1 Corinthians 1:18-19

1Corinthians 1:18

For the       word          of the cross

is folly        to those

who are perishing,

but                                     to us          who are being saved

it       is the power        of God.

The phrase “word of the cross” used by the Apostle Paul in verse 18 is a strange phrase. Stranger still that he would point to such a cruel instrument of punishment as central to his message about Jesus. The Romans crucified enemies of the state and hardened criminals on crosses.  Jesus was treated as little more than a common criminal, an enemy of the state.

Yet the word of he cross is not that Jesus was a common criminal and enemy of the state. Instead it is a symbol, a picture, a message that reveals the ultimate extent of God’s love for man. In all our stories the hero overcomes and destroys his enemies.  He/she is powerful and cunning, a super-hero and he/she use their power to destroy all that stands against them.  They do not die ignominious deaths. They overcome all that is thrown against them. They are heroes.

The cross tells a different story, one that seems foolish to us on its face.  Jesus does not, at first, appear as a super hero.  Who would believe that one overcomes through humility rather than arrogant power. Such an idea seems foolish to even contemplate.  Who would believe that God would humble himself and suffer such indignities and brutality at the hands of mere mortals?  Who would believe that God would allow us to treat him as we did? Who would believe that God would allow us to attempt to murder him and in the most torturous manner?  Who would believe that by doing so he was able to save us from eternal punishment.  Such an idea would seem to be sheer folly: a God of unlimited power making himself powerless and thus overcoming the powers of darkness..

Arrogance is at the root of man’s being.  It informs all that we think and do. It was arrogance that brought the curse in the garden and it is arrogance that colors all we do to this present day.  We are like our father the devil.  He was arrogant to the extreme and encouraged us to be the same way.  Arrogance is Satan’s way, humility is God’s way.

Psalm 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

To the average man, God’s way seems to be foolish but when we commit ourselves to the way of the cross, we find true wisdom and salvation.  The way of the world, the way of arrogance, is the way that brought the curse of death upon all mankind.  The way of the world, the way of arrogance is the way that motivated us to attack God himself and treat him as a common criminal, an enemy of the state.

The thinking of the world leads to destruction because it is the way of arrogance.  It led to death in the Garden, it is leading to eternal punishment now. We live in an arrogant world where people blithely proclaim there is no god or that we all are gods.  They deny Jesus as Lord in their lives and determine their own course, declaring for themselves what is good and acceptable.  Even those of us who claim to be Christians must watch our lives for all signs of arrogance and ask God to help us live humbly before him.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?