#DailyDevotion What Kind Of God Crucifies His Son?
1 Cor. 118The message of the cross is something foolish to those who perish, but it is God’s power to us who are saved. 19The Bible says: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and defeat the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the Bible scholar? Where is the debater of our time? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Most of us like crosses. Even the world seems to like crosses. They can be so pretty. We see them as jewelry on scores of people many of whom don’t even know Jesus Christ or anything about him. Yet for the ancient world in Jesus’ time the cross was an object of scorn. It was an instrument of death. Only the worst of the worst and lowliest of people were crucified. Those who were not citizens of Rome and were scorned by the people and their rulers were crucified. Jesus was crucified. He was not a citizen of Rome. He was scorned by the leaders and people of his day. Yet what message did Christians proclaim? Jesus Christ crucified.
Why would God crucify his son? It was a message of madness. A God that was crucified? Who would worship a God like that? Yes we proclaim the Lord of Glory was crucified. The Author of life hung upon a cross ordered by Rome. It makes no sense. And then to say that his crucifixion saves us from our sins, well that is foolishness. The Bible says, “Cursed is anyone hung on a tree.” So if Jesus was hung on a cross he was cursed by God. Indeed, Jesus became a curse for us on that tree. The curse of breaking God’s law is death. Jesus suffered our death for us on the tree of the cross. The curse of sin, our sin, was laid upon Jesus Christ on the cross. Eternal death which is our due Jesus took upon himself there on the cross.
“What kind of Father would do that to his son?” we often hear from critics of our faith. What kind of Father indeed! A Father who wanted to spare all his children eternal punishment for their sins. God the Father wanted to save us from the Lake of Fire prepared to torture the rebellious angels. It is where we were headed because of our rebellion. A Father who wanted more children to call his own, whose only way to procure us as those children would be to sacrifice his only begotten son from eternity would do that to his son out of love for us.
Indeed not only the Father loved us but the Son as well for he voluntarily signed up for the job. His great love for us and to make us his people sent him to the cross to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His blood redeemed us and ransomed us from our iniquities, our sins, our trespasses, our guilt and shame, and from death. If he did not die for us upon the cross being pierced through for us, we would still be in our sins and accountable for them. Now through the preaching of the crucified Lord Jesus Christ, faith which believes this counts us righteous before the Father in heaven. Faith that believe this Jesus who was crucified but is also risen from the dead raises us to newness of life and gives us the life of the one crucified. This is foolishness to the world and a stumbling to the Jews who his people according to the flesh. But us who believe, the crucifixion is the wisdom of God and is wiser than all of man’s best thinking.
Heavenly Father we pray you would grant unto us your wisdom that we may receive the salvation won for us by your son Jesus Christ crucified. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.