D. Scott Meadows

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2.2).

Preachers should get right to the most important things and not beat around the bush. The apostle Paul illustrated that in his ministry. He spoke about one thing first, last, and in-between—the crucified Christ.

Many other things called for Paul’s attention. The church at Corinth raised many complicated questions and issues. Paul wrote to them about many topics, but he kept coming back to Christ crucified. You can see that in this verse: “While I was with you, I decided to deal with only one subject—Jesus Christ, who was crucified” (alt.). I have decided the same, and to answer two of the most important questions one could ever ask.

Who is Jesus Christ?

No one has been more important in history than Jesus Christ. All time revolves around Him: BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, “in the year of our Lord,” based on the traditional year of his birth).

No one is more important to you personally. You may not feel that way but it is still true. Your destiny all depends on your relationship to Jesus Christ. You probably know John 3.16 but may not recall verses 17-18:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus is His name. It means “Jehovah saves.” Other people were (and are) named Jesus, but it was given to Him because He, being Jehovah (God), would save His people from their sins (Matt 1.21). He is a true man, but not a mere man. The Bible teaches that Jesus is also God in the flesh, the God-man, fully God and fully human in one Person.

Christ is His title, not His last name. Properly, it is Jesus the Christ. Christ is the Greek NT version of the Hebrew OT title Messiah. It means “anointed One.” Anointing was an ancient ritual of rubbing oil on a man that set him apart as a prophet, or a priest, or a king to his office and sacred service as a servant of God. The OT foretold long ago that a Hero figure, a Savior, was coming into the world who be the Servant of the Lord above all others, uniquely occupying all three offices and fulfilling all three roles. This Jesus I am preaching to you is Christ. He is the Prophet who reveals God to us like no one else, the Priest who offers up Himself as a sacrifice like no one else, and the King who rules over and defends people like no one else.

You don’t really need to know about Buddha, Confucius, Muhammed, the Dalai Lama, or the Pope, but you must know Jesus Christ to be saved from your sins and go to heaven when you die. If you reject God’s own testimony about His Son, you are spiritually lost (Jn 3.36).

Why Was He Crucified?

I expect you all know already that about 2000 years ago the man called Jesus Christ was crucified. That is a historical fact, but I have found that very few people I ask really have a good understanding of why He was crucified. One pastor wrote a booklet called Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (John Piper); it actually shows 50 reasons from the Bible.

But some of the reasons are more important for us to know. The main reason can be summarized in a few words, though there could be no end to books explaining it further. Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote,

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and . . . He was
buried, and . . . He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures (1 Cor 15.3–4).

Twice he says “according to the Scriptures,” that is, in fulfillment of God’s ancient promises to send His Son into the world as the Savior. The OT promised both that He would die and that He would quickly rise again. Psalm 16 says God would not abandon Christ to the grave or let His body decay there (v. 10).

The reason He died, Paul says, was “for our sins,” our referring to only Christian believers like Paul and the members of the church at Corinth. Christ did not die for everyone without exception as is so commonly believed. He did not die for His own sins, because He had none. He did not die as a martyr or an example so we could save ourselves by imitating Him. He died for the sins of all who would ever believe on Him—to take their place as their legal substitute, to suffer the punishment for their sins that they deserved, to satisfy the demands of God’s righteous law that sinners must die for their sins.

So “Christ crucified” is shorthand for the glorious, biblical gospel that sinners can be saved through believing in this Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the world, who became a true human being, obeyed God perfectly, and willingly gave Himself up as a substitutionary sacrifice to atone for the sins of everyone who would ever believe on Him. This is my message to you today, and I urge you to believe on Him while you may. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16.31). Ω