1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (Pt 5)

We know, from 1 Corinthians 2:1-3, that Paul was fearful and discouraged when he came to Corinth. We also know that God had an ultimate purpose in that Paul’s weakness demonstrated more clearly the power of God. We know that Paul determined to get back to the basics in his preaching of the gospel. But what does that mean? What are the basics? What does he mean by “Jesus Christ and Him crucified?”

Jesus means savior. In Matthew 1:21 an angel was talking to Joseph about the fact that Mary was with child. The angel told Joseph, “she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). Jesus, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua, means “Jehovah (YHWH) is salvation.” Jesus means savior.

But what does Christ mean? Christ is the Greek word for the Old Testament word Messiah. Both words mean, “anointed one.” To be anointed means to be appointed by God to a position or responsibility. The Messiah is both priest and king. As priest he is the one who stands between people and God bringing the two together. When we sinned in the Garden of Eden a great wall came between God and us; a wall that was described in an old spiritual as, “So high you can’t get over it; so low you can’t get under it; so wide you can’t get around it; you gotta come in by the door.” Jesus is that door. He is the priest through whom we come to God.

Messiah also means king. It is Messiah, the Old Testament prophets said, who would one day return to rule. It is Messiah that Israel has been looking for all these centuries. It was Messiah they sent to the cross and Messiah who raised from the dead by the power of his own glory. It was Messiah’s kingdom offered to them on the day of Pentecost that they rejected. It is Messiah who will one day return to reign for 1000 years over the whole earth as the prophets predicted. And it is Messiah who gave us a down payment on Heaven when he placed his Holy Spirit within every believer. Messiah, our king; before whom we bow; for whom we wait, and to whom we yield in service and obedience.

Jesus is savior, he is priest, and he is king because he was crucified. Paul declares, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” There is the heart of the matter. Sin had cut us off from God because God is holy. As savior Jesus took our sin upon himself. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).  Jesus, taking our sin upon himself, experienced the wages of our sin in spite of the fact that he was absolutely pure. As priest Jesus approached the Father with the perfect sacrifice that only needed to be offered “once for all” (Heb 10:10). He offered himself and then he stands as the resurrected priest to offer us his forgiveness and to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father’s throne. As King Messiah the cross brings us back into his kingdom and rule. It is through the cross that we, by faith, belong to him.