Jump Start # 3239

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

The word of the cross—what a great phrase that is. And, that is exactly what the apostles took into the world. The message was Jesus crucified, risen and reigning. And, to the world back then, such a message was foolish.

Today, we see images of crosses everywhere. It’s jewelry. They are found on signs. They are found in church buildings. And, I expect if someone from the first century could travel in time to our days, they’d be shocked and disturbed to see so many crosses. For us, it’s about Jesus. But for the person of the first century, it’s about death. They’d probably wonder if we put electric chairs, gas chambers and injection needles around our necks. The cross was repulsive. The cross was shameful. The cross was Rome’s heavy hand upon those who rebelled.

There is a message from the cross. The word of the cross teaches us things:

First, it teaches us about the price God had to pay to redeem us. The cross of Jesus was a sacrifice. He gave, no one took. He offered, no one stole. Without that pure, perfect sacrifice, we’d be in our sins to this day. Without that divine offering we’d not be justified, redeemed, or even able to talk to God. Sin separates. Sin kills. The cross is the cure.

Second, it teaches that Satan doesn’t have the last word. The darkness of Calvary sure seemed like he did. Jesus died. No angels came to His rescue. No soldiers rallied to His aid. No help from Heaven. He died. He was buried and from the depths of Hell, it sure looked like Satan won. But up from the grave He arose. And, He didn’t just come out of that grave, He ascended to the right hand of God where He reigns today. The cross bruised Jesus and the resurrection crushed Satan. So, we know the outcome. We know how the story will end. We know that God wins.

Third, it teaches us that sin doesn’t have to ruin us. We are washed in the blood of Jesus. We cleansed by Christ. Our scarlet sins have become whiter than the snow. God has blotted out those mistakes. As far as the east is from the west, He has removed the sins from our lives. Sin can control us. Sin can dominate us. Sin can destroy everything good in our lives. And, sin can ruin us. But the cross, His cross, changes all of that. For the first time, there is real hope. For the first time, salvation is possible. For the first time, we can truly be Heaven bound.

Fourth, it teaches us that there is a better way. The way of the cross, we sing, leads home. Had we followed God’s way all along we would not have been in the messes that we got ourselves into. Following the crowd isn’t the direction that leads to freedom. Doing the norm, or what is average, only leads to being in a mass of people that are doomed and without hope. God’s way works. God’s way brings peace. God’s way results in us trusting Him and worrying less. God’s way drives away fear and doubt. Confidence soars when we walk with God. Examples throughout the Scriptures teach us and encourage us.

The cross speaks. It speaks very loudly. It speaks today. And, the message is salvation in Jesus Christ.

The word of the cross—who would have thought long ago, that those old rough wooden beams that formed the cross could speak. Who would have thought that long after those wooden timbers rotted away and were forgotten, that Heaven never forgot. Who would have thought that among the three deaths that day, one of them would change the world. Who would have thought that hundreds of years before you and I were born, that His death on that cross, would change future lives.

The word of the cross…powerful, plain, profound. Have you heard what the cross says?

Roger

Jump Start # 1599

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

  Our verse is very fitting for our times. Morally conservative people are stunned at how vulgar, loose and immoral our country seems to be sinking. It’s happening very rapidly. Booze flows on college campuses. Men who claim they are women are wanting to use the wrong bathrooms. People flaunting their sinful ways and are proud to be what God condemns. Companies are pressured to cave in to the loud demands of a few who want the abnormal  to be considered normal. Things are all mixed up these days.

But we find a verse, like our passage from Corinthians, that reminds us “there is nothing new under the sun.” It must have been hard for Paul to go to Corinth. Today, the word “Corinthian” bring images of expensive leather furniture or leather seats in cars. But long ago, in Paul’s day, the mention of “Corinthian” brought the images of a moral sewer. The city was drunk on lust and immorality. Everything was allowable. There were no limits. There were no moral compasses. God wasn’t on the radar. Then Paul came to the city. He preached the resurrected Christ. Some listened. Some actually believed. The make up of that young church wasn’t former boy scouts or future superstars. Paul tells us. They were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunks, revilers, and swindlers. It is from this rotten bunch that were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus. These folks who lived without rules became Christians. They lived for Christ. They were saved by the power of God.

To those who are perishing, as our verse tells us, the mention of Jesus and the cross is foolishness. They’ll laugh. They’ll ridicule. They’ll mock. They will feel that they are so much more superior than those who follow the words of a “dead man.” And off they dance in their sinful ways, sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of wrong. They, like Isaiah’s nation, call good evil and evil good. Their heroes are those that do wrong.

Our passage reminds us of a few truths.

First, our times are not that unique. Yes, for us, things seem outrageous and wrong. But history has seen this before. This ole’ world keeps on going long past the Corinthians. And what was preached in that dark city is still being preached today. That which saved lives long ago is still saving lives today. The Corinthians are gone. Their immoral ways are gone. But the Gospel lives on.

Second, the worst people can change. When we look at that list from the sixth chapter of Corinthians, we would shudder to believe that there is any hope in any of them changing. But they did. They changed without professional counselors. They changed without “exit groups.” They changed without AA meetings. Dishonest people became honest. Immoral people became moral. Gay people became straight. They were brought under control by the gospel of Christ. Have we given up on the saving and changing power of Christ? Have we diluted and weakened it’s power where today, if we met a drunk, we’d have to use AA to change him? Paul didn’t. Don’t prejudge people. Don’t prequalify people. Don’t decide for God who will make a good Christian and who will not. Preach to all. Tell all. Invite all. The worst possible person just might be the one who responds to the saving message of Christ.

Third, the world is going a different direction than we are. What we are holding to is considered foolishness to the world. Worshipping God is a joke to most folks. We must not try to fit the square peg into the round hole. The modern church has tried that and they are losing. They are trying to make the Gospel attractive to a people who want nothing to do with God. So using food and entertainment, they try to reach the masses by softening the message, and making sinful choices somewhat acceptable. It’s backfiring. The mega churches are losing their touch. The message doesn’t change the people. The message isn’t helping them. There is no call for righteous living. There is no urgency to be like Christ. The modern church has conformed to the world and it’s members are a mess and confused. Water and oil do not mix and neither does sinful living and the pure Gospel of Christ. Either a person will stop their wrong choices, or they will ignore the message. Ignoring the message is what is happening. We must reach the lost, but not by convincing them that we are not so different. We are different. We have stopped moving the direction the world is going. We are moving upstream in a downstream world. We no longer need popularity to feel good about ourselves. We no longer have to listen and do what everyone else is doing. Who kisses who in Hollywood doesn’t mean anything to us anymore. We are following Christ. Our lives are better. We live with a purpose. We have changed our thinking. We are trying to please the Lord in all that we do. Most don’t understand this. Most don’t care to understand. But we do. We have been where the world is. We don’t want that ever again.

Don’t give up Christian. Don’t let what is going on in the world consume you. It might do us all some good if we just turned off the news. It might be good if we didn’t read all the posts on Facebook. Reach out and hold to God’s unchanging hand.

In the bottom of the darkest pit, Corinth, there were folks who climbed out and became followers of Jesus. Don’t give up. It’s not time to throw in the towel. Keep shinning your light. Keep in step with the Savior.

Roger