We Preach Christ Crucified – 1Cor1:23
The trailer for a recent Hollywood movie contained the line, “What do you think happens when you die?” It is a question that most people think about from time to time. Whatever speculation there might be about this, the Bible is absolutely clear in providing the answer:
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad.” We must all face this for, “It is appointed to man (all of us) to die once and then the judgement” (Heb9:27).
God is ‘of purer eyes than to look upon sin’ (Hab1:13). “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb12:29) and “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb10:31).
If you have any idea of your eternal state and peril you will be desperate to know what you can do to be ready to meet God when you die. Job asks “how should man be just with God?” (Job9:2). Gal2:16 replies, “by the works of the law (the things I try to do to be a good person and pleasing to God) shall no flesh be justified”. In other words, however good I try to be, I can never be good enough to be counted righteous in God's judgment. So where can I go? To whom can I turn for help?
Jesus Christ said, “Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matt11:28). He also said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me” (John6:14). He told his disciples what his mission was in coming to earth, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly ” (John 10:10). He came to do the will of God the Father, “And this is the Father’s will who has sent me, that of all (the people) he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John6:39). Rom3:21,22 tells us how, ”But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” You see, Jesus Christ is God, the second Person of the Trinity, who became Man so that he might live as the Substitute and representative of the innumerable multitude of people the Father gave to him, and as Substitute he paid their sin-debt to the broken law of God, and thereby satisfied divine justice so that God remains perfectly just and yet justifies, makes righteous, the sinners for whom Christ died (2Corinthians5:21).
Death is a fearful thing (Heb2:15) but, “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom10:13,14)
And so we preach Jesus Christ, the sinners’ Substitute, as the only Saviour. And the way we preach him is to preach the Bible because, as he himself said, "These scriptures are they which speak of ME" John5:39.