(Read 1 Corinthians 1:18)
Editor’s Note: We will continue with personal faith stories next week.
During my reading this week, I came across a passage in 1 Corinthians that jumped off the page at me. The verse is so perfect and straightforward; I don’t know why I never recognized its power before. Immediately, I shared it with friends and family. It was like popping the top off a shaken can of Coke.
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18
It is estimated that Paul wrote the letter known as 1 Corinthians sometime around 54–55 AD after hearing trouble about quarreling among the church body. Issues about human wisdom vs. God’s wisdom demanded Paul’s attention. The Greek members believed that the gods were above the law and would never have permitted the kind of humiliation Jesus suffered, and the Jewish members looked upon the cross as a curse from God. Paul explained that their cultural wisdom meant nothing; true wisdom of the meaning of the cross can only come from God.
The simple power of this passage is displayed in how Paul attributed the fruits of the two groups of people. It’s as accurate today as it was then. Some are perishing, and some are being saved. In Paul’s time, the Romans still used the cross as a public execution. The cross might have been a significant symbol, but it certainly wasn’t appealing. For the believers in Corinth, the cross should have represented something much more profound.
A Matter of Perspective
How people see the cross is a matter of perspective. There is no grey area. It’s life, or it’s death. In November 2001, 24-year-old Christian missionary Heather Mercer was one of two American women captured by the Taliban. She was so focused on her mission to spread the Gospel that she only purchased a 1-way ticket to Afghanistan. I remember my mom criticizing her for being in a dangerous place like Afghanistan. She thought Christians were meddling in places they didn’t belong. I hate to admit it, but I didn’t understand at the time either. Eleven years later, my son went on two mission trips touring the United States and two nations in Asia. Perspective is a funny thing. Things can be night and day depending on where you are and how you look at them.
Some of the people Paul wrote to in 1 Corinthians argued about giving, marriage, and salvation principles. They saw truth through their own wisdom perspective. Paul’s mission was to turn their reliance upside down.
There is a Buddhist parable that tells of blind men and an elephant. The men had never encountered one before and were ordered to touch it to learn more about it. Each blind man felt a different part of the elephant. Only one part. One touched the tusk, one the side, one the head, one the trunk, and they were supposed to describe the elephant based on their limited experience. They accused each other of lying. According to tradition, the story’s moral is that no one can claim to know the whole truth based on limited experience.
But the truth of the story is just the opposite. The narrator of the Elephant story wasn’t blind. How else would he know the blind men only saw a part of the elephant? He had an omniscient view of what was taking place. By saying nobody can see the whole truth, you’re saying you see the whole truth.
People who aren’t believers will never understand the meaning of the cross through the filter of God’s wisdom. They don’t understand the deeper meaning of Jesus coming down from heaven to give his life as a ransom for us to have eternal life. People who don’t believe see the cross as something someone was executed on, but they don’t see the Messiah in the story. They don’t see Jesus.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
An emblem, icon, or symbol?
All God’s power and Christ’s grace come from the cross. There is no gospel without the cross. There’s nothing we can do for God that He hasn’t already done for Himself. For non-believers, I suspect the cross is nothing more than a recognizable emblem identified with Christianity. Maybe they think of it as a religious icon representing something mythical that they don’t understand.
Icons and emblems are things that have little meaning. An emblem is like a logo on my favorite pair of running shoes. An icon is something created that people worship in place of God. The cross is so much more than this. The cross means salvation, sacrifice, love, and eternal life. The cross reminds me of how much Jesus loved me to die for my sins to be forgiven.
Gold Star Mom, Debbie Lee, described how she felt when she saw people kneel for the National Anthem during the NFL controversy. She said that her son’s blood was spilled for our country, and disrespecting it disrespected her son’s sacrifice. I know there are many sides to this debate, but the fact is that the National Anthem’s symbolism is real to her. It’s a heart matter.
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24
The cross means everything. Without it, life is worthless. The cross is the main reason we have joy, peace, forgiveness, and kindness. The cross is the fruit of the Spirit demonstrated in the life of Jesus. The cross is the difference between heaven and hell. The cross is life and life abundant. It shows me how depraved I am to warrant such a heavy price. Without the cross, we are bankrupt.
I wish people who don’t know Jesus would know that His death on the cross and resurrection make it possible that through him, we can have everlasting life. His death on the cross symbolizes strength, faith, and hope, 100 times more meaningful than the National Anthem is to Debbie Lee — also a believing Christian. The cross represents an unbearable weight, pain, and sin that Jesus endured for our salvation. So, no matter how difficult life can be, it pales in comparison to Jesus having to carry the cross.
When I look at the cross, I see victory—a victory over sin. I see a sacrifice from someone willing to lose everything for something no one can do in His place. I see eternal life, and I can hold my ticket to heaven. The cross is something we could never do. If it were up to us, it wouldn’t happen.
“I have no questions that God chose me, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love. So I feel like I am forced to accept this doctrine.”
Charles Spurgeon
From the beginning, Jesus Christ has been leading us to the cross. The cross shows us His sacrifice, His love, and our hope. The cross demonstrates true love that’s sometimes hard to see. As Pastor Greg Laurie said, “Nails did not hold Jesus to that cross. His love did.”
Thank you to all my family and friends for their thoughts about what the cross means to them for this devotional.
Key Applications:
- What does the cross look like in your life? Are you repentant and grateful for it? Are you mindful of its presence? Allow Christ’s loss on the cross to be your gain.
- Read 1 Corinthians 1. How can you show others that the cross is more than an icon, emblem, or symbol to you? How can you help Jesus carry the cross? Even on the cross, He forgave. Even on the cross, Jesus promised a place in heaven to a sinner. Pray to be more like Him to your family, friends, and enemies.
- If you’re looking for more inspiration about what the cross can mean to you, ponder the words from the song.
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord, I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Oh, lead me, lead me to the cross
Lead me to the cross — Hillsong United
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.