The Power of the Cross
1 Corinthians 1:17-25
On this Palm Sunday I want to bring a message to you on one of the central tenets of our faith - the Cross. For many, they may think the cross nothing more than a nice thing to be worn on a necklace, or something to be put up on a wall, or even that it makes for a pretty pulpit. But friend, I want you to know that the cross is much more, infinitely more than just a nice symbol. In fact, an accurate understanding of the cross will show us that it was the cruelest form of execution known to man, yet holding great power in the life of one who trusts in the One that died for him on the cross. Yet, there are many today, as there were two thousand years ago in Paul's day that would challenge the relevance of the cross. Their view of it stops with its cruelty and misses altogether the message from the cross. I want us to see the power of the cross this morning.
1 Corinthians 1:17-25
1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."
1:20 Where [is] the wise? Where [is] the scribe? Where [is] the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
I want you to first see,
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The Must of the Cross vv 17-19
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Many do not understand that the cross was absolutely necessary v 17. In fact we see where Paul brings up a fear of his that in his ministry and his sharing of the gospel that the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. So, what do some cling to today? This isn't hard and this isn't new. In fact, what Paul battled against in his day is still the same today.
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Winsome speech. Let's admit that there are some people that know how to use speech to win over just about any crowd to their way of thinking. Their use of words, gestures, tones, and other things can so move any crowd to do just about anything that they wish. But as we see in verse 17, "Paul was not about to ascribe its power to the flourish of oratory, or the intricacies of Greek philosophy. In spite of his learning at the feet of Gamaliel, the Apostle Paul lays his learning aside when he preaches the simple gospel of Christ. This truth needs no artificial dress. It alone carries with it the "power of God unto salvation" (Rom 1:16)."1 Others cling to,
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Works. The Jews were the ones that clung to works. Their thought was to simply hold on to their traditions. In fact, the problem became for the Jews that they believed more in their traditions than in the truth of God's Word. That's why they kicked against Jesus' message as they did. That's why they vehemently sought to crucify Jesus. How could a Messiah that said He must die for the sins of the world to be taken away be any good to anybody? So Paul states, "To the Jews, Christ crucified was a stumbling block. They looked for a mighty military leader to deliver them from the oppression of Rome. Instead of that, the gospel offered them a Savior nailed to a cross of shame."
And there are still many that hold to their works today. When asking a person what it takes for a person to go to heaven; when some express why it is that they are going to heaven - they immediately reference the good works they have done as well as the bad works they have not done. "I've been a good person…. I've never killed anybody…. I've gone to church all my life…. I haven't stolen anything…." On an on the list will go. And even some will reference their teaching or their serving or being baptized as surely those things give a sure pass of anyone into heaven. But it was Paul who also said that it's not works that gets anyone to heaven, but it is grace through faith alone. Works diminish the must of the cross. Others hold to,
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Wisdom. This was the emphasis of the Greeks. They just knew that if they learned more they would be much better off. In fact, surely their great wisdom would be enough to secure heaven for them - if there really was a heaven. But yet Paul would say that even the foolishness of God is wiser than the greatest wisdom man can conjure up. "They could not understand how One who died in such seeming weakness and failure could ever solve their problems."2 And can I tell you that the world is still trying to grasp hold to wisdom as their means of salvation?
I received a couple of emails last week about an emphasis that Oprah Winfrey has made for this year, 2008. And I want to tell you that it is very scary what this supposed Baptist Christian woman is up to. It's anything but Baptist and Christian! She has expressed that her favorite book is entitled, "A Course in Miracles," by Marianne Williamson. "A Course in Miracles is allegedly a "new revelation" from "Jesus" to help humanity work through these troubled times. This "Jesus"-who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible's Jesus Christ-began delivering channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman. One day Schucman heard an "inner voice" stating, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes." For seven years she diligently took spiritual dictation from this voice that described himself as "Jesus." Here are some quotes from the "Jesus" voice of A Course in Miracles : "There is no sin . . . A "slain Christ has no meaning." "The journey to the cross should be the last useless journey." "Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.'" "The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray." "The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself." "The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation."
So, what is being promoted is what they have called the New Age Christ? Through these daily readings throughout the year, it is incredibly shocking, at least to me, what is being taught. Let me give you some of the important sayings. Day 70:"My salvation comes from me. It cannot come from anywhere else. This exercise leads you to the truth about yourself by reminding you that you are God's creation. As you repeat the truth, you are created holy, kind, helpful and perfect; you shed the false self images of the ego mind." Another one goes like this: Day 67: "Love created me like itself. Today's idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. This is why you are the light of the world. This is why God appointed you as the world's savior. This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation. He is saved by what you are. We will make every effort today to reach this truth about you, and to realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth."
Can you imagine how many will fall for this foolishness that many in our world would call wise? But understand that try as hard as some may, the must of the cross is still not diminished. The agenda of this woman who has been called the "First Lady of Talk show," is nothing but evil and wicked.
Let's make clear that the "crucifixion was not only a horrible death; it was a shameful death. It was illegal to crucify a Roman citizen. Crucifixion was never mentioned in polite society, any more than we today would discuss over dinner the gas chamber or the electric chair."3
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But why was the cross a must? Sin can never just be wished away or thought away or even given another name. Anything that is an offense against God and His holy ways is sin. And the Bible says that all have sinned. So, because all have sinned, there must be a payment for it. And please understand that there is only ONE way in which sin can be paid for, or taken away - through shed blood. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission (no forgiveness of sin). The Old Testament Law and sacrificial system introduced mankind to that point. But there was never the blood of an animal that could take away sin. Listen to the writer of Hebrews (9:11-14), "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come….. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Friend, understand that regardless of popular opinion, there had to be the shedding of blood of One that was qualified - and that was Jesus alone.
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The Message of the Cross vv 20-25
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Some have conjured up their own message of the cross.
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Some stumble at the cross. This was the attitude of the Jews because they were so earnest in seeking a sign. Do you remember the Jews telling Jesus, "Just show us a sign and we'll believe"? Jesus told them the only sign they would get was the sign of Jonah - as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so will the Son of Man be in the belly of the earth for three days, and then rise again. They stumbled at the cross because it was an obvious weakness. How could their Messiah (or what they thought their Messiah was going to be) ever be linked to an offensive cross? So, when they saw Jesus they asked, "How could anybody put faith in an unemployed carpenter from Nazareth who died the shameful death of a common criminal?" "A crucified Christ was an insult to them. That meant defeat-not victory. They didn't want to accept that at all."4
Friend, I have great news this morning to declare that the cross is the power of God unto salvation! The cross, it's not a testimony of weakness, rather a testament to the power of Almighty God!
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Some laugh at the cross. "This was the response of the Greeks. To them, the cross was foolishness. The Greeks emphasized wisdom; we still study the profound writings of the Greek philosophers. But they saw no wisdom in the cross, for they looked at the cross from a human point of view. Had they seen it from God's viewpoint, they would have discerned the wisdom of God's great plan of salvation."5
In these verses "Paul called on three men to bear witness: the wise (the expert), the scribe (the interpreter and writer), and the disputer (the philosopher and debater). He asked them one question: Through your studies into man's wisdom, have you come to know God in a personal way? They all must answer no! The fact that they laugh at the cross and consider it foolishness is evidence that they are perishing."6
"It is not the method but the message that the natural man considers foolish. Men still reject it. Today the wisdom of the world is to have an antipoverty program or some other kind of program. Or the wisdom of the world is to save man from his problems by education. May I say that what man needs today is the gospel. The wisdom of the world has never considered that."7
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What is the true message of the cross? It's two-fold:
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It states just how ugly sin is. Call sin whatever you want. Cover over your pet sin all you want. Compare yourself to whomever you want. But one thing that does not change is the cost of that sin - the cross. Adultery is sin against God and it cost God His Son on the cross. An "affair" is sin against God and it cost God His Son on the cross. An internet "relationship" ("but it was never physical") is sin against God and it cost God His Son on the cross.
I was talking with Jon Reed this week and we hit upon something that we both agree. The devil's new line that he has people using these days is, "That's your interpretation." You see two people living together and call it sin, yet some will say, "That's your interpretation." You see others living one way in here and another way out there and tell them it's hypocrisy, yet some will say, "That's your interpretation." You tell someone that their pet sin is sin, and they will say, "That's your interpretation." You tell all that there is only one way to be saved from sin and that is through the cross of Christ alone, and others will say, "That's your interpretation." That is a lie straight out of the pit of hell!
I want you to understand that whatever the sin, the consequence of our sin was that it put Christ on the cross. Sin cost the Son of God His life! But I want you to understand another message from the cross,
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It shows just how loving God is. God could have said, "To hell with all mankind." But no. John 3:16 says it best, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." As one song put it years ago, "It should have been my hands where the nails were, it should have been my feet where the nails were. It should have been my side that the spear pierced. It should have been my head where the crown of thorns was." But no. Jesus went to the cross for me. Why? For His pity? Why? Just to be another way to salvation? No. He did for us what we could never do. He died for our sin; He became the final sacrifice and paid the penalty of sin once and for all. He loves me! He loves you!
You see, as long as you hold on to the world's yearning that there has got to be another way of salvation, another "path" to God - you'll never understand the message of the cross. That's why Jesus said that broad is the road that leads to destruction - and there are many on that road. Can you imagine those riding the bus called, "That's your interpretation" when they get off at their final destination called "Destruction" and there will not be one thing that they can do to change it forever and ever. When Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me," that's exactly what He meant. And they'll never cease the regret of their decision to hold onto a wrong interpretation.
But when one understands just how ugly sin is and just what the consequence of sin is - then and only then will the message of the cross be understood AND embraced. That's why Jesus said that narrow is the gate that leads to life and there are only a few that find it. Although there were some rough times along that life called the Christian life, the final destination will be worth it all! "To the saved, the pure, simple message of the Cross is the power of God."8 Friend I want you to understand that there are only two classes of people on the earth - those who perish and those who are saved. "Men may love their human wisdom but only the gospel leads to salvation."9 And this leads to a third point,
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The Mark of the Cross vv 24b-25
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Paul makes clear in no uncertain terms that there is a marked difference when people embrace the cross - he says that the Christ of the cross is power and wisdom. Verse 25 is interesting. "Actually there is neither foolishness nor weakness with God. But the apostle is saying in verse 25 that what seems to be foolishness on God's part, in the eyes of men, is actually wiser than men at their very best. Also, what seems to be weakness on God's part, in the eyes of men, turns out to be stronger than anything that men can produce."
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The cross always leaves a mark on a life. Like what? There's a change:
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In living. There's a whole new purpose now to living. It's no longer me, but Him. By the way, all of this new age junk that is not new but is as old as the devil focuses on self. "Find yourself… Help yourself… Tell yourself…." But the cross tells us that only when we lose ourselves, will we ever know what it means to live. Your purpose changes when Jesus comes in. It's no longer how much I can experience in this life for me, how much I can get in this life for me - now it's a living that seeks to honor our Lord with every breath and every heartbeat. There's also a change,
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In loving. Love of self is never the deciding factor. Love of things has lost its luster. Love of money is shown to be what it really is - a root of all kinds of evil. Now there is a love for the Savior that touches every other part of life. Why do you do what you do? It's for love of Him. Why do you share? It's for love of Him. Why do you get out of your comfort zone and do something that you've never done before, like a mission trip or serving in some capacity in the church? For love of Him! You love people, not for what they can do for you, but rather because of what He did for you! There's also a change,
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In longing. What keeps you up at night is now something that will matter in eternity, not just the next few days. It's now something that honors the Lord and not something that you would be ashamed of if word got out. It means that what peaks your interest now is not something that will change in a short while or that will start over again next season. It's the Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Can I ask you an honest question this morning? And by the way, whatever answer you may give to me doesn't change the truth. God knows already - and how would He respond if that question were asked of Him regarding you - Has there been any change in your life?
Friend, if your thought of being saved is something that you got out of the way when you were young and it's your fire insurance, the cross is greater than that. If your thought of being saved is that it affects just one part of your life, but the rest of your life is yours to live, the cross is greater than that. The cross - it changes everything. Has there been a change in you?