Of First Importance: the Death, Burial, and Resurrection

Table of Contents

1. Of First Importance...... 5

2. Faith...... 11

3. Repentance...... 17

4. Immersion...... 23

5. The Church...... 29

6. The Word of God...... 35

7. Worship...... 41

8. The Lord’s Supper...... 47

9. Music in Worship...... 53

10. Prayer...... 59

11. Elders...... 65

12. Deacons...... 71

13. The Heart of It All...... 77 Introduction

After growing up in a conservative congregation and graduating from a conservative university with a degree in Bible, I started my ca- reer in ministry confident that everyone else was on the same page with me. I quickly realized that wasn’t true. I also heard the increasing voice of others saying that the churches of Christ were too dogmatic in our beliefs and should consider re-examining our beliefs. I determined to lay aside any prejudices I may have had to re-ex- amine what I had been taught and believed. Then I measured them against Scripture. I wanted to see for myself, not because someone else had told me what to believe. Sometimes the quest was scary and unnerving, while at other times, it was comforting and assuring. During my studies, I saw a pattern. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus clearly shined through as the essence of Scripture. It is the object of our faith and is what makes repentance and salvation possible. Because of His atoning work on the cross, He established the church and is its head. As believers who live in Him, He alone molds our values, ethics and actions. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the hinge on which all we believe and practice hangs. It is the moment in history that changed everything. I invite you to join me on a journey to discover how the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of it all.

About the Author

Wil Perkins has been preaching since 1988. He received his Bach- elor’s degree from Freed-Hardeman University, an M.A. in Bible from Lipscomb University, and an M.A. in Education from Abilene Christian University. Wil is married to his soul-mate, and they have two children. He is currently living in Illinois where he preaches for the Jacksonville church of Christ. Wil is also the author of Decisions for Discipleship in our Flex series and If You Need a Minister. Lesson 1 Of First Importance

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If you were to sum up the heart of the New Testament, the gospel message,WORK OUTwhat verses would you choose? What’s the most important? Would you turn to John 3:16? Though I agree that this explains God’s motivation for sending us Jesus, it fails to capture the heart of the message. COOL DOWN Let’s look at Luke 10:27. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Loving God and your neighbor are definitely important, but this verse causes us to question how we love God and our neighbor. Or how about Hebrews 11:6? “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Obviously faith is essential, but is the heart of the gospel all about belief?

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Consider carefully Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I deliv- eredCOOL to you DOWN as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” The apostle says the death, burial, and resurrection are of first importance. They are the core of the gospel message. All of Christianity is predicat- ed on this series of events. Why is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus so important to the Christian faith? The crucifixion and subsequent raising of the Christ is central to all that we believe and hold dear. It forms the basis for our faith, salvation, worship, ethics, and the church. This is the keystone that holds everything together and from which our understanding flows. What did Jesus do for us on the cross? The easy answer is to say that He died for our sins. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” It is also true that His death broke the power of the devil: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). However, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus accomplished so much more. The death, burial, and resurrection is central to the theme of covenant language in the New Testament. Jesus, in the inauguration of the Lord’s Supper, called the cup the new covenant in His blood (Luke 22:20). The writer of Hebrews connects the new covenant to the sacrificial death of Jesus. He calls Him the mediator of it because His

6 death redeems people from the first covenant (9:15). Furthermore, He is the guarantor of a better covenant (7:22), and the writer states that the old is obsolete because this new covenant is better because it is enacted through better promises (8:6, 13). Paul sets forth the argument in Galatians that the old covenant or law was a disciplinarian until Christ offered us a new means of forgiveness (3:23-25). The children of God are free of the requirements of the old covenant to live in the new covenant because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, the New Testament writers state that both Abrahamic and Davidic covenants find their fulfillment in Christ. In Romans 4, the covenant to Abraham still stands, but the definition of his descendants changes to those who have faith that God raised Jesus from the dead (vv. 22-25). In Acts 2 Peter declares that the resurrected Christ sits on the throne of David and is a fulfillment of God’s oath. James in Acts 15 argues that Jesus’ new kingdom includes the Gentiles as well as the Jews, and the Davidic covenant finds fulfillment in the people of Christ. At His resurrection, Jesus established His kingdom. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, that at Christ’s final coming, He will hand the kingdom back to the Father because the last enemy will be destroyed, which is death. He will not come to establish an earthly kingdom as many propose, but to deliver an already existing kingdom. Paul informs the Colossians that they have been delivered from darkness into the “kingdom of his beloved Son” (1:13). Jesus is currently reigning and will continue to do so until the end of time (1 Corinthians 15:24). Therefore, those who are currently allowing God to reign in their lives are in His kingdom. Jesus tells Peter, in Matthew 16, that He will build His church and give him the keys to the kingdom. Obviously there is a connection be- tween the church and the kingdom. In his letter to the seven church-

7 es, John tells them that Christ made us a kingdom of priests to serve God (Revelation 1:6). He goes on to declare that he shares in their per- secution and in Jesus’ kingdom (1:9). Salvation, power, kingdom, and authority are in the hands of the Messiah who defeated Satan (12:10). Those in the kingdom are those who have been saved by Jesus and therefore are in His church. However, the full potential of God’s kingdom will not be realized on this earth. While the kingdom is present, there will be a future complete realization of the kingdom at the end of time (2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 1:11). The death, burial, and resurrection was necessary for Jesus to pro- vide the foundation for the church (1 Corinthians 3:11). For Him to be the Messiah, He had to die so He could break the power of Satan (He- brews 2:14-15). Paul explains in Colossians 2 that by going to the cross, Jesus took with Him all charges against us and destroyed them with His sacrifice (v. 14; cf. Ephesians 5:2). His resurrection powerfully proved that He is, indeed, the Son of God (Romans 1:4).

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The church is made up of those who are joined to Christ’s death, burial and resurrection through their own immersions (Romans 6:1-12). His people are tasked with the commission to be involved in making new disciples and building up current disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) through the teaching of the gospel that centers on the death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Peter’s inaugural sermon on the day of Pentecost launched the beginning of the church. He convinced 3,000 people that day that Jesus was the Christ, who had been raised from the dead to rescue them from their sins (Acts 2:41). We continue to benefit from Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. His death, burial, and resurrection has provided more than salvation. We now have a new covenant to live under, a kingdom to live in, and a church to live with. His sacrifice forms the basis for our ethics, salvation, and life as God’s people.

9 Discussion Questions 1. Why would Paul conclude in 1 Corinthians 15 that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the core of the gospel? 2. Why is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus so important to the Christian faith? 3. Define what a covenant is. 4. Define what a kingdom is. 5. Define what the church is. 6. Why did Jesus have to die? 7. What did the resurrection prove?