1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-23 - That Foolish Cross; the Power and Wisdom of God!

1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-23

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. …. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

TOPIC: Resurrection (Easter) Series – the Salvation of God #1
TITLE: THAT FOOLISH CROSS – The Power and Wisdom of God!

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How does the bible present salvation?
CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION COMPLETELY
II. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION HISTORICALLY
III. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION CONTINUALLY
IV. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION FINALLY

TRUTH/CONTEXT: So the lost think, “the word of the cross is foolishness” … they (Jews) seek for signs and and the gentiles (Greeks) look for wisdom … “but we preach Christ crucified”; so they’ll not find what they are looking for with us.

To the Jews it is “a stumbling block” (scandalon; a scandal, an offense) to the Gentiles “foolishness” (an absurdity), “but to … the called” … “Christ crucified” is both the sign (power) and the wisdom … the very things they seek.

[CROSS] LA County has been involved in a controversy brought on by the ACLU (Awfully Corrupt Legal Union) concerning the county’s official seal. The seal has several things on it; one is the entrance to the Los Angeles Mission, showing a cross on its rampart. The county recently spent $4,000 of taxpayer money to have personal seals produced for the five supervisors. When threatened with a suit, the cowards backed down and commissioned the production of small plastic pasties to cover the offensive Christian icon; this cost the taxpayer another $1,800. The result? The County Administrative Office has ordered the seals be taken down and put in storage. Why? In spite of the $360/each cover up, the cross continued to shine through. (BIG PAUSE TO SINK IN) Ha, ha … ha!

We are embarking on a series of messages on the Christ, the Cross, and the Crucifixion – the subject is salvation. Perhaps the place to begin is “in the beginning”!

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How does the bible present salvation?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION COMPLETELY

A. In the fullest sense salvation is presented eschatologically
B. And is Messiah centered

1. His person
2. His works

C. And always as the only hope for all mankind
D. The cross continues to shine through

II. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION HISTORICALLY

A. At the fall – expelled from Eden to save sinful mankind from "the tree of life"
B. At Able'a murder – Cain expelled to save the sons of God from Cain’s influence
C. At the flood – only eight saved to show the serious nature of depravity
D. At the court of Pharaoh – Joseph (type of Christ) delivered from bondage
E. At first Passover – Hebrews saved from bondage & through waters of separation
F. At the Tent of Meeting – God delivered the people daily
G. At the Day of Atonement – God delivered figuratively
H. At the Judge’s bar – God delivered time and time again
I. At the throne of man – useless deliverance revealed by human monarchs
J. At the object of salvation – pointing toward the New Covenant
K. At the Word of God – Hebrews 1:1, 2

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

L. The cross continues to shine through!

III. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION CONTINUALLY

A. In the present – we are being redeemed

1. Zechariah’s prophecy – concerning his son John
2. John’s message – “repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand” - Jesus took this message up at John’s death

B. Three tenses of the verb used –

1. Past evidence – 2 Timothy 1:8, 9

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

2. Present reality – 1 Corinthians 1:18

The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

3. Future hope – Romans 13:11

Do this, knowing the time, which it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

C. The cross continues to shine through

IV. THE BIBLE PRESENTS SALVATION FINALLY

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5

The cross continues to shine through

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: Commenting on Gen 49:18 ("For Your salvation I wait, O LORD.”), the Jewish Targums say …

My soul waiteth, not for the salvation of Gideon the son of Joash, for that is but temporal; not for the salvation of Samson, for that is transitory: but for the salvation of the Messiah the son of David, the salvation which Thou hast promised in Thy Word to accomplish for Thy people the children of Israel: for this Thy salvation my soul waiteth; for Thy salvation 0 Lord, is an everlasting salvation.

[cited by Cremer, Biblio-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek, p. 533.]

A New Testament commentator writes …

These three phases of salvation were seen as "aspects of one great" deliverance. There is no divorce or contradiction between the historical and the eschatological, because the former, by becoming active in the present (and no mere past-and-gone event) is the matrix and type of the latter; the eschatological salvation, even now active in the present, is the final realization beyond history of that which the historical redemption foreshadowed and promised. Past, present and future constitute, not three deliverances but one deliverance. [E. M. B. Green, The Meaning of Salvation, p.34]

[HOPE] An old Indian chief constantly spoke of salvation in Jesus and what He meant to him. "Why do you talk so much about Jesus?" asked a friend.

The old chief did not reply, but instead gathered some bits of grass and made a grass circle on the ground. In the circle he placed a caterpillar. He took an ember from the fire and lit the grass. They watched as the fire caught around the circle, the aterpillar crawled around rapidly, seeking an escape. As the fire advanced, the caterpillar raised up as high as it could. If the creature could speak, it would have said, "My help can only come from above."

The chief’s friend said, “I don’t understand.” The old chief stooped down, he extended his finger to the caterpillar, which crawled up his finger. "That," said the chief glowing "was what Jesus did for me! I was lost in sin, hopeless. I was trapped, no escape. Then Jesus stooped down in love and mercy and drew me out of the fiery pit of sin and shame. How can I help but love Him and talk of His wondrous love for me?"

Has He not reached out of eternity into your life of sin and hopelessness and drawn you out of the fiery hell that waited for you? Well then …?

Christianity, Cross, Easter, Expository, Outlines,
Preaching, Resurrection, Salvation, Sermons