Title: The Great Power of the Cross
Contents
The great power of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
The cross is a symbol of Christianity. There is a cross in the temple, and the cross has a close relationship with Christians, as the saints wear cross necklaces. The cross is a symbol of salvation and God's love for us. That is why we love and revere the cross. Jesus saved us sinners by dying on the cross.
Man can only be changed through the cross. From a mortal body to a living body, from sin to the righteous, from slave to son, the people of this world change into the people of the kingdom of heaven. The grace of the cross has great transforming power. Even today, God changes people through the grace of the cross.
First, the cross changed our way of thinking about God.
After the fall, man was judged by God and expelled from Eden. Therefore, the God seen through the Old Testament was a God of law, a God of justice, a terrible God, a God of judgment, and a majestic God. God made the law, and when humans broke the law, He judged them thoroughly.
That is why those who have sinned fear and tremble before the law. Throughout the history of the Bible, God has thoroughly judged the nation and nation that have sinned, and even Israel that has sinned. Because of this, the God we know through the Old Testament times is known as a terrible God.
But as God, Jesus Christ, came to this earth, torn His body on the cross, shed His blood, and rose from the dead on the cross for us as sinners, rose from the dead on the third day, and sat down at the right hand of God to pray for us. of thinking has changed.
Through the salvation of Jesus Christ on the cross, people came to understand that He is a just God and a God of love and salvation. That was the history of the cross. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we were moved to learn that people can be saved just by believing.
Therefore, people came to know God through the grace of the cross. I learned that God is a God who gives grace and forgiveness rather than a God who is angry and judges.
Second, the cross changed us as humans.
Next, the cross of Jesus completely changed us as human beings. Ever since our ancestors Adam and Eve sinned and turned away from God, mankind has become enemies with God through original sin and self-crime, and has walked in a path that God does not want. But through the cross of Jesus Christ, we have been forgiven righteous people.
Through the cross, we are transformed from enmity with God to reconciliation. Before the cross, God and man were enemies. But through the cross of Jesus Christ, the wall between us and our enemies is broken down, so God's wrath disappears and reconciliation is established between God and man. it has been Hallelujah!
It is because of the great power of the cross of Jesus Christ that we, who were enemies, became God's own children and were able to call God Abba Father.
And that's not all. Before going through the cross, we were sick, weary, and weary humans. We were sick in spirit, sick in mind, sick in body and in life. Human beings cast out by God are themselves sick humans, but through the cross of Jesus Christ, the Lord gave us the power to heal, and we became healed and healthy humans.
The Bible says, "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses" (Matthew 8:17) and "By his wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
Through the cross of Jesus Christ, we became people who were healed in spirit, mind, body and life. Outside the cross we were sick people, but in the cross we can receive the grace of healing.
Also, when we were outside the cross, we were in a curse. Since Adam, the earth has been cursed and brought forth thorns and thistles, and thorns and thistles of hatred, resentment, envy, anger and jealousy. Because of this, people hated, envied, jealous, and confronted each other. In spite of the circumstances, many curses have left people naked, hungry, frustrated and disappointed.
Not only that. We can overcome death through the cross. The soul who has sinned has no choice but to die (Ezekiel 18:20). All who have sinned have eternal perdition outside the cross. The soul dies and the body dies too. And later they will partake of the lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone. But in the cross of Jesus Christ, we have only become people who live forever. Hallelujah!
We are justified in the cross, we have eternal life, we have received the Holy Spirit, and we have become citizens of the kingdom of heaven. That is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come." Through the cross we are made new.
We cannot experience this kind of work without going through the cross. The only way we live is to praise, thank, and depend on our Lord Jesus Christ, who changed and saved us through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Third, the cross neutralized the work of the devil.
The cross also neutralizes the work of the devil. The devil, who was cast out trying to take over the throne of God, seized the power of the air and prevented the expansion of the kingdom of heaven, stealing, killing, and destroying humans.
Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
Jesus compared the devil to a thief. Even today, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
And when given the opportunity, they try to bite, tear, and destroy us spiritually, mentally, physically, physically, and environmentally. But before the cross, humans were slaves of the devil. Beginning with the fall of Adam, the king of this earth became the devil. The devil ruled this earth with principality and authority. He claimed to be the king of the world.
But after the cross, a great change took place. The power of the devil was dissolved through the power of the cross. The devil's kingship has collapsed. The king of the world was expelled from his throne.
God could not let the devil who sinned. So, through the cross, God judged the devil and cast him out of the world's rulership.
John 12:31 says, ?쏯ow the judgment of this world has come, and the ruler of this world will be cast out.??When Jesus Christ said 'It is finished' on the cross, the work of the devil was neutralized. The devil's kingship has already collapsed.
The devil has no legitimate right to steal, kill, and destroy our souls and bodies. The devil is now cast out through Jesus Christ.
That is why what the devil fears the most is the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. When you oppose the devil, face it with the words of Jesus Christ and His precious blood. When the devil sees the blood of Christ, he shudders and is cast out.
Also, the devil brought people with various diseases and drove them into despair. But because Jesus Christ has healed our sickness, the weapon of sickness is also disabled.
Acts 10:38 says, ?쏥od anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.??Because Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, destroyed the devil's disease through the Holy Spirit through the body church, the devil's disease is no longer a weapon. Even at this hour today, Jesus came here with the Holy Spirit to destroy the works of the devil. Therefore, all the weapons of the devil will be shattered in the name of Jesus.
The devil also took people captive with the weapon of death. But Jesus Christ came and released all mankind from the oppression of death. Jesus came, died for us, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven, destroying the powers of death and Hades.
The cross changes everything and brings us eternal hope, happiness and victory. Therefore, we must always look to the cross and live by relying on it.
Dear saints, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will stand firm in the truth of the atonement on the cross. Please live proudly only in the message of the cross. There is no salvation except Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who bears the cross. Only the cross of Jesus Christ has the power to change. Let's love the cross. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you live the cross proudly.