The unlikely source of true power

Yesterday we seen that Messiah was not as expected. Jesus was an average looking hero. Today, we see he is the source of true power, which transforms our lives.

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

Where is the source of true power? In the message of the cross. Of Messiah, Jesus, despised, rejected, crucified, dead, buried and raised again! It seems so unlikely, the hero dies, yet he raises to life. Often we see loss at the cross and gain on Easter Sunday. But there is more - here, we are not told the source of power is in resurrection, but at the cross. Why is that? It is because Jesus really did achieve something at the cross. The resurrection is simply the proof. Death could not hold him, because he had paid the penalty for sin, so that penalty of death could not keep its grip on him. His sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for my sin, and brings power to me to keep fighting and overcoming the sin in my life.

And did you notice the tense - we are BEING saved. Jesus did really and fully deal with our sin at the cross. The penalty for all our sins (including the ones we are yet to commit) has been paid. But we are not the finished article yet, we keep battling sin. We are being saved. Sometimes we wonder if that job will ever be complete. It will. And there is hope. As we know the message of the cross. We know Jesus. And in him we know power, power which enables us to battle on and win!