THE ONE MESSAGE OF GOD’S HEART

In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul described his desire to teach only ONE thing:

CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.

When Christ cried, “It is finished!” He was calling an end to our self-efforts for entering and living the Christian life. We can now rest in Him and His completed work of the cross. So the message of the cross is not just the death of Christ, it includes His resurrection and ascension. And it includes the crucifixion with Christ of a person’s old identity and the resurrection to a new identity in Christ. Without knowing and relying on Christ’s completed work, a Christian can try doing better apart from Christ.

In Galatians 6:14, Paul said there was only ONE thing he delighted in:

THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Paul goes on in this verse to describe the cross as the way a person is freed from this world’s ways of self-effort.

In Galatians 6:15, Paul said that because of the cross, there is only ONE thing that matters:

not just forgiveness, but being A NEW CREATION.

In Philippians 3:8-10, Paul summarized his ONE passion:

TO KNOW CHRIST AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION.

The only foundation is Christ Himself, a new identity in Him, and His indwelling life – all because of the cross.

The message of the cross is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)!

© 2003 Gregg Gibbons