The Light after Darkness

We have a saying, “it is always darkest before the dawn.” The phrase talks about what CS Lewis and his friend Tolkein referred to as the eucatastophe, the good disaster. They mean the time in the story when everything looks the worst, but it is this sequence of events, this time when the heroes have been almost defeated, that their victory becomes the most powerful. It makes the happy ending even more joyful. There are several of these in the Narnia series. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has the sacrifice of Aslan on the stone table. Without this event, the victory over the White Witch would not have happened. In The Last Battle, when the old Narnia is wiped away, they are only then able to turn and go further up and further in to the true Narnia, which is like the New Earth of Revelation.

When you read very old stories, happy endings are rarely in sight. The Norse version of Armageddon has the world being destroyed only to rise again with all the problems beginning again in a cycle of sorrow that never ends. Even the Greek tales which are supposed to be happy endings have a note of tragedy in them. It is with the coming of Christianity that happy endings are seen because the Christian believes he already has a happy ending coming.

As you look around the world today, it is quite easily a bleak time to be alive. While most times in history have had their ups and downs, the down times always seem much deeper than the one before. There is indeed a rhyme to history. And because of how humans are wired, it is easier to remember how low the downs are while forgetting how high the ups.

Today, we will be examining 1 Corinthians 15. Paul wrote the letter to help a struggling church that he had planted a few years before. While pastoring in Ephesus, Paul wrote back to the church, encouraging them to overcome their differences, remembering their unity in Christ. The problems they faced were mainly sexual immorality, personal disputes, and paganism trying to re-establish itself in the young community. Paul urges them to remember first their unity in Christ and to avoid the sins around them. In this passage, he proclaims the foundation of their faith—the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Today, we will be talking about the truth of the resurrection and the necessity of the resurrection. Not only did it happen, but it had to happen for the sake of our sins.

The Truth of the Resurrection

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

At this time, there is a scourge upon our world that is shutting it down. We live in troubled times.  Yet we cannot give in to despair. When Jesus was buried, the Disciples despaired and prepared to go back to their old lives. Even with all the times Jesus had spoken of the need for Him to be killed (and then raised), in that moment with everything against them, they thought it was over. I imagine they were never more glad to be wrong in their lives!

That Sunday morning brought about the brightest dawn in history. It wasn’t just the sunlight coming over the hills, but the Light of the world emerging from the tomb! This day shaped more of world history and changed more lives than any other you can even imagine. That day, the Disciples had their lives turned upside down. A group of scattered, frightened men changed into a force that made the world different.

Despair can be so easy to give in to. Hopelessness can strike anyone. Especially when the man you’ve put your faith in is executed.

Paul was not one of the disciples at this time, but he became a witness of Christ on the road to Damascus. In this passage, Paul uses the words to introduce the fact that he is passing on exactly as it was given to him. This is important to him and to us.

Like all Jewish teachers, Paul begins from Scripture.  According to Scripture, by this he means the Old Testament prophecies, the Christ had to die for our sins, be buried, and then be raised. He appeared first to Simon Peter, then to the Twelve, then to over 500 at one time. He appeared to James, the other apostles, then to Paul, as one untimely born.

Paul had been the greatest persecutor of the church, but when he met Jesus, that changed. Just like when the scattered disciples changed by the resurrection into band of brothers that would change the world, Paul, too, was changed. The change came with the Light of the world rising.

Imagine the changes that take place here. One group went from frightened, hiding, despondent men to bold proclaimers of the truth. The individual went from a persecutor to a champion of the faith. Just as God uses the weak to confound the strong, He used the persecutor to confound the establishment. How has God changed you? What has the risen Christ done in your life?

Paul here goes on talking about the witnesses to the resurrection. This is how you can trust it happened. He mentions that most remain but some have fallen asleep. If you doubt them seeing the risen Lord, just go and ask them is his statement.

The witnesses went out, preached, and shared what changed them to change others. We find it so easy to get stuck in a rut sometimes, but God can make that change in us.

Paul and the others preached the Resurrection so much because it was central to the faith and because the enemies of the church fought against it. From the very beginning, those opposed to Christianity have had excuses to disbelieve the resurrection. Some argue that Jesus didn’t die on the cross, that He only swooned and revived from the cold of the tomb.

That is ridiculous. To work, it requires that professional executioners, the Roman soldiers, mistook Jesus for dead when they decided not to break His legs. They stabbed Him in the side, piercing the lung and all the way up to the membrane surrounding the heart, but that didn’t kill Him. They placed Him, dehydrated, beaten, and pierced, stabbed, low on blood in a tomb, and He revived. Then had the physical power to push the stone away from the entrance.

Another bad theory is that the Disciples went to the wrong tomb. Jesus’ body still lies in an unknown tomb. To make this work, not only did the Disciples go to the wrong tomb, the soldiers went to the wrong tomb. Nobody asked Joseph of Arimethia or Nicodemus which tomb to go to. The women went to the wrong tomb. Everybody went to the wrong tomb!

Both of these excuses have gaping holes in them. The only explanation that fits is that Christ rose from the dead.

The Necessity of the Resurrection.

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

The focal point of all history is the cross of Christ and the empty tomb. All events before lead up to it. All events afterwards point back. As you know, there are many denominations of Christians in the world today with varying beliefs, differing over minor or major issues from one another. One says not to use musical instruments while another sings only psalms. There are not many issues where I would say we call the other denomination un-Christian. The issue can be enough for us to have different denominations but still brothers in Christ. However, to be a true Christian, a person must believe that Jesus died on the cross and was physically raised from the dead three days later.

It is not an opinion that Christ was raised. It cannot be held as “but I might be wrong.” The fact of the resurrection must be held as an uncompromised truth. You cannot say it was only spiritual because the Scripture makes clear it was a physical resurrection. The tomb was empty. The Apostles and many others saw the risen Lord. If we say it happened, but it did not, we lie about God. This is not an option. Some in the church of Corinth did indeed say there was no resurrection of the dead.

But we don’t stop with “yes, it happened.” Paul goes on to tell us why it is the central point of his theology. Everything Paul preaches goes back to Christ, and Him crucified. The resurrection of Christ paves the way for the resurrection of believers to glory with our Lord. If there is no resurrection then Christ was not raised. If Christ was not raised, we will not be raised. Even more, if Christ was not raised, we are fools for preaching the salvation of our sins and should be pitied.

Christ’s resurrection shows His power over death and the Devil. His death was the sacrifice for our sins while His resurrection shows it was accepted by God. By His stripes, we are healed.

Before the Damascus Road experience, Paul had always kept Torah at the center of his life. Everything related back to Torah. The man did not steep himself in Torah because it would earn him a way to Heaven. He did not memorize tradition and Scripture to impress others. He did so out of a desire to please God and show others how great the God of Israel was. Torah was the way to live a life of holiness. Without holiness no man may please God.

Paul simply could not fathom how this new faith of Christians could be better. In his eyes, it did not put Torah at the center. In fact, he thought they were taking away from the Torah by proclaiming the executed Jesus as Messiah. The Son of David was to redeem Israel and restore the Kingdom, not be killed.

To Paul and Jews like him, Torah was life and life was Torah. Torah gave order to the chaos of life. They lived Torah. They breathed Torah. A conversation with any amount of seriousness in it would certainly involve Torah. You simply cannot read the Epistles without coming across a reference to the Old Testament every few verses. All of this was Torah.

After encountering Jesus that day, Paul changed his thinking. The Apostle John would refer to Jesus as the logos, the ordering principle of the universe. Paul, thinking of Jesus as the living Torah, would agree.

Paul proclaims here, “because Jesus rose from the dead, we know that we will also be raised.” This is our inheritance. Because He lives, we too will with Him in glory!

Conclusion: We have made our lives on earth but await the resurrection of the dead. Those who belong to Jesus will be raised. When you go to a funeral for a believer, know that it is only a temporary state. Jesus made it all possible.

That Sunday morning, almost 2,000 years ago, Christ rose, changing the worst disaster in history into the ultimate victory. This day, I encourage you to make that victory yours. Those who are Christians yet holding sin in their hearts need to thrust it away and ask forgiveness.

There are others who have not accepted Jesus as Lord. Either you do not recognize the resurrection as real or perhaps you think that your sins are too much. This is not the case. No amount of sins can stay you from Christ’s path. He can forgive anything you have done.

In either of those situations, make room for God in your life. Cast out your sin, ask for forgiveness, and resolve to change. If its for the first time or the hundredth, embrace the victory that came from seeming certain defeat.

Please visit Frank Luke’s blog where this article is also posted.