A Word from 1 Corinthians 1

If somebody asked you, “What’s the message of the cross?” what would you tell them? Does the cross speak a message about how bad our sin is? Or does the cross tell us something important about how great God’s love is? Is the cross’s message a “key” to salvation—believe that it happened, and you’ll be given new life? Or is it all these things and more?

I ask this because today’s word from 1^st Corinthians Chapter 1 makes this important claim: “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” (1:18)

Of course, that claim alone doesn’t answer the question of what the cross’s message is. But if you read the following verses, I think you’ll find that when Paul talks about the cross, he’s talking about the way that God has chosen to reveal Himself in the world.

Contrary to those who thought they could find God by obeying the right rules, or knowing the right the stuff, or acquiring the right kind of power and authority; God, Paul says, has chosen to reveal Himself in humility, sacrifice, and in a love that’s so eager to give of itself that it looks like foolishness. “And yet,” Paul says, “Christ crucified…is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1:23-25).

Naturally, if that’s the message of the cross, what does it mean for us to “take up our cross” and follow Jesus? And surely, the answer includes acknowledging our sin, and trusting God’s love, and celebrating the salvation that the cross makes possible. But doesn’t it also include embracing the humility, sacrifice, and self-giving love that the cross says lies at the heart of God?

So today, may “the message of the cross” be the wisdom and power of God in your life. And may living by the cross allow God to be revealed through you. Amen.