Cross of Christ

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)  The cross is the central message of Christianity and preaching is the primary method for declaring the message.

First, the cross, not any cross, of Jesus Christ is a message of hope. It says to a sin saturated world that there is hope for escape from its corruption. Man is a sinner by nature and he commits acts of sin.   "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) is the Bible's declaration of both the condition and destiny of man.  The hope of man is found in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. His death was not an accident but an event planned before the foundation of the world. Jesus voluntarily laid down His life, gave His life, to die in our place. In His death He bore our sin and suffered our condemnation so that through His shed blood we can have forgiveness of our sin.  In other words, we can not atone for our own sin nor save ourselves.

The Bible says the preaching of the cross, not preaching, is foolishness to them that perish. Why? Because men find the message contrary to human reasoning and human pride. The human mind has been and is very creative. Look around and everywhere you look you will find something that is the result of man's ability to create. With all this ability, man still cannot answer four basic questions - Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is there beyond the grave? And of utmost importance, Why are we here? Not being able to answer these questions with certainty, man has tried to give himself some measure of dignity by suggesting that there is some inherent good within himself.  Therefore man believes he is good enough to earn his own salvation. Man truly wants to think of himself as being good.  Look around and ask yourself if reality really conforms to man's thinking.  The best way to state the problem is by saying Hell is not populated altogether by bad people but by a lot of good people who thought they were not bad enough to be saved.

The full message of the cross is found in Paul's declaration of the gospel. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand...For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3, 4) That message is reasoned to be foolishness by men who are already lost. Is it foolishness because the have rejected the message and need a reason to justify their rejection of the message. Or is it foolishness because at one time they believed the message and found it doesn't work? I doubt the latter and think the former is true.  It's like saying, I haven't tried the polo vaccine but it doesn't work.  Integrity demands that one try what they reject because the found it doesn't work. Intellectual integrity is lost when one rejects something they reject without testing.

Those who have tested the claims of the message do not think the message is foolishness but have found it to be the power of God. Why? Because to believe the message and to trust in Jesus Christ as  one's Savior has produced a transformation in their lives that can only be attributed to the power of the message.  How does one properly respond to the message of the cross? First, a person confesses that he is a sinner by nature and by deed. Second, a person acknowledges that Jesus Christ died on the cross suffering the condemnation of God in his stead. Third,  a person believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God asks Him to come into his life as both Savior and Lord.

Secondly, the preaching of the cross is the primary method of sharing the message with lost people all over the world. Why? We have been commanded to do it that way. We are living in a day when the church thinks it has found a better way in plays, skits and music, but they all fall short of the Biblical method. It was through the preaching of the cross that the early disciples turned the world upside down. It was through the preaching of the cross thousands were saved and baptized at one time and the early church grew to be a force in the world.  What the church needs to do is go back to it's roots and preach the word and let the Holy Spirit do His job. Paul declared, "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith"  (Romans 1:15, 16, 17). With all our modern technology, no one even comes close to accomplishing what Paul did through the preaching of the gospel.

Is the preaching of the cross foolishness to you? Then you need to be saved. For more information, send for the free booklet "Ultimate Questions." Is the preaching of the cross the power of God unto salvation for you? Then you need to preach the cross to those who have not trusted n Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.