Preface For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.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. [19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:18– 24)]

In this series, “cross” means the death of Jesus.

Introduction

According to Paul, “the word of the cross” (which appears only in 1 Corinthians1:18), often translated “message of the cross”, is full of power. Not any power, but the power to save (cf. Rom1:16). That is why this series goes to the very centre of the Christian faith.

Many today acknowledge the cross as the indispensable starting point for the Christian life but tells us that we need to move on to more vital things – ministry, leadership, healing, prosperity. This is simply a modern replay of the conflict Paul was facing in Corinth and a variation on the theme that lay at the heart of the world – altering Protestant Reformation of 500 years ago. Luther said “The cross alone is our theology”, because he rightly discerned that there are only two possible ways of living. One is called “the theology of glory” and it emphasises human triumph, wealth, success, wisdom, might. The other, “the theology of the cross”, confesses human weakness, impotence, inability, ignorance and brokenness.

Seen in this way “the theology of the cross” is a central theme in the Bible – Moses says to Israel, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,” (Deut 7:7). Paul had to remind the Corinthian Christians, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Cor1:26- 29).

God constantly identifies himself with the marginalised and exposes himself to the mockery of the powerful; in the Old Testament the nations were always saying ofIsrael, “Where is their God?”” (Ps 115:2 cf.2 Kings 18:35), Galileans were considered backward people, the early Christians were reckoned by the Roman elite to be ignorant, slaves, women and children.

To be hated by the world (John 15:18 -19; 1 John 3:13) is the normal state of affairs for the church, Donald Macleod is prophetically correct in saying, “When the church finds herself sitting at the top table with the politicians, the academics, the sportsmen and the pop-stars, it is virtually certain that she has abandoned the way of the cross.”[1]

Paul says, “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23). The Greek word for “stumbling block” is scandalon, from which we get our English “scandal”. The cross is a natural cause of offense (cf. “But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.” (Gal 5:11).

If we look around here us there are many causes of offense in the church today, the recent ABC Four Corners programme on the Brisbane Christian Fellowship[2] , the sexual scandals surrounding the pope’s visit for World Youth Day, Todd Bentley’s move to divorce his wife etc. None of these scandals happily paraded by the devil are the offense of the cross, in fact they exist because of a failure of the church to live in the scandal of the cross. To understand the cross we must return to Jesus’ own experience of death.

The Word of the Cross for Jesus

What is most immediately present to Jesus throughout the course of his whole life, what is at the very centre of his consciousness, is an awareness of God as his Father. The words that he speaks are the Father’s, the works that he does are the Father’s, to see Jesus is to see the Father (John 14:9, 10, 24). At the very centre of Jesus self- consciousness, his sense of identity, is that he is the Word of God. He knows himself to be the fullness of God’s self – expression.

This is why Jesus is never fazed, frustrated or self – righteously angry , because he is constantly enveloped in the love of the Father he is never trapped inside the limits of the self- centred human ego battered by the irresistible forces of life and death. Where we have idols of self – protection, ambition, prestige and importance, Jesus had only the presence of the Father. Nothing interposed (came between) Jesus and the Father – no idol, no rival object of worship, the Father is always his dearest passion. “I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” (John 16:32).

The theology of glory had no attraction for Jesus, “And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,“‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”” (Luke 4:5 – 8).

It is in the light of such things that we must understand Jesus despair in Gethsemane and upon the cross. ““Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”” (Mark 14:36). The “cup” definitely refers to God’s wrath (Ps 11:6; 75:8; Isa 51:7,22; Jer 25:15; Ezek 23:33 etc.), but what does that mean in terms of the agony of Jesus. What is happening inside of him when he cries, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34).

In the first place Satan bombards Jesus with a ceaseless stream of sinful suggestions, horrid blasphemies and despairing forebodings. At this time Jesus Sonship is no consolation to his mind. Where all his life his Father has been his shield (cf. Gen 15:1; Deut 33:29; Ps 3:3) now his spirit soul and body are exposed to the full weight of the world, the flesh and the devil. All that is in his awareness is evil.

In his deepest consciousness Jesus had always known his God as “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…” (Hab 1:13), yet at this point of dereliction God is silent. There is no intercession from heaven, no command that casts out the demonic power ravaging his mind, no utterance that brings healing and reconciliation – to Jesus! All that fills his eyes, ears and heart is the ceaseless torrent of slanders, blasphemies, curses and accusations directed against God as a Father from the Fall to the End of the world. Nowhere is there intercession, advocacy, appeal or prophetic declaration on behalf of God. Heaven is silent because the cross witnesses the death of the Word. Jesus is unable to speak on behalf of his God. This wordlessness is the supreme agony of the Son of God, for to be unable to speak for God is to lose awareness of him as Father.

God in Christ has taken into himself every element of our ignorance, indifference, apathy, arrogance and resistance to God, all that separates us from God as Father, onto himself and triumphed over it ALL. Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt12:34), Christ’s heart for God is so total that it overwhelms all our evil and has the final word of triumph, “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46)

Living From the Cross

Paul speaks of “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2 Cor4:10); by this he means that all of life is to be lived on the basis of the cross. The Lord sharply reminded me of this recently.

I sometimes think my life is one continuous emotional struggle. In the midst of one of my more disturbed periods a few months ago (15/5/08) a friend who was praying for me rang up. She had some things to share that she and someone else had seen in prayer. Her prayer companion wanted her, and she had no idea what this meant, to tell me at what time they were praying, it was2.20 pm. I immediately knew it referred to Galatians 2.20, “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.” (Gal 2:20)

Whenever I am living from my self, not from Christ crucified who indwells me, I lose my peace and the presence of the Lord? As long as I hold Christ at the centre of my life all is well. [Both in 1 Corinthians 1:23, “we preach Christ crucified”, and in Galatians 2:20, the tense for “crucified” is the perfect passive , meaning that the effects of our co –crucifixion with Christ continue and are presently active through life.]

What does this mean in practice? The revolutionary power of the cross to recreate human history is expounded in the words of Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal 6:14). This does not mean that we should escape from the world, it does not mean that the church has become the centre of things, and it certainly does not mean that ordinary activities, like marriage, family, work, recreation occupy the centre piece of our lives. The crucifixion of the world means that at the centre of “all things” is the crucified Lord and that this is the source of our identity.

In researching this teaching I came across the example of painting called the Wittenberg Altarpiece. The church in Wittenberg was where Luther launched the Reformation. In this picture Luther is in the pulpit preaching, his left hand laid upon an open Bible, his right hand is pointing to a life sized representation of Christ on the cross that stands between him and the praying congregation. The centre-point of the image is not the eloquence of the preacher nor the devotion of the people but the crucified Lord to which all eyes are turned; this is the word of the cross.

The message of the cross drawn from scripture proclaims that the slain Lamb of God is on the throne and he holds in his hand the all embracing 7 sealed scroll of history. In the purposes of God Jesus is at the centre of everything (Col 1:15). He is there in the centre of all that you can ever think, say and do – he is at the centre of your spirituality, your sexuality, finances, work, family…..whether you recognise him or not! This is the height and breadth and length and depth (Eph 3:17- 19) of the word of the cross.

We can be told that Jesus is at the centre of everything many times, but nothing changes, except maybe to make us feel worse, unless the cross touches our conscience.[ “What goes deepest to the conscience goes widest to the world.”(Forsyth).]

I was struggling with some accusations made against me recently, it seems impossible to live up to people’s expectations, but I believe the Lord helped me with this story.

St. Anselm was an Italian who lived during the eleventh century who became Archbishop of Canterbury. One day he was called to give counsel to an old friend who was near to death. The questions that Anselm posed to the dying man reveal the heart of a faithful pastor. They are recorded like this:

Q. Do you confess that your life has been so evil that you deserve eternal punishment?

A. I confess it.

Q. Do you repent of this?

A. I repent

Q. Do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for you?

A. I believe it.

Q. Are you thankful to him?

A. I am.

Q. Do you believe that you cannot be saved except through his death?

A. I do believe this.

Q. Then do this while the soul remains in you; place your whole trust in this death alone and have no trust in any other thing [I constantly deal with Christians who have trust in their areas of strength]; commit yourself wholly to this death; cover yourself wholly with it alone; wrap yourself wholly in this death; and if the Lord God should wish to judge you, say: “Lord, I interpose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and your judgment; in no other way do I argue with you.” And if he should say to you, “It is because you are a sinner,” say: “Lord, I interpose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between you and my sins.” If he should say to you, “It is because you deserve condemnation,” say: “Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between you and my demerits, and I offer his merit in place of the merit which I owe and do not have.” If he should say that he is angry with you, say: “Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and your anger.”

Every day I need to put the crucified Lord between myself and Satan, between myself and accusing human voices, and most importantly, between myself and the voice of my own deceived blaming conscience. This is what it means to fulfil Galatians 2:20, to live from the centre of the crucified Lord. [This is the only way to overcome the problem of the divided ego, “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Rom 7:18- 20)].

The Cross Destroys All its Rivals

I was walking along the streets of Lausanne Switzerland a few months ago in a real state of grief about the humanistic hedonistic luxury obsessed culture of Europe, at one stage I felt surrounded by beasthood i.e. in the presence of the spirit of the antichrist. I could sense the destruction of souls all around me blinded by the material blessings of God apart from the saving knowledge of the Blessed One (Mark 14:61; Rom 9:5).

Suddenly, I could see him, “You are here!” I cried, he was visible in the pearls, the diamonds, the leather handbags, the fine garments of the shop windows, the coiffured hair… I saw him sparkling in all these things in an unutterable beauty. It is only the eternal cross in the heart of God upon which the Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) that has preserved a creation in rebellion. For those with eyes to see it, the cross is at the centre of all things – this is the word of the cross.

John Piper says, “The glory of Christ, manifest especially in his death and resurrection, is the glory above and behind every blessing we enjoy. He purchased everything that is good for us.” …every blessing in life is a parable and pointer that leads us to the crucified Lord…“Therefore every enjoyment in this life and the next that is not idolatry is a tribute to the infinite value of the cross of Christ the burning center of the glory of God…a cross-centred cross-saturated life is a God-glorifying life—the only God-glorifying life. All others are wasted.”

Conclusion

Luther said “the cross tests everything”, by this he meant the cross finds us out, it discerns exactly where our heart is. The cross tests the faithfulness of the church, to quote Donald Macleod, “We cannot say that Christ is our greatest word about God and yet say that we do not mean the crucified Christ.” Sometimes I find myself on the home page of Christian ministries, churches or denominations and end up in deep distress because I cannot find there the name of Jesus, let alone a mention of the cross. When the cross is placed in the centre (cf. ministers, ministries, leadership, gifts, presence, power, money, respect, success, popularity….) everything else come into right order. The contemporary church, with all its supposed sophistication, needs to return to its first love, it needs to go back to the cross

This is also true for each of us personally. The crucified and risen Lord already dwells in us and is present to every part of our lives. Bur are we consciously placing him at the centre of every part of life – our devotional life, our family life, sex life, work life, “our” money, ministry, family, sport ….Are we not only living for him but from him?

This is also true for our relationship with a lost world. Jesus life and message provoked hostility. A cross shaped lifestyle of humility, simplicity and brokenness constantly compels men and women to make a choice between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51– 53)

Our lives must visibly carry the message of the cross. Since Christ is in us (2 Cor 13:5) we are God’s means of approach to a fallen world, we are God’s point of contact.

Luther could say, “I feel as if Christ died yesterday.” Can each of us say this?