Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-24. What is Paul saying about the cross, and how does he contrast it with the “wisdom of the world”? Why, even today, when “materialism” (the idea that all reality is only material, which means there is no God or supernatural realm of existence) dominates “the wisdom of the world,” is the message of the cross so important?

The cross of Christ is the very center of salvation history. “Eternity can never fathom the depth of love revealed in the cross of Calvary. It was there that the infinite love of Christ and the unbounded selfishness of Satan stood face to face.” — Stephen N. Haskell, The Cross and Its Shadow (South Lancaster, MA: Bible Training School, 1914), p. v.

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While Christ was humbly offering Himself as a ransom for the human race, Satan was selfishly engulfing Him in suffering and agony. Christ did not die just the natural death that every human being has to face. He died the second death, so that all those who accept Him will never have to experience it for themselves.

In regard to the meaning of the Cross, there are several important aspects that we should remember. First, the Cross is the supreme revelation of God’s justice against sin (Romans 3:21-26). Second, the Cross is the supreme revelation of God’s love for sinners (Romans 5:8). Third, the cross is the great source of power to break the chains of sin (Romans 6:22-23; 1 Corinthians 1:17-24). Fourth, the Cross is our only hope of eternal life (Philippians 3:9-11; John 3:14-16; 1 John 5:11-12). And fifth, the Cross is the only antidote against a future rebellion in the universe (Revelation 7:13-17, Revelation 22:3).

None of these crucial truths about the cross can be discovered by the “wisdom of the world.” On the contrary, then, as now, the preaching of the cross is “foolishness” to worldly wisdom, which often doesn’t even acknowledge the most obvious truth there could be: that a Creator exists (see Romans 1:18-20).

The Greek word for “foolishness” is linked to the English word “moron”; that is, the preaching of the cross is “moronic” according to the “wisdom of the world.” Worldly wisdom cannot know Jesus or the salvation that He offers us through His substitutionary death on the cross.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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Key Thought: Christ’s resurrection is central to our faith, but before He was resurrected, He had to die. Jesus came to die.
November 5, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Revelation 13:8.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How could Christ be considered slain from the foundation of the earth?
3. Personal Application: Was the plan of salvation put in place if man fell or for when he fell? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I would never have killed an animal and slit its throat as they did in the Old Testament. That was a bloody and gruesome ritual.”. How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read John 1:1-30.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is the essential message to us when Jesus said, “It is finished”?
3. Personal Application: What does the death of Jesus tell us about the idea that someone could be saved by their works? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “When Jesus said, “It is finished”, that was the end of the plan of salvation. Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father and if you accept Jesus, you’re saved; if you don’t; you’re lost. That’s it. ” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read John 3:14-18, Romans 6:23.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on the theme of these texts.
2. What has Christ’s death on the cross accomplished for us?
3. Personal Application: How does this help us understand the difference between eternal life as automatic and eternal life as a gift? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “What is the significance of the comparison of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness to Jesus dying on the cross?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 1:18-24.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What kind of signs were the Jews looking for in the Messiah that Jesus hadn’t already given them?
3. Personal Application: Why is there so much unbelief in the world today? What are people focused on? Share your thoughts?
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Read John 3:14-18 and Romans 6:23. What do these verses teach that Christ’s death has accomplished for us?

When Jesus arrived at the Jordan River to be baptized, John the Baptist had exclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NKJV). This statement acknowledged Christ as the antitypical Lamb of God to whom all true sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed.

But animal sacrifices could not take away sins by themselves (Hebrews 10:4). They provided only conditional forgiveness dependent on the effectiveness of Christ’s future sacrifice on the cross. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NKJV).

Read John 3:16-17. What great hope can we take from these verses, especially when you rightly sense that you deserve to be condemned for something that you have done?

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Think what all this means. Jesus, the one who created the cosmos (John 1:1-3), offered Himself for each of us, a sacrifice for sins, all so that we don’t have to be condemned for what we could justly be condemned for. This is the great promise of the gospel.

Jesus Christ declared that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” to die for us (John 3:16, NRSV). But we should never forget that Christ offered Himself voluntarily on our behalf (Hebrews 9:14). Martin Luther referred to the cross as “the altar on which He [Christ], consumed by the fire of the boundless love which burned in His heart, presented the living and holy sacrifice of His body and blood to the Father with fervent intercession, loud cries, and hot, anxious tears (Hebrews 5:7).” — Luther’s Works, vol. 13 (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1956), p. 319. Christ died once for all (Hebrews 10:10) and once forever (Hebrews 10:12), for His sacrifice is all-sufficient and never loses its power.

And there’s more: “If but one soul would have accepted the gospel of His grace, Christ would, to save that one, have chosen His life of toil and humiliation and His death of shame.” — Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 135.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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We had to extend the time of this broadcast on He Died For Us as we covered the death of Christ and the example it sets for us. Come join the discussion. 

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Read John 19:1-30. What is the crucial message to us in Jesus’ statement, “It is finished”?

Finally, the crucial moments for Christ, for humankind, and for the whole universe had arrived. With deep agony, He struggled against the powers of darkness. Slowly He made His way through the Garden of Gethsemane, through His unfair trials, and up to the mountain of Calvary.

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Evil angels were trying to overcome Him. While Jesus was hanging on the cross, the chief priests, the scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him” (Matthew 27:42, NKJV).

Could Christ have come down from the cross and saved Himself? Yes, He was able but not willing to do so. His unconditional love for all humanity, including those mockers, did not allow Him to give up. Actually, “the mockers were among those whom He was dying to save; and He could not come down from the cross and save Himself, because He was held, not by the nails, but by His will to save them.” — Alfred Plummer, An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to S. Matthew (London: Elliot Stock, 1910), p. 397.

Here, in the suffering of Christ, Jesus was defeating the kingdom of Satan, even though it was Satan who had instigated the events that led to the cross, including Judas’s betrayal (John 6:70; John 13:2, John 13:27). “Somehow, in a way the Evangelist does not try to describe, the death of Jesus is both an act of Satan and an act in which Jesus wins the victory over Satan.” — George E. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, rev. ed. (Cambridge, UK: Lutterworth Press, 1994), p. 192.

Crying from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), Christ implied not only that His agony had come to an end, but especially that He had won the great cosmic-historic controversy against Satan and his evil forces. “All heaven triumphed in the Saviour’s victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 758.

It’s hard to grasp the amazing contrast here: in the utter humiliation of the Son of God He had won, for us and for the universe, the greatest and most glorious victory.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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