"For the preaching of the cross [the message the cross brings] is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The message of the cross divides mankind into two classes. The unbelievers regard it as foolishness, and are therefore perishing; the believers accept it as truth and receive salvation by the power of God. In which class does my reader find himself?

Sadly, there are many who wear a cross merely as some charm or trinket. They think it places them in a religious attitude and atmosphere, but they do not know the Christ of the cross. Neither do they accept the complete message of the cross with its separation from sin and the world. What is this complete message of the cross?

1. The message of HOLINESS and SIN—The holiness of the Sufferer and the dreadful sin of the sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ "did no sin" (1 Peter 2:22); "knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21); "in Him was no sin" (1 John 3:5). Only as such could He be the perfect Sacrifice to satisfy God's holiness. Sin demanded death. Our sins were placed on Him. He made them His own and bore the judgment we deserved. "The holiness of God and the sinfulness of man have met in awful conflict in the cross of Christ. That cross which reveals God at His best, if we might so put it, reveals man at his worst. The word of the cross then is the word of victory in holiness, and the defeat and putting away of sin" (James Smith).

2. The message of LOVE and SACRIFICE. The cross stands for the infinite love of God the Father who "so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son," and for the sacrifice of the Son of God on Calvary: "Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor" (Ephesians 5:2). The message of the cross, then, is the message of gracious, undeserved love and sacrifice to put away sin and make salvation available to all mankind, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

3. The message of RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE. Isaiah tells us that "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever." The work of righteousness is the work that was finished on the cross when Jesus exhausted the judgment of God and cried "It is finished." God's righteous demands were met by His death on the sinner's behalf. That infinite work of righteousness has made peace by the blood Jesus shed on the cross. Of the one who puts his trust in the Lord Jesus, we read, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Will you not give heed to the message of the cross?