La palabra de la cruz

The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. Therefore, go around the world teaching and preaching the gospel to every creature, to the last of the earth. En Contacto, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Today on En Contacto, the word of the cross. Why would anyone want to make a statement like this? The only thing I will glorify in life is the cross of Jesus Christ? Is it a symbol, an emblem of what we believers believe in? Why would anyone want to make such a statement? The Apostle Paul did it because he understood something about nature and the meaning of the cross. When he saw everything in life, he said that the only thing worth glorifying is the cross of Jesus Christ. Well, we see them in church towers, we see them in almost all stained-glass windows, people wear them around their necks in gold chains, they are seen in t-shirts, they are everywhere. The important thing is not that they should not wear them around their necks or be in a bell tower. All of that is fine. What God is looking for are people who have the cross in their minds, in their hearts, and in their lips. That is where God wants to see the cross. Let us go now, please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, reading in verse 18. It is a classic biblical passage about the cross and its meaning. And what Paul tells us in these verses here is to explain why we respond to the cross as we do. So let's start by reading from verse 18 to verse 25. You see, one of the things about being a Christian that sometimes puts us at a disadvantage is that some of us who have been for so long know certain things very well, like some hymns, and we can stop here and sing a hymn. We know the lyrics very well, but we don't even think about what we sing. And if you're not paying attention, that can happen when you think about the cross. You sing about it, you see it, you wear it around your neck, you wear it around your t-shirt, you hang it on the wall, you see it everywhere.

And yet, the meaning and the message, in fact, escapes us. Listen to what it says. It says, porque la palabra de la cruz es locura a los que se pierden, pero a los que se salvan, esto es a nosotros, es poder de Dios, pues está escrito, destruiré la sabiduría de los sabios y desecharé el entendimiento de los entendidos. ¿Dónde está el sabio? ¿Dónde está el escriba? ¿Dónde está el disputador de este siglo? ¿No ha enloquecido Dios la sabiduría del mundo? Pues ya que en la sabiduría de Dios el mundo no conoció a Dios mediante la sabiduría, vea esto, léalo de nuevo, ya que en la sabiduría de Dios el mundo no conoció a Dios mediante la sabiduría, agradó a Dios salvar a los creyentes por la locura de la predicación, salvó a los creyentes, porque los judíos piden señales y los griegos buscan sabiduría. Pero nosotros predicamos a Cristo crucificado para los judíos ciertamente tropezadero y para los gentiles locura, más para los llamados, así judíos como griegos, Cristo poder de Dios y sabiduría de Dios. Porque lo insensato de Dios es más sabio que los hombres y lo débil de Dios es más fuerte que los hombres. Bien, el apóstol Pablo entendió plenamente el significado y el mensaje de la cruz. Siempre ha sido un tema de discordia y de conflicto. Y Pablo dice aquí, en este pasaje, que una de las razones por las que la gente rechaza la cruz, al estar frente a la cruz, al encararnos con la cruz, una razón para rechazarla es porque nos parece locura. No tiene sentido.

Y la palabra locura, aquí es la palabra de la que proviene insensato y en griego se escribe exactamente así, m-o-r-o-n, o sea, como que falta algo, algo falta por aquí arriba. Y lo que dice es que una razón por la que fue rechazada en sus días fue porque parecía locura, ¿bien? Nos cuesta entenderlo porque tenemos toda la Biblia, desde Génesis hasta Apocalipsis. Tenemos la revelación de Dios. Pero debe remontarse a la época de Pablo, a la época en que Jesucristo vivió, y debía formularse la pregunta, ¿Hubiéramos sido de los que recibieron a Jesucristo entendiendo lo que significaba la cruz? Bien, no lo entendían. No entendían quién era Cristo. They did not understand why he was coming. From his point of view, who was he? He was an itinerant preacher, but many had come like this. He was a carpenter from Nazareth, but there were many carpenters. He was a teacher, and supposedly a very outstanding teacher, but many had already seen him like this. What they did not understand was that he was God in human flesh. What they did not understand was that he was more than a carpenter. He was God on a mission to redeem humanity. They did not understand who he was. His way of dying was very horrible. No decent person would have been crucified. They would not crucify a Roman citizen. Certainly they would not crucify a good person. They would not have crucified God. They would not have crucified a Savior.

They would not have crucified a Messiah. That did not fit with anything they believed. And that is why the apostle Paul says, It is madness. He said it is madness for those who are called wise. It did not fit at all with the common human sense. For example, other religions have their leaders. Buddhists, for example, Muslims, Jews, the Christian faith, we all have different symbols. And, for example, Buddhists have their flower, Muslims, their crescent moon, Jews, their star of David, Christians, a cross. And someone will say, well, do you know what the difference is? There are so many religions, so many leaders, and they all say something and they have their Bibles. Why do Christians come up with the idea of the cross? It is the worst form of execution. And it is used to symbolize their faith and they speak of a God of love. And the man they crucified spoke of peace and spoke of bringing peace. And none of this adapts to human reasoning. That is, it does not work. And then he hopes he believes in that. And so, what we discover today is that people have almost the same frustrations.

They think, wait a minute, he asks me to believe in someone who died 2,000 years ago and hopes he believes in some way. In someone who died 2,000 years ago, a historical figure, like all the other religious leaders? What effect can it have on my life today? Look, they don't understand who he is. And they don't understand why he came. Nor do they understand the meaning of his death. Many of us often have that idea because we live in this country and because we live in this nation that everyone has heard the gospel. Everyone understands what the cross means, doesn't it? They have no idea what it is about. And there are people who have crosses on their walls, in their bedrooms, in their study, in their home. And they have no idea what they mean. They look good. They are a kind of religious icon for them. They symbolize something religious. They can make them aware of the presence of God, who is there. Or they put them on their necks, or they take them and kiss them, or they sanctify them, or whatever. But I want us to think about something.

Many times these symbols are just symbols because we don't understand their meaning. What is this message of the cross about? The message of the cross, when you see a nun, this is what you really need to remember. That sin destroys humanity. And sin is destructive for humanity. And God must judge sin because he is a holy God. And the cross tells this non-believing and sinful world that sin is so serious that it was necessary for God to send his only begotten son, Christ, and put him on the cross. That the Almighty judged sin that day, and at that moment. That the penalty of sin was paid, the debt of sin of the world was paid at that moment in Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem. That man is separated from God by sin, and man is judged by that sin. Man was condemned by that sin, and the most amazing expression of God's love was the cross. And so, although it is crazy, on the one hand, it is an expression that comes from God.

It is the expression of God's kindness and kindness that when he saw the condition so impotent and hopeless of man, God descended to redeem humanity. It is our only hope. It has always been the only hope. And this symbol that he wears on his neck, or that is in ... that is visible in churches, or hangs in his room, or in his shirt, no matter where, the most important thing is, what is his message? It is the most crucial, critical and urgent message that has ever been transmitted to humanity. It was then, and it is still an urgent message. His only hope resides in that symbol, which is the cross. The second reason, let's see what it says in the passage. Although some may find it crazy, and some may find it sincere, it is the only hope. It says, if you notice it in verse 23, but we preach to Christ crucified. For the Jews it is certainly stumbling, and for the gentiles it is madness. Well, the Jews of that time had the same horror to the cross as the gentiles, in fact. In other words, they knew it was a totally horrible way to die,

that it was the worst form of punishment. And of course, Christ affirmed that he was God. So when they said that he had blasphemed God Almighty, for them it was the worst thing he could do. And they said, crucify him. Get out of here, crucify him. Well, there is a reason why it was hard for them to believe that Christ was the Messiah. You see, I'm not trying to give you all the reasons, but one of the reasons is when everything was over and the gospel began to be preached and Paul emphasized on the cross, it was too hard for them to believe for this reason, that in the law of Moses, for them, a cross and a wood were the same. And look at what it says in Deuteronomy chapter 21. If anyone had committed a crime worthy of death, and you made him die, and you hung him on a wood, you would not let his body spend the night on the wood, without fail you would bury him the same day. For cursed, by God, either on a wood or on a cross, is the hanging. Think where they came from. Here, these Jews thought of what the Christians, the followers of Christ, said. He is the Messiah. How can he be the Messiah? How do they say that this man is the Messiah? When the law of Moses says that anyone on a wood, anyone hung from a wood, was cursed by God. There is no way that he was the Messiah. There is no way that he could be God, because God would not hang himself on what he himself, what he had previously declared, cursed.

For them, it was a great problem. They heard that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and here he hangs on the cross. That is why they said, if you are the Son of God, if you are the Messiah, if you are everything you say, just descend, come down from there. The problem was that they did not understand who he was. They did not understand why he came. But when you and I see it from their perspective, and we see what they thought, we can begin to understand why they thought at least some things as they did. For example, their idea of the Messiah was that this would be a kind of angelic, supernatural being who would enter the scene and rescue, would free the nation of Israel from the Roman yoke. Not only that, but it would be a warrior, it would be a political figure, it would be a military hero, it would be a person who would come and could group the Jews, and by the supernatural power of God and his leadership, he would totally defeat Rome, and finally, listen, finally, the Jewish nation would completely conquer and rule the world. This would be the kingdom of God. And therefore, it was what they expected, and then Jesus Christ came. First, he does not come as a supernatural angelic being,

and as a leader, a political figure, or a warrior, he never wielded a weapon, and he comes and teaches them, love your neighbor. If he slaps you on one side, put it on the other. If he asks you for a tunic, put it on the other. He seemed weak, and he spoke about humility. He spoke about things that were not typical of warriors, rulers, kings, supernatural beings. So he did not fit into the mold, and because he did not fit into the mold, everything was an obstacle. It was not possible for him to be the Messiah. And then what did they do? They crucified him, because they affirmed that he blasphemed God, although he only spoke the truth. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. In other words, he spoke about something that completely destroyed them, because it did not fit into his mold. It did not fit into his idea of the Messiah. So he appeared, and that is why John says in his gospel, his people came, and his people did not receive him. Why? Because it did not fit into his mold. The very idea that he was someone who walked among them, like them, who grew up in a carpentry, that is, a carpenter like the Messiah, chief, warrior, soldier, political figure,

did not meet any criteria to be the Messiah. That idea was a stumbling block. But the same thing happens today, for example. People reject the Lord Jesus Christ for the same reasons. But let's see it as if it were presented today. What is it that is most shocking? What is it that is most revealing to man? When someone hears the message of the cross, What is the message of his sinful, desperate, and defenseless condition, when God in his love sent his only begotten Son, nailed him to the wood, put the debt of sin upon him, crucified him, and separated himself from him, allowing him to pay the debt that would save all who believed in him? What is the message that leads people to rebel? Let's see what it is. While the gentile then said that it was madness, I say, no, do not come to me with this of the cross and the message of the cross, because it is only one more who died. The Jews said, do not tell me that my Messiah, who is God, will be crucified as a criminal, and he will die, that does not fit. What do we say today? You present the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and what happens? We receive the same rejection for this reason. What opposes our carnal nature, especially in the offer of salvation from God? That is what you will see. Do you want to tell me that you really expect me to believe that God, and yes, I believe in a God, that this God will accept me simply because he believes that he sent his Son to the cross, and that if I believe in him, I will be saved? And what about me? Look at this. Our nature is so corrupt, human nature is so evil, human nature is so dispossessed of the truth, that everything in man or woman rebels against the idea that they can be accepted by God without having to do anything, and that it is human pride. Man wants to do something. Why? Because if he can do something to allow God to accept him, he is better. And the reason he feels better is because he had a part in his own salvation. He feels better when he can do something about it. It is called effort. We all want to act. We all want to deserve the sinful carnal nature that lies within us. He says, that does not make sense. Does it mean that all I have to do is believe? Is that it? And it is a stumbling block. What is a stumbling block, what does not make sense to the non-believing sinner, is that he should not do anything. And he says, one moment, all other religions have a system, a doctrinal system that requires rules and regulations. You go to church for an hour, or whatever. There are rules and regulations, and in this way God accepts him. The problem is that when these rules and regulations are fulfilled to the maximum of their possibilities, they cannot ensure that their God will certainly accept them. There is never real certainty about their form of salvation, because there is no such thing as a true God. And it is a stumbling block for people today. They want to make an effort, they want to do something, and they are told that it is not for works. Think about the contradiction of this for a moment. Some belong to religious groups, and they have crosses, for example, in their house, or in bell towers, or in their room, or in their lockers, or wherever. The message of the cross is this. The message of the cross is that the debt of sin, of humanity, was paid once and for all. There are no more payments. There are no more works. The function is over. That is to say, the act is over. Well, even though they have those crosses to remind them of the truth, what do they do? They are taught that to be accepted by God, you have to do something. And look at the cross. If they understood the message of the cross, it would be a contradiction. What contradiction? Well, here is the cross on the wall of my room, for example. It speaks of the payment for sin, my condition of impotence and uselessness. God took care of it. He paid my debt. Then in the church, the pastor or preacher or someone gets up and says, if you want God to accept you, you must do the following. And then a conflict occurs. The cross says that the debt was paid, but the rules and regulations say that I must do these things to be accepted by God. If there is anything I could say to the world, I would say, when Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, the works were finished for all eternity. It is not by works, everything is over. In a single moment, by means of a person, God Almighty paid the debt of sin of the world by judging sin in His only begotten Son. It is over. Let me tell you that there are crowds and crowds of Christians who live in slavery every day. They do not know if they are saved or not. They do not believe in eternal security. Why? They have not grasped the message of the cross. The message of the cross is, look, what makes us all eternally sure of what He did. Not us, for some reason they haven't picked up the message, that's the message. And what happens? They reject it, because they say, I don't understand. Yes, they understand. The problem is their pride, it's like rubbing sandpaper against your hand.

I mean, it doesn't take long to warm up. I mean, you tell someone, you can't do anything. I have to do something, you can't do anything, but... And what happens? That hits their pride. Do you know what their problem is? Every living human being has to deal with this, with humiliating themselves in front of Almighty God and saying, my sin has left me defenseless, my sin has separated me from you, from you, Holy God, I need you, there's nothing I can do alone. That's the last thing their pride will admit. And I think Paul will certainly include that if we think about our current life. First, man will not renounce his pride, and second, he will not renounce control. And when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him as our Savior, what we essentially say is not only that we believe, and I do believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, what should I do? Give him my life. I should be Lord and owner of my life. We don't want to give up control, no. We want to be saved and have control. That's why he's called Lord. It means that he commands. If he commands, I give up control. Do I have to give up control of many things to be saved? No. One believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior, and you know what happens? God, through the Holy Spirit, begins to identify areas of his life that must yield to him. And so, when someone says, I don't think I can be a Christian because the problem is that I can't, I can't put all this together, and what can I do if something is missing? It's not about putting everything together, it's about trusting. Yielding is the result. Yielding is the result of trusting your life to God.

Then we'll leave what doesn't fit with what we are. Listen, it's a wonderful decision that we make, but the non-believer says, One moment, I would like to be a Christian, but I don't know if I have to give up this and this. It's not a question of giving up anything to become. God could say, you should leave this because it's the best thing for your life. Well, we don't want to give up control. People reject the message of the gospel. They will undoubtedly continue to live as slaves to sin, blinded by sin. They continually live apart from God. They continually live under the judgment of God. They continually live under the condemnation and the perishing, look, the perishing life of those who have rejected the cross. That's what Paul said. Look at what he said in verse 18. Because the word of the cross heals those who are lost, for those of us who believe in the wisdom of God. We see the message of the cross as wisdom. We see the message of the cross as the power of God that transformed us into life. I will ask you this. If you reject the message of the cross, tell me then, what will you trust when you are before God? You will say, well, I will do what anyone knows. God will judge the good and the bad, right? Listen carefully. If God's judgment were to compare the good with the bad, the cross would have been a terrible mistake. Why would God send his only begotten son into the world to be crucified and have that horrible death, if all I have to do is enough for the good to weigh more than the bad? Listen.

This is the simple truth of the gospel. There is only one way to be acceptable to the eyes of God, and in his wisdom God gave us this method. It is the message of the cross. That Christ died for his sins. And if he receives him as his personal savior by faith, he will forgive his sins and be a son of God forever. What can he do? He cannot overcome God's wisdom. Listen carefully. Listen. Every simple thing he does, beyond believing, is an effort. And what does that do? That leads him to a process of trying to save himself, and it does not work that way. That is why my pride must give in. My control must give in. And I must die to the past and let God change my life the way he wills. If there were another way, I would tell him. If there were another path, I would also tell him. He said, I will be able to rest. This is what Paul said. All who invoke the name of the Lord will be saved. And this is what Christ said. Speaking of his Father, he said, In this way I love God the world, who has given his only begotten Son, that all who believe in him may not be lost,

but may have eternal life. It is a gift without performance. It is a gift of God's love. It is a gift offered to you if you now choose to believe.