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Come,
let us reason together
8/12/09
-- in humility receive the word
implanted, which is able to
save your souls.
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves
James
1:21-22
The
Cross of Christ
Represents Pain and Salvation
Just suppose someone has the urge to began a new religion,
it wouldn’t
be the first time, would it? And they wanted to insure some kind of
world wide
acceptance. What would be the most appealing to the masses? Some would
think
that the key to success would most surely be a strong message
pertaining to self-esteem,
positive mental attitude and a positive confession in
order to
obtain their earthly desires.
But in a very much contradictive idea to this direction,
the early
Christian church proclaimed that the true spiritual victory lies in a
message
of apparent defeat, namely, the death of Jesus Christ on that cruel
Roman cross
on a hill far away. The apostle Paul had this to say in (1Cor.
1:18-21); --- “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. ---
For it is written, ‘I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE
CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.’ --- Where
is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the
debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the
world?
--- For since in the wisdom of
God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was
well-pleased
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those
who
believe.”
In
the first century, preaching about the cross of Christ was evidently an
obstacle, or stumbling block to the acceptance of inspired truth and
Christian
beliefs. ---Going back to Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians, in (1
Cor.
1:22-23), he says; --- “For
indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
--- but we preach Christ
crucified,
to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” Some looked for a divinely
anointed leader
who would bring about some sort of military victory and political
deliverance
from the mighty Roman Empire’s authority. --- To them it was very
offensive to
hear that they should follow this radical philosophy of this young man
who
dared to call Himself the Son of God, and had been executed as a common
criminal
by the Roman authority. --- The preaching of the cross was thus an
obstacle to
them. Others demonstrated great
tolerance for
and even some interest in a variety of religious and philosophical
ideas, but
the message that salvation would come through a man who had died, and
furthermore had become victorious by miraculously rising from the dead,
to them
was outright foolish. --- For instance, the Athenians were quite
willing to
listen to the novel ideas of Paul, but lo and behold as soon as he
began to
speak about the resurrection, most of them lost interest and to
put it
simply, they began to sneer at him. They looked down their noses at
him. ---
And we can see this account by reading (Acts 17:18-33); --- “And
also some of the
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were
saying, ‘What
would this idle babbler wish to say?’ Others, ‘He seems to be a
proclaimer of
strange deities,’--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
--- And they took him and brought him to
the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know what this new teaching is which you
are
proclaiming? --- For you are bringing some strange things to our ears;
so we
want to know what these things mean.’ --- (Now all the Athenians
and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing
other than
telling or hearing something new.) ---
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men
of Athens, I
observe that you are very religious in all respects. --- For while I
was
passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found
an
altar with this inscription, `TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you
worship in
ignorance, this I proclaim to you. --- The God who made
the world
and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not
dwell in
temples made with hands; --- nor
is He served by human hands, as
though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life
and breath
and all things; --- and He made
from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the
earth,
having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their
habitation,
--- that they would seek God,
if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not
far from each one of us; --- for
in Him we live and move and exist,
as even some of your own poets have said, `For we also are His
children.' --- ‘Being
then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature
is like
gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of
man.
--- Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is
now
declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, --- because He has fixed a day in which
He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man (Jesus)
whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from
the dead.’
--- Now when they
heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, ‘We shall
hear you
again concerning this.’--- So
Paul went out of their midst.”
--- So we can readily
see that Paul’s message seemed like an idle “fairy tale” to those
schooled in
the high philosophy of that day. For all who lived in
the first century,
the cross was an instrument of torture and excruciating death, and
commonly
used for the execution of criminals. To everyone in that part of the
world (as
I said), represented pain, condemnation, hideous cruelty and death. ---
Consequently, preaching about the cross in that day and time would be
tantamount to preaching about the electric chair, lethal injection etc.
today. Just imagine what it
would be like,
driving by some church building today which displayed as its visual
identification an electric chair? --- That certainly would make the
evening
news, wouldn’t it? --- Or imagine walking into a worship service today
and
hearing them sing, “The Old Rugged Hangman’s Noose”, “Near The Lethal
Injection”, or “When I survey The Wondrous Firing Squad”? --- What a
silly and
foolish way to edify the brethren and honor God that would be! By contrast, God has
chosen the
foolishness of preaching, and the seemingly foolish message of the
cross of
Christ as the only hope of man’s salvation. --- He has transformed the
cross
from an instrument of suffering, punishment and death into an
instrument of
healing, deliverance and eternal life --- And by the message of the
cross, God
transforms alien sinners into saints, blasphemers into evangelists and
persecutors
into proclaimers of truth, as Paul’s life testifies. In short, the focal point of
Christianity
is “Jesus
Christ and Him
crucified.”
(1 Cor. 2:2) --- The
GOOD NEWS that brings deliverance and forgiveness is that of Jesus
Christ, as
God manifested in the flesh, died on the cross shed His sinless blood
to wash
away our filthy sins, buried in a tomb and rose again the third day. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT? If so, God would have you to
respond to
this message by applying it personally to your life by turning away
from sin in
true repentance (dying to the old life of sin and self-will),
confessing your
faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and being buried with Him in
water
baptism for the forgiveness of all past sins, rising up out of that
water to
walk in newness of life and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit,
which is the
promise (or down-payment of salvation. When you do this, God will add
you to
His one and only church, the body of Christ or the church of Christ,
and be
able to wear His name --- Christian. (Acts 2:38-39 & 47; Rom.
10:10; Rom.
6:1-6; and Acts 11:26. --- The power of Christ’ “foolish” cross is so
powerful
it can change human hearts and transform human lives. --- The power of
God’s
gospel can heal sick minds, deliver those who have succumbed to
addictive
habits and sinful behaviors. The love of our heavenly Father can and
will
restore fractured marriages and family relationships and offers NEW
BEGINNINGS,
NEW HOPE, NEW LIFE, and for those who remain faithful unto death, they
are
promised the crown of life. (Rev. 2:10)
Edited and humbly submitted,
Earl Wilburn Questions
and comments more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com
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