The Present Power of Christ Crucified_JL

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NEW SERIES:  THE TROUBLED TRIUMPHANT CHURCH

Sermon 6 – “The Present Power of Christ Crucified”

1 Cor. 2:1-5

 

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Introduction

This morning…..I wonder how many of you would agree with this view of the Cross of Christ:  the crucifixion of Christ was a once-for-all substitution of the Son of God in my place so that I would not have to suffer, but could enjoy the abundant life that he purchased for me.

This is a common view today—at least in the way most Christians practice their faith.  And what we will see today…..is that it is very near to the view that Paul had to contend with at the Church in Corinth.

The Cross and the Christian

There is a problem with this view of the cross…..this view leaves out a huge fact ---and we see this when we look at what Jesus said in

Luke 9:23   —"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." When Christ died on the cross for sinners, he not only stood in my place and doing what I never could do (forgiving my sin)……but he also showed me what I must do if I would save my life, namely, take up my own cross and DIE!  As Christians, we are called to join Christ on the Calvary road of death to self.

We know that the gospel….the good news is that Christ died to save us from hell ---- but we need to also realize that He DID NOT save us from the cross.   Jesus Christ died so that we could be glorified, but not to keep us from being crucified. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily." Listen……..for the Christian -  the cross of Christ is not merely a past place of substitution. It is also a present place of daily execution. This is what

Paul says in Romans 6:6, "Our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin . . . Reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

We must never let the cross lose its crucifying power in your life!

Every Believer is called of God:

·       Called to Jesus Christ and the cross - the gospel IS that Jesus’ perfect substitutionary atonement on the cross paid the debt for our sins

·       Called to Christ and the cross - but the Call to salvation is ALSO a call to the cross…..to a daily surrender of our lives to Jesus and a daily execution of “self.” 

The problem is that many Believers cling to the first and ignore the second!  This is what our statement I read to begin this morning missed…..that Christ suffered so I wouldn’t have to suffer….that I could have the abundant life he purchased for me!  But that assumes that we are NOT called to carry our cross…..to suffer and even die for Christ!

That statement ignores our call to the cross….to “take up our cross daily.” 

But you might then say…..what about the great joy and blessing of John 10:10 – where Jesus said: “…..I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Our great joy is Jesus Christ….and we enjoy him NOW!  But as long as we’re in this fallen world…..our greater pleasures are coming!  We have many of the benefits of salvation RIGHT NOW - like forgiveness and acceptance and a measure of holiness and healing! But just as it says in Hebrews 12.2 – that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him, so it is with us in this fallen age.  Most of the joy and pleasures we long for are still over the horizon. And so the writer of Hebrews says to us:  Heb 13:13-14

13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

Jesus said it another way………if you would save your life, you must lose it, and if you would follow Jesus, you must take up your cross daily (Luke 9.24).   We do this by realizing our calling to the cross….to bear it daily…..to walking in the way of the cross!  We never move beyond the power of (and the influence of) the Cross!

The Source of All the Pride and Boasting at Corinth

Tie-in:  Ok, so how does this help us to understand 1 Cor. 2:1-5?

Look at the last verse of chapt. 1:  1 Co 1:31

31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Throughout Paul’s discussion in the first chapter, he has pointed out the paradox of God’s wisdom; that what appears to mankind as the foolishness of God……that God would come into the world (incarnation) and die for sin……that this is actually the greatest truth and the highest wisdom!  But the Corinthians have a problem with pride and boasting….they look to their own wisdom…to eloquent words and speeches….THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE MOVED BEYOND THE CROSS!  They view the cross as a past event…over and done with…..and they’ve moved beyond it!  They are viewing their faith like this….the cross may have been necessary to remove their sin – to provide forgiveness; but NOW they are rich and wise and strong!  They have arrived…..they are mature and complete……IN THEIR OWN EYES!

They understand the forgiveness won for them at the cross….but not the present power of the cross in their lives! 

We need to fast forward a little in 1 Corinthians to understand this:  look at 4:8-10 – (Notice the irony of Paul’s comments here)

 

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

Paul is saying that they are wrong in thinking they have arrived….for in doing this, they are leaving the cross of Christ in the past and believe they have moved on……but WE NEVER MOVE BEYOND THE CROSS! They see the cross as a past event and they have now moved on to Glory!  But in doing this….in thinking this way…..they are emptying the cross of its power to humble, and they are contaminating their lives with pride!

What Paul instructed to the church in Corinth is a warning to us today!  So many people see the cross in the past….and it’s relevance ends with forgiveness.  But this is contrary to Jesus’ teaching…..for Jesus commands us to “take up our cross daily.”  The Corinthians weren’t taking up the cross, they were picking up a scepter (they were trying to live glorified lives now…..when we are called to live crucified lives!)

Warning to us ­– We need to understand and guard against making the same mistake….lest the cross of Christ become a stumbling block to our faith rather than the power of God!  Listen! The cross is not some historical even that was merely a place of substitution….it is a PRESENT PLACE of DAILY execution!   It is at the cross where Christ won the victory over sin and death…..and when we come to Christ – we are delivered ONCE and FOR ALL from sin, and death, and hell!  But all through Scripture there is this tension:

          The tension of already…but not yet!  This is what we see here!  We have been justified through our faith in Christ and His completed work on the cross!  But until we are one day united with Him and we come into glory….we still inhabit a fallen body in a fallen world!  So, we must take up our cross daily……surrendering our lives to Christ and living in the present power of the cross!  This means we live in the truth of God, not man! It means we recognize that it was and is through the weakness of the cross…through the humility of our Savior, that victory was won!  And it is through the humility of the cross that we win our battles with our flesh every day! 

I believe that many Christians today see their faith as a one time event!  They accept the gospel…say some version of the “Sinners Prayer” and are baptized….and that’s it!  But our faith is a daily exercise….not a historical land mark!  Our eternal fate….our salvation….is set at the moment we come to Christ in faith - -  but the transformation of our spirits is just beginning!  This is the discipling process we see in Scripture…..and it means that the power and work of the cross is appropriated in our lives every day!  We live our lives every day in humble obedience…..in weakness….that the power of God might be demonstrated through us!

Paul’s Example – God’s Power

This is what Paul is illustrating in 2:1-5!  Paul came to the city of Corinth....not as a fancy preacher of human wisdom and great intellectual skill…..he didn’t come as a showman or great orator….he came in “weakness and in fear and much trembling” (v.1- 3).  Paul came to plant the seed of the gospel….to see God plant his church in Corinth – understanding that the message delivered was the power…not the messenger.   But Paul didn’t come as some successful crusader….he didn’t come with a huge entourage following him.  According to Luke’s recording in Acts 16 &17….Paul arrives in Corinth after:

·       being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi;

·       being run out of both Thessalonica and Berea;

·       and being scoffed and ridiculed in Athens.

After all of this, where does God send him….but to Sin City!  Remember the great idolatry and moral decadence of Corinth is world renown….and Paul is sent as a messenger of the gospel!  He didn’t come in power….but in fear and weakness!

But don’t get the wrong picture here….Paul isn’t fearful for his life.  Paul is fearful that he and the gospel he preaches would be rejected.  We see this in 1 Cor. 9:22-23:

1 Co 9:22-23

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Paul lived with the people of Corinth in humility!  He never lost sight of

the present reality of the cross!  Remember 1:18 - 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.   Paul recognized and taught and preached this - The power of God is unleashed in our lives through humility!  This is what Paul means in 2.2:  “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  Paul preached the whole counsel of God to the church…..but because of the cross…..there is no part of God’s Word that falls outside of the shadow of the cross!  Paul would not allow the cross of Christ to become some historical marker in the spiritual journey of the church……BUT the cross of Christ and His atoning death is the centerpiece of everything….his preaching, his fellowship, his relationships with others, and even his theological disputes with others!  All that he does is done in the shadow of the cross!

This is the heart of the message…..the power of God demonstrated in his preaching…..and in the message preached!  He has told them (1:17) that he didn’t come to baptize or to cajole them with flattering words and man’s wisdom…these things “empty the cross of Christ of its power”! 

What the church needs…..what you need to hear…is not my opinion on the world…but God’s declaration of truth!  As your pastor and a minister of the gospel…..my task is to get out of the way of God’s message!  And every message must fall within the shadow of the cross.  This is where the power of God is found….that’s where souls are healed…..where lives are changed….where healing flows over broken and tired bodies - - broken and messed-up relationships---and deep emotional wounds!  The power of God is demonstrated through the word of the cross! 

The Glory of God

1 Co 2:5

5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

All through the 1st chapter of 1 Corinthians, you can almost hear Paul pleading……begging the saints in Corinth to look to Christ and the cross!  When we focus on men…any men…..then our faith is misdirected and suffers because of it!  But when we deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him (Christ)…..when we live in the presence of the cross and the gospel of Jesus Christ….then our faith rests in the power of God........and our eyes are fixed on Christ….and the work of the Spirit is evidenced in our lives…..and God is glorified!  I beg of you today….lift your eyes up and gaze on glory of Christ and believe the gospel of God….and rest in the power of God!

Let’s Pray

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