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.
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