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The Centrality of the Cross: A Study in 1 Corinthians

 

 

 

The Message of the Cross, I Corinthians 1:18-25

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Painting by Holman Hunt, The Shadow of the Cross

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Today, the most identifiable symbol of Christianity is the cross - Saint Paul's Cathedral, the Notre Dame, Westminster Abbey

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The symbol of the early church was the fish, ICHTHYS - Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior

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Picture of early Christian funeral inscription

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I Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

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I Corinthians 1:18 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.

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I.     What is the message of the cross?

       A.   It is the central message of the person and life of Christ

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Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

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Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

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Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

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Matthew 26:26-28 Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

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Luke 18:31-33 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

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John 12:32-33 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.

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The fact that a cross became the Christian symbol, and that Christians stubbornly refused, in spite of the ridicule, to discard it in favor of something less offensive, can have only one explanation. It means that the centrality of the cross originated in the mind of Jesus himself. John Stott

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Matthew 26-27

Mark 14-15

Luke 22-23

John 18-19

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       B.   It is the central message of the New Testament

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Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen...Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

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Acts 3:14-15 "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses."

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Acts 4:9-10 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead"

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Acts 5:27-30 The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter...answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross."

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Acts 7:51-52 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

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Acts 8:32-35 ...he was reading this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. “In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who willrelate Hisgeneration? For His life is removed from the earth.”...Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

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Acts 10:38-40 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.  We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day...

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Acts 13:26-30 “...to us the message of this salvation has been sent...and though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead;

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I Corinthians 2:1-2 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

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       C.   It is consistent with the message of God from the beginning

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I Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

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       D.   Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself by becoming sin, weakness, death, pain, impoverished, rejected and judged so that we could become pure, strong, everlasting, joyful, rich, received and righteous in Christ.

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1. How do people respond to this message?

       A.   Dismiss it as foolishness

       B.   Embrace it as the power of God to save

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I Corinthians 1:18 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.

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Picture of the crucified donkey "Alex worships his God"

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I Corinthians 1:20 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?

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I Corinthians 1:21 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.

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1. Why do some reject this message?

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          A.      It is a stumbling block

          B.      It is foolishness

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I Corinthians 1:22-23 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

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1. Why does God use the cross as His means of saving?

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       A.   It shows the wisdom of God: foolishness becomes wisdom

       B.   It reflects the strength of God: weakness becomes strength

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I Corinthians 1:24-25 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

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       C.   In short, in the cross God takes the foolish and weak to display His wisdom and strength

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