“For after that in the wisdom…………But we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;……………and the
wisdom of God.” – 1 Corinthians : 21-24
Paul preached Christ crucified because only a realization of a crucified
Christ will truly save a lost sinner.
Jesus didn’t die to offer the proverbial blanket for all man’s desire to
committee sin; he in fact died for just the opposite. He “condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). A crucified and risen Christ brings about
something that man never had before, a choice……..affirm or deny.
Sin is a willful transgression
against God. If you bust a through a car
window, unlock the door, cross some wires, and drive off with a car that is not
your own….guess what, you’re a thief. If
you murder you’re a murder, if you cheat on your wife/husband you’re an adulterer;
get drunk, you’re a drunkard. When you
disobey God willfully, that is knowingly….then you are a sinner. There are two types of people in this world:
those who are sinners, and those who were sinners; and the only reason there is
a “were” in that sentence is because of Jesus Christ. Jesus was beaten, mocked, and hung on a
cross; not for his own transgressions but for yours. Furthermore, he didn’t come out of the grave
so that we might “continue in sin that grace may abound.” He was resurrected so that we might be resurrected. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I
just believe that Jesus wanted us to have so much more than: Sin and
Repent. Sin and Repent. Sin and Repent. Defeat, defeat, defeat, always feeling like
you let God down, feeling close to him a one time, and then farther than ever
before; never any stability, never any peace.
Raise your hand if you ever prayed:
“God I am sorry, and I will never do it again.” (only to do that very thing shortly thereafter) Or “bless me Father for I have sinned.” I believe he wanted us to have VICTORY,
because he brought Victory. I believe he
wanted us to have the relationship with God that he had with God. I believe this, because it says so in the 17th
chapter of John. Satan tells me every
time I sit down at this keyboard; “why on earth do you even bother?” Because, one day, maybe not today, maybe not
tomorrow, but one day, I pray that someone, somewhere will read this and find
VICTORY! Someone will read and find: victory
over sin, victory over death, victory over this world below. I pray and hope that they will find Jesus! They will find and understand that this
victory is attainable on this side of eternity.
This is the reason that we can NEVER stop preaching Jesus Christ and him
crucified, because if you want to find complete victory and perfect peace; you
must first find your cross. You must
first die out to all that you want to do, wish to do, and will to do. You must give God everything. You must be “crucified with Christ.” This is the cross, this is the way of a
Christian.
Now you, we, have a choice, do we
affirm or deny? Do you affirm that Jesus
has the power to give you the ability to keep from committing a willful
transgression? Do you affirm that he
died for something more than just a blanket for your bent to sin? Do you affirm that he can give you the
blessing of the Holy Spirit, that will abide in the uttermost part of your
soul, and invade every fabric of your life, until all you want is what God
wants?.......Do you affirm or deny?
please respond to pgcollins65@gmail.com with questions, comments, thoughts, etc.
