Verse of the Day 2/6

1 Corinthians 1:18 (AMP) For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

 

Yesterday we considered how God sent His Son Jesus as Saviour of the world, to offer forgiveness, healing, and restoration.  The message of John 3:16-17 goes forth every day, the question is what do people choose to do with it.  It can be taken as the gospel, "good news" or it can be discounted and rejected as foolishness or as the Amplified Bible puts it, "sheer absurdity".

 

John Piper in "The Wisdom of Men and the Power of God" points out the underlying cause of the rejection.  "There are two possible responses to the death of Christ for our sin: we can regard it as foolish and so maintain our self-sufficiency and pride, or we can regard it as wisdom and die with Christ. There is only one way that leads to life."—

 

The old hymn "At Calvary" sums up what can happen when we surrender our pride and turn to Jesus. 

1. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
   Caring not my Lord was crucified,
   Knowing not it was for me He died
   On Calvary.
   • Refrain:
     Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
     Pardon there was multiplied to me;
     There my burdened soul found liberty
     At Calvary.
2. By God's Word at last my sin I learned;
   Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned,
   Till my guilty soul imploring turned
   To Calvary.

 

May we put away our vanity and pride and experience God's mercy, grace, liberty and His power today.

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

1 Corinthians 1:18-19New Living Translation (NLT) The Wisdom of God

 ¹⁸ The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. ¹⁹ As the Scriptures say,

   "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise 
      and discard the intelligence of the intelligent."