The Preaching of the Cross

Dear Weekly Readers!   

God’s Peace!    

We are coming closer and closer to the time of Holy Week, which is the time of year we focus on what Jesus has done for our salvation on the cross.  Oh, that we could not only focus this time of year, but all year long on what He has done for us!  

            Galatians 6:14

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Please enjoy the sermon below by the late Carl Kulla.

May God bless your week!  John R.

The Preaching of the Cross

Carl Kulla's first sermon was preached at the convention in Esko, Minnesota, in 1941. It was published in Kristillinen Kuukauslehti in December 1941.

Brother Carl read 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 and spoke as follows:

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Blessed redeemed in the Lord: I stand before you, before this Christian assembly, for the first time, and before you as one who has been saved from eternal condemnation through the blood of the precious Lamb of God, He who suffered and was crucified for the sins of you and for the sins of me, Who in His own body bare our sins upon the accursed tree of sins of the cross, that we might be reconciled to God through Him. The portion of Holy Writ upon which we shall meditate this afternoon is 1 Corinthians 1:18-24. "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." Just what is this preaching of the cross?

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and He climaxed His creation with man. Man was pleasing in the sight of God, but then he fell into the enticing words of the devil, and the curse of sin and death fell upon the face of the earth. But God, in His great mercy and love, did not leave man in such a state but promised unto man a Savior. From that day hence, man was saved in the hope of that Savior. God fulfilled His promise when He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, upon the earth in the likeness of sinful flesh. This same Jesus Christ suffered dire agony and pain, and was crucified for the sin of the world. Christ made that one perfect sacrifice which was to reconcile man with God.

That, dear friends, is the preaching of the cross, which says that man is nothing and can do nothing for his salvation. It is already done. Man must become as nothing in the sight of God, and seek his refuge in Christ, the Savior.

The preaching of the cross is the fullness of the Gospel. It consists of all those things Christ has commanded as constituents of salvation: namely baptism, repentance, and the remission of sins and the consequential rebirth.

But to them that are lost, this preaching of the cross is foolishness, for the unbelievers and the dead-faith Christians say, "Not many are lost, for surely God did not create man to burn him in hell." But remember the warnings of the Scripture, If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18)

…Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3)

…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

(John 3:3)

We cannot otherwise enter in, but in God's way, which is scriptural salvation, for only where "Christ crucified" is preached is there salvation. Indeed God has brought to naught the understanding of the prudent and destroyed the wisdom of the wise. Look at the life of Christ — was it not despised in the sight of the world? For Jesus did none of the things which make men great: He never entered a large city, He never went to school, He never wrote a book. He was looked down upon and suffered untold agony by the hand of man. But He reserved one thing unto Himself: the power to overcome sin and death, the devil and hell.

That is how the wisdom of the wise is brought to naught, for to them it is foolish that one so meek and lowly could be exalted so high. But we preach Christ crucified, which lifts us above all sin and corruption and reconciles us to God. Dear friends in Christ, I want you to remember me as a weak, erring brother in Christ. I am not worthy to say one thing for Him, and I feel there are many others who have greater gifts from God to preach than I.

 Nevertheless, I will always testify of my Lord, and woe unto me if I preach not Christ, for He is my personal Savior and my personal Redeemer, Who means more than all life to me.

Let us strive together as obedient servants of Christ, that we might cross the river and come to the shores of the true Fatherland and to the heavenly Jerusalem in the shadow of Mount Zion. May the Lord grant that we might be faithful until the very end. Amen. ~