June 5, 2011 - I Corinthians 1:18-25 Remember the Message of the Cross Pastor Larry Adams If you have your Bibles today, I invite you to turn with me if you would to the book of 1 Corinthians. Today is Communion, and as we begin this month of June together we are focusing today on the message of the cross. You know, we re living in a day really unchanged from the days of Paul in many ways. There are those today who still think that the message of the cross is foolishness. They keep stumbling over Jesus. They have other ways to be saved, the multiplicity of religions all having ideas of who God is and what he may want from us, and yet all the time God is speaking to us the truth. In I Corinthians Paul was writing to a group of Christians who really did believe but lived in a culture and a society that largely did not. They lived in a society influenced by Jewish culture that was always looking for miraculous signs, and they were in a culture influenced by Greeks who were always looking for the more intelligent, the scientific answer, that it would be foolishness to believe in Jesus for your salvation. So when Paul writes to them he writes to encourage those who have believed the truth, the message of the cross is the power of God for salvation and we should never forget that. That s the salvation we remember today, Communion. And this is what Paul wrote to them in I Corinthians 1:18: 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 man? Where is the scholar? 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 miraculous 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. Let s pray for a moment. Page 1 of 7
Father, earth itself is a miniscule part of the universe. If we were to travel to our closest star we couldn t even see the earth. How much smaller is each individual man upon this planet and yet at times we think that we can tell you how to solve the universe problems, and what s good for us, and what the law ought to be, and who you are, and how we are to be saved, and what religion we think we ought to follow. It is foolishness and arrogance at the highest degree. And yet on this globe, covered with foolish and arrogant people like myself, you have made us the object of your affection sending your son to die on a cross to redeem us from our foolishness, our arrogance, and our sin. We re here today, God, to remember that, to be changed by that. And so I ask, God, that you will speak to us in these moments as you and we together prepare our hearts to remember. And we ll thank you, God, for all you will show us. In Jesus name, Amen. You know, man has always thought that they had a better idea of salvation than God does, otherwise they would turn to Christ and be saved. Throughout the years, man has demonstrated very tragically and very foolishly their ideas of how they think salvation can be accomplished. Some of them are incredibly bizarre. Over the years I have tracked some of the ways that people have tried to express earning their own salvation. In their own intelligence and in their own ways, they believe these things will actually do it for them. Each year in the Philippines, for example, there are people on Good Friday who allow themselves to be spiked to a cross, reenacting the crucifixion with literal nails being driven through their feet and their hands, believing that this act will help atone for their sins. It doesn t. Some years ago, probably 10-12 years ago now, I read an article about something that happened in Chimayo, New Mexico. In the late 90s, 30,000 people limped, jogged, and crawled over a period of days, some as long as 90 miles, to arrive on a Good Friday to a small Catholic chapel there called Santuario de Chimayó seeking what they called holy dirt. In the front of the church is a bin containing light brown dirt blessed by the priests that people believe will save them and heal them if they can do this penance and rub this dirt into their wounds. Or do you remember in the late 90s what happened in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Incidences of this occur repeatedly. Thirty-nine people led by their 66-year-old leader shaved their heads, wore black, and by a combination of Phenobarbital and suffocation they lie down under a triangular purple cloth in a ritual of mass suicide believing that they would be saved from this world as their souls left their bodies and went to a higher place on a UFO that was trailing behind the Hale-Bopp comet. People, these examples are tragic for they are exactly the kind of thing that the Apostle Paul is talking about. You might be sitting here today saying, Well, those are rather bizarre ideas. I would never do anything that foolish. Well, most people don t go to such measures. In fact the measures they try to use for their own salvation are much more acceptable, much more reasonable, much more modern. There are people today who believe that they can be saved because they are good. They can be saved because they go to church. They can be saved because they took communion or they got baptized when they were a baby. I ve told you before that I had one guy on the golf course tell me he knew he was going to be saved because he had a brother who was a Page 2 of 7
pastor in Texas. Some people think they are going to be saved by their intelligence. Some think they are going to do it by their technology. Increasing numbers of people are paying exorbitant fees to have their bodies frozen, putting their faith in cryonics believing that some day they will be able to be thawed out, their diseases healed, and they will be able to live forever. Regardless of whether the method is bizarre or more modern, it may seem rather primitive or very intelligent, the fact of the matter is there is only one way to be saved from what sin has done, and that is to believe the truth, the message of the cross. To believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who came to die for our sins, was buried in a tomb, rose again three days later, and who lives today offering salvation to a humanity that is lost. It was a message of foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to save those who believe it. That s exactly what the Apostle Paul is telling the Corinthian church. In verse 18 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. 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 man? Where is the scholar? 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. Communion is our reminder of that. It is our remembrance of Jesus Christ who died on a cross for our sins in our place so that we can live forever. It is a message of God s wisdom, God s plan, God s love, and God s salvation. It is foolishness to those who are perishing. It is the precious, powerful, and life saving message of forgiveness and salvation to those who believe it. And that s why Jesus has called believers to the table of remembrance so that we can remember the message of the cross and be encouraged that in believing it we are truly saved. Communion reminds us of the message of the cross that still brings salvation to those who believe it. And what is this message of the cross we remember? That Jesus Christ is God s only provision to save us from our sins. Here s the way Paul recorded it in verse 22: 22 Jews demand miraculous 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 man s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man s strength. You know, a few years ago I came across a story, I doubt that it s true, but it illustrated the point that people often try to hang onto things that do not work believing that it will work the next time rather than in just embracing the truth. The story I came across was of two hunters who flew deep into a remote backwoods of Canada to hunt elk. They bagged six of them. The pilot told them that the plane could only carry four of the elk out, the weight was too heavy. But the plane that carried us out last year was exactly like this one, the hunters protested. The horsepower was the same, the weather was similar, and we had six elk then. Hearing this, the pilot reluctantly agreed to try. They Page 3 of 7
loaded up, took off, but sure enough there was insufficient power to climb out of the valley, and they crashed into a hillside landing skidding into the trees. As they stumbled out of the wreckage, one hunter asked the other if he knew where they were. Well, I m not sure, he replied, but I think we are just a short distance from where we crashed last year. [groans] You know, it s amazing how many people keep trying to hold onto the same old beliefs that have never worked. They haven t worked for centuries, and they won t work in the future because they re not true. Paul told the Corinthian church that Jews and Greeks who keep trying that, who keep seeking on their own goodness, on their own intelligence are going to keep stumbling and falling because they re not coming to the truth. Jews demand miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified - a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. It isn t that people aren t looking for salvation, they are. It is just that we have this propensity to want to believe that we can do something to earn it, to achieve it, to facilitate it, to help it along, to accomplish it. So when people hear the message of the cross, the simple message that all of us have sinned and fall short of God s glory, that everyone of us by that sin is separated from God and will be forever if that sin isn t forgiven, that there is one provision for forgiveness and that s God coming in the flesh, born of a virgin, living a sinless life, going to the cross, dying for our sins, buried in a tomb, rising again the third day, and living today victorious over sin, death, and the grave, offering salvation to those who by faith believe in him. When they hear that message they think, How stupid is that? Who would be foolish enough to believe that? So when the Jews heard it, they stumbled over it. They wanted powerful, miraculous signs before they believe the message. And people say, Well, didn t Jesus give them powerful, miraculous signs? Yes, but they stumbled over the message of the cross. The word stumble in the Greek language is the one from where we get our word scandalous, and that s really what the word means. They kept stumbling over the message of the cross. They liked the miracles they saw in Jesus, but when they went to the cross they stumbled over that because they saw the cross as scandalous. Remember, the Jews thought that a man crucified was suffering the worst kind of a criminal s death. So if Jesus was the son of God, even though he did miraculous signs, how in the world could God s true son, the Messiah, ever die on a cross? They kept stumbling over the message of the cross because they saw the cross as defeat not victory. Their messiah would be a powerful king, they said, who would come and overthrow Rome and restore Israel to the Jews. Jesus did some amazing things, but to them he was only an unemployed carpenter from Nazareth in the end, who was a criminal, condemned by their religious leaders, who died a shameful death as a common criminal. And their question was, How could that man possibly be our savior? Page 4 of 7
The Greeks on the other hand, the Gentiles, the non-jews, the nations were looking for wisdom. They wanted a message that to them made sense that added up, a 2 + 2 = 4. They wanted a message full of human wisdom. You see, the Greeks invented their own gods for the most part because they wanted gods they could understand. They wanted gods like them. Magnified versions of humanity but still gods that they could control, gods they could look up to, gods they could understand. So they made gods like themselves. They invented powerful but imperfect gods like Zeus and Hermes and Olympus. Even the emperor of Rome seemed more like a god to them than Jesus. Besides, a god who dies on a cross? How foolish is that? So the Jews stumbled at the thought, and Gentiles thought it foolish, but God said, If you believe in a God who came in human form because he loves you, who lived a perfect life and had no sin, who went to the cross because he was dying in your place for your sin, and that being buried in a tomb he conquered sin, death, and the grave and rose again, and he lives today. He is the author of salvation, and he extends to all who believe without works. You believe that and the message of that cross has the power to save you. That s why the message of the cross of Jesus divides all of humanity into two groups, the perishing and the saved. You are one or the other. Verse 18, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. To perish is not to cease to exist or even to die. It s a word that means empty and hollow and meaningless. To be perishing is to live an empty, hollow, and meaningless life now and for all eternity because meaning and purpose in life itself is found in connection with God. And if by sin in your life you are separated from God then by nature your life can only be hollow, empty, and meaningless, and eventually you will be separated from God forever. It doesn t mean that perishing people don t accomplish great feats. Some win wars, head governments, amass fortunes, discover lifesaving medicines, serve mankind, and earn honors reserved only for a few. But Jesus said, What would it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world? Every title, every accomplishment, every accolade, and every award, be the best person that ever walked the planet other than Jesus. What good would it do, Jesus said, to have accomplished all of that and yet forfeit your soul? God says, Without salvation and eternal life in Christ it s all empty, it s all hollow, it s all meaningless because it cannot save you from your sins, and you re still going to be in a Christless eternity. The reason salvation in Christ sounds so foolish to the perishing is they don t see their need for salvation. So, you re either part of the perishing or you re part of the saved. But to us who are being saved, the message of the cross is the power of God. A saved people may also accomplish great things. They may earn all of those accolades or they may earn none of them. They may possess many of the world s goods or hardly any at all, but they know Jesus. And they know that this life is not what you live for. And they know that because of Jesus we re passing out of this place to an eternity with Christ that will never end. They know they ve sinned. They know they need a Savior, and they re foolish enough to believe that in Jesus they have one. They believe the message of the cross probably never more clearly put than Paul put it to the Romans in Romans 10:9: Page 5 of 7
If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That s why communion is such a precious remembrance for the believer, because here we remember we are foolish enough to believe the message of the cross, and that s why we re saved. So the things that the world looks at as foolish actually become precious to us. You know, in our house, probably like many of yours, there is a box or two containing some of our valuables. And inside that box you may find things like dog-eared baby pictures, a child s tooth, a tiny handprint in some classroom plaster, poorly spelled love notes on pictures no one could recognize, an assortment of papers, pipe cleaner figures, and locks of hair. Our valuables. Anybody who was cleaning out our house might look in a box like that and say, What in the world are you keeping this junk for? It s foolish. It has no value. And if our house were burning down it might be the first box we grab because the things inside are irreplaceable. The things inside are precious. They are reminders of love expressed and relationships that because of Christ will endure forever. Many people would look at us today sitting before a table like this holding some tiny pieces of tasteless bread and little cups of juice too small to quench a thirst and say, Why do you people do this? It s so foolish. And my answer would be, Not to me. To me, these things that are foolishness to you are precious to me because they are reminders of a love expressed and a relationship that because of Jesus will last forever. A message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God for salvation for those who believe it. Have you believed the message of the cross? If you have, then count yourself among the foolish but remember, The foolishness of God is wiser than man s wisdom and the weakness of God is greater than man s strength. The message of the cross has the power to save, and if you believe it you re gonna live forever. That s what we re here to remember. Jesus said, This bread is my body. This cup is my blood. It s given for you. And, therefore, as often as you eat it, remember me. Father, that s what we re here to do today. We re here to remember you. To be reminded that we have believed the message the world considers foolish but to us it is the power of God. Thank you, Jesus, for giving your life that we could live. Thank you for going to the cross in our place. And thank you for a message of love, salvation, and forgiveness from that cross to all who believe. As we break this bread and drink this cup, as we hold in our hands these reminders precious to us, let the joy of our salvation will flood our souls. I pray today that Page 6 of 7
you will bring the perishing to a place of belief in Christ that they may be saved. I pray that you will bring the wayward back to a place of repentance that they will come home today. And for the faithful, that we will ever be drawn closer to you still. This is your time and our time to meet together. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen. On the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread and broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, Take and eat all of you for this bread is my body and it s given for you. And, therefore, as often as you eat it do it in remembrance of me. Father, what the world counts foolish we count as precious, and these trays of unleavened bread remind us of the Bread of Life himself, the one who had no sin so that he could become sin for us. Lord, it s in this sacrifice, a sacrifice that is the message of the cross that we are saved by your power when we believe. As we eat this bread and drink this cup today, God, meet with us in this place. And may you be honored by our remembrance. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen. As the men come to serve us today, the Lord invites all who know him, all who love him, all who have believed in him, all who have received Christ into their lives, he invites you to share with him in this time of communion. I want to ask that you ll take a piece of bread and hold it, and we ll all eat of it together in just a few moments. You know it s quite possible that you re here today and you re not sure of your relationship with God. Maybe you ve been one of those who continually thinks that you ve got to do something to earn this. Maybe you re one who thinks, Well, I ve been to church. I ve been baptized. I ve taken communion before. I m part of a demonization. I was baptized... He was born of a virgin, what we celebrate every Christmas. He lived a sinless life, the only one who ever has. He is the God-man so that at just the right time he could die on a cross for our sins, my sin, your sin, and the sins of the world. When he died he was taken down from the cross and buried and placed in tomb. In three days...... and salvation to those who believe. If you re here today and you know that you re a sinner just like the rest of humanity and you believe that Jesus is your Savior, then ask Jesus to come and live in you, commit your way to him, acknowledge your faith in him and him alone, and he will save you. And if you re not sure what to say you can pray with me. If you just bow your head right where you are. God knows your heart, and he knows the cry of salvation. You can pray to him right now in your heart just like this. Say to him: Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I believe that my sin separates me from you. I believe you love me and that s why you came to die for me in my place for my sin on that cross. And having died I believe you were buried. And I also believe that you rose again victorious, and I believe you re alive right now. So, Lord Jesus, I ask you please come live in me. Wash away all of my sins, and make me God s child. Teach me to follow you all the days of my life, and I will thank you for so great a salvation. If you prayed that or anything like it in your heart to God, he hears you. He s heard your confession. He sees your faith, and your belief in the message of the cross.. Page 7 of 7