The Message of the Cross
For you, what is the message of the cross?
Verse of the Day
‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’
Today’s Devotional
Let’s be honest. Even to those of us who have known about Jesus for many years, the message of the cross doesn’t really make sense. There are days when I wonder why God even messes with us.
What do you think Paul means when he says that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”? I am trying to put it into modern day terms. Let’s suppose that a preacher came to town with a message of love and grace and salvation. This message is all hinging on a guy I’ve never met or heard of, who was put to death by the authorities. The preacher says that this guy came back to life, but that sounds pretty unreal. So now I am supposed to change everything that I think about God and put into practice all the teachings of a guys that received the death penalty. I can’t say that I blame some of the people who did not believe in Jesus during the early days of the church, especially if this whole idea was completely new to them.
The next part, that the message of the cross is the power of God, is also pretty radical. Think about that. The message of the cross is the power of God. So what is the message of the cross? Here’s the message I get: God loves me enough to watch his own Son be humiliated, beaten, and killed all for me. God knew that I could not be reconciled to him without the blood of Jesus. And Jesus was willing to go through that for me. That is powerful proof of how much God loves each and every one of us.
This whole concept makes me question whether or not I am worth that kind of sacrifice. Whether any of us is worth it. But according to God, we are worth it. The beautiful part is that I don’t have to understand it in order to believe it. I don’t understand how my cell phone works but I still use it every day. So just because I don’t understand why God would go to such ridiculous lengths to save us, I can still harness and use that power.
Believing in the message of the cross, that Jesus died to save me, gives me the power to live a life that is not all about me. It gives me the power to ask for help (many times each day) when I don’t have the strength to act or the knowledge of what words to use. It gives me the desire and ability to love God and in turn, love his people.
Lastly, Paul says that we are being saved. Maybe deciding each day to believe the message of the cross is how each of us is slowly being transformed into the person God created us to be, before the world and sin and selfishness made us into the people we are without Jesus. Today, I would much rather believe this radical message than be the person I am without Jesus.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Who would you be without Jesus?
Have you ever talked to someone who believed that Christianity was foolishness?
For you, what is the message of the cross? Think about that and write it down.
How does that message give you power?