Of First Importance . . .

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.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles . . .

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain . . .

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:1–7, 14, 17 (ESV)

Paul visited Corinth on his second missionary journey in about A.D. 51. He ministered there for one and a half years, teaching, discipling, and sharing the truths of the Gospel. Corinth was a cesspool of materialism located in south-central Greece 50 miles west of Athens, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Corinth. Paul later learned about some severe problems in the Corinthian church through Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11) and others.

And, brother, they definitely had problems. In our vernacular, we encourage churches with, “We need to be in the world, but not of the world.” “The world,” which is alienated from God and in rebellion, seemed to have crept into the church in Corinth and was exerting massive influence on it. There was division, sexual sin, greed, covetousness, envy, and a lack of church leadership to address the issues head-on.

It was into that situation that Paul circles back to what is of “first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3) . . . the primacy of the Gospel that they said they believed. The resurrection of the Messiah was of gargantuan importance as an element of the Gospel message. Many in the church had fallen victim to false teaching and were buying into the false teachers’ claims that Jesus was not resurrected.

As modern people, we tend to think we know better now. We’re smarter. They just didn’t know any better. However, discounting the resurrection as nonsense is not something that magically showed up on the scene during the Age of Enlightenment in the late 17th century when everybody “got smart.” I guess everybody was dumb before 1685. Talk about nonsense.   It didn’t just appear in the 20th century, a time of the greatest technological advances ever. The resurrection has appeared as foolishness to the world from the day it happened.

Paul “ain’t no dummy.” He is fully aware that the Gospel is all about the dead man walking—all about the resurrection. Yes, of course, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross provides atonement for all who believe. Yes, yes, yes!  It is about His death, and I’m not minimizing His death one bit. However, the Gospel hinges on the One who died being raised from the dead. And 1 Corinthians 15 is the first systematic defense of it in the Bible.

By the time I got to the end of the first Gospel (back in 2000), Matthew, the Lord was well into the task of transforming me. However, when I read about the resurrection in Matthew 28, I was like, “Nope. Don’t believe it. Didn’t happen. Impossible.” Then again, in Mark 16. “Nope. Impossible.” And again in Luke 24. “Negative. Didn’t happen.” And yet again in John 20. “Hmmmm.  Nope, I still reject it.” After reading through John, I went back and read Matthew 28 again. I will admit that by reading all four accounts, Matthew probably being the critical one for me, I could sense that there may just be something to this empty tomb thing. I was still a “No,” but I think the Lord was moving me from a hard “No” to a little softer “No.”

After spending a little time researching the resurrection, I pushed on through Acts (and Peter’s sermon and all the narratives and history) and Romans (and all its doctrinal truths), and I began to read 1 Corinthians. A day or two later, I was confronted with Chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 was the runway from which the overwhelming importance of Jesus’ resurrection took off. Notice, you did not just read that I fell down, repented, and asked the Lord to save me. That’s not what happened. I simply acknowledged, in that moment, that His resurrection was super, super critical to the Christian faith.

In Verses 3 and 4, Paul briefly reviews what is most important . . . three essentials: (1) Jesus died, as was prophesied all over the Old Testament, (2) He was put away dead in a tomb, and (3) He was resurrected, as was also prophesied all over the Old Testament. Next, Paul lets us know that the Risen Christ appeared to a lot of people. And then Verses 14 and 17 . . .

There were several things that were swirling in my mind on that dark rainy morning of January 17, 2001. The picture of redemption that the entirety of the Bible paints, from “In the beginning . . .” all the way through the end of Revelation, the love of God like I’ve never felt before, and the writings of Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, and others were flying all around in my head.

Matthew 7:7 and 1 Corinthians 15 kept coming to the forefront.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7 (ESV)

I was looking for truth for 13 months. Jesus tells us to ask. Well, I was begging, and He promises to provide. He tells us to seek. I was! He promises that we will find. He tells us to knock. I was nearly beating the door off the hinges. He promises to open the door. Do you know what He gave me? What I found? What was behind the door? Do you know what it was? TRUTH.

  “Of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The truth. The veracity of the Gospel. The resurrection as a real event that really happened in real time. Paul writes in Verses 14 and 17 that if Jesus is still lying dead in a cave in Israel, then everything collapses. Preaching is in vain. Our faith is futile and in vain, AND we are still shackled to our sin. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I thought, “It’s all true. Every word is true. Adam, Eve, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Rahab, Nahum, Ezra, Rachel, Jacob, Matthew, Barnabas, Paul, Luke, Stephanas, Timothy, Caiphas, Pilate, Lydia, Andrew, Judas, Peter, Thomas, Aquila, Annas, Epaenetus, and all the rest. All true! But of first importance . . .

JESUS!

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

I cried out, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” He said, “Yes!” Every time I am tempted, struggle, doubt, or sin, I remind myself of what is of first importance. You should, too.

Lord Jesus, thank You for saying “Yes” when I cried out to You. I was so lost, but now I am so found. So blind, but now have perfect vision. Thank You for Your Word and for revealing Yourself through the words and pages of Scripture. Lord, give me Your strength to proclaim what is of first importance every day for the rest of my life. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!