June 27, 2023 | Be On Mission
We Preach Christ Crucified
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1(NIV)
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
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. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Devotional
When Paul planted the Christian faith in Corinth, he stayed a year and a half. He wrote them this long letter of 1 Corinthians a few years later, and shortly after that, the long letter of 2 Corinthians. He knew that he was leaving them under some capable leadership that he had developed over those eighteen months. But he also knew he was leaving them in their corrupt culture. Paul understood that the Christians in Corinth would need ongoing support and challenge if they would survive and thrive in their difficult culture.
It is no surprise then that he quickly reminds them that their sanctification, blessings, and unity are in Christ alone. There is a temptation for churches to make heroes of their preachers and leaders. Paul reminds us that only Christ was crucified for us, and His cross is the only source of our power and wisdom.
In this very Greco-Roman city of Corinth, Paul’s message was an oxymoron: the power of the cross, the wisdom of the cross. In the Roman Empire, the cross was the cruelest means of public execution for powerless fools who were a threat to the Pax Romana, the era of peace and prosperity that the Roman Empire offered. That’s why Paul said, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…” (v. 18).
He went on in that verse, “…but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” There you have it. Nonbelievers look at the cross as foolish weakness. Believers view the cross as the wisdom and power of God. The cross is the pivotal tenet of the Christian faith. It is either the method of execution of a foolish and powerless prophet, or it is the perfect means of atonement by an omniscient and omnipotent God. There is no middle ground.
Take a few moments to read or sing the words to the song, “The Old Rugged Cross.” Meditate on its deep meaning for followers of Jesus.
VERSE 1
On a hill far away
stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross
where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
CHORUS
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
VERSE 2
Oh, that old rugged cross
so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God
left His glory above,
To bear sin on dark Calvary.
REPEAT CHORUS
VERSE 3
In the old rugged cross,
stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see;
For ’twas on that old cross
Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
REPEAT CHORUS
VERSE 4
To the old rugged cross
I will ever be true,
Its shame and reproach
gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day
to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
REPEAT CHORUS
Poem
The Call Of Resurrection
What calls you forth from doubting grave?
What calls you from fear’s hiding?
What rolls heart’s heavy stone away?
What unlocks strength’s abiding?
What opens lips sealed tight with shame?
What softens hearts from stony frame?
What causes faithful to remain?
The call of resurrection
What calls the saints in every place
To rise and heed the summons?
What calls the tight fist to unclasp
And share all things in common?
What keeps the watchman full awake?
What motivates one sin forsake?
What fin’lly gives the hopeless grace?
The call of resurrection
