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This is a sermon that was preached on Easter Sunday 2011 and based on the Scripture passage found in 1 Corinthians 15:14, 17.
Written Excerpts:
Introduction:
I certainly would not claim to be a carpenter or builder by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been taught a few basics about building. I’ve done many “honey-do” jobs around our house over the years; and I have some past employment experience working with contractors, as well as having contracted a few roofing jobs on my own. I’ve also “picked up” a few insights just by listening to others who were experts in the building trades.
I have learned what the term “bench mark” means, and learned how crucial a bench mark is for the construction of a building. “Benchmark” – has been defined as… a standard by which something can be measured or judged; a surveyor’s mark on a stone post or other permanent feature, at a point whose exact elevation and position is known: used as a reference point in surveying.
If we consider the term as it applies to the building of a new building, we understand how important it is to determine the proper measurements of elevation for the footers and foundations of any building. You would certainly want to have your bench mark on an object that is a permanent fixture. For example, you wouldn’t want to use an object that is subject to variation or change or you might end up with a foundation that has a different depth at one corner of the building than it does at another corner.
On this Easter Sunday morning, I would propose to you that the verses we read in our Scripture lesson earlier can teach us that the fact of the resurrection is the benchmark of the Christian faith and the Christian religion.
There are two main thoughts that I would like to leave with you today as we compare the fact of the resurrection to a builder’s benchmark.
1. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the benchmark of our corporate faith.
2. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the benchmark of our personal faith.
(Many of my thoughts in this message come from reading the works of many Christian apologists who have written numerous books defending the faith.)
1. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the benchmark of our corporate faith.
“If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain…”
The Apostle Paul is staking the very reason and purpose for preaching on the validity of the resurrection. Preaching or proclamation of the Gospel, whether it is one-on-one conversation or mass communication, has no basis if there is no resurrection.
Skeptics would have us believe that the reason the church got started was because of some over-zealous, yet misguided men decided to start promoting a myth that they desperately wished was true. They preached it over and over so much that they began to believe it themselves and they swayed others to “fall for it” as well.
The problem with that view is two fold:
a. During and after the crucifixion of Jesus the followers (including his closest disciples) were so forlorn, dejected and afraid that they basically went into hiding.
It seems as though they were so fearful and disappointed that I get the impression they wouldn’t have been emotionally capable of starting a sewing circle, let alone a world-changing, dynamic religious movement! They were apparently afraid of being arrested next, and we read that some even returned to their previous livelihoods. So, there is no evidence that they were brave enough and bold enough to go about proclaiming anything that might get themselves in trouble with the same authorities that had just killed their master and teacher.
b. They did not follow the usual pattern used by “myth promoters.”
In other words, they did not go to some far-away place to start teaching a myth where the listeners could not easily ask around or check out the facts of their stories, nor did they wait until enough years had passed so that their listeners would have little or no recollection of the events. As soon as they realized that Jesus was alive, they started immediately telling the news to anyone and everyone who would listen.
So, the resurrection was the early benchmark for the corporate church and body of believers. They understood that if there was no resurrection, then they had nothing to talk about. They understood that if there was no resurrection, they would have gone back to their previous employment and had nothing but pleasant memories of a time they met and heard a very unusual teacher. If the resurrection hadn’t really taken place, then the church would have never been started. If the church hadn’t been started, then we would not be meeting here today continuing the long chain of faith going as we celebrate and propagate the message – Jesus Lives!
2. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the benchmark of our personal faith.
“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
Two things stand out here in this sentence:
a. “… your faith is vain” – i.e. worthless, good for nothing.
I’ll never forget hearing a recorded message by Josh McDowell, a popular speaker for many years on various college campuses around the country, and author of many books.
Josh talked about a college student who once told him after a lecture that he should not put so much emphasis on the evidences for the resurrection, but should just try to get people to seek a personal encounter with God; to have an experience that changes their life. He went on to say, “If people spend so much time studying about the resurrection, then learn someday that it really didn’t happen, then they will lose their reason for faith, if they haven’t had an encounter with God.”
McDowell responded with these words, “Good point!” “That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul said – ‘If Christ isn’t raised then your faith is vain.’”
Josh went on to explain, “If my faith isn’t based on the fact of the resurrection, then how do I know, when I’ve had this spiritual encounter you’re talking about, that it is the true God I have encountered and not just heartburn from something I had for dinner?”
I have had many moments of doubt and skepticism over the years in the past, but again and again my mind has come back to the things I have studied about the resurrection as well as other bedrock truths of our faith, and I am reassured once again that it is all real and true and trustworthy. Over and over the truth of the resurrection has proven to be the foundation or benchmark of my personal faith.
b. “… you are still in your sins.”
Not only do we have nothing to believe in that is solid and unwavering, but neither do we have any basis for deliverance or victory from sin. Christ’s victory over death and the grave is a victory for us all. It is not only a promise of victory over physical death, but a victory over spiritual death and bondage to sin. Cf. Romans 8:11.
Conclusion:
Dear friends, let me remind you on this Easter Sunday morning, that Jesus Christ is the only person in the history of the planet that has predicted his own death and his own resurrection and then carried it out just as He proclaimed.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the benchmark of our corporate faith and gives us the reason and purpose for gathering to worship and for preaching the message we preach. Without the resurrection, all we have are nice memories and beautiful stories of a man that seem to care deeply about other people, but we have nothing more. The assurance of the resurrection helps bind all believers everywhere in a common faith.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the benchmark of our personal faith and gives us the basis for everything else that we believe. If the benchmark “moves” then the whole “building” of faith crumbles. Without the resurrection, we can still have a lot of emotional experiences and warm fuzzy feelings over the Bible stories we hear, but we have nothing that holds us steady when we are assaulted by the storms of doubt and skepticism.
I’m extremely glad today to know that Jesus Christ is alive!
Let us stand and close our service today by singing the well-known and loved chorus of the song written by the Gaithers: “Because He Lives”
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