The Power, Wisdom, and Glory of the Cross
1 Corinthians 2:1-8
There were contentions that is, (quarrels; arguments) among the church at Corinth because they were glorying in human leaders. Some were glorying in Paul; some were glorying in Apollo’s; and some were glorying in Peter. All this glorying in men led to divisions among the Corinthian believers.
These divisions in the church at Corinth were caused by pride, for “only by pride cometh contention” (Prov. 13:10).
The cure for divisions caused by pride is to reexamine the cross of Christ and the calling of Christians.
The Corinthians were boasting in men because of their emphasis on human wisdom and power. But Paul says that the cross insults the wisdom and power of men. No amount of human greatness is able to do what the cross does. We can never be saved on our own, but only because of the cross.
· Listen as I read today’s text found in 1 Corinthians 2:1-8
1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The ground is level at the foot of the cross. That is an old saying, but still, when it comes to mankind’s universal need for salvation, it is true.
· I read an article that said at an evangelistic service conducted in London by Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, a hardened criminal came forward to the altar seeking salvation. Dr. Morgan knelt beside him and pointed him to Jesus the Lamb of God who could cleanse him from all his sins, and he who had been a great sinner believed and was saved.
Then preacher Morgan saw the Mayor of the city, a man of high morals and greatly respected, kneeling at the same altar, and to him, as to the criminal, he pointed to the Lamb of God Who alone could take away sins. In humble self-surrender, the Mayor, also accepted Jesus as his Savior.
· And just a short time before this, the Mayor had sentenced the criminal to imprisonment; and there at the altar the two shook hands while tears of joy ran down their cheeks. For the worst of sinners and the best of moralists there is the same Savior.
Paul also reminds the Corinthians of their calling. God has chosen those who are not wise according to the world’s standards, the weak, and the lowly. He did not choose us because of who we are, but in spite of who we are! This is also a humbling thought.
The cross of Christ and the calling of Christians should humble us. However, there is one acceptable boast. Paul writes, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1:31).
We should never boast in ourselves or in other men—as did the Corinthians—but we should always boast in the Lord. This will lead to unity, not divisions.
Some one may be thinking: “If Christians are to live together in unity, why do we have all kinds of different denominations? Why don’t we just have one church? Wouldn’t we have a greater impact on the world if we did this?”
In a perfect world of perfect Christians we would be totally unified, and there would be no such things as denominations. But, we don’t live in a perfect world and there are not any perfect Christians on this earth. We have our differences, and this has led to denominations.
It would be wonderful if all Christians could be united together. But we must never compromise the truth for the sake of unity. We must never give up fundamental doctrines such as the deity of Christ, salvation by faith alone, the triune Godhead, and the inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of the Scripture.
The heart of Christianity is the Bible, the heart of the Bible, is the Cross-, and the heart of the Cross is the very heart of God Himself, Who is the Source of sacrificial love. (1 John 4:10; ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us’; ’ John 3:16).’"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son”
Someone has said, “God took the worst thing that man could do to His Son and transformed it into the best thing He could do for man.”
I. WHAT WAS A SYMBOL OF WEAKNESS HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A SYMBOL OF POWER (2:1-5 1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Before Christ died on a cross, there was not any power connected to a cross.
What power is there in a structure of wood that was used to execute criminals? But the cross of Christ was no ordinary cross. His cross is filled with power because on it hung Omnipotent God.
~~The rationalist says: “Give me Christ without the cross.”
The ritualist says: “Give me the cross without Christ.”
The redeemed soul says”
A Crossless Christ my Saviour could not be;
A Christless cross no refuge is for me;
But oh, Christ crucified, I rest on Thee.”~~
In the last verse of 1 cor.1: we read vs. 31“Let him that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord”
Had Paul used spectacular speech and philosophy; he would have exalted himself and hid the very Christ he came to proclaim! God had sent him to preach the gospel “not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect” (1:17).
Paul gloried in the cross of Christ and made it the center of his message.
(Gal. 6:14). “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”
Paul learned by experience the effectiveness of simply proclaiming the cross. Prior to his visit to Corinth, Paul had spoke to the Greek philosophers on Mars’ Hill in Athens (Acts 17:16-34).
There he delivered a powerful message, but the sermon it seemed produced little fruit. Never the less Paul had learned to depend only and always upon the Holy Spirit and not to rely at all upon eloquence or philosophy.
Our part is to proclaim the gospel. It’s not up to us to try to force people to be saved. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to work in a person’s life.
The message of the cross is powerful. What once was a symbol of weakness has been transformed into a symbol of power.
Paul stated in chapter one, (1:18). “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness”
According to the wisdom the world, it’s foolishness that every member of the human race—from the least to the greatest—must go to the cross to gain acceptance with God.
The wisdom of the world might say;
It’s foolishness that a loving Father would curse His sinless Son whom He loved. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” How could a loving Father do that?
No one is able to fully comprehend the wisdom of God. No one was able to predict the wisdom of the cross.
Could it be that Satan thought that he had gained the victory over God when Christ was nailed to the cross and died?
But the cross-turned out to be God’s greatest victory and Satan’s defeat! From the time of our Lord’s birth into this world, Satan had tried to kill Him, because Satan did not fully understand the vast results of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Satan can never reach the infinite wisdom of God. The wisdom of the cross was a mystery to him. He never realized that the cross was God’s plan from eternity. It was not an afterthought. It was not a surprise. It was not a defeat. It was Christ’s earthly destiny. He came to earth as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
The wisdom of the cross was also a mystery to the rulers of Jesus day. They didn’t know Who they were nailing to that cross. When Jesus on the cross prayed “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” He was echoing this truth. They couldn’t recognize that Jesus was the Son of God. If they had known it, they would not have crucified Him.
Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:22-23).
Peter says that God determined the actions of Christ’s killers from all eternity. While these people are still held responsible for their wicked deed, it was God’s plan. He ordained it before the world began.
Those who talk about “the simple gospel’ are both right and wrong. The message of the gospel is simple enough for a young child to understand, believe, and be saved. God has revealed to us the wisdom of the cross.
The cross has no glory in and of itself. Before the crucifixion of Jesus, thousands of men were put to death on a cross, and every one of those crosses were a symbol of shame. There is no glory in the cross itself; its glory comes from the One who was nailed to it—the Lord of glory. The cross has been transformed from a symbol of shame to a symbol of glory because of Jesus.
Not only is the cross a symbol of glory because the Lord of glory died on one, but also because it opened the way for us to one day share in the very glory of God.
In Romans 8:28-30, Paul wrote, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also gloried.”
We often quote Romans 8:28, but how do we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” We know this because we will eventually be glorified.
Romans 8:18 says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." This is when the curse of sin will be reversed. We will have perfect, immortal bodies that will never get sick, experience pain, or grow old.
The cross was a symbol of shame. It was the last thing a person wanted to think about or talk about. But what was once a symbol of shame has been transformed into a symbol of glory.
The Lord of glory’s death on a cross-guaranteed the future glory of all those who put their trust in Him.
The cross used to be a symbol of weakness, foolishness, and shame. But Jesus changed all that. In the cross of Christ is found the power to save, the wisdom of God, and the doorway to glory.
The Bible tells us that on Calvary Jesus Christ’s cross was placed between the crosses of two thieves. This position was not coincidental, but divinely arranged, for the cross always divides, as the opposite reactions of the two thieves who died with Jesus indicate.
One thief mocked Jesus and died without Him as his Savior. But the other thief believed in Him and was with Jesus that day in paradise.
What is your reaction to the cross?
Will you set it aside, or will you embrace the cross?
