Thursday
Evening Bible Study
October
30, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3500 words
In Paul's day, Corinth was the
capitol of the province of Achaia (southern Greece), and was the most important
city in Greece.
Corinth was quite the cosmopolitan
city. All merchant traffic flowing north
and south, as well as east and west, flowed through Corinth.
Corinth was also the center of the
world’s greatest immorality.
The Temple of Aphrodite stood on
the hill overlooking the city, and every night 1,000 male and female
prostitutes would come down into the city and encourage the citizens to
“worship” the goddess of love.
Paul had established the church in
Corinth in AD 51 on his second missionary journey. He had spent 18 months teaching and building
the church before moving on.
It is now AD 56, and Paul is across
the Aegean Sea in the city of Ephesus. He’s received a letter telling about the problems and
questions in Corinth, and now he’s writing back.
Paul is writes to the Corinthians five years after establishing the church.
They have questions, and he has answers.
The first issue raised was about the divisions in the church.
(1 Corinthians 1:11 NKJV) For it
has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household,
that there are contentions among you.
The second issue had to do with immorality
(1 Co 5:1 NKJV) —1 It is
actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such
sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his
father’s wife!
The third issue was about lawsuits
(1 Co 6:1 NKJV) —1 Dare any
of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and
not before the saints?
The fourth issue was about marriage.
(1 Corinthians 7:2 NKJV) —2 Nevertheless,
because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each
woman have her own husband.
The fifth issue had to do with eating meat sacrificed to idols
(1 Corinthians 8:1 NKJV) —1 Now concerning things
offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but
love edifies.
The sixth area we titled “Getting Along”
Paul talked about how the church
members were to get along with each other, and he covered the subjects of
spiritual gifts and “love”.
This last official section has to do with the doctrine of the resurrection.
15:1-11 Resurrection Gospel
Before Paul launches into the various issues the Corinthians needed to be
taught about the resurrection, he reminds them of the gospel.
That’s because of how important the resurrection is to the gospel.
There were apparently some in Corinth who were having difficulty believing
in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, that there is life after this
life and that we will receive new bodies.
:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel
which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached
to you—unless you believed in vain.
:1 I declare to you the gospel
gospel – euaggelion (“good”
+ “message”) – good tidings
Note the different words attached
to this term “gospel”.
It is a message that is “preached”.
For someone to get saved, the
message must be communicated.
They “received” the gospel.
For someone to be saved, they have
to accept the message of the gospel.
They have to believe and keep
believing.
They have to “stand” in the truth
of the message.
They have to “hold fast” to the
message.
They have to “believe” in the
message.
Now Paul will remind them of the simple message that he calls “the gospel”
:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which
I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
:4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures,
:3 For I delivered to you
Lesson
The Gospel
Paul gives the simplicity of what the “gospel” (lit. “good
news”) is that brings us salvation. I
think you can break it down into two simple elements (some prefer three).
1.
Jesus died for our sins.
He died for a reason. He died because
of our sins.
Our sins separate us from God.
Sins require a payment to make us right again with God. The payment is “death”.
Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying in our place.
This was done according to the Scriptures. There was prophecy involved and Jesus
fulfilled it.
(Isaiah
53:5 NKJV) But He was wounded for our
transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed.
Some might take the phrase “He was buried” as a separate part, but for me,
the burial is simply proof of the fact that He was certainly dead.
2.
Jesus rose again
Jesus could prove that He had paid for our sins because He rose from the
dead.
Anybody can die and claim that they are paying for sins, but Jesus rose
from the dead proving that He not only paid for our sins, but had enough life
left over to come back!
This too was done according to the Scriptures
(Psalm
16:10 NKJV) For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
The resurrection from the dead also speaks of the power of Christ, the
power that He wants us to have in our lives.
(Romans
8:11 NKJV) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
This is not just a future resurrection, but power now in
our lives, power over sin, power to obey Christ.
Because both parts of this message were “according to the Scriptures”, it
means that it was not a matter of some goofy idea that some guy cooked up on
his own. These prophecies were given
long before Jesus or His disciples ever lived.
:5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the
twelve.
:5 He was seen by …
Paul is now going to deal briefly with the fact that Jesus’ resurrection
was witnessed by many people.
Cephas – Peter
the twelve – the twelve apostles
After Jesus ascended into heaven,
the church decided they needed a new twelfth apostle since Judas had killed
himself.
Peter suggested
that whoever they picked needed to be someone who was a witness to the
resurrection of Jesus (Acts 1:22).
(Acts 1:22 NKJV) —22 beginning
from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these
must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
:6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom
the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
:6 …remain to the present
Paul doesn’t mention these people by name, but mentions that most of these
people were still alive, something that could have been verified by the
Corinthians.
:6 fallen asleep
A biblical term for death. Dead
people look like they’re sleeping. Death
to the believer is about as scary as falling asleep.
:7 After that He was seen by James, then by all
the apostles.
:7 James
This is the half brother of Jesus, head of the
church in Jerusalem (Acts 15), the author of the book of James.
:7 all the apostles
Apparently Paul considered other men to be “apostles” than just the
original “twelve”.
The word “apostle” means “sent one”.
:8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by
one born out of due time.
:8 seen by me also
Paul too saw the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:5)
(Acts 9:5 NKJV) —5 And he
said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the
Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to
kick against the goads.”
:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not
worthy 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 was not
in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace
of God which was with me.
:10 I labored more abundantly
Paul felt he had worked harder than
the other apostles, but he knew deep down that it was only because of God’s
grace at work in his life that he was able to accomplish anything.
:11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so
we preach and so you believed.
:11 preach … believed
This is how salvation occurs.
Someone shares the message. Someone
believes.
15:12-19 Resurrection Implications
: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?
:12 no resurrection of the dead?
The message of the gospel includes the truth that Jesus rose from the dead.
And yet some of these folks in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection.
Apparently it was common in ancient
times to believe in the immortality of the soul, but not the actual
resurrection of the physical body.
Even today there are plenty of “Christian” churches where the pastors do
not believe in a literal resurrection.
Those folks ought to be reading this chapter.
:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
then Christ is not risen.
He’s going to point out some logical fallacies in their thinking. You can’t be saying that there is no
“resurrection” without saying that Jesus Himself was not risen.
:14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching
is empty and your faith is also empty.
:14 empty – kenos – empty, vain,
devoid of truth
:15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead
do not rise.
:15 false witnesses of God
If you want to say there is no resurrection, you have to be telling Paul
and the other apostles that they are all liars.
The cross and the resurrection were the heart of their message.
Some people may say that the
resurrection is not an important issue, yet it’s at the central core of what
Christianity is all about.
:16 For if the dead do not rise, then
Christ is not risen.
:17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is
futile; you are still in your sins!
:17 you are still in your sins
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then there’s no proof that your sins
have been paid for.
If our sins have not been paid for, then there truly is no hope for
eternity in heaven.
:18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished.
:18 those who have fallen asleep
If there is no resurrection, then the dead are gone forever.
When you get old enough where you’ve actually had several loved ones die,
this is a HUGE issue.
:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men the most pitiable.
:19 we are of all men the most pitiable
The apostles were willing to die for the message that Jesus had risen from
the dead.
What a waste if there is no resurrection.
15:20-28 The Last Enemy
:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and
has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep.
:21 For since by man came death, by Man
also came the resurrection of the dead.
:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all
shall be made alive.
:22 Adam … Christ
Paul is going to make a parallel between Adam and Christ.
Adam was the man who brought death to the entire human race through his own
sin.
Jesus was the man who brought life through His resurrection.
:23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His
coming.
:23 the firstfruits
Jesus wasn’t the first person to be raised from the dead, but He was the
first to be raised from the dead never to die again.
:23 afterward those …
When a believer dies, their
soul/spirit goes immediately into God’s presence in heaven.
It’s at the Rapture that we will get our physical resurrection bodies. More about this later.
:24 Then comes the end, when He delivers
the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all
authority and power.
:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies
under His feet.
:25 put all enemies under His feet
The Old Testament prophesied that Messiah would come back to conquer all
God’s enemies. Paul is probably
referring to…
(Psalm 110:1 NKJV)
The Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand, Till I
make Your enemies Your footstool.”
:26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is
death.
There will be day when there will be no more death.
:27 For “He has put all things under His feet.”
But when He says “all things are put under Him,”
it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
God the Father is not going to be put “under” Jesus’ feet.
:28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will
also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in
all.
:28 God may be all in all
When Jesus has conquered all, God will be in full control.
15:29-34 Denial’s effects
:29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized
for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for
the dead?
:29 baptized for the dead
This is a VERY strange verse. What
does it mean? Here are some
possibilities:
1) Getting dead people into heaven
The idea is that living people are baptized in the place of a dead person
to get the dead person into heaven.
This is the Mormon view. They’ve developed an entire doctrine on the
basis of this one verse alone.
The Bible says that after you die, you
will face judgment –
(Hebrews
9:27 NKJV) And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the
judgment,
When you are dead, it
is too late for anyone to do anything to get you into heaven.
2) Believing because of the dead.
The idea is that some were baptized because
of the testimony of those who had died for their faith.
3)
It is pointing to some unknown practice
We don’t know what these people were
doing, but the point was that if these people were doing it, they must be doing
it because they saw there was something beyond this life.
Paul isn’t endorsing whatever the
practice was, he’s just using this as an illustration that people were thinking
of life beyond death.
:30 And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?
:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have
in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
:32 If, in the manner of men, I have fought with
beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not
rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
:31 I die daily
Paul lived a dangerous life. He willingly faced death on more than one
occasion because he saw that death wasn’t the end of it.
There is life after death.
:32 fought with beasts at Ephesus
Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthians while living in Ephesus.
Paul may be talking about the
persecution he was beginning to experience at Ephesus.
It’s possible he’s talking about literal animals, but probably more likely
he’s talking about the beastly men who were raising up persecution against the
believers.
Paul would eventually be forced to flee Ephesus because of the persecution.
:32 Let us eat and drink
If there is no life after death, then you might as well party now because
this life is all you get.
But if there is a resurrection, and we live eternally, perhaps it’s worth
enduring difficulties on this side of death so we can enjoy more of what’s on
the other side.
:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts
good habits.”
:33 Evil company corrupts
(1 Corinthians
15:33 NLT) Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company
corrupts good character.”
Those who say what things? “Eat and
drink for tomorrow we die”.
Lesson
Healthy friendships
It is important that we be friends with “sinners”.
Jesus was often accused of being a “friend of sinners” (Luke 7:34)
(Luke 7:34 NKJV) —34 The
Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a
winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
How else will unbelievers hear about the gospel and see what it is to
follow Jesus if we don’t get close to them?
Part of the “gospel” process involves “preaching”, or
communicating the message.
It’s like being a good dad with your kids, you influence
them…
Video: How to Dad
The problem is that sometimes we let the “sinners” be the ones to influence
us.
Now I don’t know about you, but I’d be careful about how
much time I let my kid watch this…
Sometimes we can be quite “needy” in life and we will hang around whoever
will smile at us.
If that person smiling around you has twisted morals, you are in for a
rough ride.
They will influence you.
They will affect you.
:34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for
some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
:34 some do not have the knowledge of
God
Lesson
Reaching the lost
Those who have lost sight of eternity and do not believe in the
resurrection have lost their purpose for doing the hard thing – living a
righteous life and stopping their sin.
It’s not that you have to have a “perfect” life in order to share the
gospel with someone. Every person that
God uses is imperfect.
Yet sometimes we get so lost in our own sin, that we lose sight of the
reason why we are still here on this earth – to reach the lost.
Get your life together and start telling people about Jesus.