1 CORINTHIANS 1:18
The message of the cross . . .
is the very power of God.
HIDDEN TREASURE
A fter Hurricane Hugo ripped through Charleston, South Carolina, in 1989, construction workers found hidden treasure. While cleaning up the rubble in a decimated church, they saw the cross still standing. Unable to move it—even with a crane—they eventually discovered that pure gold filled the inside of the cross. Evidently, during the American Civil War people melted down their gold and hid it there to keep it from invading troops.
The cross of Christ is a place of true spiritual treasure for those who believe in Him, but as the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, its message “is foolish to those who are headed for destruction” (1 CORINTHIANS 1:18). Those who reject Jesus’ death on the cross might think it foolish to believe that the Son of God died and rose again to release us from the consequences of our sin. But for those who believe, those who are “being saved,” the cross “is the very power of God” (V. 18). As Paul says, God makes foolish the wisdom of the world, but “this foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans” (V. 25).
When we submit to God and accept the gift of Christ’s cross, we’ll enjoy the riches of a relationship with Him. We won’t find treasures of gold but the far better gift of abundant and everlasting life with Him. That’s not foolish!
AMY BOUCHER PYE
When have you experienced God’s wisdom, which the world might see as foolishness? How does the cross of Jesus empower you to live for Him?
Jesus our Savior, thank You for the gift of life in Your kingdom— the greatest treasure ever. Help me to share this amazing gift with others.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | 1 CORINTHIANS 1:17–25
17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”
20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.
21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.
22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.
23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
