1 Corinthians 15:1

1 Corinthians 15:1 says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  Paul said that he declared the gospel of Christ, and that they had received it and in that gospel they had to stand.  This is the message that we have for the world today:  Jesus Christ crucified, resurrected, Lord.  It is by the gospel that we must live our lives. When the world around us tries to shake our faith, we must stand firm under the Lordship of Christ.  We cannot stand firm in our faith through any other means but the Lordship of Christ.  Knowledge, strength, nor material possessions can be relied on to sustain us through the trials of life.  If we have truly accepted salvation through Christ, the Holy Spirit will be with us no matter what happens in life, and by faith in that fact alone we must stand.  Verse two states, By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  Paul reminded the church at Corinth that they were saved by faith in the gospel alone, and if they were looking to anything else for salvation, their faith was in vain.  This is still true today, tomorrow and forever.  In this we must be close minded as the world would proclaim us.  There is no other way to salvation.  We can find forgiveness of our sins and restoration with God only through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  Verse three continues, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  Paul tells us that he only delivered what he had received.  If we are to proclaim the gospel today, we must have first received the gospel ourselves.  If we have not really accepted the truth of the gospel, we cannot share it with others.  Paul first said that Christ died for our sins.  This was done according to the Scriptures, God's written word for His people.  The death of Christ on the cross was not an afterthought with God.  The coming of Christ was spoken of from the Garden of Eden on throughout the Old Testament.  Verse four states, And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:  We must remember that Paul was writing a letter and he did not divide his letter into numbered verses, so this really is a continuation of the statement in verse three about the death of Christ on the cross.  After Christ's death, he was buried and rose again on the third day, according to what the scriptures had foretold.  Our message is still the same today.  Verse five adds, And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:  The resurrection of Christ was not just an unsubstantiated rumor, but was a fact that was witnessed by Cephas, or Peter, first, and then by the other disciples.  Of course, even before Peter, the faithful women who went to the tomb had found it empty.  In some ways, the empty tomb is more of a witness to the world than the empty cross.  There were many empty crosses in that day, but there was only one tomb that was empty because the One placed there had risen, overcoming the power of death.  Verse six continues, After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.  Paul told the church at Corinth that after Jesus appeared to the disciples He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once.  The Romans had taken extra measures to ensure that Jesus stayed in the tomb, but they couldn't keep Him there nor prevent people from knowing He had risen from the dead.  Verse seven says, After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.  Paul said Jesus was then seen again by James and the rest of the apostles.  I believe we can be assured that Jesus not only rose from the dead, but that He establishes a continual relationship with those who believe in Him.  They did not hunt Christ, but He came to them.  Verse eight adds, And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.  Paul said that he also saw Jesus.  We today, as followers of Christ, have also seen Christ, if not physically, then at least spiritually.  This is the only way to salvation.  We, like Paul, have seen Jesus out of season.  We need to remember that God is not limited by time or space, and that the gift of salvation was for all people for all time.  We simply have to acknowledge Christ when He comes to us.  Verse nine continues, For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  We may see Paul as one of the great men of faith, but he saw himself as the least of the apostles because of his past persecution of the church.  I believe that we should see ourselves the same way.  We have no reason to feel that we are superior to any other Christian but must serve God humbly.  Verse ten states, But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.  Paul said that he was what he was by the grace of God, and so are we as followers of Christ.  Just as Paul worked to advance the kingdom of God because of that grace bestowed on Him, so must we.  As followers of Christ, we are called for a purpose in God's kingdom, and we should be about that purpose daily.  Verse eleven adds, Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.  Paul said it didn't matter who had proclaimed the gospel to those in the church at Corinth, but all that mattered was that they believed.  This is still true today.  Whether we were led to Christ by a great evangelist, or an unknown Christian does not matter.  What matters is that we believe.