The title of this piece is inescapable. Whether in athletics (or writing articles!) there are fundamentals that must be followed to keep things from descending into a chaotic mess. People inevitably try to forgo the fundamentals, and sometimes succeed, but normally these successes are short lived, requiring a return to the fundamentals to avoid turning triumph into failure.
Christianity also has fundamentals; principles to which we must adhere in order to make sense of, and stay true to, the Word of God. It really doesn’t matter how a person “feels” about the truths of Scripture; what is important is that a person follows the fundamentals contained therein.
There are four such fundamental truths found in 1 Corinthians 15. Truths that cannot be changed or ignored if one is to remain true to one’s self and to God.
Read the following inspired words of Scripture from 1 Corinthians 15:1-6. “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered as of first importance what I also received: 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 to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” (ESV).
The four fundamental truths are “Christ died for our sins…, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day…, and that he appeared…” These are what followers of Jesus must believe to be given the name or title of Christian. If one of these four fundamentals are compromised, then the doubter’s claim to be Christian comes into serious question.
Let’s begin with the first of these fundamentals. “Christ died for our sins.” According to Paul, Jesus dying on the cross was based on the Old Testament teaching. The most prominent passage he is referring to is Isaiah 53. This chapter pinpoints a person who would die for the sins of the Jewish nation and for the entire population if they would believe the truth.
Isaiah 53:4-6 illuminates this truth clearly. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
This one person, Jesus Christ, came to fulfill this age old promise, not only to Israel, but also to the Gentile. Paul brings this to the memory of his audience when he states that Christ died for our sins. Our sin made a separation between us and God and there was no human way for us to bridge that separation. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The second and third fundamentals go together, “he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” Here Paul again states that these truths also were stated many years before, in the books of the prophets or Old Testament.
We could go all the way to the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis to begin to find this but these next two verses serve us very well. Psalm 16:10; “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” And Isaiah 53:10 when the prophet writes; “He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his day.”
Throughout the history of Israel and the Scriptures, there has always been the expectation of a Savior, an Anointed One who would save His people from their enemies and their sins. Also in the history of Israel, the animal sacrifices performed as part of the Law were a pre-figuring of this truth; the truth that Jesus ultimately fulfilled.
The final fundamental is “that he appeared.” This references the resurrection of Jesus Christ after being placed dead in a tomb. This is where the faith of Christians is far different from any other religion in the world or history. God became man, to suffer and be tempted as a man, then proved Himself God, by rising from the dead, as no mere man could.
At the end of each Gospel (and the beginning of Acts) we see a resurrected Jesus speaking to His disciples and the people. If Jesus had only appeared to Cephas or Peter and the twelve, we would be right in being suspect if he ever did rise from the dead. But Jesus appeared to over 500 at one time! And in 1 Corinthians 15:8 Paul humbly, yet joyfully writes: “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
Science will likely never prove that Jesus lived, or died, or rose again. But our God is not science. Science is always changing and God changes not. History can teach us great truths such as the life, death and resurrection of Christ. And if God is God (and He is) then why does it seem so unlikely that He could send His Son into a world that He created, to appear to His creation as a man, in order to redeem man from the mess he had made for himself?
God did all this and so much more. He proved Himself over and over again with the next to last great thing; Jesus rising from the dead. The last great action will be soon to come; the second coming of Jesus Christ for His church, to take His bride presenting her before His Father before entering into paradise for eternity.
This is great news and it is called the gospel. The fundamental truths which one must believe to enter heaven are clear and simple. Take a look at these truths again and then look closer at Jesus. God has not lied to us, but rather came to us in the person of Jesus Christ so that we might be reconciled to Him. Don’t put off what can be done today, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.