The Message of the Cross

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     First Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

     A little over fifty years ago, wow, that’s hard to believe, my mother in law, Irene Hartig gave me a plain wooden cross that supposedly was made of olive wood from Israel.  I have had the cross on my wall either in my office or home.  Today, that same cross is above my computer which is on top of my small refrigerator.  The cross is always before me.  For me, it is a constant reminder of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me and for all people, in the payment of our sin debt.   It was a debt that we could not pay and only the Lord Jesus Christ could do it.  I usually get up early in the morning, listen to some Scripture and then check what’s new on Facebook.  I came across a sermon by Alistair Begg which reminded me of the cross and the preaching of the cross in the world today.

     As the passage above says, for the unbeliever, or those who are on the road to perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness.  In other words, they don’t believe in it and the Word of God makes that clear.  The contrast is found where it says, “...unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.”  There were three crosses on the hill that day when Christ was crucified.  The Lord Jesus Christ was on the middle cross with a thief on either side of him.  One of the thieves believed and the oher did not.  To the one that believed, Christ said that he would be with Him in paradise..  As Pastor Begg pointed out, the thief didn’t have time to be baptized, or to learn the doctrine of justification by faith or the total depravity of man.  When he got to paradise and perhaps was asked the question, “Why are you here?”  He could simply answer, “The man on the middle cross said I could dome.”  That’s the only answer he could give and it is the only answer that we can  give.  If God were to ask you and I the same question, “Why are you here?” and our answer began with the word, “I” it would be wrong.  Nothing that we can do can ever merit salvation.  It is only what took place on Calvary on that cross that presents us worthy.  Paul goes on to say in First Corinthians fifteen the core of what the gospel is in verses three and four.  It simply is the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  At some point in our lives, we are going to have to ask ourselves, on “What do we base our salvation on?”  If you are depending on baptism, or the signing of a card, or going forward, or doing a lot of good works for others than you are still lost  First Corinthians 15:3 says, “...Christ died for our sins…”  he was buried and then He rose from the dead.  Praise God today for the message of the cross.