The Resurrection: A Foundation for Living Faithfully

    April 4, 2022
    1 Corinthians 15:29-34
    George Robertson
    Does the resurrection make a difference in your life?

    In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul famously writes that if there is no resurrection, his preaching of the gospel is in vain and that Christians are of all people most to be pitied. In other words, the resurrection is foundational to the gospel. Without it, we have no hope.

    The inverse is also true, though. That is, if there is a resurrection, then Christians of all people have the greatest reason for hope. In other words, believing in the resurrection should make us live and die with conviction. Is that true for you? Are you living as though the resurrection has really happened?

    As we've prepared for Easter the past couple weeks, I've shown you from 1 Corinthians 15 two distinct ways the resurrection should make a difference in our daily lives. We've looked at the resurrection's implications for death as well as its implications for hopeBelow, we'll examine the resurrection's implications for life, and in our final devotional on April 11, we'll consider the resurrection's implications for work. 

    Monday, April 4 — The Resurrection: A Foundation for Living Faithfully 
     
    If you have walked with Christ for any length of time, you don't need me to tell you that it is not easy. Christians can often be ridiculed for our beliefs. There are many times when giving up would be easier than enduring suffering. And the temptation to give in to temptation rather than being faithful is always present.

    So how can we be faithful in this adversity?


    We have been looking carefully at this extended treatment of the resurrection as the sure foundation for the Gospel. Paul has consistently encouraged us with this thought: the resurrection of Christ guarantees our own resurrection as well as the restoration of the whole creation.

    This passage demonstrates that the resurrection is the foundation for living faithfully. Specifically, Paul says that embracing the truth of the resurrection moves one to live for Christ publicly, perseveringly, and piously.

    Publicly

    It is only a living Christ who guarantees the resurrection of the Christian that explains why anyone publicly identifies with Jesus through baptism. Most likely, the “dead” in v.29 is a reference to the Apostles and the “baptized” are those who have received the Gospel from them. 

    Paul’s point then is that if there is no resurrection, there is no explanation for the public expression of hope among those who have believed the Gospel. But there is a resurrection, and therefore there is hope, and it is proven by the suffering of the Apostles and the very fact that there is a church in Corinth.

    Paul commonly refers to the Apostles as “dead” men (1 Co. 4:9; 2 Co. 2:14, 4:7-12, 6:1-10). He uses this dramatic language to communicate that the Apostles were called to lives of suffering in order to testify to the reality of the resurrection. The little word translated “for” (hyper) is perhaps better translated, “on account of” or “because of.”  In other words, Paul is saying these Corinthians were convinced of the Gospel by the suffering of the Apostles (the “dead” ones) and were baptized because of their testimony.   

    What else explains why we as Christians publicly identify with Christ through the sacraments of the Church when people mock our supposed backwardness, when we are excluded from the public forum, when our ideas are ignored, and when we, at times, suffer persecution? It is only the hope of the resurrection and the guarantee it provides of a perfected world.

    Perseveringly 

    Only the resurrection can explain why people would publicly identify with Christ, even though it results in their persecution. Likewise, only the resurrection can explain why people continue to persevere in faith in Christ despite suffering. Paul insists that without the resurrection there is no purpose to his sufferings. However, because of the certainty of the resurrection of Christ, which guarantees his own resurrection, he gladly gives his body to death with the confidence he will live again.

    Paul appeals to his suffering as powerful evidence for the message of the resurrection he preaches. He also appeals to the faith of the Corinthians. Very dramatically in v.31, Paul swears by an oath that he is dying for the truth of the resurrection. However, at the point when one would expect him to invoke God’s name as his witness, he invokes the Corinthians!

    In other words, there is no greater proof that the resurrection is the power behind the Gospel than the fact that the Corinthian church exists! Nothing else could explain the fact that these dead Corinthians have come to life—nothing but the power of a living Christ.

    Piously 

    Finally, only the resurrection can explain why people would deny temporal pleasures to remain faithful to Christ's commands in scripture. Paul now moves in to expose the real reason the Corinthians are denying the resurrection. It is so that they can justify their sins. If they can deny the resurrection, then it frees them to pursue their strong desires.

    Apparently some are pursuing illicit relationships which corrupt their morals. We have seen some examples of that already. Some were so desirous of social prestige that they were compromising their standards of worship and participating in pagan feasts with their friends. Others were intermarrying with unbelievers.

    Paul first appeals to their minds, urging them to wake up and come back to rational thinking. What sense does it make to throw away eternal hope for the sake of temporal pleasures?

    He then appeals to their hearts. He calls them to realize that there are those around them who are ignorant of the Gospel and will perish in their sins as a result of the Corinthians’ behavior, which communicates that there is no truth to the Gospel. It is only because of Paul’s confidence that they are in Christ that he has the assurance that what he is saying will cause them to grieve for their sin.

    There is a strong pull for every Christian to deny the faith—whether by hiding it, giving up, or giving in to the temptation to sin. The only way we can live faithfully in the face of these things is to believe in the resurrection.

    In the resurrected Christ, we have the assurance of final vindication at the day of judgment. Because of that, we can live our faith publicly. In the resurrected Christ, we have assurance that this life is not all there is. Because of that, we can endure suffering. In the resurrected Christ, we have assurance that we will one day hear from the Father, "well done, good and faithful servant." Because of that, we can say no to temporal pleasure in the certain hope that at the Father's right hand, there are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11).

    Back to Media Library