The Love One Another Podcast | Episode 05 - Christ Crucified, Not Human Wisdom

This is the Love One Another podcast from Beach Point Church.

Together we're exploring the first letter to the Corinthians with the hope that we'll be formed by the way of the cross and the love of the one who bore it.

Admitting, as this letter says, that we are nothing without love.

Love, empowered by the Spirit through the work of Jesus, is an unstoppable force.

It invites each of us to join God in the work of redeeming all things back to God.

With that in mind, let's open our hearts to God's Word today.

1 Corinthians 2, 1-5 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters, When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I came to you in weakness, with great fear and trembling.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." Chances are you own something with a cross on it.

Maybe it's a necklace, a wall decoration, or even a tattoo.

It's meaningful and beautiful, a symbol that tells your story of faith and points to the one who changed your life.

There's a story of someone shopping for a cross necklace who was asked, do you want it plain or with a tiny little man on it?

Now, it's an awkward question that can make us chuckle or cringe, but it also reveals how easily the cross can be misunderstood.

In the first century city of Corinth, the idea of wearing a cross would have been unthinkable.

The cross was not symbolic or sentimental.

It was a symbol of terror and shame.

Crucifixion was the Roman Empire's most degrading and violent form of execution, used to humiliate slaves, rebels, and the worst criminals.

It was designed not just to kill, but to disgrace.

The Roman philosopher Cicero once wrote, the very word cross should be removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen, but from his thoughts, his eyes, and his ears.

To the people of Corinth who prided themselves on honor, success, and eloquence, the cross represented everything they rejected.

It was weakness, failure, and humiliation.

And yet Paul made it the centerpiece of his message.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2.2 To Paul, the cross was not something to downplay or decorate.

It was the very heart of the gospel.

In a city obsessed with upper mobility and public recognition, Paul preached a crucified Messiah, one who embraced humility, suffering, and sacrificial love.

He knew this message would offend, but he also knew it was the only message that could transform.

Paul didn't just believe in the cross, he was shaped by it.

The scholar Michael Gorman used the word cruciform to describe this kind of life, one shaped by the cross.

Paul wanted the Corinthian church to reflect the same pattern.

Instead of status-seeking and self-promotion, he called them to humility, unity, and love.

The cross wasn't something you wore to express your beliefs.

It was something that formed your beliefs, your identity, and your way of life.

That calling still holds true today.

In a culture that often chases recognition, comfort and control, the way of the cross calls us to something deeper.

It invites us to lay down our rights for the sake of others.

It forms us into people who forgive, who serve, who love when it's hard.

The cross shapes us into disciples who look like Jesus.

So ask yourself, is the cross shaping more than just what you wear?

Is it forming how you live, love, and lead?

When I think of living a cross-shaped life or cruciformed life, I think about the practical things.

Am I living a cross-shaped life as a husband and father?

What about my friendships and my social engagements?

Does living a cross-shaped life influence how I entertain myself and what kind of person I am on the hockey rink?

But perhaps most of all, I began to think especially about the parts of my life that nobody sees.

Is the cross shaping my inner thoughts and desires?

Is it calling out the parts of me that need to change for my good?

And is it calling me to a higher way of life for the good of others?

Are we willing to surrender our status, our preferences, and our rights for the sake of others and the will of God?

The cross-shaped life calls us to these very things.

The cross was offensive to the world then, and in many ways it still is.

But when we allow it to become the lens through which we see our lives, it changes everything.

And so let's pray together.

Jesus, may your cross not only be our symbol but our story.

Shape our lives to look like yours, self-giving, servant-hearted, and surrendered to the Father's will.

Form in us a community that lives in the shape of your cross.

Amen.

Thank you for taking intentional time to align yourself with God's love and the call to love one another.

You can find the Love One Another sermon series and other resources at beachpoint.com slash messages or on the Beach Point Church app.

May you carry the love of God into every encounter you have today.