“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #6
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).
We will have more to say about this glorious truth in the comments on the verses following, but let’s begin with a few observations about the core of this glorious truth.
First, it is not a sign of modern enlightenment for us to discover that “the preaching of the cross” is foolishness to the modern man. It is not foolishness to the new modern man; it is actually foolishness to the old man. When people say that preaching the death of Christ is outmoded, they are pretending that there was once a time, back in the day, when it wasn’t. But preaching the cross has always been unfashionable. All attempts to make the death of Jesus relevant to death’s understanding of life are bound to fail. The only way to make the cross relevant to our old man is to nail that old man to it—which can only be successfully done when the cross is already occupied by our substitute. No sinner was ever saved by an empty cross—an empty tomb, yes, but not an empty cross.
Second, it is foolishness to those who perish. The only way out is for this perishing to perish, for this death to die. This is gospel; this is what gospel does. This is its power and authority.
Third, this gospel is incomprehensible to those who need it. This means that in order for anyone to be converted, the efficacy must come from God alone. Sinners recoil from the only thing that can save them—and they have to be saved from that recoil first.
And so last, this passage shows us the absolute necessity of the new birth. There are ultimately two kinds of people in the world—those to whom the cross was foolishness and those to whom it is the power of God. This distinction, at the end of the day, trumps all others.