Key Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
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The gospel is the best and worst news you’ve ever heard.
• We are all on a collision course with a holy God
• The only way to become holy is to come into relationship with Jesus—who became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God, in him
2 Corinthians 5:10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Isaiah 6:1-8, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
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The gospel is our foundation.
• The gospel is not just something that we believe in—the gospel is something that we stand on
1 Corinthians 15:1,Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
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The same gospel that saves us is the gospel that sustains us.
• Salvation is a process whereby God continues to save us in Christ Jesus every single day of our life, until we stand before God blameless in Christ
1 Corinthians 15:2, By this gospel you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:10, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
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Our biggest priority is what we will pass on to others.
• We talk to others about the things that we prioritize in life. We need to be people who prioritize the gospel
1 Corinthians 15:3-6, For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
1 Corinthians 15:11, Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.