The Logos of The Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 ESV

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to 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.”

Jesus Christ, God the Son, is the Logos, the Word of the cross, as well as is his gospel message to us. Yet, He and his message are foolishness to those who are perishing, but also to many who think they are saved, too.

So, what about Jesus and his gospel message is foolishness to those who are dying in their sins – even to many who think they have eternal life with God? Truly it is that Jesus died on that cross to put sin to death in our lives so that we might live in him to his holiness and righteousness.

And, this is why so many of Jesus’ followers, when he walked this earth, deserted him, never to return again, because they said his message was “too hard.” And, what they considered “too hard” was that Jesus required that they die with him to sin in order that they might live with him to righteousness, if they wanted to have eternal life with him, i.e. with God.

And, this is why so many people today have altered the gospel to make it more acceptable to humans and to their way of thinking. Thus, they have reduced the gospel to nothing more than forgiveness of sins and their ticket into heaven, but absent of the cross of Christ in their lives.

But, God will destroy the “wisdom” of those who think they are wise in their own minds, and who think they can outsmart God. He will do all that he said he would do in his Word. No matter how much humans do to twist the gospel message to their own advantage, they will not win in the end. For, we will all reap what we sow (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).

For, words are just words if they are not followed up with action. True faith in Jesus dies to sin and lives to righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23), not in absolute sinless perfection, but as a matter of course (practice, lifestyle). And, this is because true faith in Jesus is of God, it is a gift of God, and it is divinely persuaded by God, and thus it submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

So, don’t be fooled by the lies. Believe the truth, the whole truth!

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ESV

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Human logic, and what we might consider common sense may not jive with God’s wisdom and direction. As human beings, we tend to think more with the flesh, to what seems to make sense to us. And, so, many people try to apply this human logic and reasoning to what is spiritual, and that doesn’t usually work. They try to intellectualize faith, and that doesn’t work, either.

For, we have to come to Jesus Christ with the simplicity of little children, not in childishness, but in sincerity of faith, willing to believe what God’s Word says, and to do what it says, by faith, whether the world approves or not.

An Example

For example, speaking here from personal experience, I graduated high school with a 1.4 GPA (a D- average). I had no confidence at all in my intellectual capabilities. I was a very slow reader, and had really low reading comprehension levels. I think I began college reading on a 4^th grade level, and with help, did get up to a 7^th grade reading level.

Prophecy of scripture and anything having to do with End Times just didn’t stick with me. I just didn’t get it no matter how many times I studied it. I didn’t follow politics, either, because I was convinced I could not understand it. I didn’t read much at all, in fact, because I had such difficulty understanding what I read. But, I did believe God’s Word, what I understood of it, and in all sincerity I wanted to do what it said.

Eventually, when I was in my 50’s, the Lord taught me that I could learn anything he wanted me to learn in his power and strength, and that I didn’t need to fear learning things over my head. But, I was totally dependent on the Lord to teach me, not on my flesh. I knew I couldn’t, but that he could!

And, that has turned out to be a blessing in my life, because the Lord is able to teach me his wisdom, and he doesn’t have to cut through a bunch of intellectual knowledge stored up in my mind that might try to block his wisdom from being accepted in my mind and in my heart. I am able to receive what he teaches me with childlike faith, believing what he teaches me, by his Spirit, because I know it is him teaching it to me, because I know his voice, and because it is consistent with scripture.

When I write each day, it is totally under the direction of the Spirit of God. I don’t choose the scriptures or the subject matter or the songs, etc. The Lord chooses, and I just write what he teaches me. And, he teaches me far beyond my human ability to comprehend so much, too. And, he teaches me subject matters I would never consider approaching in the flesh, too.

But, God chose me, and he called me to this ministry, not because of my own ability, or because of my own skills or intellect, but because in his providence he decided to choose a woman, and an old woman, at that, who is not wise in the ways of the world, to share his messages. And, so he gets all the glory, not me, because I know where this all comes from, and it is not from me, from my flesh, but from God who teaches me in his Spirit.

Be Encouraged

So, if you are feeling inadequate, lowly, ill-equipped, lacking in intelligence or talent or giftedness, God is not limited by that. In fact, that is when he can truly work through us, because we realize we can’t, but that he can. And, thus we don’t fight against him with our own intellect and reasoning, resisting his Spirit because we have decided in our own minds what is truth, when we might be totally wrong.

So, just know that God can use you, and he wants to use you if you are submissive to him and you are willing to learn from him and to do what he says to do and to say what he says to say. Of course, we must be discerning of spirits, and test the spirits to make certain they are of God, though, and we should not believe every voice which whispers into our ears.

And, we must test what we hear against the written Word of God to make certain that what we are hearing is consistent with scripture and that we are not being led astray. For, there are many spirits out there trying to persuade us this way or that, and so we need to be in the Word of God, checking things out against his Word, and not live in ignorance, believing everything that passes itself off as from God, when it may not be.

So, just saying as a word of caution here that, although we need to be led of the Spirit and not by our own thinking and reasoning, we do need to know what the Word teaches so that we are not tossed here and there by every wind of teaching which says it is from God. But, we need to let the Spirit lead us into all truth, and we need to not block the Spirit’s voice via our own intellectual knowledge that hinders us from hearing his voice.

For, we may have learned some things wrong, you know. We all had different upbringings, and we all had things drilled into us from early on, and we tend to believe those early messages and hold on to them tightly, but we need to be willing to reevaluate some of them if the Lord is showing us that what we learned was not right, but again, test it all against God’s Word.

It is just so important that, as followers of Jesus, that our lives are fully surrendered to our Lord, and that we are letting him lead us and to teach us and that we are not going our own way or following our own path of reasoning or traditions that were handed down to us. We all need to have childlike faith that listens to the Lord and that follows him wherever he leads us, and that does what he leads us to do.

The Lord’s Anointed 

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear,

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior,

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness,

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations.

https://vimeo.com/114836524

Wednesday, April 17, 2019