SYMBOL OF THE CROSS

1 CORINTHIANS 2:1–5

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified

(1 Cor. 2:2).

The cross has become the most important symbol of hope on this planet. It is a symbol usually taken from Jesus’ death, from His humiliation and passion. Christ came as a lamb to lay down His life for His people, making Christianity different from any other world religion. Only Christianity has a finished work of atonement for our sins. Christ’s atonement for us is so central to our faith that we are going to spend several days looking at the Cross of Christ and plumb the depths of its significance.

The message of the Cross is crucially important to Christianity when it is viewed as a metanomy for the whole idea of the Atonement. Paul uses it as such in his first letter to the Corinthians where he says, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom …” (2:3, 4). This is an astonishing statement considering the extensive learning of Paul. Of course, Paul did not mean that practical and theological points of the Christian life were unimportant, for his letters cover the breadth of Christian doctrine. But Paul’s point was that the Atonement is the center of the Gospel. To understand Christianity, you must understand the Cross. It is on the Cross, through the Cross, and by the Cross that our Savior has performed His work of redemption and has gathered His people for eternity.

Notice that Paul calls attention to the limitations and weaknesses of his own person. The power of his ministry was not in himself, but in the power of the Spirit of God. Here was a man who knew what it meant to live by the Cross, to have it as central to his life and ministry. Paul entered into the suffering of his people, and this dimension of his ministry was an imitation of his Lord. Again and again, Paul reminded the church by his own example that to be a Christian means to be willing to identify with the Cross. We are to join Christ in His humiliation, not as any addition to Christ’s work, but in identity with Him. If we patiently bear the humiliation of the Cross, we will one day share in its glory.

CORAM DEO

Jeremiah 40–42

Hebrews 2

Wherever you go this week, look for the sign of the cross, even when it is costume jewelry. Notice it on church doors, steeples, etc. Become aware of how pervasive is the symbol of the cross of Christ. Let that sign restore to you an awareness that no secular force can eradicate the Christian message from human history.

For further study: Rom. 8:18–30 • 1 Cor. 1:18–25 • Gal. 6:11–15

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