THE CRUX OF THE MATTER
Subtitle: THE CONUNDRUM OF THE CROSS
The Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know that it is the very power of God.
As the Scriptures say,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent." (Isaiah 29:14)
So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say that it is all nonsense.
But to those called by God to salvation,both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. (New Living Translation)
The cross of Christ has been the central, enduring symbol of the Christian church down through the last 2,000 years. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who had divested Himself voluntarily of His Godly attributes (see Philippians 2:5-8) to live on this earth as a man, hung with his bloodied and broken body nailed to a cross of wood between two convicted criminals. The sinless Son of God was dying a criminal's death - one of the cruelest forms of capital punishment ever devised by man.
From the world's viewpoint using man's wisdom, the thought of the Son of God willingly subjecting himself to such a humiliating process leading to death seemed totally illogical - absurd even.
But, again as the Apostle Paul points out to the church at Colossae (and to those of us who believe today), "You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins. Because we broke God's laws, we owed a debt - a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross. He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross he won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see."
(Easy-To-Read Version) ERV
In his book "When The Crosses Are Gone - Restoring Sanity To A World Gone Mad" by Michael Youssef. PhD - Senior Pastor of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia - published in 2011, he writes: The cross is a bridge which spans the gulf between God and humanity. The cross is not a wall of separation - it breaks down walls between people, bringing us all together as God's children. The message of the cross is a message of love.
That's the conundrum of the cross. In previous generations, the cross was an accepted symbol in our culture. A church steeple topped with a cross announced that here is a place where the message of God's love is preached. In our generation, however, the cross has become a dangerous thing - despised, hated and rejected. We are just one generation away from seeing the departure of the Christian Gospel from our land.
Today, many evangelical churches, in an effort to be more "seeker-friendly" have decided not to identify their buildings with the symbol of the cross. Their intentions may be good...........................But though their intentions are good, they are taking a step toward compromise with the culture - a culture that is increasingly hostile toward the cross. By increments, they are departing from the truth.
Later in that same chapter of his book, Michael Youssef states: Only a superficial or hostile thinker could look at the cross and see a symbol of religious oppression or arrogance. The cross is a profound conundrum, a paradox, and the paradoxical logic of the cross tells us that hope springs from despair, life springs from death, and faith springs from our struggle with doubt and unbelief. The logic of the cross tells us that sinful human beings can be declared righteous in God's eyes - not because of anything they have done, but purely because God Hinself died on a cross. This idea is absurd according to human logic; but that is the logic of the cross.
The Latin word for cross is crux. It is fitting because the cross is literally the crux, the heart, of the Christian message. Remove the cross and you eliminate the essence of Christianity.
Because Jesus died for us on the cross at Calvary, we can experience new life, because His body was broken for us, we can be truly made whole, as we come to him in our brokenness.
For the man, woman or child who looks to the cross and all that it symbolizes in the work of redemption accomplished by Christ, the conundrum of the cross is a conundrum no more. The cross becomes the meeting place of a wayward heart and life with a loving Father God longing for relationship restored for eternity.
As the Scriptures say,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent." (Isaiah 29:14)
So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say that it is all nonsense.
But to those called by God to salvation,both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. (New Living Translation)
The cross of Christ has been the central, enduring symbol of the Christian church down through the last 2,000 years. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who had divested Himself voluntarily of His Godly attributes (see Philippians 2:5-8) to live on this earth as a man, hung with his bloodied and broken body nailed to a cross of wood between two convicted criminals. The sinless Son of God was dying a criminal's death - one of the cruelest forms of capital punishment ever devised by man.
From the world's viewpoint using man's wisdom, the thought of the Son of God willingly subjecting himself to such a humiliating process leading to death seemed totally illogical - absurd even.
But, again as the Apostle Paul points out to the church at Colossae (and to those of us who believe today), "You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins. Because we broke God's laws, we owed a debt - a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross. He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross he won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see."
(Easy-To-Read Version) ERV
In his book "When The Crosses Are Gone - Restoring Sanity To A World Gone Mad" by Michael Youssef. PhD - Senior Pastor of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia - published in 2011, he writes: The cross is a bridge which spans the gulf between God and humanity. The cross is not a wall of separation - it breaks down walls between people, bringing us all together as God's children. The message of the cross is a message of love.
That's the conundrum of the cross. In previous generations, the cross was an accepted symbol in our culture. A church steeple topped with a cross announced that here is a place where the message of God's love is preached. In our generation, however, the cross has become a dangerous thing - despised, hated and rejected. We are just one generation away from seeing the departure of the Christian Gospel from our land.
Today, many evangelical churches, in an effort to be more "seeker-friendly" have decided not to identify their buildings with the symbol of the cross. Their intentions may be good...........................But though their intentions are good, they are taking a step toward compromise with the culture - a culture that is increasingly hostile toward the cross. By increments, they are departing from the truth.
Later in that same chapter of his book, Michael Youssef states: Only a superficial or hostile thinker could look at the cross and see a symbol of religious oppression or arrogance. The cross is a profound conundrum, a paradox, and the paradoxical logic of the cross tells us that hope springs from despair, life springs from death, and faith springs from our struggle with doubt and unbelief. The logic of the cross tells us that sinful human beings can be declared righteous in God's eyes - not because of anything they have done, but purely because God Hinself died on a cross. This idea is absurd according to human logic; but that is the logic of the cross.
The Latin word for cross is crux. It is fitting because the cross is literally the crux, the heart, of the Christian message. Remove the cross and you eliminate the essence of Christianity.
Because Jesus died for us on the cross at Calvary, we can experience new life, because His body was broken for us, we can be truly made whole, as we come to him in our brokenness.
For the man, woman or child who looks to the cross and all that it symbolizes in the work of redemption accomplished by Christ, the conundrum of the cross is a conundrum no more. The cross becomes the meeting place of a wayward heart and life with a loving Father God longing for relationship restored for eternity.
