1 Corinthians 15:1-28 | Episode #1001

August 11, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

1 Corinthians15:1-28

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

If you would like to revisit today’s Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. 

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope,

Applying God's word to your daily life.

As we finish Faithful Finance, we want to produce our winter Bible study done at Lake Community Church on First Corinthians.

It'll be a fairly long Bible study.

We will break it up into different parts,

and so you will get a really good, really fast study through the book of First Corinthians before we move on to the book of Joshua,

chapter 15.

Moreover, the brethren, I declare to you the Gospel. Now he's going to move to the really spiritual stuff.

He says, I'm going to tell you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand,

which means I preached it, you heard it, and you stand on it,

by which also you were saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain, which means unless you believed without true faith.

But you didn't,

because you heard it.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received.

This is the gospel.

That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.

So what is the gospel? The gospel is that Christ was the sufficient sacrifice for us and that he brought life through the resurrection. That's the gospel.

You go, what's what? What is it people need to hear?

This is it.

Christ died according to the Scripture. Meaning he died according to the plan of God in the Old Testament. Right.

He was dead.

He wasn't fake dead. He was real dead.

He was buried and he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.

And that he was seen by Cephas and then by the 12.

Cephas is Peter. Thank you, Mama.

And that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once,

meaning this wasn't just some story everybody came up with,

of whom the greater part remain to the present.

But some have fallen asleep, meaning Most of that 500 are still alive while I write this book.

After that, he was seen by James, his brother, James the Just,

and the head of the church in Jerusalem, the writer of the book of James.

Then by all the apostles.

Where you go? I thought he was seen by disciples. Yeah. And then he was sent by everybody who was sent out,

which includes other writers of the New Testament,

which includes Barnabas and. And. And. And other. Other people who went out and preached the gospel around the world. Stephen and. And Philip and all those.

For I am the least of the apostles,

he said. Then last of all, he was seen by me. Also as by one born out of due time.

For I'm the least of the apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

See, that's humility right there.

This is one of the greatest men in history saying, I'm the least because I persecuted the church.

But by the grace of God,

I am what I am.

And his grace toward me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all. Meaning I worked in the field more than they did. I messed up, but I worked in the field,

he says, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they.

So we preached, and so you believed.

Now, if Christ be preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Now, this is very important.

I was asked recently by a district attorney's office before I became a judge about the efficacy of the death penalty.

Now, the New Testament tells us that does not the axeman wield his axe in vain?

It's a rhetorical question. Meaning does. Does what the government do in meeting out the death penalty. Is it. Is it in vain or is it wrong?

And the answer to that question is no.

But there's more of a deep spiritual understanding that has to be a part of this. And you've got to get it okay?

And you got to understand this in its fullness.

There is an eternal truth that. There's an eternal truth that the wages of sin is death.

That there is a penalty for not God,

anything that's not of God.

The penalty is. Is eternal separation from God, death.

So there is a spiritual truth out there that is undeniable that there is death. And the penalty for all sin is death. And that death is the shedding of blood.

Because in the blood is life.

By the way, we really don't know how that all works still.

And so eternally in the spiritual,

there must be a penalty for sin, which is death.

And the only way that God can bring about a resolution to that problem is that he has the power to give life to that which is dead,

which is the resurrection.

Now, I want you to hear me. The resurrection is the power of God over death.

It is the pure power of God to take nothing and make something of it, to take dead and make it alive, to take sick and make it whole.

Resurrection power is the power of God unto salvation. And is the power of God unto life.

And so when he's talking about spirituals. If you wanna know what's real important,

you need to understand that what is of the U.S. most important is the Gospel. And the gospel is this. That Jesus died according to the divine plan of God spelled out in the scriptures.

That he was dead,

full payment for the penalty of sin,

and that he was resurrected.

The full power of God over death and giving us life.

He says, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

He who denies the resurrection denies the fundamental of the faith and he is lost. He cannot speak that Christ is Lord except by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he's raised Christ up,

whom he did not raise up. If in fact, the dead do not rise.

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ,

we are all men,

the most pitiful or most pitiable.

But now Christ is risen.

But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead, meaning death came to man.

All right. What he was talking about,

what he was discussing was that if there is no resurrection of the dead,

then Christianity fails.

All right, that's important.

It's one of those what we call hills to down.

Jesus has to be 100% God or we're not redeemed.

He has to be 100% man or his sacrifice is insufficient.

He had to have died on the cross or the penalty would not have been paid.

He has to be resurrected or God does not have the power over death.

So he says,

but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die. Which means not you, Adam, for in Adam all die. Okay? Which means he passed on the curse of sin and death to all of his prodigies.

Every human being born of Adam died for one man. Adam died. Even so Christ shall be made alive.

But each one of his in his own order.

Christ the first fruits, Adam after those who are Christ.

And at his coming.

Then come the end when he delivers the kingdom of God to the Father, then He puts an end to all rule and all authority and all power.

Now, if you want to know the end that he's talking about,

that's the end when Jesus makes everything subject to him.

Perfection coming.

Is Jesus bringing about a perfect kingdom and a perfect dominion over the earth.

That's the perfection that he was talking about.

For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.

And the last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

For he has put all things under his feet.

But when he says all things are under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted.

Now, when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him. That God may be all in all.

The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son. The Son glorifies the Father. The Holy Spirit makes new creatures out of dead humans.

The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son.

The Son builds the church and makes the kingdom. And once the kingdom is complete, the Son brings all things under his authority and places that kingdom and that authority under the Father,

that all things might be under the Father, and that might glorify the Father, that all might be in all.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.