The Foolishness of The Cross

I have been thinking alot about the christian culture that I grew up in and how it relates to what the Spirit of God has opened my eyes to recently. I feel as though a veil has been lifted from my eyes, supernaturally, and I can SEE more clearly what the Bible teaches in regards to Christ, the Gospel, salvation, sanctification, etc. For too long I feel as though we have been living in an age of "easy-believism" Christianity. We have grown up in an age of Bible story moralism for children, "cool" Jesus for teens, and therapeutic self-help God for adulthood. What I mean is that we have hi-jacked the message of the gospel to be simply a band-aid for our self-esteem and a manipulation of the will to accept a Jesus who desperately wants to be our friend and take us to heaven and thus created a means of salvation that is "so easy to accept and believe". I am not saying there is no truth in any of this, but as I have read and studied over the last couple years, I have been humbled to see that what I believed appears to be a far cry from the life taking, self-effacing, surrender to the King of Kings, that Jesus demands in His gospel message - see Matt. 10:26-42.

The message of the cross of Jesus is not give me five minutes to manipulate your 'will', give an alter call, say this pray and if you mean it gospel. The message of the cross if foolishness to the unbeliever. But wait a minute you say "Now to us who are saved it (the cross) is the power of God". But you did not always believe. At one point I WAS dead in my sin! I was an enemy against God, justly deserving His righteous wrath. But now I believe! Because I heard about a cool Jesus who can help me with my problems - and I said yeah let's be friends?? Nope! But because I heard the crazy and foolish message of the cross and by the power of the Holy Spirit, who quickened my spirit and removed the veil over my eyes (2 Cor. 4:3-4), and the faith given to me by God (see Ephesians 2:8-10) I believed it!

"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 it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 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. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." -- 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

If you believe in this message, doesn't this verse just crumble you in humility at the Grace of God!!?? To think about all of the people around me that think this is foolishness - that don't believe - and yet for some reason I believe it!! Sure makes me not want to base my salvation on some decision that I think I was sincere about when I prayed a prayer with the preacher at like 8 years old! No way! I see this foolish message and embrace it as the anchor for my soul (see Hebrews 6:17-20) through the power of the Spirit of God working to will and work in my life according to His good pleasure. My trust is in the gift of faith that the Lord gave me to believe! (Ephesians 2:8-10).

I was reading in John this morning and came across a few more examples of this foolish message:

"No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" -- John 3:13-15

What does this have to do with the foolish message of the cross in 1 Corinthians 1? Well you first need to know the story of Moses in the desert with disobedient Israel when he lifted up the snake.......

"The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived." -- Numbers 21:6-9

Understand how crazy this must have been for the Israelites. The serpents were biting and killing the Israelites and God instructs Moses put on a pole a Brazen serpent - the very thing that was killing them!! If they looked at this they would live? That sounds pretty outlandish to me! But what does this have to do with the message of Jesus on the Cross? (Hint: it is a 'sign' of things to come - pointing to Jesus) Look at 2 Corinthians 5:

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. " -- 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

The very thing that damns our souls is our sin - not just the things we do- but our nature. As one of my friends says it "we are sin factories" We have never done anything except sin! We are slave to this sinful nature (see Romans....all of it :-) ) But through the cross, Jesus bore our sin (the very thing that should damn us) - never becoming sinful himself! - but he took our sin upon himself and bore the just wrath of the Father for all that would believe. But it does not end there......without the Resurrection our hope is not complete. Without the resurrection Jesus was a martyr. (see Philippians 3:7-11) He ROSE from the dead. We must always keep both of these doctrines! Without the full weight of the cross, there is no resurrection. Without the resurrection there is no power or hope!!!!

Alot of thoughts - not sure if they all tied together

Repent, believe the gospel and be saved!
His grace
Matt