“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” — 1 Corinthians 1:18
When we share the gospel of LORD Jesus Christ, many people mock us or reject the message. Some say, “It’s not true,” or “I don’t need someone to save me, I can save myself.” Others insist there are many ways to be saved, not only through LORD Jesus Christ. Some even ask, “Why did LORD Jesus Christ have to die for us? Who asked Him to?” Some go as far as to joke that we’ll have a party in hell.
The same kind of attitude we face today also existed in the Church of Corinth. Many sought to understand the wisdom behind the cross, yet the ways of God cannot be fully grasped by human reasoning. Paul spoke of this in his letter, saying, “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory; which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7–8). The cross was the hidden wisdom of God, a divine plan that satan could not comprehend it. satan believed that by crucifying the LORD Jesus Christ, he could end His mission. He thought that the death of Christ would stop the light from spreading and silence the voice that cast him out of those he had bound.
From the moment the LORD Jesus Christ began His ministry the kingdom of satan started to tremble and fall. LORD Jesus Christ healed every sickness and diseases. Those who were bound by the devil were set free. He opened blind eyes, made the lame walk, and restored those who were broken in spirit. Every healing and every deliverance declared that the kingdom of God had come and that the power of darkness was being overthrown. Wherever the LORD Jesus Christ went, restoration followed. Miracles happened. Lives were transformed, chains were broken, and hope was restored. He cast out demons and stripped them of authority over mankind. He rebuked the winds and the waves, showing His dominion over all creation. satan despised this. He hated that the LORD Jesus Christ walked in authority, purity and holiness, showing us how we were meant to live as God originally created us before the fall. Unable to overcome Him in temptation or power, Satan entered the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Him. He thought that by having LORD Jesus Christ beaten, spat upon, scourged, stripped naked and crucified on the cross, and counted among the notorious criminals, everything would return to his control. Yet what Satan meant for victory became his eternal defeat. The cross that Satan used as a weapon became the altar of his fall.
In the time of the LORD Jesus Christ, the idea of a crucified Savior was not something people wanted to hear. Crucifixion was the most shameful and painful form of punishment, reserved only for the worst and most notorious criminals. To say that the God whom they served and followed had been crucified was unthinkable. To them, it sounded foolish and disgraceful. They said in their hearts, “You mean to tell me that the LORD Jesus Christ, who was crucified and counted as a criminal, is able to save me? How can He save others if He could not save Himself from the cross? You want me to follow Him and be treated as one of the condemned?”
To the world, the cross was a symbol of defeat and shame. But to those who truly understand the message of the cross, it is the power of God to those who believe and are saved by it (1 Corinthians 1:18).
The LORD Jesus Christ said that through the cross He would strip satan of his power and cast him out. “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself” (John 12:31–32). When the LORD Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross, this prophecy was fulfilled. Satan’s power over humanity was broken. His authority to accuse and condemn was taken away. Through the LORD Jesus Christ death on the cross would draw every people’s heart to Him.
Why are we drawn to Him? The apostle Peter declares, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Upon that cross the LORD Jesus Christ carried the full weight of our sin and guilt. He took the record of our transgressions and nailed them there. As Paul wrote, “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:14–15). Before the cross, every sin stood recorded in the book of judgment in heaven. Each offense cried out for justice, and the law condemned us to death. Yet the LORD Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God took our place. The wrath that was due to us fell upon Him. The sentence that condemned us to hell was satisfied by His sacrifice. He bore our guilt and paid our debt in full. At that cross, the LORD Jesus Christ did not only remove our sin. He also stripped authority of darkness. All of satan’s accusations, every piece of evidence he held against us, all condemnation, even the curse of the law, and every legal right the enemy claimed over our lives were completely disarmed at the cross. The accuser of the brethren was silenced. The cross became a public display of his defeat. The cross became the courtroom of Heaven where the verdict was declared once and for all, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Through His death, the LORD Jesus Christ destroyed the one who held the power of death. As it is written, “That through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
When the LORD Jesus Christ cried out, “It is finished,” the work of redemption was complete. The debt of sin for all mankind was paid in full. The record of our transgressions was blotted out, the evidence of our guilt destroyed. Sin could no longer hold its claim over us. The righteous wrath of God was satisfied. At that moment, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the separation between God and man was removed. Access to the Holy of Holies was opened, and through the blood of Jesus we received forgiveness and reconciliation the greatest gift of all.
The blood of the LORD Jesus Christ, shed upon the cross and falling to the earth, speaks better things than the blood of Abel. It does not cry out for judgment, it proclaims reconciliation, forgiveness, restoration, and grace to all who believe.
The LORD Jesus Christ endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him, knowing that through His sacrifice we would be redeemed and drawn back to Himself. He despised the shame, seeing beyond the suffering to the glory that would follow (Hebrews 12:2). To Him, the cross was not a mark of disgrace but the perfect demonstration of His great love for us.
That cross stands as the immutable evidence of the love of the LORD Jesus Christ that transcends time, space and matter. His greatest love that no power in heaven nor on earth can separate us from. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
No wonder Paul declared his unwavering faith to the Corinthians, saying, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). And to the Galatians he wrote, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). To those who are perishing, the message of the cross holds no value. They see it only through the eyes of the world, as something shameful, disgraceful, and foolish. But to Paul, and to all who believe, the cross is the greatest expression of God’s love. It is through the cross that the LORD Jesus Christ poured out His grace upon all humanity. What the world calls foolishness, God calls salvation.
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