What Can We Say about God?

What Can We Say about God?

1 Corinthians 15: 1 – 8.

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago, I started preaching a series of sermons on getting back to the basics.  This is intended to go along with all the recent sermons I have preached about evangelism and outreach. 

One of the important things we do as a church is to tell other people about Jesus.  We tell the Good News about God’s Love and salvation found in Jesus Christ—his death and Resurrection.  Another important thing we do is teach the Christian faith.  We teach a proper understanding of God to our children; to people who are inside the church; and to people who are outside the church.

There are several different words we might use to describe this proper understanding of God.  We might use the word “doctrine,” or the word “dogma,” or the word “theology.”  I prefer to use the word “theology” for a couple of reasons.  First, I think the word “theology” is much more descriptive.  Second, I think “theology” is something to be performed by all Christians and not to be reserved for the academic types in universities and seminaries.

The word “theology” comes to us from two Greek words.  Theos is the Greek word for God.  Logos is a Greek word with a couple of different translations.  On one hand, logos is where we get our English word “logic” and can be translated as “reason” or “logic.”  On the other hand, logos can be translated as “word” or “speech.”  Therefore, we can say that the definition of “theology” is “thinking about God” or “speaking about God.”

“Speaking about God” is not something that only happens in professional settings like a university, a seminary, or even a church.  “Speaking about God” ought to happen in universities, seminaries, churches and beyond.  We should speak about God in our homes—around the breakfast table and while putting our children to bed at night.  We should speak about God with the people who are closest to us—spouses, children, parents, family, friends, coworkers and classmates.  We should speak about God with people who are not close to us—neighbors, casual acquaintances, the person behind the counter, and perfect strangers.

Anyone can practice theology…AND, I would suggest that all Christians should practice theology by “speaking about God.”  However, not everyone practices Good Theology.  It is possible to speak about God while promoting some messed up beliefs about God.  There has to be a way to determine the difference between Good Theology and bad theology.  There has to be an objective standard…a way to judge between right and wrong…

I believe the Apostle Paul gives us a brief description of this objective standard in 1 Corinthians 15 where he teaches us about the Resurrection…

1 Corinthians 15: 1 – 8.

1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers 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.

Good Theology Is Good News

There are a couple of important words in verse 1.  First, Paul addresses these verses to his “brothers.”  Second, Paul reminds them that the message he preached to them was the “Gospel.”

“Brothers” is the most common word Paul uses to refer to other Christians.  He does not address these verses to his biological male siblings.  He does not speak these verses exclusively to men.  No.  This is an inclusive term for all Christians—male and female, slave and free, Jew and Gentile.  We are all brothers and sisters, if we are children of God through faith in Jesus as Lord.

“Gospel” was a common word in the ancient world.  In fact, I believe it was a politically charged word in Paul’s day.  Each time a new emperor rose to power in Rome, the government issued a “Gospel” proclamation all over the Roman Empire.  These proclamations all sounded alike.  They said something like this…Even though there has never been a political leader who fulfilled all your hopes and your dreams, this one will be different.  The new Caesar will keep all his promises.  He will give jobs to all jobseekers.  He will cut taxes and increase benefits.  There will be no more war.  We will live in peace.  And all nations will respect us as the best and the most powerful.

(Does that sound familiar?  It sounds like the promises we hear every four years before and after the U.S. Presidential elections.)

Paul preached Good News about Jesus.  Jesus is the Son of God.  The life, death and Resurrection of Jesus is a tangible expression of the Love of God.  (Romans 5: 8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”)  The Death and Resurrection of Jesus is Good News, because it demonstrates for us that God is more than All-Powerful and All-Knowing.  It is not enough to say that God is All-Powerful and All-Knowing.  We must also say that God is All-Loving.

The Love of God is Good News.  This is because the Love of God is what leads to salvation from sins, relationship with God and eternal life.

    

Good Theology Is Not New

In verse 3, Paul tells us that the message he preached is the same message he received from others.  There are two things about this which are important.

First, Paul has not invented the message.  The message of the Gospel existed before Paul and continues to be preached even after Paul has died.  Paul was neither the first nor the last to preach the Gospel.  Paul was nothing more than a messenger who received a message from someone and then passed that message on to someone else.

Second, Paul did not add anything to the Gospel or take anything away from the Gospel.  It is important to say that Paul is nothing more than a messenger.  BUT, it is also important to say that Paul was a faithful messenger.  He faithfully transmitted the message which had been trusted into his care.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is describing the Resurrection of Jesus and the Resurrection of all those who believe in Jesus.  So, when Paul insists (in verse 3) that he is a faithful messenger of the message he received, he is referring specifically to the Resurrection.

Paul’s teaching about the Resurrection is not new.  It is the same message given to Peter and the Twelve who spent three years physically in the presence of Jesus and were the first witnesses of Jesus’ Resurrection.  Paul’s message is the same as James (the brother of Jesus) and all the apostles.  There is nothing new about Paul’s teaching.

This is important for us to remember when we are listening to modern-day preachers.  The Gospel is an unchanging message.  It is the message of God’s Love which was demonstrated in the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus.  It is the message of Jesus who is the same “yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13: 8).”  Jesus does not change.  God’s Love does not change.  God’s salvation does not change.  God’s message does not change.

Beware of the person who preaches a NEW MESSAGE.  Beware of the person who says they have a new word from God.  Paul did not preach a new message…And Good Theology is not a new message…It is the OLD, OLD Story which still has the power to change lives today!

Good Theology Is Biblical

In verses 3 – 8, Paul makes two appeals to authority.  Paul did not invent the Gospel message.  Paul was simply a messenger who passed along the message he was given.  Therefore, Paul did not claim authority for himself.  Paul spoke with authority, but that authority was an authority derived from another source.  Actually, Paul appealed to two authorities…Scriptures…Apostles…

In Paul’s day, the word “Scripture” could only mean one thing.  It meant the Jewish Scripture, or what we would call the Old Testament.  (There was no New Testament in Paul’s day.  There wasn’t even a collection of Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.)  The crucifixion and Resurrection are not confined to the New Testament alone.  Paul preached Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish Messianic hope from the Old Testament.  Paul preached Jesus as the sacrifice to take away our sins from the Old Testament.  Paul preached the hope of the Resurrection from the Old Testament.

Paul’s second authority is found in his appeal to the Apostles.  There are a couple of ways we can think of the word “Apostle.”  In its literal sense, Apostle refers to people who have been “sent.”  God sent Jesus with a mission and a message.  Jesus sent his followers to continue the same mission and message.  A more specific or technical meaning of the word “Apostle” developed over time.  In this understanding, Apostle refers to those who have seen Jesus and were eyewitnesses to the Resurrection.

This is where the New Testament came from.  The Jews had a set canon of Scripture which the early Christians adopted and interpreted through the lens of Jesus as the Messiah.  Over time, the men who had been eyewitnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus wrote down their stories.  They described the earthly life and ministry of Jesus.  They described the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.  They described the birth of the church and the spread of the Gospel message from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 

The books which are included in the New Testament are not the only ancient books about Jesus and the early church.  The books of the New Testament are the ONLY books which have an Apostolic pedigree—we can reasonably trace the authorship of these 27 books back to someone who knew Jesus and was an eyewitness to the Resurrection.

In the same way that Paul appealed to Scripture and Apostolic authority, Good Theology in our world today must also be biblical theology.  We can only say about God what we have read in Scripture—Old Testament and New Testament. 

Conclusion:  Good Theology Can Stand Scrutiny

Paul makes a very interesting statement about the Resurrection of Jesus in verse 6.  He tells us that after the Resurrection Jesus appeared to Peter, the Twelve, AND to 500 others who are still alive!  (This was probably written approximately 20 years after the Resurrection.)

Why do you think Paul would add the phrase, “most of whom are still living?”  It is because Paul is inviting his readers to check the story for themselves.  You do not have to take my word for it.  You can look into it for yourself.

When I stand up to preach, I promise that I will “speak about God.”  Therefore, my sermons will be theological.  Whenever you hear me preach, you will hear Good News about God’s Love.  You will not hear anything new—it will be the Old, Old Story.  AND, you will hear from the Bible—I do not preach as the authority…I preach from the authority of the Scripture and the Apostles.  But, you do not have to take my word for it.  I do not want you to become my blind followers.  No.  I invite you to compare what you hear me say to your own pursuit of truth—Read the Bible, study history, observe nature and science.  Good Theology can withstand scrutiny, because Good Theology is truth.

When I was a college student, I was a religion major.  In my first Bible class, my professor stood up in front of the class and offered us an introduction to the class.  He said, “In this class, you will be exposed to a lot of things that you have never heard before.  Some of these things you will agree with.  Some of these things you will not agree with.  When you hear something that you do not agree with, I encourage you to open your Bible and read for yourself what the Bible says.”

I challenge you to search out the truth for yourself.  You do not have to take my word for it.  In fact, take my words (and my theology) and compare it to everything you know to be true.  Compare what I say to historical truth and everything you can observe in nature and through science…  Good Theology can withstand any scrutiny, because Good Theology is true.