THE CROSS OUR STANDARD

1 Corinthians 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:1-5

“Onward, Christian soldier, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, going on before…” “Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, And shall I fear to own His name, Or blush to speak His name?” Christianity is supremely the religion of the cross. At the very center of our faith is an innocent man nailed to a cross between heaven and earth dying for the sins of others. For now more than 2,000 years the cross as been the standard for God’s great army of people and churches.

If you had been on Paul’s ministry team and traveled from place to place, listening to him, it would have been apparent that while the Apostle was possibly the greatest follower of Christ, he really had only one message. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” 1 Corinthians 2:2.

When Paul arrived at Corinth, he did not survey the town to see what they liked or dislikes about religion. He didn’t go from city to city customizing a new message for each location. He refused to allow himself to be in the “spotlight,” making sure he was not the attraction. It is very clear that the very center of Christianity is Christ and the cross.

1. The Cross is a PARAMOUNT Message.

The center, the core, the heart of the Christian message is “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Paul specialized on (1) the person of Christ and (2) the passion of Christ. Paul wanted people to know who Jesus was and what He had accomplished at His first coming. Did Paul talk about other things? Absolutely, but who Jesus was and what Jesus came to do were the first thing, the most important thing he did.

The message of the cross is the one part of the Christian message the world cannot duplicate. If a church emphasizes alleviating human suffering and poverty, there are a hundred social organizations that can do that. If a church becomes political and tries to solve the moral ills of their country, other men and movements will be there trying to “bring back America.” If a church tries to get in the education, there are institutions bigger and better at that job. But there is only one organization on the face of the earth that has the message of the cross and that is the church of Jesus Christ. We are to tell it because no one will if we don’t.

Remember, Paul gave us his plan, preaching exclusively, ”Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” It is not enough to say Jesus was a “man” who experienced all the challenges of human life. Jesus was a man, but He more than a man. It is not enough to say He was a “carpenter.” He was more than a carpenter. It is not enough to say He was a “prophet.” He was more than a prophet. We must say that He was God Himself, who died on the cross, God laying on Him all our sins. He took our place, dying our death, bearing the punishment of God’s wrath in our place.

People sometimes ask me about what I think concerning some preacher they have seen on television or some ministry. Here is where to start: What emphasis do they give to the cross and the saving gospel of Jesus Christ? If the cross is not the center of a preacher’s preaching or a church’s ministry it is not the religion of Jesus.

2. The Cross is a PRECISE Message.

How about a sermon in 10 words? Ready? Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. That’s the whole gospel right there. There is enough truth in those ten words to devote in study for a lifetime. There is enough truth in those ten words to save the whole world. Say those words to yourself. Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Now say them out loud: Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Again. Paul said to the Galatians that anything subtracted from or added to the gospel is not the gospel at all, but “another” of a different kind of gospel, Galatians 1:6-9.

The cross and the Christian gospel is so simple that a child can hear it and understand it. And it is so profound that I will be able to preach almost 40 messages about it and hardly scratch the surface.

3. The Cross is a PREACHING Message.

Look over at 1 Corinthians 1:17, 18 & 23. Preaching the cross is not sharing or dialoguing or discussing, it is declaring. When I stand to preach each week, I am not having a dialogue with the congregation. This isn’t a large-group discussion. If you want to discuss something with me, we can meet after church or during the week and have a Dr. Pepper. You talk and I’ll listen. I’ll talk and you can listen. If you buy me a “Snickers” candy bar I’ll even stay another 10 minutes. Preaching isn’t a dialogue because God is not negotiating with the human race. He has declared His terms of salvation, so you either come His way or you don’t come at all.

Here is something 21st Century preachers need to rediscover: To give people what they need, sometimes you must not give them what they want. Parents learn that early on. When you child is sick, they may want another cookie, but what they need is the medicine the doctor prescribed. If you love you child you’ll give them what they need, not what they want. The same is true as we speak to others about Christ. They may want to hear other things; we must tell them about Jesus for He alone can save them.

4. The Cross is a PROVOCATIVE Message.

The idea that God will only forgive people through one Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and through one means, the cross, and on one condition, that is to repent and trust entirely in Him, is a hard and hot message for the unsaved. The Bible says it is “foolishness” to them, 1 Corinthians 1:18. Our English word “moron” comes from the word “foolishness.” It is sheer idiocy to the unsaved that one man two thousand years ago dying on a cross meet any present need in their life.

Consider three things about the negative part of the cross.

First, this is why many of the large mega-churches do not consistently preach the cross. Go to their web-sites and view the message they have and you will find few, if any, messages on the cross, the blood, the suffering of Jesus for our sins. If there is any mention of Jesus it is only in a marginal way.

Second, it is common to be met with hostility and ridicule when we lovingly share the message of the cross with the lost. Jesus told us, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you,” John 15:18.

Third, you may become discouraged at the antagonism you meet and think there is no reason to carry the message of the cross to the lost world. Think again. Here is some more good news.

5. The Cross is a POWERFUL Message.

Romans 1:16 says “the gospel is the power of God until salvation, to everyone that believeth…” The offering and the offer is made to any and all, but is beneficial only to those who believe. Jesus dying on the cross did not bring universal salvation, but it brings to the saved a universal obligation and to the unsaved a universal opportunity. And in the gospel is God’s power of salvation to those who believe.

This is why we cannot mess with the message of the cross. If we attempt to take the offense out of the cross we end up taking the power out of the cross. If we attempt to accommodate the world by removing the preaching of the cross we are removing the only message that saves.

What does 1 Corinthians 1:18 say? “For the preaching of the cross is ...unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.”

Now, look at what that verse says. It says that the message of the cross has a growing reality in the life of the believer..

• · The cross delivers us from the penalty of sin through salvation.
• · The cross delivers us from the power of sin in our daily life through sanctification.
• · The cross will one day deliver us from the very presence of sin at our glorification in heaven.