As Good Friday and Easter approach, we can see crosses everywhere, displayed in various styles and found in many places. They appear in our homes, churches, and even as part of our jewelry. Today, crosses are recognizable symbols of faith.
However, in the first century, when Jesus Christ was executed in Israel, the cross was viewed very differently. It represented pain and shame. Despite this, the apostle Paul found the message of Christ's crucifixion to be central to his preaching and life. He wrote, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:2-5).
There was (and is) only one gospel: the gospel of Jesus Christ. This message of the gospel is communicated through the four canonical Gospels, which recount Jesus' birth, ministry, teachings, and miracles, and ends in Christ’s death, and resurrection to redeem sinners. Each account is so tied together that one cannot accurately unpack the accounts of his birth, ministry, teaching, and miracles apart from consideration of the cross and resurrection.
Later documents from the second and third centuries, such as The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Peter, and The Gospel of Judas, are often referred to as “gospels” but are not truly gospels because they omit the essential elements of the cross and resurrection.
Paul boldly states that he is not ashamed of the gospel, declaring, “because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). We, too, should not be ashamed. He writes to the Corinthians that “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). The “incomparably great power” working in believers is linked to God's mighty strength demonstrated when He raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20).
As believers who have experienced something of the power of the cross, we must urge men and women from every tribe, language, people, and nation to “Be reconciled to God.” Turn to Christ and trust in His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins.