Chris Grainger: 1:10

Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be.

Chris Grainger: 1:15

I'm your host, chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas, spiritual kickoff time. Let's get right into it, okay? So we're going to try a little something different this week and I'm very curious to see what you guys think about it. But we know we're going to start with Scripture, because that's the most important thing. So our scripture of the week this week is 1 Corinthians 15, 14. Okay, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. We're going to unpack that, because this week we're going to do something a little different. We're heading up to Easter. Easter is just coming Sunday and I'm actually recording this in February, so we try to record stuff well in advance just because there's so many things on the calendar. But I'm going to take some time this week to try to explain and to unpack, at least from my heart, the ways that God has revealed to me why it feels like Easter just gets so often overlooked. So we're going to spend a lot of time on Wednesday for the meat episode this week, talking about that in depth.

Chris Grainger: 2:18

But for the spiritual kickoff episode, I want to do something a little different. Every day, monday through Friday, in our Lion, within Us community, what we do is basically we go live every morning on the platform and I read Scripture and I try to just give some reflections of what the Holy Spirit is revealing to me. There's nothing fancy about it. The prep work usually happens the night before, where I'm doing a lot of studying, thinking, just reading and praying, but usually it's just in the moment the Holy Spirit reveals things and I try to encourage guys with it, and that's what I want to do with this episode. So normally I write an article and all that stuff that goes with each week and I have that for this week. That's going to go out, so you can still check that stuff out. But I'm not going to go with any notes today. This is 100% spirit led.

Chris Grainger: 3:05

So what we're going to do, we're going to read a little bit of Scripture here in 1 Corinthians and then I'm just going to do like I do every day in the line within us. I'm just going to try to unpack it, try to give you some simple reflections how we can simplify and apply the scripture to our life and hopefully that encourages you. Now I would really love your feedback on if you like this format or do you like the more structured approach? I can go either way. I'm a writer, so writing it is not a big deal. But if you like off-the-cuff stuff, like for this episode, just send me a note, chris at thelinewithinus. Let me know if it's something that you enjoy. If you enjoy this more, we'll try to do this more often, okay, all right, so the scripture we're going to look at today is in 1 Corinthians. Obviously we're in chapter 15. But I thought we'd look at the first 19 verses. Okay, we're just going to look at, I'm just going to read them.

Chris Grainger: 3:53

So that's what we're going to do right here, and then, after the reading, we'll try to give you some thoughts, some insights of what the Spirit's revealed to me. It says now I may know you, brethren, and first of all, before we go further, 1 Corinthians, new Testament after Romans. Okay, that's where you're going to find it. If you get to 2 Corinthians, just back up Between Romans and 2 Corinthians is where you're going to find this one.

Chris Grainger: 4:15

It says I made known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand by, which also you are saved if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believe in vain Verse 3. For I delivered it to you, of first importance, what I also received that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, after he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles and last of all to one untimely born. He appeared to me also, for I am least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am Because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me did not prove vain. But I labored even more that all of them. Yet not I, but the grace of God with me, whether it was I or they. So we preach and so you believed, verse 12.

Chris Grainger: 5:31

Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how does some of among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, has not Christ been raised? And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also in vain. Moreover, we have been found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise. If, in the fact, the dead are not raised For if dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are, of all men, most to be pitied. Why not just read the next verse? But now, christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. So, guys, let's just see how we can simplify and apply this to our life, and I just love reading God's word each and every day with you, guys, and particularly for the ones listening to the show again, we do this every day in our community.

Chris Grainger: 6:41

But check this out Again. The Apostle Paul is writing this. You can just feel his heart just pouring out. The Holy Spirit is just obviously working through him as he's working, as he's, you know, pinning and writing this down. We're still reading this a couple thousand years later, right, and we see right here the gospel, the gospel which I preach to you. We're going to share it, we're going to go through the gospel here soon.

Chris Grainger: 7:02

But we see, paul also is just saying right here look, I'm doing what I have to do to make you to at least expose to you the truth, doing what I have to do to make you to at least expose to you the truth. I'm not trying to bring you some version of Paul's truth, because some version of Paul's truth, just like some version of Chris's truth, is usually tainted with our worldview. The way I see things, the way I perceive things, that's not any good. Paul's like uh-uh. I want to make known to you the gospel. That is the truth, right, and that hopefully you're going to receive, and if you do that, it's going to save you from your sins. And you see, right here he's very clear and articulate on what the gospel is.

Chris Grainger: 7:41

Look at verse three. First importance would have received that Christ died for our sins. So like he didn't pass out, you know he didn't, just you know faint. No, he died for our sins. According to the scriptures, obviously it called sin. The penalty for sin is death and Christ fulfilled that 100% completely. Now check this out.

Chris Grainger: 8:00

The second half of verse four is probably one of the most important areas of scripture for us, for believers, to recognize to be true that he raised on the third day. We fly by that, I fly by that and, like you, just think about how awesome Jesus is. But don't forget this he overcame death. See how big a deal that was. Like. There's so many religions out there now who they put their faith and their hope and their trust and people who are still in the ground. I'm sorry, that just doesn't appeal to me. I want my faith and my hope and my trust in something a whole lot greater and that's Christ and Paul's like guys you got to remember this. Raised on the third day and not just because, like Paul said so, like he appeared to Cephas, peter, right there, and then to the 12 apostles, right Disciples rather, and then appeared to more than 500 men at one time.

Chris Grainger: 8:59

I'm just here to tell you, when you start looking at truths like that, you can't refute it. You can try to say you know it was not real, but over 500 people, those disciples, literally went to death for Christ. They're like are you going to die for something that you don't fully and completely believe in? I don't think so. I'm not. Maybe you're different than me, but I'm not. But if I'm all in on something and I know it to be true, then there's some virtue there and it's time to lean in. And that's what the Apostle Paul is saying. He's like look, this is how we know this is true, not just because we believe it, but we had first case testimony right here, witnesses that saw Christ the risen Savior.

Chris Grainger: 9:41

How about his half-brother James? Again, you want to believe that. You're struggling to believe that Christ is the Messiah. Go read the book of James written by Jesus' half-brother. What would it take for you to believe that your brother was the Messiah? It would take a whole lot for me. My bro's cool Love him to death. He's not the Messiah. He'd say the same thing about me. So what would it take for you, for your sibling, for you to acknowledge that your sibling is the Messiah? All I can tell you for James, you know what flipped him over the edge the empty tomb. When he saw that the tomb was empty, he recognized fully his brother. All the things his brother had been talking about were true, and then James just went all in. That's why I love the book of James so much. He appeared to James and then Paul's just recognizing himself that he is the least of the apostles, like the lowest of the low. I even thought it's super interesting.

Chris Grainger: 10:41

He says, verse eight one untimely born. Have you ever felt that way before, like I think I was born in the wrong time. You know, maybe you guys think that, maybe you think that you should have been born back in. You know horses and buggies or something like that. I don't know Right, but we have to remember God's timing is completely perfect. He's never made a mistake, he's always on time, he never shows up early. So whatever your birthday is, whatever that date is, it's yours for a reason, because God wanted to give that to you, right? No one else got to determine that. So you are set forth at a particular time as this, and whatever that time is, for me it was July 7th. That was my birthday. Okay, for that particular year, for that particular day. That's when he decided for Chris's earthly journey to begin, and for you the same.

Chris Grainger: 11:33

And it's easy to think well, man, it'd be a whole lot easier if I could just see Jesus. Right, it'd be a whole lot easier? Yeah, it probably would be. But I think it also equips us with the reason why faith is such an important deal to lean in and do what he's calling us to do. Because you look at verse 10, but, by the grace of God, I am what I am. I mean, guys, that should be like on a bumper sticker by the grace of God, I am what I am and I'm pursuing right here. His grace did not prove in vain labor even more, but not the grace within me. This is what he's called us to do, the grace that Christ poured out for each and every one of us guys. It can't be ignored, nor should it be. It should drive us, for we got forgiven to us completely for free. What we don't deserve, that is grace, and he didn't give us. What we do deserve, that's mercy, fellas. That's what it's all about when we start reading scriptures like this, particularly around Easter time. Hopefully it's going to encourage you just to recognize the truth for even for what it is, and that's the saving power.

Chris Grainger: 12:40

Then, right here, you said right, verse 12. Now if Christ is preached, he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? That just shows us right there that in that time and even to today, there are people, groups, there are people who have zero percent, zero percent of confidence that the resurrection actually happened. They're going to say Jesus was a great man. He was more like a prophet. You know he did some good stuff. For sure he wasn't a bad person.

Chris Grainger: 13:12

You don't expect me to believe he is God, do you? There's people who think that they do. There's plenty of people in churches on Sundays that think that they do. What you have to recognize to be true is what do you think? What do you think about God? What do you think? And then, when God thinks about you, what does he think? Is there alignment there? Are you pursuing Him in all that you are, in all decisions that you make, and do you fully believe in your heart that he resurrected, that he lives and that the path to the Father comes through him? And there's only one way and that is Jesus.

Chris Grainger: 13:57

And you see, right here, if we don't, then all the stuff that we're talking about on the lion and ser you know, sermons on Sundays and things like that all that stuff is false, it's in vain. Right, because if Christ has not raised from the dead, the stuff we're talking about doesn't matter, neither does your faith. But you're smarter than that, you know better than that we all do, because what he's called us to is something so much greater, so much greater. And you just see, right this if all this stuff, if, like, dead have not been raised and even Christ has not been raised, and if he's not, our faith is worthless and we're still in our sin. And that is a reality of what happens when hope goes missing from our lives.

Chris Grainger: 14:40

And I don't want that for you guys. I want you to have that great power of hope because we have Christ. And I don't understand how people go through this world with zero hope and just try to really do everything on their own, do their own willpower or their own abilities. What a tough way to live. There's so much better way available. That starts when we start putting that hope in something greater, and that something greater is Christ.

Chris Grainger: 15:13

See what I'm saying it's such a big deal. We have that hope in Him Right? Because if we have, because your hope is in just the things of this world right now, it's going to leave you empty. It's never going to leave you fully and finally satisfied. The only thing that fills that void, that kind of that gnawing at us, is Christ, because you can achieve the best of the best. You can have more money than every month, like you don't even know what to do with your money. Your marriage could be rocking, you go on all these fancy vacations, you have the latest and greatest toys and gadgets and vehicles and all that stuff, and there's still going to be these moments where it's like, is this it Seriously, is this it? And Scripture's telling, uh-uh, uh-uh, that's not it. Christ has something so much greater available for us. If we recognize it to be true, we accept it and then we pursue Him, and that's what it's all about.

Chris Grainger: 16:10

That's how for us fellas, within the line, within us, I try to take Scriptures each and every week and just unpack them with some basic truths. Well, how do you apply this stuff to your life? Hopefully, that you know. That encourages you, that you enjoy that, and also I want you just to bask in this, particularly this time of year, in the marvel and the absolute truth of the gospel, and just challenge yourself as well to be able to fully articulate that to others, because it's such a big deal, the fact that God first of all created everything in a loving relationship with us. He loves us and to the point he's relational with man Like he spoke everything into his existence. Couldn't say that word. And then, after that, what did he do with man? He formed him with his hands and he blew the breath of life, the rua, into Adam's nostrils. And then Adam was face to face with his creator, and that's awesome. He was made in the image of God. That's the relational type of dynamic that exists between us and our Heavenly Father. And things were great for like a page and a half of my Bible.

Chris Grainger: 17:32

And then Adam and Eve, they sinned and they said you know what? We want more. We want more that greed, that desire. They fell for the lies, for sure of the evil one. But they made the decision, and that decision to disobey God separated us and him. It just did. It fractured that relationship and ever since the rest of the Bible, that's what we're seeing a fractured relationship between us and a holy and righteous God.

Chris Grainger: 18:01

And we try to close that gap with being good and doing things and working our way and just trying to go to church and pray and do all the stuff right, just be a good person. But that's not enough, because no one out there can coach you up enough to overcome your sin issue. You just can't. You can't out-coach this Like I can't hire someone. Okay, I need you to teach me to be good enough so that I can earn my salvation in heaven. But many people think that's true, right, we don't need a coach. We need a Savior to step in and do for us what we can't do for ourselves. And that's the fundamental difference, because hell is full of good dudes who do good things that I'm very grateful that they do. They've never surrendered their life to the Lordship of Christ, because it's not about I.

Chris Grainger: 18:57

Anytime we start answering the question, what is salvation about? And you start but things I did. Well, I did this and I went to this church and I prayed this stuff and I read my Bible and I did all this stuff right, I, I, I, no, it's but he, but he. What he did on the cross is most important for us, fellas, and that's it Right. So Jesus left heaven on a rescue mission for us, came to earth, fulfilled the prophecies, did the teachings, did the miracles, all the stuff that he was required to do, that he wanted to do, that he loved us enough to do. And then he paid the ultimate penalty, which was Easter is what we ultimately remember. He went to the cross and he paid the penalty for our sin by giving himself up the sacrificial lamb for the sin of the entire world, because he loves us that much.

Chris Grainger: 19:47

Guys, can't you see that when he was hanging on that cross, he was thinking about you, you, oh, chris, there's no way he was thinking about me. I'm telling you, bro, he was. He was thinking about you and how much he loved you and how he wanted to be in that perfect relationship with you in heaven, how he's going to offer you eternal life, how he hopes that you don't reject it. And then he laid him in his tomb because he died, and the reason that people get dressed up on Easter Sunday and put on their best and try to put their best foot forward and we're not wearing black like we're going to a funeral, it's because that tomb is empty. The tomb is empty. That's such a big deal, but I can't make it a big deal for you. I can just expose the truth to you and hopefully the Holy Spirit is just going to start chipping away. Then, once you recognize that the tomb is empty and old Job says, anything is possible because that's what God's the opportunity he's given us.

Chris Grainger: 20:52

That empty tomb is really what we celebrate A living Savior, a living Savior, a living Savior. And we just read he appeared to over 500 people, to his 12 disciples, to his half-brother. Like, bro, let's go. Proof is in the pudding, guys, proof is in the pudding. You know, if you find yourself wrestling with these things, I encourage you just go to the Scriptures. Let the Scriptures just encourage you, let the scriptures just speak to you, see what God's word reveals to you for you. Don't worry about what I say or what other pastors say. Don't worry about that. You go directly to the word of God yourself and see what he says From there. Fellas, just lean in, because that's what it's all about.

Chris Grainger: 21:41

Your faith has to be your own. It can't be someone else's faith. It can't be your wife's faith or your parents' faith or your grandparents' faith. No, their faith is theirs, yours is yours.

Chris Grainger: 21:54

So, really, the question comes down to what does the empty tomb mean to you personally, like you as a person? Does it mean anything at all? If it does, what are you going to do with it? My prayer is that you recognize okay, this has to be my faith, and maybe I've been skating too long on someone else's faith. If you have, that's an honest mistake. It is you recognize. You know what I think. I need to make this my thing. It has to be my faith. I'm going to put my faith in Christ. I'm going to confess Jesus, lord for me. I know my parents have probably done this, my grandparents, but I got to do this for myself and I'm telling you today's the day. You ain't got to wait till Easter Sunday. We're getting ready to pray right now. You can accept him as your Savior which, by the way, we got our first email back last month.

Chris Grainger: 22:51

Who, a listener, was listening to? The Lion Within Us, the spiritual kickoff episode. We shared the gospel and he recognized at that moment he had to stop running. He surrendered his life to the Lordship of Christ. It was such an encouraging it's probably the most impactful email I've ever gotten Just to get that, never met this brother before he's been. You know, he started listening, he'd been running from God and all of a sudden the gospel hit him. And when you get run over by the gospel, bro, there's no turning back. He surrendered his life listening to the podcast.

Chris Grainger: 23:31

That's what I'm offering to you right now. I'm getting ready to pray and if you're teetering, if you're questioning, if there's any scent whatsoever that your salvation is not secure in Christ, today's the day, let's pray right now to accept Him as your living Savior. So, father, thank you for today, thank you for the opportunity just to share your word, share the gospel. And, lord, we never know, when we send these things out, how it's going to be received, who's going to listen, if anybody's going to even care. But I do know one thing If the work that we're doing right now impacts one person and draws them closer to you in the smallest way, from the biggest way, from them accepting you as their Savior, or the smallest way of just helping them, encouraging them to recognize the next step of obedience that you're calling them to do, we're going to keep doing it Because, doggone it, that's what you called me to do, lord.

Chris Grainger: 24:37

So now I'm praying for the man or woman listening right now who you're calling to take that step of obedience. I'm praying that they put their pride to the side and they recognize they need you more than anything, that doing this life without you it just hasn't been working. They've tried, but they recognize they need something more, and that more is you. So I pray you hear their prayer. Then I pray, lord, you just give them the peace that passes all understanding, put people in their life that's going to speak to them, that's going to encourage them, that's going to equip them to help grow, to be the leaders you called them to be. We love you, lord Jesus. We praise you. We pray everything according to your will in Christ's name, amen. We pray everything according to your will in Christ's name, amen. All right, fellas.

Chris Grainger: 25:18

So look, first of all, if you just accepted Christ, I want to hear from you, okay. So send me an email, chris, at thelionwithinus, because I'm going to hook you up with some free stuff, just like I did. The previous gentleman Definitely want to give you some free giveaways just to get you started. Okay, lots of good, um things we can equip you on your discipleship journey that you've just started, and love to just see where you're plugged in at like, if you're plugged into a good church, we want to help you find one and just come alongside you. Really that's what it's all about. Just come alongside, just try to encourage and equip, uh, just to just to help you and you grow.

Chris Grainger: 25:56

So love to hear from you guys. Love to also know what did you think about the new format? Okay, so it's a little bit different and I wasn't really going off any notes. This was more of a spirit led type of thing. So love to hear from what you. You know your feedback. Again, connect with us at the lion withinus, give us a rating and review. All that stuff matters for sure.

Chris Grainger: 26:18

Fellas, we'd love for you to take the opportunity to join our community, where we have our mastermind groups that are happening all the time. We have our mastermind groups. We have our live events, guys, we have if you're listening to this, when this comes out next weekend, we have our Reclaiming the Wild Men's event. So again, if you're on it, we'd love for you to come hang out with us there, fellas, it's going to be a great time. We're just leaning in. We're doing what God's calling us to do.

Chris Grainger: 26:39

Don't know what the plans are for the rest of this year. I just know that God has got some incredible things. He's been working and I've been putting me to the test on and hopefully I'll just keep leaning in and trying to just take those steps of obedience. Don't know what the next steps always are, but I know he's calling me to the little bitty steps and I'm going to take that little bitty inch forward and hopefully we'll keep moving forward there. So if you need support, if you need encouragement, if you need help, I highly encourage you guys to go check out our line with Dennis community.

Chris Grainger: 27:09

This is where genuine connection and reflection happens. If you're interested in connecting with me directly and having some engagement there, hey, the Summit Leadership Development is where I spend a lot of time at. With that, we get to spend a couple hours a month just going through stuff helping equip you to be the leader he's called you to be Lots of impactful topics, engaging discussions, accountability all the stuff that we're looking for as Christian men. It's all right there. So again, thelinewithinus, check out all our resources. Of course, we have our weekly reward. That comes out now. We have our new Christian leader assessment. That's out now.

Chris Grainger: 27:41

Guys, we have our Bible devotions on the YouVersion Bible app that's out now so you can actually come alongside and even read the Bible with me directly. We go through about two of those per month, fellas. So we're constantly moving, we're constantly cranking. We've got a book in the works, we have devos in the works so many pieces that are moving and it's all to honor and glorify God. It's not called the Lion Within Chris for a reason, because that would just be terrible. No, it's about honor and glor that more. Go check out thelinewithinus. All right, guys, have a great day. Thank you so much. Come back on Wednesday, really looking forward to unpacking this idea for our Easter primary episode. And guys, just have a great day, keep unleashing the line with them.

Chris Grainger: 28:36

I don't know about you, but I used to find Mondays really rough.

Chris Grainger: 28:42

I would find myself trying to reset for work, trying to get my bearing on the family calendar, trying to find time for my own spiritual growth and development, and often I found myself overwhelmed or just flatly ignoring aspects of my life that I know are meaningful to me.

Chris Grainger: 29:00

What I learned was that if I had immediate access to important and impactful spiritual topics and reflections to start my week well after the allure of a Sunday sermon has passed, I would set my whole week up to be more meaningful and for the opportunity to make a true impact to be more meaningful and for the opportunity to make a true impact. If you think that getting such a boost would help your week to get started on the right foot, we would love for you to sign up for the Weekly Roar, which is our newsletter that is produced by the Lion Within Us. Each week, we'll deliver a powerful reflection and practical steps to help you apply Scripture with clarity and purpose, all being rooted in light and truth. So in just a few minutes, we hope to arm you with insights for living out biblical leadership with confidence and strength, and maybe even have a little extra bounce in your step. If that sounds useful, head over to thelionwithinus slash ROAR to sign up today. That's thelionwithinus slash ROAR to get your weekly ROAR today.