I
Corinthians 1:18-25 NKJV
The Jews
wanted sensation. The cross was only a momentary sensation, and a
disappointment at that. The Greeks wanted wisdom. The cross seemed like such a
waste to them, and that was surely foolishness. But what does the cross mean to
you?
For you
and me, the cross speaks of separation, sacrifice, and salvation. Jesus was
tried before the elite of His countrymen. He was convicted on trumped up
charges before an illegal court. He, the Lamb of God, gave Himself for the sins
of His nation, His people, and the whole world. Jesus, through His sinless life
and death, became the once for all sacrifice.
But He did
not remain in the grave. The scandal of the ages is that He arose from the
dead, He conquered graveyard guards, a government grave seal, doubting
disciples, pernicious priests, death, Hell, the grave, and our slavery to sin.
He became our Champion, our Victor, our Savior. And through the cross, He
brings salvation to all who believe on Him.
But what
is your response to the message of the cross?
“For you
see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of
the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the
world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which
are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in
His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from
God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written,
“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:26-31).
He is our
wisdom, not mere sensation or human reason.
He is our
righteousness, our forgiveness.
He is our
holiness, our sanctification.
He is our redemption
from destruction, the One who gives order and meaning to life.
The cross
continues to be controversial! But the
Christ of the cross calls us to Himself, inviting us to experience His great
salvation through the cross. All too often, in our sinful, self-indulgent
state, we recoil. The sinful self
is: self-preserving, self-protecting,
self-pleasing, and self-prospering. But
Jesus calls us to self-denial. He calls
us to the cross. Salvation and
self-denial involve coming to Jesus, confessing our sins, clean living,
consecrated living, crucified living, confessing Christ, and being confessed by
Christ. He who took up the cross for the sins of the whole world invites us to
take up our cross and follow Him.
John
Newton penned these words of verse.
In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopp'd my wild career:
I saw One hanging on a Tree
In agonies and blood,
Who fix'd His languid eyes on me.
As near His Cross I stood.
Sure never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look:
It seem'd to charge me with His
death,
Though not a word He spoke:
My conscience felt and own'd the
guilt,
And plunged me in despair:
I saw my sins His Blood had spilt,
And help'd to nail Him there.
Alas! I knew not what I did!
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be
hid?
For I the Lord have slain!
A second look He gave, which said,
"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou may'st live."
Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief, and mournful
joy,
My spirit now if fill'd,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by Him I kill'd!
John Newton, 1725-1807.
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