1 Cor 2:1-5. And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 
	It is once again Easter Sunday, the day of the year which Christendom sets aside for the remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That is no small thing and it should be at the forefront of our thoughts, constantly cherished and embraced each moment of every day, not just one day a year. It should have more emphasis in our hearts than Christmas, because the crucifixion and the resurrection are the reason that the Only Begotten of the Father, the Son, came to this earth. It was not singularly to be born of a virgin and to receive the gifts of the shepherds and the wise men. It was not just the matter of Jesus living perfectly unto the Father, sinless and expressing the purity of what a living relationship with God should entail in the heart of man. 
No, He came to sacrifice His life, His perfect and sinless life on the cross. He bore our guilt, our shame, our trespasses, our iniquity, our unforgiveness, our anger, our hatred, our perversion, our animosity toward God, our treachery, our murderous and idolatrous lusts and cravings. He became our sin that could be only forgiven forever through all that He suffered in our stead. He came to die an ignominious death on the cross for you and for me, to bring life everlasting to us, fallen man, lost in utter sin and trespass and death.
On this basis, we need to not only celebrate His resurrection, but also remember and give God thank filled glory that He chose to die on the cross in our stead. We should never belittle nor take the cross for granted. Neither should we ever be ashamed of the fact that Our Lord and Our Savior was hung, bruised and bleeding, tortured and maimed, slashed and crushed on that wretched and vile wooden instrument of crucifixion. Only in this manner could He fully suffer the worst that humanity could put forth against the very perfection of God’s love for such as us. 
This is why the Apostle Paul never shied away from preaching the crucifixion of Jesus in conjunction with Christ’s resurrection. He did not try to minimize or hide the fact that Jesus was hung mercilessly on the cross because it is through Christ’s death on that cross that we are brought into proper relationship with God. No cross, no resurrection, no salvation. That is the long and the short of it. Jesus did not turn away from the utterly incomprehensible suffering of that cross, but rather went forward, through all the agony, torment, and affliction, unto His very death so that we could also have that cross at work in us. Not to the extent of His suffering, but to the purpose of His perfection. 
    	This is what the Apostle so wrote to the church at Rome, in Rom 1:15-19, if you would turn to it. Rom 1:15-19, Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 
	It is the cross of Christ that works in us to bring us into the righteousness of God. It is as everything we do, say, think, act, and react is brought to the Lord to display how His death on the cross is worth more than any of our feelings and attitudes and selfish behaviors. It is at His cross that we will measure the impact of His death on the course of our daily walk. As we see Him nailed to it, our petty and self-absorbed outlooks must be put to death as was our Savior for our sake. Truly, the cross is the focal aspect of what is of value in our lives. All must be weighed at the cost of Christ’s life. All that which is not worthy of Him must be put to death in us.
	That is why the Apostle was so adamant to preach the cross of Christ to the churches. It is the measuring standard of our behavior and our dealing with ourselves, with our family members, with our associates, with our enemies, and most especially with our God. God is to be praised for the manner in which He determined that we can now see ourselves reflected in the suffering that it cost Him. This will give us greater understanding into why we must set aside all that was dealt with on that vile cross.
	As Paul so declares in Rom 16:25-27, God is to be praised and honored and glorified for the work of the cross in us. It was a mystery that none could see how God would work to save those whom He had chosen beforehand to holiness and righteousness. It was especially evident that none would see the cross as a means of being the instrument of both salvation and the revelation of true faith in God. 
Rom 16:25-27, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.   
    	In 1 Cor 1:4-8, the Apostle goes on to inform the Church at Corinth just how much Jesus’ death on the cross has worked to the glory of God. 1 Cor 1:4-8, I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
    	As the Apostle continued in verses 17-24 of this first chapter, 1 Cor 1:17-24, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 
    	The world will never understand how the cross serves to usher in the fundamental relationship of right-standing with God. By Christ’s death and resurrection the fellowship that was lost in the Garden was not only put into place, but made into a familial relationship on such a greater plain than could ever be fully understood. We will spend all of eternity marveling at the grace and the mercy and the love of God shed upon us in the lifeblood of His crucified Son. 
Of that, we should never be ashamed, but join with the Apostle, as recorded in 1 Cor 15:1-9, in the boldness of declaring that the gospel of Jesus Christ, hung on the cross, and then resurrected in the awesome power of God, Alone, needs to be preached and proclaimed and lived for all to hear and see. 
1 Cor 15:1-9, Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 
    	As well, Paul, in 2 Cor 4:1-12, also encouraged us not to lose heart, but to understand that the suffering of Christ is our comfort in those times of our affliction. Jesus bore so much more than we will ever have to bear. In the truth that God was faithful to raise Him from the death of the cross, when we are distressed and persecuted and abused, we can take utmost consolation in the same continued grace and mercy and faithfulness of God on our behalf. 
2 Cor 4:1-12, Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. 
    	Paul did not shy away from preaching the death of Christ on the cross as the means of Jesus’ resurrection giving us eternal life. It is the working of the cross which makes everything worthwhile in the course of how we live our lives now on this earth. We are to acknowledge and to embrace the truth of the full gospel which included the suffering, the anguish, and the torment of Christ as well as His so triumphant victory over death for Himself and for us. 
	As the Apostle points out in 1 Thess 1:2-5, the cross was the means to show the full measure of the power of God unto Christ’s resurrection life. As recipients of His life, we should be joyously giving God thanksgiving for the effective working of His might in us forevermore. 
1 Thess 1:2-5, We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 
    	We close with a lengthy passage from the Apostle Peter, which we will read together this morning. 1 Peter 1:10-2:10. In it, the Apostle details precisely what the cross has accomplished for the sake of God’s glory in us, His Chosen People. He also makes known the manner in which the cross is to work in us to the manifested honor and praise of God Most High. 
1 Peter 1:10-2:10, As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look. Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy.  And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. For, "All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord abides forever." And this is the word which was preached to you. Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed." This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone," and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Amen.
	Accordingly, as we remember the glory of Christ’s resurrection, never let us forget the means that God used for His eternal purpose. The cross represents the full measure of just how much God loved us unto Himself. On it, His Only Begotten Son suffered the most devastating and cruelest of deaths, our death. Ever let our hearts proclaim the full measure of our salvation at the cost of God’s so great love that He would allow sinful humanity to nail Him to the cross and be crucified for us. With every breath we take, we should bring ourselves to His cross and seek for the Holy Spirit to put to death all in us that was the course of Christ’s crucifixion. This is in order that we will more fully express the effective reality of His resurrection life each and every day! So be it!
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is John 20:30+31. Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. Amen.