The Power of the Cross

1 Corinthians 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.

For those who have not yet put their faith in God or even acknowledged his existence to be real, the cross means nothing and neither does the one who died there. The Lord Jesus is seen by some as a cult leader, maybe even a good man or indeed a great prophet who became a martyr for his beliefs. This is man’s wisdom; this is the folly of the cross.

For those who believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that he sacrificed his life for ours to pay for every sin we have and will ever commit, the cross means everything, as does the one who died there. The Lord Jesus became our Saviour, opening the door to salvation and leading us to the path of eternal hope. This is God’s wisdom; this is the power of the cross.

The distance between the wisdom of mankind and the wisdom of God is unmeasurable. The folly of the world is that sin doesn’t really matter that much, at least not the small stuff. On occasion, the odd questionable thing might happen, but overall, people are in control of their own actions and there is no little devil sitting on their shoulder telling them what to do. This is mankind’s true folly and the devil’s greatest achievement – the belief that there is no penalty for sin and no power of sin.

The pull of sin can be extremely strong but the power of God to save us from it is even stronger. Christ is the ‘word’ of the cross and that word is the power of the gospel unto salvation for everyone who believes.

Live every day in the power of the cross.