With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord. I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save Him from those who condemn his soul to death. ( Verses 30-31)
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart."
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the writer? 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. 1 Corinthians 1
I watched with much of America last night as ninety-five-year-old Billy Graham spoke once again unashamedly--boldly--about the cross of Christ. Rock stars wear it, diamond-encrusted and bawdy, hanging from their necks. Churches are adorned with crosses on steeples and in sanctuaries all over the world. For some, it's merely a bauble--a symbol of peace and love. Remembering the good man who was treated ill and still forgave his enemies as he gazed down on lesser men from his sacred vantage point. Others see it derisively. A foolish belief in a silly story. Gods don't mix with men then die. On a wooden cross. Between two thieves. Crazy.
Tears filled my eyes--fill them again now--at Dr. Graham's first mention of the word. If the cross on which Jesus died is merely a symbol, what is the explanation for generations of people flocking toward the front of auditoriums, stadiums, theaters and arenas across the world in order to give their lives to Christ when Billy Graham preached simply the cross? To then be changed forever. It's not the cross, of course. It's Who was on it. What it was about. Why Jesus cried out, "It is finished!"
In the days before His triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the feast days culminating in Passover, Jesus visited Bethany and brought His dear friend Lazarus back from the dead. Four days he'd been in the tomb. When Lazarus appeared, he was still bound in his grave clothes, wound tightly like a mummy. The crowds gathered there gasped! The Pharisees convulsed. It was the defining miracle of Jesus's ministry. It was the last straw for his enemies. They plotted His death thereafter.
But the throngs of people in Jerusalem for the feast days were anticipating the coming of Jesus. Still marveling at the miracle of Lazarus. Never had one dead so long been raised. Surely Jesus is the King! Messiah finally come! So on the back of a donkey He rode into their streets as they screamed, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"
"The whole world's gone crazy for this man!" said the Pharisees among themselves. What to do?
In the midst of the pressing crowd later that day, Jesus struggled with what He knew He was going to face in the hours ahead. "I'm troubled," He told the disciples. "But what shall I say, that I'm not going to do this thing. Call out to my Father to save me from this?"
Confused, the disciples simply walked in the way with him through the streets of the city. Suddenly Jesus stopped and looked up. "Father, glorify Your name." Not a shout. The normal outcropping of His inner prayer life. But God answered Him. "I have. And I will glorify it again." Deep answering to deep. And there was loud, crashing thunder in the middle of a clear, blue day. "An angel has spoken to Him." The sense the crowd had.
"This voice hasn't come for My sake, but for yours. Now krisis is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast down!" Krisis: crisis, judgment, damnation, condemnation. Jesus said, "The world is at its crisis point. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
John 12
And so by the end of the week, the answer to the crisis of creation came in the form of a hero who once and for all did battle with evil. Lest we think there is no demonic influence in our world, we must look around. Marvel at the addictions that wrap themselves around our hearts and minds. Prisons that don't make sense. We are fettered to concoctions and relationships. We are bound by our desires and are pulled by the hair of our spiritual heads into death. That is what Jesus could see. The snake in the garden who took over the world. The One Who was to crush the enemy as promised from the very first headlong tumble into sin in Eden must free us from his hold. No armor. No jet black stallions and fair maidens. No shouting "Freedom!" from the midst of battle. No need for another to die to bring justice. Lifted up for all to see, shamed with our shame, derided unfairly, Jesus knew as He hung between two crooks that this was the only way to win us back. And we don't love Him for His bravado. For the curly locks and cocky swagger of the usual super hero. We love Jesus and the cross because it is His glory. It is the weightiness of His coming to earth. It is the cross that crushed our dependency on self, broke all the agreements we'd made with the evil one, exposed all the lies we foolishly believed and set us free to really know our God! If that is foolishness, then I'm a fool. But one changed by the exaltation of Christ in the victory that was His death. Transformed by a new mind poured into me by the Holy Spirit sent from God to women and men who believe the foolishness of the cross.
With the psalmist I cry out! Open my mouth and sing at the top of my lungs! Thank you! My Jesus!Who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God! Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them! Hebrews 7 (Italics, mine)
There is, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 12
The cross, the cross, the wonderful cross.
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart."
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the writer? 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. 1 Corinthians 1
I watched with much of America last night as ninety-five-year-old Billy Graham spoke once again unashamedly--boldly--about the cross of Christ. Rock stars wear it, diamond-encrusted and bawdy, hanging from their necks. Churches are adorned with crosses on steeples and in sanctuaries all over the world. For some, it's merely a bauble--a symbol of peace and love. Remembering the good man who was treated ill and still forgave his enemies as he gazed down on lesser men from his sacred vantage point. Others see it derisively. A foolish belief in a silly story. Gods don't mix with men then die. On a wooden cross. Between two thieves. Crazy.
Tears filled my eyes--fill them again now--at Dr. Graham's first mention of the word. If the cross on which Jesus died is merely a symbol, what is the explanation for generations of people flocking toward the front of auditoriums, stadiums, theaters and arenas across the world in order to give their lives to Christ when Billy Graham preached simply the cross? To then be changed forever. It's not the cross, of course. It's Who was on it. What it was about. Why Jesus cried out, "It is finished!"
In the days before His triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the feast days culminating in Passover, Jesus visited Bethany and brought His dear friend Lazarus back from the dead. Four days he'd been in the tomb. When Lazarus appeared, he was still bound in his grave clothes, wound tightly like a mummy. The crowds gathered there gasped! The Pharisees convulsed. It was the defining miracle of Jesus's ministry. It was the last straw for his enemies. They plotted His death thereafter.
But the throngs of people in Jerusalem for the feast days were anticipating the coming of Jesus. Still marveling at the miracle of Lazarus. Never had one dead so long been raised. Surely Jesus is the King! Messiah finally come! So on the back of a donkey He rode into their streets as they screamed, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"
"The whole world's gone crazy for this man!" said the Pharisees among themselves. What to do?
In the midst of the pressing crowd later that day, Jesus struggled with what He knew He was going to face in the hours ahead. "I'm troubled," He told the disciples. "But what shall I say, that I'm not going to do this thing. Call out to my Father to save me from this?"
Confused, the disciples simply walked in the way with him through the streets of the city. Suddenly Jesus stopped and looked up. "Father, glorify Your name." Not a shout. The normal outcropping of His inner prayer life. But God answered Him. "I have. And I will glorify it again." Deep answering to deep. And there was loud, crashing thunder in the middle of a clear, blue day. "An angel has spoken to Him." The sense the crowd had.
"This voice hasn't come for My sake, but for yours. Now krisis is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast down!" Krisis: crisis, judgment, damnation, condemnation. Jesus said, "The world is at its crisis point. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
John 12
And so by the end of the week, the answer to the crisis of creation came in the form of a hero who once and for all did battle with evil. Lest we think there is no demonic influence in our world, we must look around. Marvel at the addictions that wrap themselves around our hearts and minds. Prisons that don't make sense. We are fettered to concoctions and relationships. We are bound by our desires and are pulled by the hair of our spiritual heads into death. That is what Jesus could see. The snake in the garden who took over the world. The One Who was to crush the enemy as promised from the very first headlong tumble into sin in Eden must free us from his hold. No armor. No jet black stallions and fair maidens. No shouting "Freedom!" from the midst of battle. No need for another to die to bring justice. Lifted up for all to see, shamed with our shame, derided unfairly, Jesus knew as He hung between two crooks that this was the only way to win us back. And we don't love Him for His bravado. For the curly locks and cocky swagger of the usual super hero. We love Jesus and the cross because it is His glory. It is the weightiness of His coming to earth. It is the cross that crushed our dependency on self, broke all the agreements we'd made with the evil one, exposed all the lies we foolishly believed and set us free to really know our God! If that is foolishness, then I'm a fool. But one changed by the exaltation of Christ in the victory that was His death. Transformed by a new mind poured into me by the Holy Spirit sent from God to women and men who believe the foolishness of the cross.
With the psalmist I cry out! Open my mouth and sing at the top of my lungs! Thank you! My Jesus!Who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God! Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them! Hebrews 7 (Italics, mine)
There is, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 12
The cross, the cross, the wonderful cross.
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