THINK TOGETHER
Have you ever met a know-it-all? Have you ever been a know-it-all?
READ TOGETHER
The Christians in the city of Corinth wanted to be know-it-alls. They thought that the most important thing was to know more than everyone else. They believed that whoever knew the most was the one who was closest to God. They also believed that God was keeping secrets and if they could only figure out those secrets then they would be the best Christians in town. Soon the Corinthians were ranking each other – the “best” Christians were the ones who knew more of God’s secrets, and the “worse” Christians were the ones who didn’t seem to know all of God’s secrets and mysteries.
But then Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Corinth:
1 Corinthians 2:2. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Paul was an Apostle. Paul met Jesus and talked to him. Paul was given a vision of heaven by God. If anyone could be a know-it-all and claim to be wiser and more powerful than everyone else, it was Paul. But Paul didn’t say, “I know more than all of you.” He said, “The only thing I know is Jesus and him crucified.”
One of the most important things you can learn as a Christian is this – we never, ever, ever graduate past Jesus and his cross. And there are no secrets that God is keeping from you. God has told you everything there is to know about himself, yourself, and all of life in Jesus and his cross.
What does the cross of Jesus tell us about God?
The cross tells us that God is holy and he is loving.
The cross tells us that God is so perfect, and so good that he must punish our sins. The cross of Jesus was that punishment.
And the cross tells us that God loves us more than anything. God loves us so much that he died for us. God wants to save us and free us from sin, and God is powerful enough to do that through the cross of Jesus.
What does the cross tell us about ourselves?
The cross tells us that we are all sinners in need of being saved by a perfect substitute. None of us could ever save ourselves. None of us could ever be perfect. We all need Jesus. We all need the cross.
What does the cross tell us about life?
The cross tells us how to live our lives. We need to live like Jesus did, loving others and serving others just like he did on the cross. We need to be willing to give up our selfishness and put others first. And we never need to be like the Corinthians, trying to outsmart each other or be know-it-alls who think we are closer to God because of what we have learned or done. Nope, the cross makes everyone equal to God. Jesus died for everyone on exactly the same cross. And Jesus is equally with every Christian, loving every Christian the same, and teaching every Christian to know his cross alone.
Because of Jesus we can know everything we need to know about God, ourselves and life.
With Jesus we don’t have to be know-it-alls; we can simply love as Jesus does.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Here’s a great song to sing together.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus,
I want to know you and your cross. Please teach me to trust in salvation by your cross and then help me to give to others like you did on the cross.
Amen.
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