Text: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Story: “The Evidence of His Claim”
There is a story told of a cottage in a little country village, in which lived a family of four: father, mother, and two small children.
One evening something happened, what, no one knows – and the little cottage caught on fire. In a few seconds the thatched roof and wooden timbers were ablaze.
There was no fire engine in this remote spot, and the villagers stood round helpless. But suddenly a young man, who had only recently come to the place, came striding up.
“What, can nothing be done to rescue the people inside?” he cried, and as no one responded, he dashed through the flames. A moment later, he emerged bearing under each arm a little child. They were unhurt, for Andy had hidden them under his coat – but he was terrible burned.
Scarcely had he got out before the roof of the cottage fell in with a sickening crash, and the parents of the children were never seen alive again.
A kind old woman took Andy into her home and nursed him carefully. Meanwhile, there was much discussion in the village as to what was to become of the two rescued children.
It was decided that a council should meet to decide what was to become of them. When the day of the decision arrived, there were two who claimed the little ones. The first was a young nobleman of the village. He had money, position, and a home to offer the children. The second one to claim the children was – Andy!
When asked what right he had to the little ones, he said never a word, but held up his hands – burned and scarred for them.
---Christian Life
Was it foolish for Andy to claim these children? Did the young nobleman of the village have a better claim because of his money, position, and home in which he could raise the children?
Were the children saved by the nobleman or by Andy? Was the nobleman willing to sacrifice his life to save the lives of the children or was it Andy who sacrificed his life out of pure love and compassion?
Was Andy’s move of salvation foolish in the eyes of the villagers as is the message of the cross to those who are perishing?
Paul says to the people of Corinth, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
What is the significance of the Cross?
The Cross was necessary because of our sinful nature. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God sin entered the world. The sin of disobedience caused a separation in the relationship between man and God. Man made a wrong choice and because of that wrong choice, the Cross was necessary.
When God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). At that moment in time, Adam was sinless.
Then God caused Adam to fall asleep and He took one of his ribs and formed woman from that rib (Genesis 2:21, 22). At that moment woman was also sinless.
Scripture tells us that man and woman, Adam and Eve, were created in the image of God. Both were sinless and both had dominion or rule over all God had created.
Adam and Eve did not look like God because God is spirit, but their personality traits resembled that of God. God’s character was reflected in such things as their love, kindness, forgiveness, understanding, caring, patience, and faithfulness.
These are the same characteristics that should shine forth from each one of us. Why? We, too, were created in the image of God and we should carry forth His characteristics. God looks out for us and we should look out for others. God knows when we are hurting and feels the pain that we feel; therefore, we should feel the same toward His children. He stretches out His arms to us and says, “Come to me….for I am gently….and you will find rest” (Matthew 11:28-29).
We should be willing to stretch forth our arms to those who are tired, worn-out; those who have lost their will to live; those who believe they are no longer of any value to the Lord; those who think they have committed so many bad sinful acts that God no longer has an interest in them; those who need a shoulder to lean on or someone to share their tears.
Of all God created, man was most important. Each one of us is special to God because He created us. His love for each of us is well expressed in the words: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
You might reason that it was a long time ago that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and became the first sinners. If Adam and Eve were sinners, how come everyone else is a sinner? Each person born since the original sin was committed is born with a sinful nature. This indicates that we have a tendency to commit sin.
Scripture says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and wickedness; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the life. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).
We cannot control our sinful nature by ourselves. Paul wrote to the Galatians and said: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).
When we accept Jesus as our own personal Lord and Savior, we give up our sinful nature to the cross. If we do not do this, our sinful nature will destroy our lives. All Christians have the capability to sin, but since all Christians have been set free of sin’s power they do not have to give in to sin.
Each moment of each day, we must look to God to handle our sinful tendencies. The ability to overcome sin must come from the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Helper Jesus spoke of when He said, “And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth….” (John 14:16-17).
When Paul wrote to the Romans he said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since all of us are sinners, there is no way for us to reach God’s high standard of perfection through our own efforts. There is no way we can save ourselves. We will never be worthy of God’s glory
Why is the message of the Cross foolish to some people? I believe the message is foolish to these people because they do not understand their state of sinfulness and the fact Jesus came to give them an opportunity to gain a right relationship with the Father.
Some thought that this man Jesus could not be the Messiah because He was not a rough and tough military type person. He was arrested, brought before the religious leaders and condemned. He was made to stand trial before Pilate, sent into the presence of Herod, and then returned to Pilate.
Pilate released Jesus to the soldiers and ordered Him to be flogged and then crucified. People reasoned that if this man could not save himself, so, how could he possibly be the Messiah.
The people during that time were perishing and the people of today who think the message of the Cross is foolishness are also perishing. People believe they have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to keep them from perishing. They fail to realize the wisdom and knowledge they possess is worldly and does not come from God.
God’s way of thinking is not the world’s way of thinking. Many people believe that doing things the right way, living a good life and being nice will save them from any evil. They refuse to believe that there is a heaven and there is a hell. They also fail to believe that they will spend eternity in one or the other of these places.
Jesus speaks of two gates; namely, a narrow gate and a wide gate. He says, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide, for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few will ever find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14).
Jesus is saying the gate that leads to eternal life in the Kingdom of God is narrow. Just because the gate is narrow doesn’t indicate difficulty in becoming a Christian. The Cross seems to be foolish to some people because of their failure to believe or understand that there is only one way to spend eternity in the presence of God.
“The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
God’s wisdom is much greater than that of man. God has the power to do things man thinks is impossible. God thinks heavenly while man thinks worldly. God has more to offer man than man can imagine. For example, God offers man eternal life in His kingdom, but the world cannot offer man anything comparable.
Man can study and accumulate much worldly wisdom and knowledge, but never attain a right relationship with God. Man can possess an endless number of degrees and still not have a personal relationship with God. All the wealth in the world does not guarantee a place for man in the Kingdom of God.
The message of the Cross is salvation through the crucified and risen Christ. Eternal life in His Kingdom comes through acceptance of Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. The Cross to those being saved is the power of God.
God said, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (1 Corinthians 1:19). These same words are found in Isaiah 29:14.
These words tell us that God will put away man’s wisdom and understanding because they are worldly and will not save. God indicated He would save by what the world termed “foolishness” which is the message of the Cross.
Verse 20 reads:
“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”
Who is the so-called “wise”? They were the Greek philosophers who had all the answers.
Who is the scribe? The scribes were the very educated Jewish class of people.
Who is the disputer of this age? The disputers were the Greek teachers who disputed various issues in public each day.
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? Although man thought he was in control and that he had all the answers because of his wisdom, God excluded all man’s wisdom from Scripture. He did this because man did not know God and did not search for God’s truth.
God was pleased with what the world called a foolish message because there were those who believed and were saved. Salvation came by the power of God. What the world called foolish was in reality Divine Wisdom.
Verse 22 tells us that “Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom.” The Jews knew about the miracles Jesus performed, but they wanted more. They wanted a sign from heaven.
Matthew records these words: “Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you’” (verse 38).
Although the Jews had seen many of Jesus’ miracles, they made up their minds not to accept Him as the Messiah.
Jesus responded to their request with these words: “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39).
When Jonah refused to preach to the people of Nineveh, he spent 3 days in the belly of the whale and when he got out and preached to the evil people of Nineveh, they repented. When Jesus came to his own people, they refused to repent.
Jesus told the story of Jonah to indicate to the people that three after the crucifixion He would return, give the people another chance to repent, and the resurrection would prove He is the Messiah.
As the Jews requested a sign, the Greeks demanded wisdom. Paul records these words in Acts 17:18: “A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of the asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.”
The Epicureans believed that happiness was most important goal in life while the Stoics believed that living in agreement or accord with nature was most important aspect in life.
Paul said, “But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). In other words, Paul was preaching the message of the Cross. The message of salvation was mankind’s way of regaining a right relationship with Almighty God. God’s love for man was so great that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son upon the Cross. All man’s sins, past, present, and future were taken to the Cross. Man could spend eternity with God in His kingdom if he would repent of his sins and accept His Son as personal Lord and Savior.
The message of the Cross was a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks because they refused to believe and thereby were perishing. “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Story: “Satisfied Completely!”
The daughter of a New York rabbi tells this story. “My father taught me to read the Bible in Hebrew as a young child. We began at Genesis. When we came to Isaiah, he skipped the fifty-third chapter. I asked him why. He said it was not necessary for Jews to read that chapter. I became more curious. I asked him who it was for and he said Christians. I asked him what the Christian Bible was doing in our Bible. He became angry and told me to keep quiet. I wondered why God would put unnecessary things in the Bible. I copied that fifty-third chapter on paper and carried it in my stocking for two years until I came to America – the free country. I looked at it at night and every chance I could without being seen. I took better care of that paper than people do of money. Through reading this wonderful chapter I was led to accept Christ as my Savior. I was walking in New York one day and heard a lady reading this chapter. She explained that it referred to Jesus Christ. It satisfied me completely.”
----------the Illustrator
Conclusion:
From Isaiah 53)
He was despised and rejected by men-
He was pierced for our transgressions-
He was crushed for our iniquities-
He was oppressed and afflicted-
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter-
He poured out His life unto death-
He was numbered with the transgressors-
He bore the sin of many-
He made intercession for the transgressors-
He was assigned a grave with the wicked-
(1 Corinthians 1:18). “For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”
Story: “Imitating Christ”
At the close of a Gospel service an intelligent-looking man came to the minister and said, “I do not see any necessity for the Blood of Christ in my salvation. I can be saved without believing in His shed Blood.”
“Very well,” said the minister, “how then do you propose to be saved?”
“By following His example,” was the answer. “That is enough for any man.”
“I suppose it is,” said the minister. “And you propose to do just that in your life?”
“I do, and I am sure that that is enough.”
“Very well. I am sure that you want to begin right. The Word of God tells us how to do that. I read here concerning Christ, ‘Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.’ I suppose that you can say that of yourself too?”
The man became visibly embarrassed. “Well,” he said, “I cannot say that exactly. I have sometimes sinned.”
“In that case you do not need an Example, but a Savior; and the only way of salvation is by His blood that was shed upon the Cross.”
---------------The Chaplain
“The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Amen.
