It’s
Still The Cross
Pastor
Darrin Wright – March 16, 2008
Introduction
In 1 Corinthians
It’s the message of the cross that
is at the heart of the gospel. Paul made
a tremendous statement concerning the cross in Galatians
I.
The Descriptions Of The Cross. (vs.18-19)
1.
“The
message of the cross”
2.
message – word; Logos; John1; whole totality of truth
contained in and revealed through the cross.
So the cross is the heart of the gospel and the central theme of
Christianity.
3.
The word
of the cross includes the entire gospel message and work, God’s plan and
provision for man to be saved.
4.
Christ’s
work on the cross is the pinnacle of God’s revealed word and work.
5.
The
message of the cross is the story of God’s love to guilty man. God’s holiness demanded that sin be punished,
and there upon the cross the punishment of sin was placed on Jesus Christ.
6.
Paul knew
that men were lost without Christ, that there was no
hope for them except the cross, and he did not want anything to hide the cross.
7.
Romans
1.
“is
foolishness to those who are perishing”
2.
God has
called us not to foolish preaching, but to a message that is foolish.
3.
foolishness – we get our word moron; it is moronic, absolute
nonsense; to unbelievers who rely on their own wisdom, the message of the cross
is absurdity.
4.
Sinful
man cannot understand the ways and the wisdom of the cross because it is
contrary to his ideas and ways of thinking.
5.
Matthew
6.
That one
man could die on a piece of wood on a non-descript hill in a non-descript part
of the world and thereby determine the destiny of every person who has ever
lived seems stupid. It allows no place
for man’s merit, man’s attainment, man’s understanding, or man’s pride.
7.
John Phillips – “Modern man has not changed its mind about
that. Our educational institutions
preach humanism not holiness; they eulogize cleverness not
8.
This is
how the cross is viewed by unbelievers who rely on their own wisdom.
9.
The cross
changes people, and changed people transform society.
10. What is foolish to this world is the wisdom and
power of God.
1.
“but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
2.
Question: How could the blood of one
person remove my sins, give me perfect righteousness, and give me hope beyond
the grave?
3.
Answer: The power of God.
4.
The
vindication of the cross is not wisdom in that it makes sense, but power in
that it works. The cross changes lives.
5.
You will
never figure out the cross. (I don’t
understand how the internet works, but I still use it; electricity, etc.)
6.
Those who
embrace the message of the cross find that it works. It releases the very power of God into human
lives making saints out of sinners, crooked men straight,
and weak people strong.
7.
The cross
is the manifestation of the power of God at work in our lives.
8.
2 Corinthians
1.
Paul
introduces a quote from Isaiah 29:14.
2.
This
verse speaks of an event in
3.
History
tells us that
4.
Men pride
themselves in their philosophies, in their reasoning powers, but no philosophy
in the world would ever have reasoned out the need of the cross nor have
suggested that only through the death of Christ, sinners could be saved.
5.
God’s
ways have always stood in contrast with human wisdom.
6.
Paul is
telling us that we should never mix man’s wisdom with God’s revealed message.
7.
Proverbs
8.
It is not
until we come to the end of ourselves, of our own ideas, our own cleverness,
our own efforts, and our own self-will and see our own folly and futility that
we can experience the mighty power of God to save.
II. The Dividing Of The Cross. (vs. 18; 21)
1.
Human Wisdom.
(v.21)
a.
“the world
through wisdom did not know God”
b.
God
established it this way. Man cannot know
God through his own wisdom, because he will not recognize the source of his
problems which is sin, or the solution to his problems which is salvation.
c.
We don’t come
to God through human wisdom, we come to Him by
embracing the cross.
2.
Heavenly Wisdom
(v.21)
a.
“it pleased God through the foolishness of the message
preached to save those who believe.”
b.
Paul is
saying that God, in His wisdom chose to save people by the way of the cross and
by no other way. Salvation comes through
faith in the message of the cross.
c.
Paul is not
talking about foolish preaching, of which there has always been more than
enough. He is talking about preaching of
that which is foolish in the world’s eyes – the simple truth of the cross of
Jesus Christ.
d.
It is not
foolish preaching that pleases God, it is the
preaching of a foolish message that pleases God.
e.
Message preached – does not refer to the act of declaring a
message, but to the content of the message.
It’s not the style, it’s the content, it is the
power of the gospel. (NIV: through the
foolishness of what was preached.)
f.
If you are
not preaching the cross, you are not giving the truth.
g.
Believe – complete assent to the truth of the gospel. For those who will exchange their wisdom for
His, God offers transformation, regeneration, new birth and new life through
the power of the cross.
B.
Divides Those Who Are Perishing (v.18)
1.
“to those who
are perishing”
2.
perishing – Does not describe a future possibility, but a
present reality. It does not mean that
you are in danger of perishing, nor that you will perish, it means that you are
already in the process of perishing.
3.
John
4.
middle
voice – inside decision; not
acted upon by an outside force; they chose in and of themselves not to believe.
5.
Fact: You don’t have to do anything to go to hell.
6.
John MacArthur – “Perish means to loose from something. It means that you are continually being
loosed from a relationship with God.”
7.
Truth: The more you say no to God, the easier it is
to say “No” the next time.
III. The Decisions Of The Cross (vs.22-25)
1.
“For Jews
request a sign…But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block.”
2.
This was the
attitude of the Jews, because their emphasis was on miraculous signs, and the
cross appeared to them to be weakness.
3.
For three and
a half years, the Son of God walked their land.
He healed their sick and raised their dead. He cleansed their lepers and liberated those
possessed by demons. He walked upon the
waves and calmed the storm. He fed their
hungry multitudes and transformed lives.
Yet, they demanded a sign.
4.
stumbling
block – He was to come in
power and splendor and establish His throne and kingdom. They did not understand that their messiah
had to suffer and die before He could enter His glory. To the Jews, a crucified Messiah was a
complete impossibility, a stumbling block.
5.
Because the
Jews were looking for power and great glory, they stumbled at the weakness of
the cross.
6.
Rather than a
testimony of weakness, the cross is a tremendous instrument of power.
7.
Romans
1.
“and Greeks
seek after wisdom…but we preach Christ crucified to the Greeks foolishness”
2.
This was the
response of the Greeks (Gentiles). To
them the cross was foolishness. The
Greeks emphasized wisdom, but there was 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 realized the
wisdom of God’s great plan of salvation.
3.
foolishness – They saw the crucified Messiah as
foolishness. How could someone accept as
Lord and Savior someone who did not have enough common sense to avoid the
disgrace of death by crucifixion. If He could not save Himself, how could He
save anyone else.
4.
They wanted
intellectual proof that they could debate and dissect without ever accepting
the eternal truth and embracing the cross.
1.
The Preaching Of The Cross (v.23)
a.
“But we
preach Christ crucified…”
b.
Paul would
only preach Christ crucified, the only true sign and
the only true wisdom. Those who will not
believe that sign or accept that wisdom will not accept God.
c.
The preaching
of the cross is both supernatural and sensible.
But it cannot be discovered through supernatural signs and human
wisdom. It will save only those who
believe.
d.
It is the
preaching of the cross that saves.
e.
The only
message that a Christian has to tell is the message of the cross.
a.
“Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God.”
b.
Some believe
and experience the power and the wisdom of the cross.
c.
When the call
of God is both heard and headed, evidence is at once seen of the cross’s
transforming power.
d.
Power
– dunamis; dynamite; unequaled power. God’s power is real power because it
accomplishes something, it is the power of
salvation. Along with all the mighty
miracles that accompanied the death of Christ on the cross, Matthew records the
conversion of a Roman soldier (Matt. 27:45; 50-54)
e.
The very part
of God’s plan and work that seems most ridiculous and useless from man’s
viewpoint, actually exhibits His greatest power and greatest wisdom.
Conclusion
Room At The Cross For You
The cross upon which Jesus died
Is a shelter in which we can hide
And its grace so free is sufficient for me
And deep is its fountain – as wide as the sea
Tho millions have found Him a friend
And have turned from the sins they have sinned
The Savior still waits to open the gates
To welcome a sinner before it’s too late
There’s room at the cross for you
There’s room at the cross for you
Tho millions have come, there’s still room for one
There is room at the cross for you