Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional "The Message of the Cross" Wednesday, 2 April 2014 - Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional "The Message of the Cross" Wednesday, 2 April 2014 - Read 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”[a]
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. 22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
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.--1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)
I love crosses. I wear one on a necklace around my neck at all times. I have many crosses in my home that I have brought back from mission trips and travels to other countries. They remind me of where I’ve been and the people who made them. But beyond that, I wonder, What message are we sending when we wear a cross or display one in our home? As a Roman instrument of capital punishment, a cross was where Jesus and many others died. But Jesus was removed from a cross and rose from death in the resurrection. For Christians, the cross is not the end of the story. It’s the place where heaven and earth met in one momentous event that changed the world. During Lent, we sing lots of hymns about the cross. And at Easter, we raise our alleluias to the empty cross that reminds us that Jesus is not dead but rose again. The message of the cross is as simple and as complex as that: Because Jesus lives even now, we have the hope of eternal life in heaven.
The Author: Regina Reeves (Pennsylvania, USA)
Thought for the Day: When I look at a cross, what do I see?
Prayer: Almighty God, our Rock and our Redeemer, we give you thanks for the mystery of the cross. Because Christ is risen, we look forward to eternal life with you. Alleluia! Amen.
Prayer focus: Travelers (Visit devotional.Upperroom.Org/blog for more content.)
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