The Invisible Church Blog

1 Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

As with most things of God, the preaching of the Cross is so high above that which the natural man can grasp, they consider it foolishness. Yet “unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” It is a strange dichotomy, that some will think of such a thing as so high, and others will think it so low. There is room for an enlightened but unconverted crowd in the middle to whom the preaching of the Cross is neither entire foolishness nor yet actual power, but the intent of the verse is to emphasize the polar opposite of value of the Cross between those who are saved and those who are lost. These two groups are diametrically opposed in their thinking with regards to the cross of Christ. The question is why?

The answer is that through the fall, man became entirely opposed to God. Were it not that God pursued man, the Cross would have remained as foolishness to us all. But God is faithful, and in His pursuit of man through enlightening, convicting of sin, of unrighteousness and of judgment to come, He brings many to the Cross, thereby reconciling them to Himself. One simply cannot see the beauty of the Cross until they have been brought to nothing in and of themselves, but it is this bringing to nothing that the natural man is so hostile towards, it is that he cannot see himself as nothing which in turn causes him to oppose the very preaching meant to do him good! Preaching can happen till one is blue in the face with nary a conversion, but let the Holy Spirit move upon a person in resurrection power, and conversion can happen without preaching. At other times, God is pleased to use “the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” The question that arises at this point is, with such a stout reaction of opposition to the Cross by the natural man, how then  is the great divide from lost to saved, to be crossed? (No pun intended)

The answer is that it is simply a work of God, and the highest work of God, to bring a lost sinner to the Cross to be reconciled to Himself. He must tear down that which man trusts, making way for man to trust the work of redemption done by Christ on the Cross. Those who trust much in themselves must have much torn down, and those who trust little in themselves must have little torn down. This is why the thieves, drunkards, murderers, and harlots of the world are brought into the kingdom of God before those who are considered respectable, they have learned to trust much less of self making way for more trust of Christ. The sooner we all learn that, the better!

God may use human means to bring about particular circumstances, but ALL the glory for the salvation of souls belongs to God alone. We may rejoice at the news of another soul brought into right fellowship with God through Christ, but ALL glory in the matter belongs to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This deferring of ALL glory from self to God in all things, is what makes the natural man reel at the thought of the Cross. It diminishes who he is in his own mind, and because of this he will prefer to consider the Cross to be foolishness rather than be saved by it.

There is power in the cross of Christ, power to “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Far from being foolishness, there is power to save you for eternity, and power to keep you eternally saved!

1 Cor 15:55-57 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you haven’t already, will you go to the Cross of calvary and cast ALL your hope on Christ today?

In nothing is the power of God made more manifest than in the preaching of the cross of Christ for the salvation of men. The Napoleon’s and Alexander’s of the world have conquered much through force and through sword, but such conquering is not enduring, nor can it be because it conquers everything EXCEPT the will of man. The conquering of the will of man through the cross alone, is the highest display of the power of God, exceeding even that of creation. In redemption through Christ, the will of man is conquered not by sword nor by force, but by mercy and grace. What grace conquers, it keeps conquered! Can you imagine the power required to cause someone to love you, that has previously despised you? Immense! Yet even the hardest of hearts can be melted at the thought of a crucified Saviour suffering on their behalf.  This act of redemption is the highest display of the power of God and apart from this cross, mankind has never been able to conquer in such a manner. There are utopic dreams of it, but it has never been actualized in any lasting degree. Power such as this belongs only to the cross of Christ.

So hard is the heart of man, the greatest miracle that ever was, is the salvation of a single soul. For this soul to be conquered not by force, but by grace and mercy, reveals the absolute power of God. The gods that mankind have invented, must do their conquering with force as a man would do, but so high is the conquering of grace above that of force, that it cannot even be the invention of man. The whole idea of salvation by grace absolutely has to be sent from God!

When you go out this week, think on Christ the Saviour who bore your sin debt on the cross. REALLY think about it, dwell on Christ the substitute who died on the cross on your behalf for as much time as you can. The whole idea may sound as foolishness in the beginning, but let grace do its work and soon you too can’t help but know the power of God!

1 Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The question of the day is: Is Christ alone enough? Or rephrased, does Christ alone supply enough for you to be a Christian? The obvious answer is yes, but how exactly does this play out in each of our lives?

Many will say that we need the word of God also, which we love and thirst for when it is available, but what of those times when it is not? Do we then cease to be Christians? Are we disobedient to God because the word of God has been withdrawn from us? There have been many suffering Christians who have never even seen the word of God let alone read it. Does this make them less of a Christian? Absolutely not! In the modern era alone I can think of those in prison camps or behind the walls of a dictator somewhere who have not been allowed to read the word of God. For these, access to the word of God has been prohibited, yet they flourish as Christians. Why? Simply because Christ alone is sufficient.

It is the same with other things like family, or reputation, or health, or wealth, or fellowship, or even prayer. Throughout time God has seen fit to withdraw these things for one reason or another from those who are His. It is in these times that those who are His learn what it truly means when it is said that Christ alone is sufficient. In time, at least something considered indispensable is withdrawn from the Christian, sometimes it is more than one, and odd times even many of the above things have been withdrawn from those who are His. It is in these times where Christ makes the choicest of fruit amongst His people. He teaches them that He alone truly is sufficient, and that He being ever with them, they shall never perish.

About the closest man gets to having everything withdrawn is in the dungeon, yet even there God is there in prayer, but if you think about it for just a moment, there is only ONE to whom ALL of these things have been withdrawn at the same time, and that is Christ when He was on the cross. And this He did for thee…

2 Cor 12:9 ….My grace is sufficient for thee….