Remember the familiar nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty?
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and
All the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty
Together again.
These rhymes weren’t just little fun ditties, but were written for various reasons. Some were political satires and some alluded to current events. It is thought that Humpty Dumpty was a large cannon that fell off its footings. Because it was so large, it was impossible to set it back on the wall upon which it had set.
Other rhymes were taught to help learn numbers like,
1, 2 buckle my shoe
3, 4 shut the door
5, 6 pick up sticks
7, 8 lay them straight
9, 10 a big fat hen
And then there are those which involve a kid named Jack.
Jack and Jill went up a hill, To fetch a pail of water . . .
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick . . .
Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum, And said, “What a good boy am I!”
Jack Sprat could eat no fat His wife could eat no lean
So betwixt the two They licked the platter clean.
Whatever their purpose and original intent, they were written in a way that made it easy to remember and repeat.
Right after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and during the time when the early church was being formed, followers of Jesus Christ would gather together and learn about the truth of Jesus Christ. These followers would meet with others, spreading the good news that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. Certain CREEDS or sayings were developed to help inspire and remember the core elements of the faith and truth of the resurrection.
A couple of the most famous CREEDS recorded in Scripture are found in Acts 2:22-24, Romans 10:9, Philippians 2:6-11, 1 Timothy 2:6 and 1 Peter 3:18.
Each of these CREEDS include three elements of importance: the deity of Jesus Christ (by proclaiming Him as Lord, a title acknowledging His deity), His death, and His resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
These are the same elements found in another famous CREED found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.
This CREED is significant to reality and is core to the reason we believe Jesus Christ is the truth and is the hope of eternity.
In this early CREED, verses 3-4 include the three vital elements of our faith.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ . . .”
Here is the reference to the deity of Jesus. When we use both Jesus and Christ in reference to the Messiah, we are using terms that describe His characteristics as a man and as God. Jesus is the name given to Him as a man, and Christ refers to His being the Messiah, the Son of God, being the God/man.
“Died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried,. . .”
This emphasizes Jesus’ death. There are those who would say that Jesus didn’t really die, that He swooned and, therefore, faked His death. But Jesus didn’t fake His death. It is confirmed He died at the time of His crucifixion by the Roman soldiers. These Roman soldiers attended Him, saw Him die and confirmed His death by piercing Jesus with a spear. They were there when others came to wrap His body for burial.
Another important aspect about the death of Jesus Christ is that the Spirit of Jesus didn’t just leave His body behind while His body was being crucified. Jesus suffered death like any other man. It is also important to realize that Jesus had to die, that He experienced death to its fullest so that the significance of His resurrection would be fully realized. No death – no real resurrection. No death – no victory over death.
“And that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Here the third aspect of our faith is emphasized. His resurrection is crucial to our faith, to the truth of who God is, to the teachings of Jesus and to our eternal hope in Him.
So that is the CREED according to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Upon these truths we stand. You do away with any of these and you destroy our faith. You diminish or alter any of these and you promote heresy.
Jesus Christ is God
Jesus Christ died
Jesus Christ rose from the dead
But how do we know that Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead. We weren’t there as an eye witness of the event. What evidence or proof do we have that this really happened? Is our faith just a leap in the dark and we hope for the best, or is there any way to know that what we believe is real? Is it built on historical evidence?
Funny you should ask, for what we see in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 gives us some solid evidence as to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And based upon this proof, we build our hope.
Let’s take a look at what it says:
1 Corinthians 15:5 says “He appeared to Cephas,” who is this Cephas?
John 1:40-42 gives us the answer. One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).”
What is the reason this is significant? What do we know about Peter? When Jesus was brought before the religious leaders and about to be tried, what did Peter do?
(He denied that He knew or was associated with Jesus.) What changed when Peter saw the risen Jesus Christ? (He became the dynamic leader of the early church. Eventually he was martyred, killed for His belief in this Christ.) Here is testimony to the truth of a risen Lord. One who denies Christ is now willing and ready to die for Him.
1 Corinthians 15:5b
Then Jesus appeared to the twelve. (This is repeated as seen in verse 7.) What is the reason this is significant?
(They were a terrified group of followers but after seeing the risen Lord, they became courageous, unstoppable witnesses of Jesus Christ, every one of them martyred because they were followers of Jesus Christ and promoted the fact that He died and rose from the dead.)
Jesus ate with them, comforted them, commanded them to preach the gospel, instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. He rubbed shoulders with them, they touched Him, they listened to Him. John, the apostle, puts it this way in 1 John 1:1, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.” John overstates that He has seen and heard the resurrected Lord in bodily form. He touched Him!
These apostles were changed from scared rabbits into roaring lions. And their testimony, their witness is with us today. (Hebrews 2:3b)
1 Corinthians 15:6
He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers (men, so there could have been more than 500 if you include women and children) at the same time, most of whom are still living.
How is this significant?
Over 500 AT THE SAME TIME. You do not have or ever had over 500 men and women having the same vision or hallucination at the same time. This is witness to the reality of the resurrection. And if that wasn’t enough evidence to convince you, at the time this letter was written, Paul encouraged his readers to track down those still living and ask them about the appearance of Jesus Christ. This is amazing.
1 Corinthians 15:7
Then He appeared to James. Which James is this? This James appears in the book of Acts 1:14 and 15. In Acts 15 James is seen as a dynamic and important leader in the early church. He is known for writing a letter to the early churches, a letter titled with his name. This is referring to James, the brother of Jesus.
What do we know about James, the brother of Jesus, before Jesus was crucified? Let’s look at John 7:1-5. Jesus’ brothers were not only skeptical of Jesus, but they were down right rude. They mocked Him and did not believe who He was. That is until Jesus appeared to them after He had been crucified, buried and risen from the dead.
This is more significant than Jesus appearing to the apostles and all of His followers. We could argue, “of course, the followers of Jesus would say or seek to propagate this Jesus, but James, a skeptic, not only changed His view of Jesus, but became a firm believer.”
But we are not done yet.
1 Corinthians 15:8
“Appeared to me” Who is this talking about?
It is the Apostle Paul. What do we know about Paul before he encountered the risen Jesus?
Paul tells us what he was like in 1 Corinthians 15:9. Paul, when he was called Saul, hated the church. He considered belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah the worst kind of heresy. He was willing to kill those who claimed Jesus was God in the flesh. Granted, he never killed anyone directly, but he was an accomplice to the act. We see this take place when Stephen was stoned to death.
Yet this man became the strongest advocate of Jesus Christ, starting church after church, writing letter after letter to deal with the heresies affecting the early church.
What made the change? How does one move from being an enemy of Jesus to become an avid follower of Him? It is because Saul, who is later referred to as Paul, saw first hand the risen Jesus Christ.
Is the resurrection real? Did Jesus Christ really and truly rise from the dead? Cephas, or Peter, the apostles, over 500 brothers, James and Paul attest to seeing, hearing, touching a risen Lord Jesus Christ.
And there is more evidence that shows the truth of this event, such as the fulfillment of prophecy (as emphasized by the phrase “according to the Scriptures”, referring to prophecy given in the Old Testament), the witness of Christ’s opponents, the witness of women and the empty tomb.
Did Jesus Christ experience death, did He truly die, was He buried for three days, did He rise from the grave, were there reliable witnesses to this event? If you are willing to accept the evidence, you cannot deny the reality and truth of the resurrection.
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF THE RESURRECTION?
1 Corinthians 15 gives us a few results:
1. A reason to share and spread the news about Jesus Christ. It is evident we believe in absolute truth, in objective truth, in the reality of a resurrected Lord God. This message needs to be lived, shared and practiced in our lives.
2. We are forgiven. Our sins are dealt with, forgiven. He died for our sins. How do we know they are dealt with? He rose from the dead to affirm the sacrifice He made.
3. We have a future hope that we will have a new body.
1 Corinthians 15:51-57
Therefore, how are we to live? 1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us.
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
We are able to stand firm, because what we stand on cannot be moved. The deity, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are real, and upon that reality we build our lives.
The message of Easter is a message we carry with us all year long.
It is a message of hope, of love, of restoration, of power over death, and of eternal life.
