Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1755
November 8, 2026
1 Corinthians 15.1-11 Click here for audio recording of worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)
“The Gospel”
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
- Good News
Do you have a preference when someone asks you if you want the good news first or the bad news first? To be honest, I do not care for the option, just tell me the story, just tell me what’s going on. It does not ultimately matter, good or bad, because there is Good News that overcomes any and all bad news. Death, sin, the devil, tragedy, pain, suffering, loss, none of that can harm us because of one proclamation of Good News (the Gospel) - Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. The Gospel trumps every item of bad news. Go ahead and tell the bad news if you want, we have Good News. Paul calls this Good News the news of first importance – so I guess I prefer the good news first! This is the news that sets all other news in perspective. Are any worried about elections? Jesus still reigns. Are we worried about sickness, financial woes, or family relationships? God is still Lord over all. Are we upset by any bad news? The Holy Spirit is still with us.
I realize as much as anyone that these statements are easy to say and that worry and anxiety are realities we struggle with in difficult times. But there is also a depth of faith and peace that is ingrained in these truths that make our worries less burdensome, that make our anxious days less chaotic, and that make all our struggles easier.
The Gospel gives us a different view of everything! One of the things the Gospel invites in our lives is a growing perspective that is constantly helping us see things differently than what the world sees or what the world wants us to see. Gabe Lyons talks about the need for the church to recover the Gospel – to reclaim the Gospel for our life, to fall in love with the Gospel again.[1] I think such a recovery is partly to see everything through the Good News of Jesus Christ.
For those of us who need eyeglasses, we know the difference between seeing through the lens and without the lens. Sunglasses will do the same for those who do not need corrective lenses. We see things differently when we look through the lens. Perhaps it is a clear focus or maybe less glare. Either way, there is a noticeable difference in looking through a lens. This is one way to understand the Gospel as a lens to the world. We will see things differently than everyone else. That is quite obvious in today’s world. It is precisely why people think we are dumb, or gullible, or irrational, or weak and need the “crutch” of Christianity. In the movie National Treasure, the Nicholas Cage character (Benjamin Gates) finds a strange pair of glasses to read a treasure map. It had multiple overlapping lenses and every time he overlapped the next lens, he could see something more on the map.
The Gospel overlaps our vision time and time again. We have layers of Christian attributes through which we view life, people, and the world. We see through love, hope, forgiveness, grace, mercy, compassion, kindness, truth, and many more. We also have layers of responsibility: fear of the Lord (awe and reverence), judgment, self-control, patience, and so forth. The Gospel offers lenses that help us to look to others first, loves enemies, forgives those who hate us, and seeks to tell the truth in love because God loves people, even those who break His commands and mock His people.
We see things differently. We walk by faith and not by sight. We know that not all things are as they appear. The invisible is more trusted than the visible. God who is Spirit is more believable than material things. The Good News is a lens for not only how we see things but also what we see. What I mean by that is when others see common medical procedures, we see God at work. When others see chaos and tragedy, we see God reordering the world. When others see the visible, we see the invisible on the move. The Bible talks about things that way. The world might see the exodus narrative simply as escaped peasants and slaves, but we a people set free by God’s mighty hand. A body missing from the tomb, probably stolen from the view of the world, but to us it means a risen Lord. Ancient writing to the world is to us the very Word of God.
One of the things we do when we share the Gospel with someone is pray that their perspective will be changed in an instant and they will see the Good News, that is, they will see Jesus and then they will be able to see through that Good News to the truth about the world. When the Gospel gets a hold on us, it creates some excitement because we can see, and we can see for the first time! When we see through Christ, we can see what really matters and what is just inane news. So much of what we think of as news is just silly mindless gibberish. It is news for the sake of entertainment or news for the sake of a particular ideology either to persuade to a political position or to make a dollar.
It is a funny thing about the Good News of the love of God, that it is still NEWS. Worldly news most often goes in one ear and out the other. Can you remember a major news story of a month ago? Maybe we could if we were reminded of it every week. You and I could recite the news stories of any number of years if we were reminded week after week. Sunday after Sunday we come together to hear again the NEWS of God. Today we are reminded again of the basic message of the Gospel. Christ died, Christ was buried, Christ was raised from the dead.
- Christ Died and Was Buried
Christ died…
Each year as we approach Easter, we cannot wait to get to the resurrection of Christ, we will spend little or no time looking at the death of Christ. The cross is not a beautiful sight, not a stunning sunset or mountain view. But we must look at the remarkable meaning behind the death of Jesus Christ. Strangely enough, there is a beautiful aspect of the cross in that it reveals God's love for us:
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…God shows his love for us in that while we still were sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:6-9)
The cross reveals what the sacrifice means for our lives and our freedom:
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24-25)
We normally view death as the end of our lives, but theologically, death is not an end. Jesus' death means more than the end of an earthly life. It means the death of the power of sin, the death of the power of death. It gives us freedom from sin and death to enable us to live totally for Jesus Christ. In his dying, we are set free to live without fear of anything.
Christ was buried...
The death, burial, and resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 is believed to be a creed of the early church. This second line affirms the first line. Christ died – first part, Christ was buried – second part. He was buried because He really was dead. It is the same affirmation that we make in the Apostles' Creed, "(He) was crucified, died, and was buried." We further affirm His death when we say He descended to the dead, or, into hell, in the older version.
Scripture helps us again through the testimony of Matthew's gospel:
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. (Matthew 27:57-61)
He would have never been buried unless His death was confirmed. None of the disciples wanted Him dead, certainly not Mary, His mother, and the others who watched His agonizing death. But He died on the cross and was carried to the tomb to be buried. It is likely that in the minds of His followers, it was over, He was gone. We have no doubt that the death was real. There is no conspiracy to produce a false resurrection narrative because three days in the tomb is death.
- Christ Raised on the Third Day
He is risen. This is where we really like to focus our attention. Victory is won, the price has been paid, our atonement is complete, and our sentence has been served. In the resurrection, the power of God is realized to set free, redeem, save, and conquer.
The scriptures again offer a prophetic voice to this miraculous event:
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up that we may live before him. (Hosea 6:2)
Peter preaching on Pentecost said, [David] foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. (Acts 2:31, from Psalm 16:10)
Being the good Jew that he was, Paul notes that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection are all according to the Scriptures, as in Isaiah 53:
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6All 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. 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:4-7)
When Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law and drove out demons from others and cured the sick it is said that:
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." (Matthew 8:17)
Jesus said: For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” (Luke 22:37)
This is what we believe: Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. You don't have to be a theological scholar to hear it and ponder it and sense its power in your life. This Gospel has affected people for generations, young and old, slave and free, black and white, rich and poor. This Gospel permeates our lives with seeds of hope and love and faith that will not be cut down. This is the Gospel we are called to remember as we walk in the Christian life.
We sometimes get so caught up in our lives, in our discussions, in our strategies, that we really forget the power of this affirmation. We are served well to be reminded and to reflect on what this confession has meant to each of us and to the church and to the world. I think this is one of the reasons Jesus told us not to worry about what we shall wear, or eat, or drink, and if He was walking around today in person He might add, and be not anxious about what you shall hear on television or read in the newspaper. Don’t worry about that. “I have overcome the world,” Jesus said (John 16:33). Jesus has overcome all the bad news. Jesus has overcome through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Christ died for you and for me and for those who have come before us and will come after us. Christ was buried. The Son of God really died – and died for us! Jesus Christ was raised on the third day and the world will never be the same. Our lives will never be the same. This is indeed Good News: of first importance, upon which we build our faith, church, life, hopes, dreams, love…all things! Amen.
[1] Lyons, Gabe, The Next Christians, p. 192.
