Message from Scripture: 7/29/2020

Today’s message from Scripture comes from 1 Cor. 2:1-2: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

When Paul went to preach the gospel in Corinth, it shouldn’t surprise us he viewed his time there to be spent preaching Christ and His crucifixion. The cross was a profound event in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and it should be a profound event in our lives as well. How can we describe Jesus’s crucifixion?

Jesus on the cross was voluntary, as He freely laid down his life to fulfill the will of God. “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:17-18). We too should take up our cross if we want to follow Him (Matt. 16:24).

Jesus on the cross was vicarious, meaning He died for the sins of others, not for His own. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3).  We should live sacrificially as well (1 John 3:16).

Jesus on the cross is victory. Contrary to the thinking of the world, the cross of Jesus means victory, when coupled with His resurrection. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). Jesus invites us to trust Him for victory over the power of sin, and offers us assurance that, if we live by faith, we gain victory over the world (1 John 5:4).

Jesus Christ crucified offers us what we need when it comes to salvation and eternal life. Trust in what He has done for you, submit to Him in faith, and find the fulness of the riches God offers in Christ. Have a great day. God bless.

Robert