#34.

The Lord's Supper Proclaims a Message that is Foolishness to the World

but Power to Those Being Saved
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to
us who are being saved it is the power of God.
We have seen that each time we approach the Table, it tells us how sinful sin is, that it could
result in such a death being met by One so pure and holy as Jesus. It tells us how sinful we are,
since we are the ones whose sin required the death of Jesus if we were ever to be saved. It tells
us that we could never save ourselves, because God would not put His Son through such agony
and torment if salvation was already within our grasp. In short, it tells us of the Creator's great
love for His creatures, who were His enemies by nature when He came to save them. It tells us
how the eternal Son of God, though fully God Himself, emptied Himself by taking human flesh,
lived a perfect life of obedience to God in the place of His people and then died the death and
suffered the hell that their sins had deserved, so that He might save them.
In our text, Paul tells us that our reaction to this message of salvation through the cross is a great
indicator of whether we are truly saved or not. If we are not believers, then the idea that we are
sinners will be offensive to us, and the offense will increase as we are told that we are helpless to
do anything in the process of our salvation. We will see no need of a Savior like the Biblical
Jesus and we will dismiss the message as nonsense, and those who follow it, we will see as
fanatics and enthusiasts. We will think they must have a few screws loose to believe such a
message, and we will consider ourselves wise and enlightened in comparison. In other words,
this whole message of the cross will be foolishness to us. Is this your position?
However, if we are believers, God by His Holy Spirit will have shown us our wickedness, our
depravity and how richly we have deserved the condemnation of God for our sinful thoughts,
words and deeds that come from the corruption in our nature. We will understand that we are so
in bondage to sin that we cannot hope to do anything to save ourselves - if we are to be saved at
all, Jesus must do it all from beginning to end. We will see that it was our sins that nailed Jesus
to the cross and that His agony there was caused by our wickedness. We will see that in our place
He lived in perfect obedience to God, and in our place He endured on the cross the hell that we
deserved. Had He not done this, we will acknowledge that we would have been lost for all
eternity and rightly so. For us, this is a message of power to save, of the only way of salvation. It
is the best news we ever heard or ever will hear! Does this describe your reaction to this
message?
As you are present for the Lord's Table, where this word of the cross is proclaimed in the bread
and the wine, how do you react? Is the message foolishness, or is it power to save? Is it the only
way to be saved, or do you think it is one among many (in which case the cross is utter
foolishness because it was basically unnecessary)? Is it really a complete salvation to which you
can add nothing, or is it some grand gesture that is supposed to inspire you to live a better life (in
which case it is foolishness because unless it deals with your sinful heart, you can never live a
better life)? You will be able to discern from your reaction to these things at least some signs of
whether you possess eternal life or not.

If you see the message of the cross as being essentially foolish, Paul wants you to know that if
that doesn't change, you will certainly perish - indeed, you are already perishing. However, your
sin of unbelief will guarantee for you an eternal death of indescribable misery that you could
have avoided. We would encourage you not to take the bread and the wine at the Table as long
as this is your condition, because you will certainly increase your condemnation in doing so.
Christians on the other hand, embrace your Savior as He is portrayed at the Table and praise God
for the "the word of the cross" - His power to save all who believe on Jesus!
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