Preaching the Resurrection

Imagine with me Washington, D.C., without the White House, St. Louis without the Arch, Atlanta without the Varsity, New York without the Yankees, and L.A. without the Lakers. You begin to get a remote idea of what it means to have a gospel without the doctrine of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a historical fact; it's the main motif and high watermark of the historical drama known as God's redemptive story.

We leave this massive truth out of our preaching at the peril of telling only half the story, a half truth in an incomplete story that is impotent to save sinners. We must preach Jesus' atoning death and victorious resurrection. It's not an either/or proposition, it's a both/and proclamation.

What We Preach as Resurrection

The resurrection must have been on the minds of the Corinthian believers as they questioned the Apostle Paul about the comprehensive nature, redemptive scope and historical particulars of the resurrection. Had the resurrection of the dead already occurred? Had Jesus really been raised from the dead? Was resurrection even possible? Did any of this matter to the gospel they had believed?

Believe it or not, these questions remain pertinent today, even in our modern, post-modern, post-Christian, pre-Christian day (you take your pick as to the time in which we live). Questions about the resurrection matter because the resurrection matters to the gospel we preach. If the gospel we preach is simply about how to have a better life, a better marriage or success in business then the resurrection is unnecessary. In fact, if the gospel is just another self-help method, then a dying God and living Lord don't matter.

There are plenty of good books, Web sites and magazines to help in all of these categories. Sadly, too many preachers have distilled the gospel in a minimalistic fashion that views the gospel as an addition to a life in search of success and fulfillment (i.e., "Let's see, I have my pretty wife, my smart kids, my green car and my house in the burbs. I care about the poor, global warning, healthcare for all and being a good neighbor. I better add on this God thing to cover all my bases."). This is the plastic gospel of our era, which is no gospel at all.

If we are interested in actual success and not just perceived success, if we are interested in essential change and not topical change, and if we are interested in life-changing change, then the resurrection is essential. If the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is true (and it is), then it supersedes all other claims—it makes all the difference because it is the difference between life and death.

The Apostle Paul's answer to the Corinthian believers is amazingly comprehensive. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Paul outlines the basic contours of the importance of the gospel. The gospel is the life-changing truth 1) we receive and believe in salvation, v. 1a.; 2) it is where we stake our claim and take our stand as believers, v. 1b.; 3) it is what saves the sinner, v. 2a.; 4) and, it is what we preach to the nations, v. 2b. Preacher, this will preach!