Of First Importance

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Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15.3-5 (ESV)

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Devotion:

            We turn now to a passage from 1 Corinthians 15 that contains the oldest creed of the church. Paul shortly after his conversion on the road to Damascus was taught this creed by the Christians that he associated with after he was converted. This would have been in the A.D. 35-40 range. Here we have it written to the church at Corinth in the A.D. 50’s. The early dating of this creed is importance because it dispels the notion the death and resurrection of Christ was a tradition that was somehow added later by the church.

            The creed reported here is important also because it has become part of the Bible and is thus considered inspired, infallible, and inerrant. All other creeds of the church must conform to the pattern found in this creed in order to be considered valid. This creed’s teaching conforms to the prophecies about Christ given in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. We can be confident in sharing the message of Christ’s death and resurrection because we can trust that the sources behind the message are ancient and reliable.

            This short and simple creed can be the bedrock on which we establish our faith. As Paul goes on to explain in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians the resurrection is the key to the integrity of our faith. Paul establishes that there were many witnesses to the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. With up to 500 witnesses seeing their risen Lord at one time. While we cannot know that Jesus was raised with scientific or mathematical proofs, we can be confident that these events truly happened, and we can depend on them as a sound basis for belief in Christ Jesus.

Prayer:

            Lord thank you for giving us assurance in your word about the key events of our salvation story. These give us hope in the darkest of our dark nights of the soul. Help us to not only take comfort in these assurances but empower us to take this message and share it wherever and whenever we can do so. Help us to teach others the truth of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection with confidence and conviction. We ask these things in the name of our risen savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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