When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Cor 2:1-2)We just came off of Resurrection Sunday. (More and more I'm preferring not to call it "Easter." The Greek behind the King James version's "Easter" (Acts 12:4) is actually "pascha" ... the Passover. "Easter" in its original language is "Ēostre", meaning "dawn." (One source says it's a goddess, but there's no proof. I'll go with "Resurrection Sunday.") It seems strange, doesn't it, that Paul wanted to know Christ crucified and not resurrected. We much prefer the resurrected Christ. Why "Christ crucified"?
Paul lists the cross as "foolishness to those who are perishing" (1 Cor 1:18) and a "stumbling block" (Gal 5:11). He says, "may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14). And this is how he wanted to focus on Christ. Why? Why not the triumph and joy of the Resurrection? Well, first, he did rejoice in the Resurrection (e.g., 1 Cor 15:12-18; Rom 6:4-7), so it wasn't excluded. It's just that he understood that the cross was an offense, "foolishness," a "stumbling block" ... and the absolute core of the gospel. So he described the crucifixion as "of first importance" (1 Cor 15:3-8). Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). (Why do people dismiss Jesus's own words of being "the ransom for many" and claim to be followers of Christ?) The Resurrection is the "proof of payment," but the cross was the payment (e.g., Isa 53:5; Matt 26:28; Rom 3:25; Rom 5:9; Gal 3:13; Eph 1:7; Col 1:20; Heb 9:12; 1 Peter 2:24). It demonstrates the extent of God's wrath and the extent of our sin and the richness of God's love and holiness and the amazing magnitude of God's grace and mercy. The cross gives the believer a pattern for Christian living (Gal 2:20-21; Mark 8:34; 1 Peter 4:12-13; 1 Cor 15:31). The cross served as God's means to be both just and justifier (Rom 3:21-26).
A lot of people prove Paul's concern that the cross is an offense. We moderns are pretty sure it was barbaric and we're appalled that Christ had to endure it, so much so that some deny it--either, it didn't happen or it wasn't particularly relevant. It was barbaric, but it was essential, and Christ endured it for us willingly and thereby secured our "saved by grace through faith" as a gift. Because of the horror of the cross and Christ's willingness to endure it, we can know "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom 8:32). For Paul, the cross is where sin is judged, where wrath is satisfied, where reconciliation happens, where love is displayed, where the old self dies, and where new life begins. Oh, dear Lord, teach me to love the cross and take it up as my own.
2 comments:
Our love for the cross is confusing to anyone that doesn't understand the depth to which our sin buries us. Of course it is odd to delight in the killing of a good man, a great prophet. But we do because it is the payment for our sin that we deserve to suffer for.
Before I begin to compose a comment in response to your daily posts, I frequently look through my home library for books related to your theme; glancing through the relevant books often gives me an insight or lesson upon which to draw. Today’s search for the “cross” brought up several books, including John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Even before I glanced through the book, however, I took note of its location in my library organization system (I use a modified church library classification system). Under the heading of “Theology (Systemic/Dogmatic Theology, Christian Doctrine”) comes the subheading, “Christology, Jesus Christ”; under that is a category of books classified as “Crosswork, atonement, sacrifice/death/blood of Christ.” I was struck by the uncommon word, “crosswork,” as it highlighted for me the work--i.e. the achievements and the accomplishments--of Christ’s death on the cross. As you point out, this crosswork is a major theological teaching presented in Scripture, which is hard to miss by serious readers of the Bible.
Piper’s book helps delineate the work accomplished by Jesus Christ upon the cross in these ways:
-- To Absorb the Wrath of God
-- To Show the Wealth of God’s Love and Grace for Sinners
-- To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us
-- To Become a Ransom for Many
-- For the Forgiveness of Our Sins
-- To Provide the Basis for Our Justification
-- To Reconcile Us to God
-- To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place
-- That We Might Die to Sin and Live to Righteousness
-- To Free Us from Bondage to the Fear of Death
-- To Show That the Worst Evil Is Meant by God for Good
This is just a sampling of Piper’s fifty chapters, each with a different Bible passage as its inspiration. It certainly is plenty upon which to reflect and for which to praise God, as it shines more light on that Good Day you wrote about on Friday.
P.S. I do not use “Easter” either. As I see it, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is presented in Scripture as an integral component of the gospel--not to be reduced to a season or even to just a particular day (like the coming of Jesus to earth to live a sinless life--also usually confined to a particular day [“Christmas”] or perhaps extended to a season [“Advent”]). As a new Christian, I benefitted from a focus on these individual central events, but these days, the entire gospel is always on my mind, in its gloriously complete and perfect cohesion. (In an ironic twist, I notice that the more our culture thinks of “Easter” and “Christmas” as general holidays--i.e. celebratory days on the calendar--the less most people even consider [or comprehend] the actual events commemorated on those days, as they get caught up in the trappings and traditions that serve nicely to provide enjoyment for nonbelievers.)
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