But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:24
As we think about living the Great Commission in our lives today, we must consider what our teaching revolves around. Paul is very clear in his letters to the Corinthians that Jesus must be the center of our gospel teaching. Of course, we can talk about Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Job, and Jonah, but we should focus our teaching to the lost on the power and wisdom of God; Jesus.
While this sounds simple, often we catch ourselves defending or telling others about why our church is different. We focus on things other than Jesus. In fact, a common issue is describing to people our role in the plan of salvation. We tell them what they should do similarly to the end of Peter’s sermon on Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Remember the people there were convicted by Peter about Jesus as the Messiah and asked what they needed to do. They responded to the gift of grace by becoming willing servants of God who were baptized. My point is simply Peter focused on the power and wisdom of God in the form of Jesus and then the people believed and were baptized. Our teaching to the lost should revolve around Jesus. We plant and God brings the harvest.
In the above verse, Paul tells us that those “called by God to salvation” recognize who Jesus is, but who exactly is “called by God.” Some see this as God picking and choosing who is saved. I believe Paul simply means that those who accept the gospel understand Jesus’ role in their salvation. All of us are called by God, but only those who accept Jesus are saved. This is another reason that our preaching and teaching must be Christ centric.
In the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that he preaches Jesus as Lord and is a servant to the lost for Christ’s sake (2 Corinthians 2:4). He then makes two comparisons so we can understand his focus on Jesus. First, he tells us that God makes His light shine in our hearts to reach those in darkness. It is not our light. It is God’s as seen in the face of Jesus (vs 6). He then tells us the gospel message is like a great treasure carried by messengers likened to “fragile clay jars.” (vs 7) Paul explains this is done so that people can see God’s great glory and power in our lives.
Jesus must be the center of our evangelistic outreach. During this Christmas season when the secular world focuses on recognizing the birth of Christ, maybe we as faithful members of God’s Kingdom can use this holiday as an opportunity to explain to the lost the importance of Jesus to the world. Perhaps we can take the focus from getting gifts to receiving the greatest gift of all: eternal salvation from God through Jesus.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:5-7
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