Offense of the cross
Galatians 5:11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being
persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 70% of
households in the United States
Now
imagine that a wealthy person came along and wrote you a check to wipe out that
entire debt. No strings attached. They understand your plight, and they just
really want you to be completely debt free so you don’t have the burden of debt
weighing you down. All you need to do is
cash that check. Would you do it? Or would you be offended that someone would
have the nerve to think that you couldn’t do it on your own?
You
might think: Who wouldn’t take it? And
yet isn’t that precisely what people do every day in rejecting the cross of
Christ? Jesus’ cross represents the fact
that he willingly went the distance for you and me, and all people to cancel
out the debt of our sin. And yet, so
many are offended by the notion that they need that kind of help to begin
with.
Let’s
start with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Do
you know that they are deeply offended by our use of the cross? In fact, when new converts are brought in,
they are expected to destroy any crosses that they may have. Their reasoning is that Jesus did not die on
a cross, but on a torture stake. They say that the word in Greek that we
translate ‘cross’ originally means stake or pole. However, Scripture and history make it very
clear that Jesus was not simply crucified on a pole, but on a pole with a cross
piece. The cross that we see on display
all over our church and our homes and the jewelry we wear.
But
the offence the Jehovah’s Witnesses take at the thought of the cross, is much deeper
than what the cross itself looked like. The
fact that they argue that the cross is a pagan symbol should give you an idea
of the reason of their hatred for it.
Coming into a church with a cross prominently displayed is to them like
stepping into the house of the devil.
You
see, to them it is what the cross represents that bothers them. Even though they may try to portray
themselves as Christians, they are offended by the fact that our Almighty God
would have to come down in the form of a human being in order to rescue
us.
There
are literally billions who are offended at the cross for the same reason. Why do I need any help? I can help myself! That is really the religion of the world no
matter what form it may come in, such as: Mormonism, Islam, Humanism, Darwinism,
New Age thinking, Atheism, pantheism, postmodernism, or moral relativism.
Virtually
everywhere we turn, we are faced with this attitude of offense at the cross of
Christ. The attempt is made to silence
Christians. To make us irrelevant in the
world. You can think virtually any way you want, but just don’t tell us that
we need God to die on a cross for us, is the voice of many in our
world.
Unfortunately,
that way of thinking is increasing. Why? Why do people have such a problem with God
intervening in order to save us? Let’s
hear it directly from the words of Richard Dawkins who is a renowned scientist
and atheist. He is the author of many
books including “The God Delusion.” In a
creation vs. evolution debate with a Roman Catholic cardinal, Mr. Dawkins said
this: “The fundamental idea of New Testament
Christianity which is that Jesus is the Son of God who is redeeming humanity
from original sin; the idea that we are born in sin and the only way we can be
redeemed from sin is through the death of Jesus. I mean that’s a horrible idea. It’s a horrible idea that God, this paragon
of wisdom, and knowledge, power couldn’t think of a better way to forgive us
our sins than to come down to earth in his alter ego as his Son and have
himself hideously tortured and executed.”
Do you see the reason he is so upset
with the cross? In telling us that
Christ died for us, we are forced to admit our utter sinfulness. We are forced to admit, that we are corrupt
by nature. That the sin we have is like
a disease that has been passed down through Adam and Eve, through all our
ancestors, through our parents and down to us.
We are forced to admit, that we have no choice in the matter when we are
born. We are going to act out on our
sinful nature. We are going to do things
that offend God, and that offend people.
Finally, in admitting this, we are also acknowledging that we have a
condition that is so bad that we cannot do anything about it ourselves. In fact, if left to ourselves, we must come
to the understanding that we are headed toward condemnation; toward eternal
destruction.
Let’s be real about it. None of us enjoys confessing who we truly
are. It hurts to admit it. It’s difficult to come to grips with the fact
that I am sinful through and through, and powerless to overcome it.
In fact, it is against our very nature
to think that we have to rely on someone else to make our situation right. The Apostle Paul was writing to the Galatian
Christians about people who had such a hard time giving up the idea of
work-righteousness, that they still clung to it and were influencing people in
the church. The group he warned about
were the Judaizers. These people taught
that you could not rely on Christ’s cross alone, but you also need to continue
to follow the rules and regulation of the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law was in place to point to
Christ, not to save those who followed it.
But these Judaizers were such a big influence that Paul spent a good
deal of time patiently warning about their influence.
The Judaizers even went to the extent
of trying to rope Paul into the discussions to prove their point. They apparently told the people that even Paul continues to promote the Old
Testament Mosaic Law. Paul in his
writings, including Galatians, clearly teaches that it is the cross of Christ
alone that saves. That you and I can do nothing to contribute to that.
The idea of work righteousness, that
somehow the cross isn’t enough and that we must do our part, is alive and well
in the church today. It may not come in
the same form as the Judaizers, but it still is there either blatantly obvious
or more subtle. Trust in Jesus, be good, and you will be saved, is what many preach
and subscribe to.
How about you? Are you offended by the cross? Think about how you react when someone
confronts you with something you have done.
What gives that person the right? Think about how you might try to justify your
bad behavior by trying to minimize what you have done. What’s
the big deal! Think about how you
calm your own conscience when you haven’t done something you know you know God
wants you to do. I’m not the only one who failed to do it.
Yes, whether we like to admit it or
not, the offense of the cross is found in our hearts as well. The
way to overcome the offense of the cross is to once again be honest with
ourselves as we look at ourselves. We are the offenders! We are the ones who have hurt God. We are the ones to need help. We need rescue. The cross brings us to this reality. We are helpless to overcome our
offenses. Instead, we rely on that same
cross of Christ to bring us what we need the most: a wiping out of the debt of
our sins and life everlasting. In a
world so easily offended by so many things, lift high the cross of Jesus Christ
and proclaim his love! Amen.
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