To start off with, we have a contrast of those who do not
believe in Christ as their personal Savior and those that do believe. Those
that don’t believe are the ones that are perishing. The ones that do are saved.
We also have two worldviews. The “world” or the unsaved look at the preaching
of the cross as foolishness, and the saved (those who are not of this world)
look at it as the power of God. “For it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth… (Rom. 1:16).”
1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is
the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world?
God has indeed made foolish the wisdom of this world. Even
with all of the advancements that mankind has made concerning technology, medicine,
science, etc., it still doesn’t come close to the wisdom of God. God’s wisdom
far exceeds the wisdom of man. It even says in the book of Ephesians that
Christ was seated at the Father’s own right hand, “far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this world, but also in that which is to come (Eph. 1:21),” when He rose from
the dead.
What does the preaching of the cross include? Let’s just
look at a sample of many blessed truths contained in the preaching of the
cross.
1. It is the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor.
1:18-24). Now we have already addressed this one above at the very beginning of
the lesson. The preaching of the cross is the power of God unto all those who
believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins, was buried, and rose again the
third day (1 Cor. 15:3,4). It is also the wisdom of God. It is a wisdom “which
none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:7,8).”
2. As believers, the cross is the only thing we
should boast in (Gal. 6:14). Why
should we only boast in the cross? Because, we are giving all of the glory and
praise to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He did the work. It is a finished
completed work. None of our works could have saved us, for if they could then
we would have reason to boast in ourselves (Rom. 4:2) and also Christ would
have died in vain (Gal. 2:21). What Christ did for us on the cross is a
completed and finished work and He deserves all of the glory.
3. Christ died for the ungodly sinners and enemies
of Christ. Since the fall of Adam (in general, the fall of man), every person
on this world (except Christ) was born with a sin nature. We were born in sin
and shapen in iniquity. We have all “come short of the glory of God (Rom.
3:23).” Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6). He died for us while we were
still sinners (Rom. 5:8). And He reconciled us by the death of His Son, while
we were still considered enemies of God and Christ (Rom. 5:10).
4. We are saved, redeemed, and justified by His
blood. Christ’s death on the cross satisfies (Rom. 3:25) the penalty or wages
of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23). In Christ, we have “redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Eph.
1:7).” Romans 5:9 also says that we have been justified by His blood.
5. We also have peace through His blood (Col.
1:20). Also, Romans 5:1 says that we now “have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.” We are now no longer enemies with God. Instead, we now have
peace with Him.
In conclusion, the preaching of the cross is the power and
wisdom of God and it is the only thing that believers should boast in. It is
the very gospel that every sinner must believe, before they are saved. Now, all
of this truths about the preaching of the cross are all wrapped up into one
single statement, which can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4, which is the
gospel. What is the gospel? That Christ died on the cross for our sins, was
buried, and rose again the third day. All we have to do is simply believe this!
If you just simply believe that Christ died for you and your sins, and rose again, then you will be
saved!
No comments:
Post a Comment