The matter of ‘first importance’.

“I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1st Corinthians 15:3)

Many people have only hearsay about the gospel or good news. They only have a vague idea about the term. What is the Gospel? Different people may give different interpretations of the word, ‘gospel’. Apostle Paul writes in verse 1 of this chapter this is “the gospel which I preached to you.’ Gospel in a short sentence is our today’s insight and it defines the concept of gospel.

The term gospel has four important ingredients.

First, Christ died for our sins. ‘Christ’ means the ‘chosen’, the ‘anointed’, the ‘messiah’, and the ‘promised deliverer.’ It is not just someone died for a good cause. It was the chosen, anointed, the messiah, the promised deliverer who died according to the eternal plan of God. The title ‘chosen one’ takes us to the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies and promises God made for the deliverance of the people from the first book called Genesis to the last book in the old testament scriptures called Malachi.

The eternal Son of God, who is ‘the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8) became a man within the restrictions of time to fulfill the Father’s eternal plan for our salvation. In His incarnation, the second person of the triune God (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) took the name of Jesus because “He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, Psalm 130:8 and Matthew 20:28). This is why say Jesus is Christ-Jesus Christ.

Second, “according to the Scriptures”. There were more than 300 prophecies literally fulfilled regarding the first coming of Christ into this world. If you want more detailed information please refer to the ‘study Bible’ tab on this website (https://www.teachbible.org/prophecies-fulfilled-christ-jesus/) for more details bout Christ’s place of birth, the manner of birth, his ministry on this earth, sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection. All these were prophecied in the old testament scriptures hundreds of years before His birth.

Thirdly, Christ was buried. The burial of a dead body is the confirmation and seal of the death of a person. Christ truly died and as a stamp of the approval of his death, he was buried visible to people’s eyes (both Dr. Luke who investigated all the matters regarding Jesus wrote about the life of Jesus in an orderly fashion and recorded his death and burial as well when he presented his report to ‘excellent Theophilus’ (Luke 1:4) along with all other writers of the Gospel (Luke 23:50-55, Mark 15:44-47, Matthew 27:57-66 and John 19:38-42).

Fourthly, Christ was raised from death. Immediately after today’s Bible verse in 5-9, Paul gives us a list of people who witnessed Christ after his resurrection. He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to all the twelve disciples. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time. Paul wrote most of them were living at the time he wrote 1st Corinthians. Then He appeared to James, then again to all the apostles and last of all those people mentioned above, Christ appeared to Paul who used to be a zealous Jew, a murderer, and persecutor of Christ and His believers. 

Paul when questioned by king Agrippa announced this statement. Listen to what Paul said, “ And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak frankly for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner!” Acts 26:26. 

You see the gospel –the death, burial, and resurrection of God’s chosen one (Christ) for our sins did not happen in a corner of the world. The gospel-the death, burial, resurrection of Christ-was according to the Scriptures of the old testament. Bible says God displayed Christ publicly as a propitiation/satisfaction in His blood through our faith and trust in Him. Romans 3:25.

Did you notice today’s insights remind Gospel is delivered to people as of ‘first importance’? Why it is ‘first importance’? Listen: the universality of human death by the consequence of the sin is the centrality of human fears. Gospel (the good news) –the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ according to the Scriptures gives a permanent solution to the misery of human death. Christ was the first fruit raised from the dead. (15:20). The first fruit gives anticipation and assurance for more similar fruits. Christ is the first fruit from the dead and after that, those are Christ’s, each in his own order. (15:23).

Beloved, is not Gospel the ‘first importance’? Yes, it is. It guarantees forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life by your faith and trust in what God had done for you in Christ. It is the first importance to humanity.  

Got a moment for today’s prayer? “Father in heaven, I believe You sent Your one and only Son, for my sins, according to your eternal plan. I accept Jesus as my savior and Lord. Please forgive my sins, save and grant me eternal life. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”