If Jesus Had Not Risen (1 Corinthians 15:14)
Pastor Tan Thai · Apr 17, 2011
This sermon presents the absolute importance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as the foundation of the Christian faith. Based on 1 Corinthians 15, the pastor explains that if Christ had not risen, the preaching of the Gospel is worthless, sins remain unatoned, and believers are the most pitiable of all people.
The sermon opens by defining the content of the true Gospel according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-8: Christ died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures, was buried, and rose on the third day, then appeared to Cephas, the twelve apostles, five hundred brothers, James, and finally to Paul. The pastor emphasizes that the resurrection was bodily, not merely spiritual — the disciples saw and touched Jesus, and He ate breakfast with them at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:13-14).
The sermon explains why Paul taught these things: the Corinthian believers were influenced by Greek thought, believing only in the immortality of the soul but not in the bodily resurrection. The pastor also presents the Old Testament view of Sheol — the abode of all the dead, dark and separated from God — contrasting it with the fuller hope of resurrection revealed through Christ. Scriptures from Psalms 6:5, 30:9, and Isaiah 38:18 are cited to illustrate the bleakness of the Old Testament understanding of death.
The central section of the sermon focuses on the catastrophic consequences if Christ had not risen, based on 1 Corinthians 15:14-19. The apostles' preaching would be worthless, the congregation's faith would be empty, the apostles would stand as false witnesses about God, all people would remain in their sins, believers who have died would be eternally lost, and Christians would be the most pitiable people of all.
The pastor distinguishes Christ's resurrection from the raisings of the widow's son at Zarephath and Lazarus: those individuals were temporarily restored to life and eventually died again, whereas Jesus rose and lives forever. The tombs of the founders of all other religions still contain their remains — only Jesus' tomb is empty.
The sermon concludes with Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, affirming that because of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers have a firm hope, do not grieve as those without hope, and need not fear death. The bodily resurrection of Christ is the foundation and the most important teaching of the Christian faith.