The Message of the Cross

Phil Remmers

Part one: the message of the cross; and part two: the power of God. The former describes what God did for us on the cross 2000 years ago. The latter refers to what God does in us when we are regenerated and born again. The first part is God actually securing redemption. The second part is God applying the benefits of redemption to the individual. Every genuine conversion involves both these aspects: what God has done for us and what God does in us.

There are many places throughout the New Testament where Paul addresses the subject of the cross. However, I think one of the fullest explanations is found in 1 Corinthians 5:21. There Paul says that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” From this verse we learn that a transaction took place on the cross—what some call “the Great Transaction.” Although the Son of God lived a holy and perfect life, free from any hint or shade of sin, God the Father placed our sins upon Christ on the cross. One could say that God “piggy-backed” our sin upon Christ. When I was a child my friends and I would go swimming and we would often play a game in the pool called “chicken.” One person would climb on the back of another and two others would do the same. Each pair would then try and knock the other person off the back of the other or knock them off balance. “Piggy-back” refers to the climbing on the back of another. The person underneath bears the full weight of the person on top. To use this term theologically, Christ took upon himself my sin even though he never committed one of them. My sin was “piggy-backed” on Christ.

But this is not the only transaction that took place. God the Father also “piggy-backed” the righteousness of Christ upon those who trusted in Christ. Christ lived in perfect obedience to the law of God in both heart and deed and that perfect obedience or righteousness was imputed to us. Christ did not become righteous by obeying the law. Rather, from eternity he has always been righteous and therefore, he kept the law without the least deviation. So when you look at the life of Christ in the four Gospels and see him living a holy life, you can say, “He did that for me! He fulfilled all the demands of the law for me!” Isn’t that Good News?!

Now it is through this dual transaction that God enables us to have fellowship with Him. Through the cross God both satisfied the demands of His justice and expressed His love and mercy toward us. I describe it in this way: Christ became something that he was not in order that we might become something that we were not. This is the message of the cross. This is the message that Paul and the other apostles carried to every corner of the earth and ultimately gave their lives for. When Paul says that “the message of the cross is the power of God,” he is not adding an additional object for our faith. Our faith rests in the crucified Son of God and in him alone. Rather, he is explaining that our faith is the result of God doing something for us.

We don’t create faith in God through our own power and strength. God does something to us through His power and strength so that faith is created in us. Luke 18:27 says that humanly speaking, saving faith is impossible; but he also said that with God “all things are possible.” As we look at our lives and all that God has done for us we should point our finger up to God and say, “God did it to me!” Thus we can say with apostle Paul, “by the grace of God I am what I am.”

The means by which God accomplishes this is the Word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 says that “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” It is through the public reading and preaching of Scripture that God works among us. Regeneration and sanctification are the result of the Holy Spirit applying God’s truth to the heart. These don’t come by emptying our minds of truth, rather, it is a matter of filling our minds with truth which the Holy Spirit can apply to the heart.

In my view, I believe that a clear and accurate understanding of what the power of God is and how that power from God is related to the cross is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, needs among professing Christians today. There is so much confusion and ignorance regarding the power of God. If one were to ask, “What is the primary way God expresses His power today?” the range of answers would be incredible. Some would say, speaking in tongues; others would say, laughing in the spirit or being slain in the spirit. Among the Roman Catholics some would say, seeing a vision of the virgin Mary. When I was in seminary one professor threw up his hands and said: “Who knows what the power of God is?”

Look carefully at the text: the message of the cross. . . is the power of God. The power of God is expressed by way of the cross in the regeneration and conversion of individuals. An understanding and application of this truth is absolutely critical to the growth of a healthy and vibrant church and the advancement of the Kingdom of God in this world. It was because the first and second century church understood this that they brought the Roman Empire to its knees, despite facing unimaginable opposition and persecution.

This is precisely what Paul was referring to in verse 25. Even the smallest, the tiniest manifestation of God’s wisdom and power is more powerful than the combined effect of all the wisdom and power of men. When we look across the thousands of years of church history, one pattern that emerges is that there are peaks and valleys all throughout. There are periods of a growing, vibrant, and healthy church along with rapid expansion of the faith. There are periods of revival when the church is influencing the world and changing cultures (peaks). Yet there are also periods of decay, backsliding, apostasy, acceptance of false doctrines, wherein the world and culture are influencing the church (valleys).

When you take a closer look at the various “peaks” throughout church history one of the things that you will notice is that each movement is inseparably tied to the rediscovery of the truth that “the message of the cross. . . is the power of God.” Furthermore, during each period of revival the size and strength of the opposition was irrelevant. No matter what power harassed the church, no matter what wisdom or philosophy stood against it; no matter what false teaching opposed it, the church was able to advance in the face of adversity. Look at the Welsh Revival of 1904-05. Over 100,000 people were converted in a six-month time period. During the “Businessmen’s Awakening” in New York City in 1858, 250,000 people were converted in three months. During the First Great Awakening (1734) and the Second Great Awakening (1800) the revivals had such a profound influence on American society that the prison population was drastically reduced, crime nearly vanished, bars and alcoholism were on the decrease, the church grew both in quantity and in quality, and family worship was restored.

Right now I think it is fair to say that in many parts of the world today the church is very weak. You could say that we are in a very deep valley. However, as I look at the Philippines and across the sea to China I am convinced from Scripture and from church history that the gospel can radically transform both cultures. God has done it in the past and if He should so choose, He can do it again. We can go from a valley to a peak; from a period of decay to revival and reformation. It is my prayer that the church of Jesus Christ would once again rediscover the truth that “the message of the cross. . . is the power of God.” The solution to the church’s ineffectiveness today is not found in the latest program, method or curriculum that are thought to be so essential for church growth. Nor is it found in a “silver tongued” preacher with a dynamic personality. The solution is simply the preaching of “the message of the cross” that is honored by the Spirit of God. Our responsibility is simply to proclaim the message and pray that the Holy Spirit would honor the message.