Episode 2810 - Lesson 2 - Saturday July 4 🎆🇺🇸🎆- The Message of the Cross ✝️

Sabbath AfternoonRead for This Week's Study: 1 Cor. 1:17-31, Col. 1:20, 1 Pet. 2:24, Acts 13:16-47, 1 Cor. 2:1-5Memory Text: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV).Cicero, a pagan Roman writer and orator, had told the Roman people to not even think about the cross, so abhorrent was it as a means of death. Although Cicero died about a half century before Jesus was born, his statement illustrates the contempt with which the Romans had held the cross.In contrast, Paul would write: "The message of the cross . . . is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18, NIV). For Paul, the Cross is the instrument of reconciliation between God and man (Eph. 2:16, Col. 1:20), the supreme symbol of Jesus' humility (Phil. 2:8), and the place where our immense debt was paid (Col. 2:14).The Cross is Paul's answer to the problems in Corinth. You don't have to go very far in 1 Corinthians to realize that he is very concerned about one major issue: divisions in the church. Paul is so perplexed that right after the greetings (1 Cor. 1:1-3) and the thanksgiving section (1 Cor. 1:4-9), this is the first topic he addresses (1 Cor. 1:10-17). This week, we will turn to the powerful message of the Cross as the answer to this problem and to other issues in Corinth.* Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 11.