“God’s Easter Triple Whammy”
1 Corinthians 15:1-4

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Easter Sunday—1 Corinthians 15:1-4

“This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  But, why are we glad?  What is it we are celebrating? 

In today’s Epistle Reading from 1st Corinthians chapter 15, Paul reminds us what it is we are celebrating today: The Good News of Christ’s victory for us over the three great enemies we all face: sin, death, and the devil; the Good News of “God’s Easter Triple Whammy.”

God’s Easter whammy against sin: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

Christ’s death on the cross was not a mistake or unintended accident of history.  We call the day of his crucifixion GOOD Friday because these events all happened “according to the Scriptures,” according to God’s plan, for our good.  Jesus told his disciples: “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.  He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. . .  for what is written about me is being fulfilled.”

What was the purpose of this plan?  It was for your salvation.  “Christ died FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures.”  Isaiah prophesied: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.  We observed him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus bore your sins in his body on the cross.  His crucifixion is the sacrifice that makes up for our sins, and not only ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.  On account of his suffering and death, God does not count your sins against you.  The blood of Jesus cleanses you from every sin.

Peter says in Acts: “God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. . .  This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. . .  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

That is God’s Easter whammy against sin: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

God’s Easter whammy against death: “HE was buried.”

Christ met the enemy death head on, and he won the battle for you.  Hebrews says, “By his death he destroyed him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery to their fear of death.”  Death and burial seem so ultimate, so final.  But Jesus says, “I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!” 

By his death Christ transformed death for us, from the fearful END to the blessed BEGINNING of eternal life; by his burial he transformed the grave for us into the gateway of heaven.  When you stand at the grave of a loved one, remember the Good News “HE was buried.”  And just as “HE was buried” and rose from the dead, so all who trust in him shall rise to eternal life.  “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” 

“HE was buried;” Christ met the enemy death head on, and he won the battle for you.  “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  “God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”  “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first to rise in the harvest of those who have fallen asleep.”  “We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus.”  “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”

That is God’s Easter whammy against death: “HE was buried.”

Finally, God’s Easter whammy against the devil: “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry the devil tried unsuccessfully to thwart him with temptations.  Luke says, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”  Three years later, on Good Friday, Satan thought he had finally found that “opportune time.”  There was rejoicing in hell over death of Jesus Christ.  For, Satan and his demons thought they had finally won the spiritual war fought for so many eons; they thought they were victorious over the Lord’s anointed one; they thought he was utterly defeated, dead, gotten rid of for good.  But, their party in hell was crashed by a very unexpected visitor.

Peter says: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison.”  This is Christ’s descent into hell we speak of in the Apostles’ Creed, not to suffer, but to proclaim his victory. As Paul says in Colossians: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s Easter whammy against the devil, from which Satan is still reeling and hell will never recover.

Paul says in Romans, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s announcement to the world: Your sins are all forgiven, because I have accepted my Son’s sacrifice for you.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s stamp of “Paid in Full” on the bill of your sins.  As Paul says in Colossians, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

 That is “God’s Easter Triple Whammy”—for you!