THE POWER OF THE CROSS

All of God’s power that He has made available to us through the Holy Spirit flows from the cross.  God never imparted any power to His people, then or now, apart from the full and finished work of Christ on the cross.  While Christ’s incarnation began at His birth, His glorification started at the cross and was consummated at His resurrection and ascension.  (John 12:23; 13:31)

Prior to His incarnation, Jesus had eternally preexisted in glory as the Second Member of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He came from glory and would return to glory – but only through the cross.  That’s why He prayed to the Father, in His High Priestly prayer, the night before He was crucified:

“Father, the time has come. Glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You…I have brought You glory on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.  And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began…Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.”  (John 17:1-5; 24)

But it was through the infamy of the crucifixion and the ignominy of the cross that God’s power and glory were manifested!  Sovereign grace transmuted man’s very worst into God’s very best!  What looked like man’s victory was really his defeat.  What appeared to be God’s defeat was in reality His victory over sin, death and the grave!  The cross became the greatest symbol of God’s grace and His glory!

That’s why Paul came to see that he should “…glory in the cross” of Jesus Christ.  (Galatians 6:14)  That which he previously saw as Christ’s shame he now saw as his gain.  Through the Holy Spirit, Paul came to see the infamy of the cross as his own source of infinite grace.

Paul clearly understood, from personal experience and from years of ministry, that the cross of Christ represented the very wisdom of God and the power of God.  It was for that reason that “preaching the cross” was his greatest passion and highest priority.  Note these “power” passages from his pen to the saints living in Corinth:

• “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel – not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”  (I Corinthians 1:17)
• “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.” (I Corinthians 1:18)
• “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jew and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (I Corinthians 1:22-25)

It is easy to see from these verses that Paul clearly understood that the “power of God” was in the finished work of Christ on the cross.  These crucial verses prove that there are several “religious practices” that, while very important, are not the essence of the Christian witness.  Let’s briefly look at them.

First, the essence of the Gospel is not in rituals like “water baptism”.  While baptism is definitely an important part of the Christian life and a central part of the Great Commission, as we find in Matthew 28:19-20, Paul knew that it was not the source of power for the believer.  I believe that a new believer identifies with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ through water baptism – as well as identifies with a local group of believers.  But the power of God flows from the cross!

Secondly, the essence of the Gospel message is not in human reasoning manifested through “knowledge or wisdom.”  Although Paul was certainly one of the most educated men of his day, he knew that apologetics, arguments or debates would never bring about salvation for any one.  God’s way of salvation through the cross “made no sense” to the natural mind.  It was a bunch of spiritual “foolishness” to the unregenerate mind of man.  While scholars and thinkers of his day (and ours) scoffed at the message of the cross, Paul proclaimed it as the “wisdom of God”.

Thirdly, the essence of the Gospel message was not some special revelation that was manifested through “miracles, signs and wonders”.  While the supernatural certainly had a validating role to play in Christ’s life and ministry (Hebrews 2:4), as well as in the life of the church (Mark 16:20), Christians were never to build their faith upon them.

It was the Jews who constantly asked Jesus to “prove Himself” by performing signs and wonders.  (John 4:48)  The Greeks wanted to “think their way to heaven.”  But Paul preached that the only way to heaven was through the cross!  It was not something that could be reasoned or proven by miraculous signs.

“Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe…For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”  (I Corinthians 1:20-21, 25)

All of us – wise men, scholars, philosophers, Jews, Greeks, Gentiles – must bow humbly before the cross of Christ, which is the power and wisdom of God.  It is because of the centrality of the cross that Paul boldly proclaimed, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jews, then for the Gentiles.”  (Romans 1:16) 

Sometime today, read Isaiah 53, slowly, prayerfully and thoughtfully.  It contains the essence of the cross, written hundreds of years before it ever happened.  This passage truly contains some of the most astounding words ever written by man!

Echoing the verses from Isaiah, the Apostle Peter summarized the blessings and benefits of Christ’s crucifixion – and our response to it.

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (I Peter 2:24-25)

Because He bore our sins in His body on the tree and by His wounds we have been healed, we are to live transformed lives.  We are to die to sin and live for righteousness.  That and that alone is the “power of the cross”.

One final note of clarification needs to be made here regarding the phrase, “…by His wounds you have been healed.”  There are many who teach that this verse promises physical healing for all Christians.  But the clear context is spiritual healing not physical healing.  Remember Peter said that Christ “…bore our sins in His body on the tree”, not our sicknesses and suffering. [John also emphasized this when he wrote about Christ, “…who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.”  (Rev. 1:5; c.f. Romans 3:25)]

The verb that Peter used for “healed” is in the past tense, meaning that “healed” is an accomplished fact, completed at a specific time in the past.  I am not saying that there is no physical healing provided through Christ’s death on the cross.  There is definitely physical healing provided by Christ’s sacrifice, but it is sovereignly bestowed, a gift if you will.  However, it is a gift that is not given to everyone.

The promise God gives is clear, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)  That is an absolute and unconditional promise for salvation – i.e., spiritual healing.  There is no such verse that promises absolute and unconditional physical healing.  I wish there were!  We can claim it or positively confess it all we want, but nothing can manipulate God to perform healing by our command or our confession.

It is an inescapable fact for all of us that “…the outer man is wasting away.” (II Corinthians 4:16)  All of us “…who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”  (Romans 8:23)  It matters not whether we are believers or unbelievers…redeemed or unregenerate…saved or lost – we will all face sickness and suffering “unto death” in this life.  Jesus’ atoning death did not save us from that.

However, His glorious physical resurrection as the “firstfruits” from death and the grave assure us that one day we will have a glorious resurrection body like His.  (I Corinthians 15:22-27)  Until then, we have the absolute assurance of our spiritual adoption through salvation on the basis of Christ’s death on the cross.  Our full and final “adoption as sons” will not take place until our physical resurrection, at which time the “redemption of our bodies” will take place.  Then there will be absolute physical healing to go along with our absolute spiritual healing that took place at the moment of our salvation.

Until such time, God has the authority to sovereignly grant temporary physical healing on the basis of Christ’s death, in accordance with His perfect will.  I use the word “temporary” purposefully because even when God grants physical healing, the person still dies from sickness, disease or by an accident.  No one dies from nothing!

The “power of the cross” is absolute and universal when it comes to the spiritual healing or the regeneration of our spirits.  But our total and eternal physical healing will come only at the “resurrection of the just.”  Until that time, like Paul, let us remember the cross, focus on Jesus’ sacrifice and, “preach Christ crucified..the power of God and the wisdom of God”!!  (I Corinthians 1:23-24)