we will be raised again just as Christ was, and glorified, for “we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Then we will live with the Lord forever in a glorious new heaven and earth!
Application: None of this is in vain. God is completely serious and earnest about all of this. Christ died, in unimaginable suffering – God the Father forsook Him as He paid the just penalty for all human sin, an immense pile of evil and wickedness!
Now, it can be vain for some human beings – for anyone who lets go of this faith in God and His promises! Of the unbelievers, the apostle Peter remarks: “They deny the Lord Who bought them.” Nothing but our own unbelief can negate our reception of these blessings of God’s great love!
Transition: So Paul urges us:
II. Receive The Reality And Remain In Faith; Do Not Hear And Participate In Today’s Celebration In Vain, But Seize The Blessings!
A. You Will Stand
Text: “the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.”
B. You Are Being Saved
Text: “and by which you are being saved.”
C. God’s Grace Is At Work In You Through This Faith, Just As It Was In Paul
Text: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
Statement: May this be true for all of us here present today! Again, the preaching is the gospel, the good news, and not just any good news, but that delivered to us “in accordance with the Scriptures,” what we have received from God through the prophets and apostles. It is true, it is real, and it is for each and every one of us! Thanks and praise be to God.
Application: There can be vanity and futility. God knows this – and loves us anyway, and has provided salvation for all of us anyway, even for those who ultimately reject it and insist upon going to hell. May this not be so for any of us, that the greatest good news and blessedness available to mankind should be rejected and thrust away!
For you who believe, you understand that all of this was “NOT IN VAIN.” To this day you are blessed with God’s salvation, with new life in Christ, and the rich blessings of God’s Holy Spirit.
Conclusion: God did this for all human beings because He “loves the world,” and every human being in it! He speaks this way to us and assures us of these things, so that no human being has ground to doubt the earnestness and sincerity of His love.
He reaches out to us with this “good news” so that it is not in vain for anyone, for “God wills all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God grant it to us all, and may He keep us in this faith, to life everlasting, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.