10/18/26 “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ"
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Last week as Lisa & I journeyed from one end of Utah to the other, we noticed that pretty much every town we drove through had a similar-looking building.
...these large brick buildings were located in the center of each town...essentially making them the focal point of the community...
The landscaping around these buildings was always immaculate...never a crack to be seen in the blacktop....or a blade of grass out of place...
All of these structures were....undeniably impressive
Each of these buildings also had the same name...the same title inscribed on a foundational stone facing the road.
What was the name?.....It was "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"
As many of you know, Utah is where Mormonism took root in the mid-nineteenth century...
After the death of their founder, Joseph Smith...
A leader by the name of Brigham Young...along with a group of followers....
Traveled the 1,300 miles from Illinois to a western region that would later become the state of Utah
Today, around 60% of the population of Utah is Mormon...
For context, if you add up every person in every single church building on a Sunday morning in Wisconsin....
....that's every Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, E-Free, Methodist, Presbyterian, Non-Denominational, Episcopalian, 7th Day Adventist, Assembly of God, Greek Orthodox, Advent Christian....and others
....Add'em all up and you only have around 48% of the state's population...
Utah's population is comprised of 60% of its people aligning with a single faith tradition...Mormonism.
....A faith tradition that even references "Jesus Christ" in their official name....
Yet....Mormonism's definition of who Jesus is....and what he accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection....is very different than that of a Bible believing Christian
In other words, the gospel – the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that Paul discusses in our passage for today – it means something different to a Mormon than to a biblical follower of Jesus Christ.
This is why it's so important when we are discussing our faith with others...
....that we make sure people know what we mean when using words like "Gospel"...or "Redemption"...or "Grace"....or "salvation".... or "heaven"
....even the name "Jesus"
When a Mormon comes to your door and says they believe in Jesus....
They are not talking about the pre-existent, eternal 2nd member of the Trinity...
The one who said before Abraham was...I AM!
When a Morman mentions having faith in Jesus, they speak of someone who is NOT eternal...NOT the great I AM
They believe that he is a lesser, created being....a 'spirit-child' of God the Father and his union with some heavenly mother...
They actually believe that Jesus is a brother to Lucifer....also known – of course - as Satan.
All of these heretical beliefs about Jesus come from the error-filled Book of Mormon...which they view as more authoritative than God's own inspired Word – the Bible.
Mormons may say that they believe Jesus died and – and that he rose 3 days later...
But if they are believing in a Jesus who is not God....then he can never truly be Lord of their life...something scripture tells us that he needs to be.
Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Thomas got it right when he referred to Jesus as "My Lord and My God!"
Believing in a Jesus who is less than God means that he could never be their high priest...interceding on their behalf before the father... Insuring forgiveness for their sins...
Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2, "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)
It really does matter how we perceive the one in whom we place our faith and trust...
If your trust is not placed in the pre-existent, eternal, fully divine, Jesus of the Bible...then you might as well place your trust in....Mickey Mouse...
...or Superman....or any other person not named Jesus Christ.
...Because there truly is "....no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (acts 4:12)
....and it is this reality of who Jesus truly is that provides the foundation for what Paul is teaching us in today's passage of scripture.
This proper framework of belief in Jesus and his resurrection is what Paul refers to as "the gospel"
We've all heard that word, "Gospel", right?
It's one of those words we hear a lot in church...but maybe not many other places...
Sometimes people will say that something is "The gospel truth"
....you know...."Yeah man....I wrestled a bear while hiking in Utah, and that's the gospel truth!"
....no, I didn't wrestle a bear in Utah....but Lisa did....you should see the bruises on that bear!
That word 'Gospel'...it isn't used very much...
The word "euangelion" in Greek literally means "Good News"
...and - later on - some missionaries also translated the Latin word evangelium into English as godspel....with "god" meaning "Good"...and "spel" meaning "news"...
....eventually arriving at the modern term....Gospel....the word we use today for "Good News"
....But here in the church, Gospel isn't just 'good news" in general.......but the specific good news concerning Jesus Christ and the offer of salvation.
Paul uses the word in each of the first two sentences of today's passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 15...
As we've seen, much of this letter has focused on practical application and – as of late – spiritual gifts...
But now – in chapter 15 - Paul begins to wrap up the entire letter with a huge dose of doctrine....
....and the first 11 verses are doctrine about the gospel – the good news – of Jesus Christ...
The eternal, divine, 2nd Member of the Triune Godhead....Jesus Christ.
After mentioning the gospel message as being the central theme of his preaching while at Corinth....
In verse 2 (1 Corinthians 15:2) Paul declares that it is "By this gospel you are saved."
....it is through the good news of Jesus Christ that 1st century believers in Corinth were to be saved....
And it is by that same good news of Jesus Christ that 21st century believers here in LaValle, WI are to be saved as well
It has always been....and will always be....by the blood of Jesus Christ that people of faith throughout all time are saved....
In the OT, people of faith looked to the future deliverer...the future Messiah...They were looking to Jesus, they just didn't know his name...
Now – in the age of the church – people of faith look back upon Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for their sins ....what we call the atonement.
It is 'By This Gospel' - and no other - that mankind finds salvation....
Paul provides a reminder in the last sentence of verse 2 (1 Corinthians 15:2) that practicing any other worldview or faith than that of being a genuine follower of Jesus Christ will be....in vain...
Some translations say "All for nothing"....or "You believed something that was never true in the first place"
Paul isn't talking about losing one's salvation here...
Rather...it's a warning against non-saving faith.
A superficial faith....a faith that is intellectual but lacking relational substance.
A faith that acknowledges the truth about who Jesus was...but does not trust or submit to him.
James speaks of this kind of scenario when he says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.
If we are not trusting and yielding our lives completely to the Lord, Jesus Christ....
Then – Paul tells us – we might as well be believing in nothing at all...
All of the traveling upon the roadway of religion is in vain if you never reach the fullness of the destination.
Last Monday, it was a very rainy day in southern Utah.
It was a day that Lisa & I had originally planned to hike a few trails in Zion National Park....
....but the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel were dumping inches upon inches of rain over the entire region....
...So, on Sunday night, your pastor hatched – what he thought was - a great plan.
He said to his wife...."Hey honey....we're only an hour and a half from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon...how about we go on an adventurous, rainy-day, road trip to see the canyon....something we hadn't seen for 29 years.
Unfortunately, Lisa agreed to this idea.
So...we left bright and early Monday morning and began the journey south to the Arizona border.
The rain was constant for much of the trip....but as we got closer and closer to the canyon....low lying clouds began to make it foggy and difficult to see where we were going...
Well....we eventually made our way to the North canyon rim....
Not a soul around....that should have told us something, right?
Well...on the North rim, the road literally takes you to the edge of the cliff.
So parked the car...got out....took a few steps toward the canyon....
...and our eyes beheld.....fog.....thick fog
Fog so thick that we literally could not see 10 feet ahead of us.
Here we were...standing on the edge of one of the 7 Natural wonders of the world....and we couldn't see a thing.
The clouds and dense fog had hidden the reality of what was right in front of us....
The canyon was there....we just couldn't see it.
As I recall while we were standing there looking at...nothing...I may have jokingly said to Lisa that this situation might make for a good sermon illustration someday....
....I will not tell you how she responded to that comment! 😊
...I'll just say I'm lucky to not be at the bottom of the canyon right now! 😊
...I guess that would have been one way to actually see the canyon that day! 😊
But....Getting back to our topic at hand...
Our situation of standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon - and not really experiencing it....
....is like someone who performs the road-trip of intellectual agreement about who Jesus WAS...
....But not experiencing who Jesus IS.
Brothers and Sisters....don't allow the fog of pride, greed, self-centeredness, apathy, bad doctrine, or ignorance about the nature of Jesus - prevent you from experiencing....the wonder of ALL Wonders...
...The most beautiful sight that your eyes will ever behold.
....That being a saving relationship with your creator.
Did you know that the bible says that Jesus created you?
Colossians 1:16 says, "For by Him (Talking about Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."
He not only created you....but he created everything that exists.
How do you think he feels when certain people teach that he's some offspring of a greater god and goddess from another planet....
.....and that his spirit brother is the Devil!?!
Do you think that He might find that a bit offensive?
Believe it or not, we read about something very similar to this in scripture...
Unable to explain away the miracles that Jesus was performing, the Pharisees begin to level accusations against Jesus....suggesting that he is in league with the Devil....
...Jesus responds with some harsh words of correction and criticism toward the Pharisees....
And he ends his rebuke with these words in Matthew 12:37 "For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Be careful how you define Jesus to others...and how you perceive of him yourself.
Don't fall into the heretical canyon of belief that Jesus is anything less than fully God....to do so is to commit blasphemy against His nature...
....It would be like standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and declaring that what stands in front of you is nothing more than a pothole!
We will spend all eternity learning about the complexity and greatness of our Savior....
....may we never belittle him through our thoughts, words, or actions.
In the remainder of today's passage, Paul reveals what component of the gospel is the most important for the believer...
...and that – by far – is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection is what makes everything else work...
Like me, some of you grew up on a farm with an old-fashioned square baler....
The baler was hitched to a wagon behind it to either push – or throw – bales onto...
But.... as impressive as the baler and wagon were in and of themselves...they needed something else to accomplish their purpose...
....they needed a tractor.
They were both completely useless without the tractor – and its PTO – to achieve the purpose of turning rows of hay into bales.
Well....spiritually speaking....the death and burial of Jesus are like the baler and the wagon....
They are vital components of the gospel message...
But it is the tractor of resurrection that makes it all work!
The death and burial of Jesus would have meant nothing if there had been no resurrection...
This is why – not Christmas – but Easter (Resurrection Sunday) is our annual song of victory...because Jesus – through His resurrection from the dead – proved to be victorious over death itself....
....and, therefore, we may also be victorious over death as well....but only by way of his sacrificial blood of atonement...
On Thursday night, many of us celebrated the victory of the Milwaukee Brewers as they swept the mighty 2-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers to claim the National League Pennant - and punch their ticket to the World Series....
When Jaxson Churio caught that last flyball...I was jumping up and down and high-fiving Lisa in our living room...
Later – I got to thinking – do I have this same excitement over Jesus' victory over Satan and death itself?.... I should.
In fact....considering the enormous chasm of disparity between a baseball game....and that of eternal life....
....should I not be much more excited about Jesus' victory.... than that of a baseball team?
Now – I'm not saying it's inappropriate to get excited over the Brewers....it truly is an exciting time for Wisconsin's professional baseball team....
...and - if they win the world series – I'll probably be jumping up and down then as well....
But....why don't we get anywhere near that excited over the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Folks....The Brewers winning the Pennant is like a pothole compared to the Grand Canyon of victory that was secured for us through the resurrection of Christ!
The empty tomb should translate into an exuberant, overflowing heart of joy within each one of us...
And – the resurrection - is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion on this planet....
You see...the bones of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) they're still in his grave.
The bones of Confucius are still in his grave.
The bones of Muhammad are still in his grave.
The bones Mary Baker Eddy (The founder of Christian Science) are still in her grave
The bones of L Ron Hubbard (The founder of Scientology) are still in his grave
The bones of Charles Taze Russell (The founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses) are still in his grave
And – yes – even our friendly and polite friends from Utah can travel to Nauvoo, IL on the banks of the Mississippi River and visit the grave of Joseph Smith....the founder of Mormonism...
And if they were to exhume the casket of Mr. Smith....they would find the bones of their founder are still there....
But brothers and sisters....In all of human history, there is one grave that contains no bones...it contains no flesh....
In fact....it's contains absolutely nothing!
That is the grave - the tomb – of a man from Nazareth by the name of Jesus Christ.
This man walked out of his grave and – as we see in today's passage – is seen by over 500 of his followers before dramatically ascending back into heaven...
Referring to the resurrection of Jesus, Paul's final words of this passage are verse 11 (1 Corinthians 15:11) , "Whether then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed."
Doctrine makes a difference....especially doctrine dealing with the nature of who Jesus is....and what he did for you through his death, burial, and resurrection.
The creator of all things loves you so much that he willingly died for you...think about that for a moment.
So....be careful what you open yourself up to....
Stay in the Word....compare everything you see and hear to the ultimate standard of truth....God's Holy Word.
And...don't forget to....Celebrate!
Celebrate the fact that Satan got swept by the mighty power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ....
....and that we can live in that victory today as well....
No need to wait for heaven....
Let's live in victory today!
Let's Pray.
