Welcome to Grace … Happy Easter!

“… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

– The eyewitnesses1 Corinthians 15:5 ff. “… he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

– The eyewitnesses– Their accounts

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

– The eyewitnesses– Their accounts– The documentation

Author DateWritten

Earliest Copy

Gap between original & copy

Number of Copies

Accuracy of Copies

Pliny 61-113 A.D. 850 A.D. 750 yrs 7 ----

Herodotus480-425 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs. 8 ----

Suetonius 75-160 A.D. 950 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----

Thucydides460-400 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----

Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 10 ----

Tacituscirca 100 A.D. 1100 A.D. 1000 yrs 20 ----

Aristotle384-322 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1400 49 ----

NewTestament

1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.

2nd Cent. A.D.(c. 130 A.D. f.)

less than 100 years 5600 99.5%

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

– The eyewitnesses– Their accounts– The documentation

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

– The eyewitnesses– Their accounts– The documentation– The implications

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?• Has sin been forgiven?“if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?• Has sin been forgiven?

– The Old Testament background

Hebrews 10

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?• Has sin been forgiven?

– The Old Testament background

Psalm 22

All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,they pierce my hands and my feet.17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,future generations will be told about the Lord.31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

Isaiah 53He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?• Has sin been forgiven?

– The Old Testament background– The New Testament testimony

Hebrews 10

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Romans 3But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished26 – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?• Has sin been forgiven?

– The Old Testament background– The New Testament testimony– The revolution in lives we observe

1 Corinthians 15:13-14

• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?• Has sin been forgiven?

– The Old Testament background– The New Testament testimony– The revolution in lives we observe– The objective evidence of resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:13-14• Introduction• Has Christ been raised?

– The eyewitnesses– Their accounts– The documentation

• Has sin been forgiven?– The Old Testament background– The New Testament testimony– The revolution in lives we observe– The objective evidence of resurrection

• Conclusion