Gospel Basics

The Simple-Yet-Boundless Gospel

A number of you have heard by now that we got a new dishwasher recently. I decided to install it myself to save a little. Now I’m not a terribly handy man, but I do know how to read a manual and watch youtube videos. And eventually it did get installed. And it works. So that’s great.

But it took me a while. Because I tend to go slowly in general. I’m pretty cautious. But also, the youtube videos always make it seem so simple. The guy on the video says “you hook up the drain hose” and it’s 10 seconds of the video. And then I realized, “No, I’m inept. I want a 10 minute video of just that.” Despite how simple people make something look in the DIY videos, it’s always more complicated in real life.

What I hope you see today by way of contrast is that the gospel is truly at its core a simple message. You can fit the gospel on an index card. Now, it’s true, you can go deep with the gospel. There’s so much richness in Christ’s person and work that you can have whole books explaining the intricacies and implications of the gospel. And we’ll see, some of Paul’s statements about the gospel are built on other assumptions.

But the gospel really is simple. And it asks similarly, for a simple response.

This will be a two part sermon. First I want us to focus on verses 3-8, where Paul lays out “the gospel.” Then I want to spend time applying the significance of the gospel to us, using Paul’s words in verses 1-2 and his example in vv9-10.

First, let’s look at verses 3-8.

Paul says “I delivered to you of first importance what I also received.”

So what Paul lays out here is the most significant elements of the gospel, the “First things”. You take away these elements, and you don’t have a chance at getting the gospel right. You don’t have good news. And you can’t be saved.

Now, you need more than these things. Notably, he doesn’t mention the three persons in the Godhead here, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, though Paul clearly mentions them elsewhere. He’s focusing on these things partly because he’s about to address the fact that some people have denied the Resurrection.

But at the same time, it’s important to note, that if you misunderstand Jesus – who he is and what he did, and its significance, you lose the gospel.

So, here are the first things of the gospel:

• that Christ died
• for our sins
• in accordance with the Scriptures,
• that he was buried,
• that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
• and that he appeared

Now lots of scholars think that verses 3-4 are Paul reciting an early form of Christian Creed – a summary statement of belief. This would explain why he uses the language of “delivering what he received” – that was somewhat technical language referring to the passing on of a significant teaching in the Christian teaching. He uses the same language in 1 Corinthians 11 when he gives the words of institution – again, there he is handing down a form of Christian traditional teaching that was significant.

Now I think it also makes sense that this is a mini-creed since if you look at the early creeds, like Apostles Creed, or Nicene Creed, they incorporate this language or similar language into them.

Apostles Creed: He was crucified, dead and buried…on the third day he rose again from the dead.

Nicene Creed: He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again from the dead according to the scriptures.

This has always been at the core of what Christians believe. So let’s dig into these elements.

Christ died. This implies that Christ lived. He was a real human being who lived in Palestine and died on a cross. Crucifixion was a shameful and incredibly painful form of execution that the Romans invented.

Christ’s existence and death are just historically speaking some of the best attested facts of history. Pretty much no respected scholar, including non-Christian scholars, believe that Jesus didn’t exist. They’re out there, but they’re fringe. And theories like the swoon theory that say Christ passed out on the cross and revived in the tomb don’t pass muster. Jesus was flogged, and this Roman flogging itself would sometimes kill criminals. Then after they found him dead, Roman soldiers pierced his side to ensure he was dead. Roman soldiers know what a dead body look like. Never mind the impossibility of a near-death, revived Jesus getting out of a tomb sealed with a giant stone and defeating the guards posted there.

He was crucified. He died.

But noticed what else Paul says: He died “for our sins.” Paul is interpreting Jesus’ death for us. This is not just a historical fact. It’s a historical fact with theological significance. That’s how Christianity operates. It’s rooted in history – real events that have spiritual significance.

Jesus died for our sin. So Paul assumes that there is sin, and that we have it.

• There is sin. Sin is any way in which we break God’s revealed will for us. His law.
• We have sins. We’ve committed crimes against God’s law. Not occasional ones here and there. No actually scripture says we’re born in sin (Ps 51:5); we’re born fallen, because we inherited our nature from the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, who fell into sin and corrupted human nature by their fall. So from the desires of our hearts on out, we’re sinners, and so we sin. We are born “dead in our sins” (Eph 2:1). Hopelessly lost, alienated from God, enemies of God.
• Which means that God is just to punish us for our sins. Functions like our civil laws do in our country. You break them and you’re caught, you will pay for your sin. We break God’s law, God sees all things so we inevitably get caught, and we suffer for our sins. There are natural consequences for sin in this life. Suffer in our consciences. We suffer death. And we suffer punishment in hell for our sins against an eternal God.

Now this is why Jesus’ death for our sins is so significant. Jesus is a substitute. He suffers in our place, for our sin. How is this possible? Why can Jesus do that? Psalm 49:7-8 says “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, 8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.” No mere man can ransom another man.

But God can. The Psalmist says in v15 “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol” – from death. God can ransom another man’s soul from death. He has the power to. Only he could bear the weight of sin and not be destroyed by it. Only he could provide a price so valuable that it pays the debt sin has incurred. Only he could be perfect and not have to pay for his own sin.

And that is why Jesus can die for our sin. Because he is man and God. And you actually see earlier in 1 Corinthians – 8:6, that Paul alludes to the first creed we know of – the Shema – “Here O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.” back in Deuteronomy 6. But he modifies the Shema, and brings Jesus into the one God of the Old Testament: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

The Shema says: The Lord your God is one. Paul says we have one God (Father), and one Lord (Jesus Christ). In the unity of the one Lord your God of Shema, we have Father and Son (and as you see from other parts of Bible, the Holy Spirit).

So the one who died on the cross, treated as a wicked criminal, was anything but that. He was the Lord of glory. From all eternity he, being God the Son, enjoyed the perfect love and pleasure in the unity of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. And he became man, entered sinlessly into his fallen creation, and did the unthinkable. He died for the criminals that hung him on the cross. All the sins of his people are what put him there. And he paid for those sins. He suffered the punishment for sins, the God-bestowed curse for sins. He suffered in our place. He loved sinners, and so he died for sinners. He died for our sins.

And He did so according to the scriptures. Paul doesn’t point to a specific scripture. Possibly he’s thinking of Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22. He could be thinking about how the whole OT sacrificial system indicates that we need someone to die for our sins.

Notice he says “according to the scriptures” twice in this short summary of most important gospel elements. All that we believe is rooted in the Bible. Paul and Christians are not starting something new. They are carrying on something very old. God’s word from Old Testament to New Testament tells one coherent story, all centered on Christ. All that we believe is according to the scriptures. We are people of the book. The core of the gospel, who Jesus is and what he did is according to the scriptures.  All we believe and all our living aims at this: according to the scriptures.

Next, He was buried. This is proof of his death. Jesus humbled himself by remaining under the power of death for three days.

And then “he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”. Christ didn’t stay dead. Death could not hold Jesus. He is the Lord of Life. He is life itself. He is innocent. The grave had no claim on him. He was raised. The resurrection is the other great historical fact of Christianity.

When word from these disciples got around, there was no body to present to the people to quiet things down. From all the historical resources we have, we know these disciples go on to die for their belief that Jesus rose from the grave. This small group of Christians enjoyed no power or prestige for following Jesus, and it is hardly likely these men would all die for a fraudulent scheme they all knew to be false.

Christ rose – again, according to the scriptures. He’s likely thinking of passages like Psalm 16, or Isaiah 53.

And he appeared to others. Notice that verses 5-8 are a catalogue of appearances of the resurrected Christ. There’s no question of whether or not Paul wanted his readers to believe that Jesus literally rose. This isn’t a “metaphorical” resurrection. A “well he’s alive in my heart” resurrection.

No, he is alive. He’s got a heart and lungs and spleen and liver and pupils and retinas and a prefrontal cortex and synapses and a spinal cord and epidermis – he’s got his human body, and it’s glorified, its new, never to be spoiled by death again. But its him. Really him.

And he appeared to people. Paul here focuses mostly on apostles because he’s focusing on the fact in v11 that all the apostles, whether him or the others, preach the same gospel. So he says he appeared to Cephas (Peter) and to the 12 (the 12 disciples) and to James (his brother) and to 500 eyewitnesses at once. Do you see what Paul claims? This is in the early 50s AD, roughly 20 years after Jesus’ resurrection. And he says you could go knocking on those peoples doors and they’d tell you, “I’ve seen him.” 500. Most of them still alive when Paul is writing. And he appeared to the apostles. All these happened before Jesus ascended to heaven.

But then, Paul adds himself: he appeared to me. As one “untimely born.” There’s something abnormal about Paul. He’s the last of the authoritative eye witnesses to see the resurrected Christ. And he saw him after Jesus ascended into heaven. Acts 9 – he’s on the road to the city of Damascus to find and capture Christians. He’s breathing out murder against Christians. He just was the ringleader for the stoning of the first martyr Stephen. And there Christ intercepts him and brings him to his knees and reveals himself to Paul. And Paul sees the risen Christ, who speaks to Paul. And Paul converted to Christ, from enemy to follower. And Christ commissions Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles.

So you see, this is the gospel. That Jesus Christ, both God and man, lived, and then died for our sins, was buried in the tomb, rose again, showing he had paid for our sin and defeated death, and he appeared numerous times to hundreds of eyewitnesses.

Now what do you do with the gospel? Here’s the second part to  this sermon. What do you do with it? Look at Paul’s words in verses 1 and 2.

These are the things he mentions about the Corinthians’ response to the gospel: they received it , they were standing on it, and they needed to hold fast to it.

Receive the gospel.

Or you could say “believe it.” This is the first thing I bring before you by way of application. Do you know these things? 

Do you agree that the things that I have just said are true? Do you believe you are a sinner without hope of saving yourself? Do you believe Jesus Christ died and rose again to take away sins? Do you believe that he is the only savior for sinners?

Do you trust yourself to this truth? Believe it or not, it’s not enough to believe that Jesus is a savior. Not enough to believe that he is the only savior. Not enough to believe that he could be your savior. My friends, real, saving faith consists in believing that he is “your” savior. When you can say, “He died for ME.” That’s what it means to receive this gospel. To believe the gospel.

Children, don’t stop until you can say that: He died for Me. He has saved ME. It’s altogether too easy to be close to Christ, to be able to talk about a Christian life, and doing Christian things, and enjoying Christian books and liking to argue theology, and leave Christ to the outside. Have no Christ.

John Calvin put it this way: “As long as Christ remains outside of us and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and dwell within us.”

Christ must be yours. Dwell within You. Or he is useless to you. No value to you. Is Christ yours? Receive this gospel!

Stand on the gospel.

Stand on the gospel. That is, when you believe the gospel, it has to change your life. It’s not enough to claim you believe and then go your own way, without it impacting your life.

No, you stand on it, or stand in it. You encompass your life in this truth. It’s the foundation upon which you stand. Because Jesus is real. Jesus is alive. You know him. He knows you. He’s bought you with his blood. You are not your own anymore. You let this gospel control your mind, your thinking. Your living. This is thorough work, it’s hard work, but it’s the best work you can give your life to: the work of taking a stand on the gospel. Basing all your life, your relationships on the gospel. And lastly,

Hold Fast to the gospel. 

Paul is concerned that these Corinthians will lose the faith because there are false teachings going around about the resurrection. So he encourages them to hold fast to the gospel.  Keep returning to the gospel. Don’t think you ever outgrow the gospel. We never get past the need for grace. It’s so tempting to enjoy the gospel for a time, and then look for something new.

Don’t look to add something different from the gospel. It’s always the gospel. That God saves you by sending his son to die for you in your place on a cross. That he was bodily raised from the dead, and so will you be one day. Hold fast to that.

You actually see an example of holding fast to the gospel in Paul’s description of himself in verses 9-10. Paul’s life is a life that has been transformed by the gospel and he’s holding fast to the gospel.

And this is what a life that is holding fast to the gospel looks like:

Humble “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy” (v9). The longer you live in the gospel, the greater you see your unworthiness. Paul had been a persecutor. Yes, but you have over and over again lost your love for Christ. Returned to tired, empty sins. Forgotten that the gospel was good news. How unworthy you remain to receive mercy, and how unworthy you ever were of being shown mercy. Holding fast to the gospel produces a humble life. 

Hard-working (v10 his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them,). Paul held fast to this gospel, and it always stirred his zeal. Can you imagine being a latecomer to any group, a sports team, a club of any kind, and then claiming you’ve surpassed anyone else in the club? That’s what Paul says, though not with pride. “I labored harder than any of them.” The gospel is the greatest thing to spur us on to good, hard work.

Grace-exalting (v10 by the grace of God I am what I am…I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.) This is what holding fast to the gospel looks like. It means the lens through which you see all of life is colored by grace. Why am I what I am today, and not something much worse? The grace of God. All my hard work, I have no ultimate claim to it. The grace working with me did it. It’s like Paul had a co-worker in all his labors. Grace. And he got to the end of any gospel labor and said “Grace did all the work”. All the glory goes to God.

When you’re holding fast to the gospel, you know you never do anything without grace. It’s all by God’s grace. All God’s gift. It’s all Christ. He’s all. 

My friends, This is the gospel: this is of first importance: the most important news you will ever hear: And you always need to hear it. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, he was buried, he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

Believe this gospel! Stand upon this gospel! Hold fast to this gospel!

Pastor Josh Duemler is an assistant pastor at Fellowship Reformed Church in Mt Pleasant, MI.