The Cross is Salvation #4

1 Corinthians 1:21-25

 

Introduction: Today we complete the series on the Cross.  We have seen the importance of preaching the Cross of Christ and not allowing the message to be made of none effect.  Our object today is to see the power and wisdom of God in the Cross and the foolishness of men to try to disallow the wisdom and power of God.

 

I.                    The Cross is both wisdom and power of God.  Vs 21

A.    The preaching of the Cross is both the wisdom and power of God to save all who believe.

1.      The Cross is the WISDOM OF GOD.

a.       The term Wisdom of God means the Cross

b.      The way God has chosen to save the world

c.       Regretfully the world has not accepted this “Wisdom of God”

d.      Not by science, education, or human effort of goodness

e.       No matter how wise, man still comes “ short of the glory of God”.

2.      The only way for man to be saved is NOT the ‘wisdom of men’

a.       Salvation comes only by the “Wisdom of God”, which is the Cross.

b.      When man turns to the Cross and it’s demonstration of sacrifice and love, salvation comes.

c.       Love and sacrifice are God’s means of saving the world.

1.  When one believes the preaching of the Cross, he is saved

2.  Knowing Christ died for us

3.  That is giving all to Christ

4.  God saves man to then reach the world

B.     The Cross is the POWER to save those who believe.

1.      The Cross alone changes the lives of men

2.      It causes one to love and sacrifice themselves for God and man.

a.       Ephesians 2:13-17

 

II.                 The Cross answers man’s search for God – Vs 22-24

A.    The world has made three mistakes in looking at the Cross.

1.      The Jews or religionist feel they are the chosen seed of God.

a.       They reach God by having a Godly heritage

b.      By being religious and good enough to be acceptable to Him.

c.       Work hard to bring the Kingdom of God to earth

d.      Messiah will come when they have prepared the earth for Him.

e.       Messiah will come with great signs of power and bring a golden age upon the earth.

2.      The Cross, a crucified Savior redeeming man

a.       Will be a stumbling block to religionist

b.      A religionist cannot accept the fact that he must:

1.  Realize he cannot do enough ‘good works’ to be acceptable to God.

2.   That the penalty for sin had to be paid for by the Perfect Sacrifice of the Son of God.

3.  That he must trust in the “Perfect Sacrifice” of God’s Son for his sins.

4.  True belief in God’s Son means that he sacrifices all he is and has to save a desperate and lost world.

3.      The religionist looks at the ‘Glory’ side of the Cross

a.       Looks only at the glory and majesty, triumph and victory

b.      He doesn’t want to see in the Cross the ugliness of sin and shame, punishment and death, blood and suffering

c.       The religionist doesn’t want to see the negative sin factor

1.  Only the positive of ritual, ceremony, religion, works and benevolence

2.  Just so he is not required to give his all

  a. Matthew 11:6, Mark 6:3, Roman 9:32-33, 1 Peter 2:7-8

B.     Mistake two, the Greeks thought God was to far away

1.      A Greek word – APATHEIA – means more than apathy

a.       Mans a total inability to feel

b.      God was thought to be to far away

c.       He is uninvolved in human affairs to feel

2.      The thought of God becoming man - - - -

a.       One who would feel the pains of death on a Cross

b.      This was foolishness to the Greek mind

c.       It was to them simple nonsense

d.      It was beyond anything that the human mind could grasp.

3.      The Greeks generally admired ‘a wise man’

a.       One who could speak with flowery speech about earthly affairs and human wisdom

b.      But the preaching of the Cross was crude and uncultured

c.       It was laughed at and ridiculed and not listened too.

C.    Mistake three; generation after generation has made the mistake of stumbling over the simplicity of the Cross.

a.       Man wants to use his own wisdom to achieve

b.      So the world fails to understand God’s expression of love for a lost world.

c.       It doesn’t take ‘human wisdom’ to be saved, just simple faith.

d.      Because of this, the world stumbles over the Cross

e.       A crude and uncultured, bloody religion they:

1.  Romans 1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 3:20, Colossians 2:8

III.               The CALLED OF GOD find Christ

A.    Many pay attention to the pull of God’s call

1.      They obey the Holy Spirit and kneel and surrender their lives to Christ.

2.      When one does accept Christ, two things happen.

a.       They discover that Jesus Christ is the Power of God

b.      John 17:2-3

3.      They discover that Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God

a.       Deliverance from sin and restlessness in the soul

b.      The knowledge of God and infilling of the Holy Spirit

c.       The guidance and direction of God through the trials of life.

d.      The ASSURANCE of living eternally with God

 

 

IV.              The Cross proves that God’s way is wiser and stronger than man’s way.

A.    It is wiser and stronger because it saves man

1.      It could save the entire world if man would accept

a.       Surrender themselves to the “Christ of the Cross”

2.      It can change man’s sinful and selfish ways

a.       Can create a loving and sacrificial being

b.      When man ‘bows’ to the Cross, he surrenders all he has to Christ.

c.       He becomes a “New Creature”

B.     What if?  There were a million real ‘fanatics’ - - - -

a.       Giving all they had to Christ

b.      All with a burning desire to win souls

c.       Romans 1:16, Galatians 6:14-15

 

Conclusion: No ways are we to become ‘religious’.  We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit and become a mouth piece for Jesus.  Never losing sight of what the Cross really stands for and know it’s power to save.  Jesus is the Cross we are to carry.  When people see us, do we portray Christ Jesus?  If not we have made the Cross of none effect.