Tag: Christ crucified
The Power of God
Scripture reading for August 2nd: 1st Corinthians 2, Psalm 3, Proverbs 29
1st Corinthians 2: 1-5 “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
Paul came humbly to the Corinthians with the simple but all powerful message of Christ Jesus crucified. This message was packed with God’s power to bring revelation and salvation through repentance and faith. Paul was not a great orator or debater. In fact, he came in weakness and in fear and trembling and his speech was not exceptionally packed with the world’s wisdom. But the anointing of God’s Spirit brought power and conviction and salvation as people heard and believed. Through the cross, God had defeated all man’s enemies and brought His blessing of salvation and the gift of adoption into His forever family. Jesus arose from the dead, breaking the teeth of our wicked enemy, Satan, and bringing salvation to all who would believe and receive! Christ Jesus is the Wisdom and Power of God!
Psalm 3:7-8 “Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be on your people!”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the power of God released through the simple message of the cross and Your Son, Jesus Christ suffering there for our sins. Not only that, but His resurrection defeated death and the grave and brought eternal blessing on those who would believe! Fill me with the power of this message to turn away Your wrath from those who scoff and bring eternal blessing to all you send me to.
Proverbs 29:8 “Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.”
Christ Crucified!
Scripture reading for August 25th: Isaiah 17-19, Psalm 62, 1st Corinthians 1
1st Corinthians 1:20-25 “Where is the one who is wise? 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 did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Paul reasoned with the Corinthians concerning his message of salvation. Paul preached Christ Jesus as crucified for the sins of mankind. His cosmopolitan audience in Corinth consisted of Greeks and Jews and other Gentiles from various parts of the world. The Greeks put a premium on wisdom and human intellect. Jews were open to God, but constantly wanted signs. Jesus gave them the ultimate ‘sign’, comparing his death and time in the grave to Jonah’s three days and nights in the big fish. But God’s ‘wisdom’ is actually the power of God for salvation. “And because of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1st Corinthians 1:30)
Psalm 62:5-7 “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation, my Fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty Rock, My Refuge is God.”
Prayer: Father God, Your amazing wisdom to bring salvation to all through Your Son is my only hope and my Refuge. Thank You for Your salvation and for giving all men opportunity to hear and know You and experience Your gift of righteousness and being set apart for Your forever family. Use me to preach Christ crucified, resurrected and coming again in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is my only boast!
Isaiah 19:19-21 “In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender and deliver them. And the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.”
Christ crucified–wisdom from God!
Scripture reading for August 25th: Isaiah 17-19, Psalm 62, 1st Corinthians 1
Key Scriptures: 1st Corinthians 1:21-25 “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church, which he had founded by preaching there for over two years, was written to help correct some wrong doctrine caused by false teachers and to recenter them on Jesus Christ and the Gospel. This church had both Jews and Gentiles. The Gentile Greeks used intellectual pursuits to find God and the Jews were seeking supernatural signs. But Paul preached Jesus Christ crucified as his central message. Those who humbly listened and received, found God’s wisdom in Jesus Christ and the supernatural life He offers.
Psalm 62:7 “On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty Rock, my Refuge is God.”
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, I have found wisdom in Jesus Christ, my Salvation, my Rock, my Glory, and my Refuge! Help me to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected to the nations, as You have planned!
Isaiah 19:21 “And the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.”
Preaching the Cross!
Scripture reading for August 5th: 1st Corinthians 1:18-2:5
The cross of Jesus Christ has long been foolishness to the world and its followers. The message of the cross has been made fun of and those who preached it have been mocked, beaten, tortured and killed by those who refused to hear that message. But for us who are being saved, it is the power of God that saved us! It is the wisdom of God that made grace available to whoever will listen and believe! (1st Corinthians 1:18,24)
The Greeks were known for their search for wisdom. They had great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Their wisdom and scholarship was well know, but they did not bring the world a knowledge of God and His plan of salvation. (1st Corinthians 1:21) The Jews were always seeking miraculous signs and the cross was a stumbling block. In the Gospel message, Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth as a man. He lived a sinless life and offered His body and blood as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross. He was crucified, died and was buried in a tomb. The greatest miracle occurred on the third day when the tomb was opened and the Son of God rose from the dead! This message proved to be a stumbling block for the Jews in spite of the greatest miracle ever witnessed. It proved to be foolishness to the Greeks who reject the message of the cross as without merit.
Yet, in this message is the greatest power ever released on earth! Through this message, all mankind has the opportunity to be forgiven of sin and receive eternal life. The key to receiving is a humble heart that will be open to believe in the One who went to the cross for all! “But God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1st Corinthians 1:27-30) Have you embraced God’s wisdom through the One who died on the Cross?