Proclaiming the Resurrection of Christ

Good morning, everyone.
“Paul begins 1 Corinthians 15 by reminding the Corinthians of the gospel they received, stood in, and by which they were being saved.
Then he gives them the gospel in four movements:
Christ died. He was buried. He was raised. He appeared.
But notice what Paul is doing.
He isn't presenting the resurrection as an interesting Christian doctrine.
He is saying: Remove the resurrection—and the gospel collapses.
If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty, our faith is empty, and we are still in our sins.

So let's begin with the question a serious skeptic would ask.”

“Exactly. You're asking me to believe that a dead man came back to life.
Nobody here saw it. Why should I believe it?”

Paul's answer is interesting. He doesn't say, ‘Believe because the church says so.’
He gives us witnesses.
Peter. The apostles. James. More than five hundred people. And finally Paul himself.

Paul is essentially saying: ‘This wasn't a secret. People saw Him.’”

“But let's be honest. We don't have five hundred written testimonies. We have Paul's statement that these people saw Jesus.
Couldn't some of them have experienced visions or interpreted an extraordinary experience as Jesus?”

Paul doesn't attempt to explain psychologically what every person experienced.
He gives us a cumulative case—witnesses, Scripture, and testimony.

And then there is Paul himself. He wasn't looking for Jesus. He was persecuting the followers of Jesus. Then something happened that completely redirected his life.
His testimony doesn't, by itself, prove the resurrection. But it raises a powerful historical question:
What happened to these people that convinced them Jesus was alive?”

“So are we expected to have absolute proof before we believe?”

“No.
Faith isn't pretending there are no unanswered questions. But faith also isn't believing without reasons. Paul gives reasons.
He appeals to eyewitness testimony. He appeals to Scripture. And he calls people to believe.
But now we come to something even more important. Because Paul isn't writing 1 Corinthians 15 merely to win an argument with skeptics.
He is writing to believers.
And this is where Paul turns the question on us.”
“Not merely: ‘Do you believe Christ rose?’

But
‘What does your belief in the risen Christ produce in your life?’
That's Paul's turning point.

And this is where we need to stop and examine ourselves.
We know resurrection doctrine. We can explain the state of the dead. We can defend the Second Coming. We can teach the first resurrection. We can explain the millennium. We can preach that Jesus is coming soon.
But Paul doesn't ask: ‘Can you explain the resurrection?’
He asks whether you stand in the gospel.
Because here is the uncomfortable possibility:
We can know the truth about resurrection without living like people who expect to be resurrected.
We can preach the Second Coming while living as though this world is our permanent home.
We can teach victory over death while being controlled by fear.
We can defend truth while carrying resentment into church.
We can talk about eternal life while allowing money, status, reputation, and human approval to control us.
We can know the resurrection intellectually…and still live as though death has the last word.”

“Then what does Paul expect the resurrection to change?”

“Listen to where Paul eventually takes the chapter.
He doesn't say merely, ‘Believe harder.’
He says:
‘Therefore... be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’
And why?
‘Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.’
There it is.
The resurrection changes the meaning of today.
Your faithfulness is not wasted.
Your service is not wasted.
Your sacrifice is not wasted.
Your struggle against sin is not wasted.
Your work for another human being is not wasted.
Because the resurrection means the grave does not get the final accounting.”

“So Paul moves from proving the resurrection to asking people to live because of it.”

“Exactly.
And perhaps that is where the Conversation Tree should leave us.
You ask:
‘How do you know Jesus rose?’
Paul gives evidence. But then Paul asks the believer:
‘If Christ is risen, how should you live now?’

That question is harder. Because we can argue about the resurrection all day.
But eventually, Monday morning arrives.

And the real evidence of what we believe begins to appear—not only in our words, but in our priorities, our relationships, our courage, our service, and our faithfulness.

Paul begins with:
Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ was raised. Christ appeared.
And then comes the unavoidable conclusion:
THEREFORE—LIVE LIKE IT IS TRUE.
That is Paul's challenge.
And that is the challenge of the resurrection.”