1 Corinthians 15.1–8
A sermon preached at St Nicholas Church Rockingham on Easter Day 2026
Many of you are familiar with the great chapter on the resurrection in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The letter was written in about A.D. 51, twenty years after the event, whatever that event may have been. Before we even look at chapter 15, the very existence of this letter tells us there was a community of Christians in Greece twenty years after Jesus was executed, who believed he came alive again and was still alive. They believed God had become a human being, was killed and came alive again, was still alive, still a human being, though also God, and was ruling from heaven, and would one day return to judge and set all things to rights in the world. Don’t worry if that’s a bit too much to take in—I know it sounds crazy, but we know that’s what they believed, and I just needed to start with a bit of stage setting. The question is how they came to believe such crazy stuff. The short answer is that it all goes back to what happened on that first Easter morning—at a rough guess the 9th April A.D. 30.
So what did happen? One of Cambridge’s university professors—his job required him to be super cautious—said this: “Whatever happened back there, is tore a hole in history the size of a resurrection.” It certainly did; there is a direct line of continuity with us being here this morning, and the event of that morning. But listen to what Paul says in chapter 15.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I announced to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I proclaimed 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 Peter, 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. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Let’s start with the gospel. What is that? “I would remind you brothers, of the gospel I announced to you …” In short, it was the announcement that God had establishing his kingdom in the world in the person of Jesus. For the moment the king was ruling from a distance, but at the appointed time he would return to remove all suffering, all evil, and all sources of evil, and rule over a renewed creation forever.
By this gospel you are saved, he says, if you hold onto it and do not give up. Otherwise, any faith you may have had is in vain—like you had never believed. The letter is addressed to Christians—at least to church members, most of whom Paul expects are believers, though he allows that some are not.
So what does he mean to be saved? Our family was picnicking at Park Beach in Coff’s Harbour. I wandered off on my own and decided to go for a swim in the creek. I don’t recall how old I was—old enough to go to the Saturday movies, because I remember comforting myself as the incoming tide caught hold of me and swept me up the creek towards the railway pylons where the water was deep: “Roy Rogers king of the cowboys.” I repeated it over and over like a mantra as I bounced on my toes to get my head above the surface. I was in trouble. I couldn’t resist the current. There was no one else around. At least, I couldn’t see anyone, not anyone I could call to, but by the grace of God a young man came to my rescue, fished me out, and set my on the bank—the wrong bank as it turned out, but that is another story. I was saved—no question—saved from drowning, and saved for another seventy years of life. Salvation always has two sides to it. We are promised deliverance from the troubles that are coming. We are also promised a place in Christ’s kingdom, the healed and perfected world God has promised, beyond the troubles. With the world going the way it is, that ought to be attractive.
Paul now reminds the Corinthians of the terms in which he announced the gospel. You will have heard the gospel in one form or another, but Paul takes them to the heart of it. “I delivered to you what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day …”
You might wonder what this has to do with a new world—the kingdom of happiness, that Jesus said he was bringing. Well, everything! The world is running rough because of human sin. That seems a bit extreme, I know. What effect do my misdemeanors have on the world?
For a start, we are not talking about misdemeanors. Sin is about our first ancestors rebelling against God—the Creator—and his right to say how his world will operate. Think about this, and you should realize what a serious thing this was. I mean, God created a good world, and now it has been hijacked. You don’t have to go far to find out what that will mean: murder, cruelty, slave kingdoms, missiles, drones, rogue empires and atom bombs. Having pushed God out of his place, humans begin to push each around.
I was in Uganda in 1978 when Idi Amin had taken over the country and was trying to force the people to be Muslim. I spoke to an old man in Gulu; he told me every family had lost loved ones. Everyone with a position had someone under them who eyed their job. They had only to whisper to Amin’s security, and that person disappeared. But they hadn’t thought that now someone wanted their job, and so the killing went on. We may think that was Africa: it couldn’t happen here. Have you seen Nuremberg yet? Douglas Kelly was the American psychiatrist appointed to report on the sanity of the leaders of the Nazi Party on trial for their lives. Afterwards he attempted in vain to warn Americans that it could happen to anyone anywhere. No one took him seriously and subsequently he committed suicide. I am old enough to remember how it was after the war. Germans and Japs were evil people. The British, Americans, and Australians were good and true; cruelty was regarded as a characteristic of certain races. But there is only one race actually, the human race. There are more than 900 species of Eucalyptus trees, but one species of mankind, homo sapiens stands on it own. And if we think Australians are different, we should consider what we are doing to our unborn children: how quickly we grow accustomed to murder; every year tens of thousands of unwanted children end up in hospital incinerators. God is not welcome in Australian public life, Jesus even less so.
What the Bible calls sin—turning our backs on God and doing it our way—has all sorts of direct effects, like wars, marriage breakdowns, and youth rebellion. iI we refuse to obey God should we be surprised if our children don’t obey us? But there are also indirect effects. The Bible says God has turned away from us, so that the world itself refuses to cooperate with us as it was meant to, and sickness, insanity, natural disasters, and yes, death itself spoil our world. All this sheets back to human rebellion, and it will not improve until sin is dealt with; the rebellion must stop. This is not going to happen unless God intervenes and puts it down. That means a judgement in which the whole human race stands accused of evil beyond our imagining. The result can only be the termination of our race—unless … unless there is mercy.
“Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.” Jesus became king of the human race and shouldered our guilt. In one great class action on that first Good Friday he bore the sins of the whole world, and made forgiveness possible for all who would cease their rebellion, accept him as their king, and join his kingdom. That is the teaching of the New Testament.
I know it sounds loopy. How could one person’s death have such a great effect? It sounds weird, as I say, and you could comfortably dismiss it, if it were not for one thing: “on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures.”
I want to call this a fact of history, because it is. But many will say it is impossible, or will simply choose to ignore it, and so the human race will be divided between believers and unbelievers. But it is not believing in what can only be believed because there is no evidence for it, as the New Atheists love to say. There is plenty of evidence. But let me deal first with the idea that it is impossible; miracles just don’t happen. But they do, and they are all around us when we open our eyes. Once there was nothing, and now there is everything, including me and you. Even science says so. The big bang they call it. They call it a “singularity,” something that cannot be explained by the laws of science—a miracle in other words. The whole universe is a miracle, so you cannot say miracles are impossible, especially when the miracle we are talking about is itself a miracle of creation. That’s what Jesus’ resurrection amounts to.
But there is also evidence of the event. Paul says God has given proof to all people by raising him from the dead.[1] Something happened back there. Jesus was condemned to death by the Jewish Supreme Court as a blasphemer because he claimed to be the Son of God. He declined to defend himself. The Roman governor knew he was a good man and was uncomfortable to order the execution, but allowed it when pressure was put on him. Jesus was crucified, certified dead, removed from the cross and placed in a burial cave. The entrance was sealed, and the place guarded. Thirty-six hours later something happened which caused history to flow in a new direction. Paul says he appeared, first to Peter, then to the Twelve, then to 500 some of whom were still living when he wrote, then to James, then to all the apostles, and then to Paul himself. We know of others. He doesn’t mention the women, who came on the scene first and found the stone rolled away, and then met him alive—at least two different groups of them. And there were others. Six weeks later, in Jerusalem, a short walk from where he was executed, Peter spoke publicly for the first time, and 3000 became believers. How was that? Peter reminded them that many had previously witnessed his miracles, so it all began to make sense. It made more sense when they reread the writings of their prophets. It was all part of a history that had been going on for 2000 years and more: God’s promise of a king to rescue the world, a king who would suffer and die, and rise again on the third day. It was all “according to the Scriptures.”
“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; he was buried and was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures.” This is the message that rippled across the ancient world: the Middle East, Egypt, and North Africa, Asia and Southern Europe, then Western Europe, Britain, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia. The message was also taken to India, China, and Japan. Then it reached the Americas, Australia, and the Pacific, and now it is expanding through Africa. The exciting thing in our own day is to see it coming back to the Middle East: more than 300 Jewish congregations of believers in the risen Lord Jesus, and I could go on. There are 44 million Christians registered by the authorities in China today. Estimates of believers in unregistered house-churches bring the number up to 100 million. The stone which fell in the pond 2000 years ago continues to ripple out to the edge of the world. When you study the history of Christianity and all the obstacles it encountered and still does, and the mistakes it made, you have to wonder if the living Christ is not even now behind it energizing the wave.
The final test, of course, will be the return of Jesus in power. This is what he promised: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations, and then the end will come.”[2] What hangs on this is not just the truth or otherwise of Jesus’ promise—that will be as it will be—but whether the future of the world is good or evil—continued suffering for as long as the world lasts, or a new world without death, and without any trace of evil under the kingship of Jesus Christ—the kingdom of God which he promised, in which we are guaranteed a place, if only we will stop our rebellion and acknowledge him as our true ruler.
[1] Acts 17.
[2] Matthew 24.