NASHVILLE (BP) – This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, Lifeway publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the MasterWork curriculum.
Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:14
Discussion Questions:
- What is necessary in formulating a good debate response?
- How well do Christians do at defending the resurrection of Christ as truth? How well do you do in defending this truth?
- Have you ever had doubts about the literal, physical resurrection of Christ? If so, how did you respond to your doubts? What did you find?
Food for thought:
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of the faith. In the early church at Corinth some were questioning, even denying, the possibility of the resurrection of the dead. Hearing this, the apostle Paul gave the astute summary statement: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Paul soundly rested his whole case on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus rose from the dead, it was the most sensational event in all of history and a conclusive answer to the most profound questions of our existence: Where have we come from? Why are we here? What is our future destiny? If Christ rose, we know with certainty that God exists, what He is like, and that He cares for each of us individually. The universe, then, takes on meaning and purpose, and we can experience the living God in contemporary life. These and many other life-expanding things are true if Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead.
On the other hand, if Christ did not rise from the dead, Christianity is an interesting museum piece and nothing more. It has no objective validity or reality. Though it is a nice, wishful thought, it certainly isn’t worth getting steamed up about. The martyrs in early centuries went unwaveringly into the den of lions, singing as they went! In this century, nationals and missionaries on other continents have given their lives uselessly and have been poor deluded fools, that is, if the resurrection did not occur. Attacks on Christianity by dissenters have most often concentrated on the resurrection. It has been correctly seen as the keystone to the entire Christian faith.
A remarkable plan of assault was contemplated in the early 1930s by a young British lawyer. He was convinced the resurrection was a mere tissue of fable and fantasy. Sensing it was the foundation of the faith, the lawyer decided to do the world a favor by once and for all exposing this fraud and superstition. As a lawyer, he felt he had the critical faculties to rigidly sift evidence, and to admit nothing as evidence that did not meet the stiff criteria for admission into a law court today.
However, while Frank Morison was doing his research, a remarkable thing happened. The case was not nearly as easy as he had supposed. As a result, the first chapter in his book “Who Moved the Stone?” is titled “The Book That Refused to Be Written.” In it he described how, as he examined the evidence, against his will he became persuaded of the fact of the bodily resurrection.
What are some of the pieces of data to be considered in answering the question, “Did Christ rise from the dead?” First, there is the fact of the Christian church. It is worldwide in scope. Its history can be traced back to Palestine around AD 32.
The book of Acts is a litany of stories relating how whole communities were stirred by the message of Jesus and His resurrection. The believers were first called Christians in the city of Antioch. In Thessalonica, Paul’s preaching persuaded some of the Jews, a large number of God-fearing Greeks, and several prominent women to believe. The message literally “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6, KJV). They constantly referred to the resurrection as the basis for their teaching, preaching, living, and – significantly – dying.
Then there is the fact of the Christian day. Sunday is the day of worship for Christians. Its history can also be traced back to the year AD 32. Such a shift in the calendar was monumental. Something cataclysmic must have happened to change the day of worship from the Jewish Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, to Sunday, the first day.
Acts 20:7 states simply, “On the first day of the week we came together,” an established pattern. Christians said the shift came because of their desire to celebrate the day Jesus rose from the dead. This shift is all the more remarkable when we remember that the first Christians were Jews. If the resurrection does not account for this change, what does?
There is the Christian book, the New Testament. Its pages contain independent testimonies to the fact of the resurrection. Three of these, at least, are eyewitnesses: John, Peter, and Matthew. Luke’s Gospel gives evidence of a historian with a classical background known to travel with Paul and who heard him preach the resurrection (2 Timothy 4:11). Paul, writing to the churches at an early date, referred to the resurrection in such a way that – to him and his readers – the event was obviously well-known and accepted without question.
Are these men who helped transform the moral structure of society consummate liars or deluded madmen? These alternatives stem from our human knowledge and are harder to believe than the fact of Jesus, the incarnation of God, rising from the dead. There is no shred of evidence to support another view.
Masterwork
MasterWork is an ongoing Bible study curriculum based on works from a variety of renowned authors and offers pertinent, practical messages that adults will find uplifting and enriching. The list of authors and their books to be studied in upcoming months can be found at Lifeway.com/masterwork.
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