Christ Crucified
1 CORINTHIANS 1:22-24
"The Jews ask for a sign. "
That request might be the deep yearning of the soul to know and touch God.
Or it might be the thirst for entertainment and curiosity.
Jesus had many to come to him for signs .. but he knew when to give them.
In Luke 23, "Now, when Herod saw Jesus he was exceedingly glad" because he thought he would get to see a miracle.
But 23:9 says that "He {Jesus} answered him nothing."
Matthew 12:39, "A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign."
But Jesus saw in Herod, in the wicked, and in the Jews
NO DESIRE FOR GOD,
NO WEARY HEART PANTING FOR BREAD.
He saw skepticism, curiosity, and doubt.
They looked for a sign that this Jesus was the Messiah and what they saw repulsed them.
What they saw was the epitome of weakness ... being defeated ... death.
"and the Greeks seek after wisdom. "
They loved intellectual sparring and challenge. They were the experts, the learned, the airheads.
They loved speculation and abstractions.
They would only respect someone who could come to them with great wisdom,
compelling arguments, and the greatest oratory.
But instead of great intellectual argument, all they got was "CHRIST CRUCIFIED."
And that made no sense at all ... almighty God crucified ... the creator at the mercy of his creation.
The first century A.D. was looking to the church, the disciples to convince them that this Jesus was indeed who they claimed Him to be.
And what did the church offer??? a slain, defeated, weak, savior.
To the Jews it was a sign ... that it was a lie.
To the Greek it was foolishness ... God ... killed!
To the Jews and to the Greeks it became A STUMBLING BLOCK. .. it caused them to reject, to turn away.
In their wisdom they rejected the folly of it.
To the Greeks it was foolishness because if he was God he didn't die, and ifhe did then he wasn't much of a god.
And it also is a mean and vengeful god that would require his subjects to die.
To the Jews it was a stumbling block because it destroys everything they believe in
their goodness
their specialness, their uniqueness
their laws
their sacrificial system
their temple
They could not accept that so it became a stumbling block.
But what was the church's reaction?
to temper the message to suit the audience? ... like modern churches
To gloss over the hard or objectionable parts?
To major on the parts which were acceptable?
They preached CHRIST. .. God in the flesh, virgin born son, Messiah, Savior, Way
They preached Christ CRUCIFIED... killed, on the cross, hideous death, rejection,
DEAD!
They PREACHED it... openly, boldly, fully, unashamedly, proclaim, publicly.
To the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness BUT ... BUT TO THEM THAT ARE CALLED ....
To them that are willing to believe, to accept, to receive, to repent ...
THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION
eternally
and in this world
WHAT ABOUT TODAY. ... has the "Offense of the cross" ceased?
NO!!!!!!!
It insults our intelligence... we are more educated,
more evolved,
not hostage to old thinking
We KNOW God better...
God is in all
God is love
God is laid back and lax
It insults our goodness... want to believe that man is more cultured than "sinners."
We have staked our lives on Karma
It insults our pleasure seeking lives ... it is gospel of SACRIFICE
It Insults our materialism... it says things are trash, cannot give life
It Insults our "Relativistic" culture ... there are absolutes
It cuts off our striving for self-fulfillment. .. ONLY HE CAN FULFILL
The crucified Christ is STILL A STUMBLING BLOCK
is STILL FOOLISHNESS
is STILL REJECTED
Then, WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO PREACH IT?
1. Christ Crucified PRESERVES THE SENSE OF GOD'S HOLINESS.
The Word of God says that GOD IS HOL Y.
Look in the OT and you see men prostrate, trembling, crying out for forgiveness in the presence of the HOLY GOD ... Their cry is "Holy, Holy Holy"
Look to Revelation and see the heavenly courts and what do your hear? HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.
God is HOL Y. ... he is totally sinless
and totally Pure,
he is totally other,
totally separated.
The Word says that the HOL Y GOD cannot look on sin, cannot abide sin, cannot cohabitate with sin.
But yet it says that God forgives us and lives with us in heaven.
How can that be ... does God change, or does he have to abandon his holiness?
NEITHER. ... THE CROSS, Christ Crucified is the ONLY WAY we can have man
forgiven, man with God and God HOLY.
God does not change or compromise ... he demolishes the sin.
How? THE CROSS! ! ! !
If we give up the cross... we must give up heaven or Holy God
2. Christ Crucified REVEALS THE AWFULNESS OF SIN.
"Any doctrine that unveils the holiness of God reveals also the horribleness of sin."
Only the light of the cross can do both.
Take away the cross and you have a lax, easy-going, grand-fatherly God that winks at sin, and says, "Oh, what the heck, I forgive you."
That God is not HOLY... that forgiveness is not real.
Real forgiveness must give a sense of the awfulness of the sin it has forgiven.
If I forgive my child of wrong in such a way that it causes him to think it wasn't that bad, then I have only blurred the lines, not forgiven.
That kind of forgiveness only causes him to repeat his wrong actions and makes me a participant.
The cross draws the line deep and dark, it shows the terrible hideousness of sin
{IT CAUSED GOD TO HAVE TO GIVE HIS SON}
We preach Christ crucified to try to reveal the grossness of sin.
NOTHING .. NOTHING so keenly, so supremely reveals the blackness of sin as the cross.
Not the sermon on the Mount ... Not the Prodigal Son
Nothing else "Pricks" the heart of sin.
3. Christ Crucified DEMONSTRATES GRACE.
Grace is... THE UNEARN-ABLE, UNPURCHASE-ABLE FORGIVENESS OF GOD UPON OUR SINS.
Grace is giving good things that are undeserved.
NOWHERE is it better portrayed than on the CROSS ... there bleeding, bruised and dying is the Son of God. He was sent because we were dying ... of sins. SEPARATED from God by our sin and HELPLESS to do anything about our sin. HELL BOUND for eternity.
Because All have sinned and come short of the glory of God
Because the wages of sin is death
BUT... God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners...
CHRIST DIED FOR US
AND... Whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have eternal life.
At the cross we see grace
We see sinful man at the foot of the cross
We see HOLY GOD at the top, in heaven
AND BETWEEN, "To bring them together" is THE SON
DYING ... paying the price for OUR sin
Removing it, washing it away, absorbing it, taking it to hell
WHY?????? GRACE
FINALLY...
We preach Christ Crucified because...
4. Christ Crucified IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SAL VA TION.
BECAUSE MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD GOD WANTS YOU TO BE SAVED.
BECAUSE MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD ... I WANT YOU TO BE SAVED.
AND because the Bible tells me that THIS is the message that has the power to bring that salvation about.
AND because I know persons here today that have yet to receive this message ... and this salvation.
Before we leave here today ... I want us to fix that.
The message has been preached
The Spirit has moved here and someone is ready to come, ready to receive.
Today WE WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL THE INVITATION IS OVER.
WE WILL SING ALL SIX VERSES OF HYMN 187 ... REGARDLESS.
TODAY is the day
Don't delay... come and be cleansed of your sin, set free of your sin, and SAVED.
