The City Gates

“For I resolve to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” - 1 Corinthians 2:2

We must not get into the habit of knowing more than simply Christ. We know a great number of things which serve to make us effective, influential, admirable, and relevant. Yet, do we know Christ, and do we know him crucified? Do we know that he came not to be served but to serve, to minister in the lowest sense imaginable? Is this what we strive to know of Jesus? And more so, to imitate?

The apostle Paul never struggled to be wise in the eyes of those who considered themselves wise. He was not concerned with being an equal to his contemporaries. He only strove to see Jesus Christ exalted. He declared that he would go as far as not to eat certain things if it caused others to stumble, even though he had the freedom to do so. He understood that he was crucified with Jesus, and awaited the day when he would also rise with him.

It is faith in Jesus and him crucified which saves a man’s soul. It is everything else which causes division. It is intimacy with the Christ which drives a man to worship. It is everything else which stiffens his neck to the presence of the King of Kings. It is Jesus on the cross which humbles a scholar, because he finds no reason why the one who is above all would put himself below in order to win those who rejected him. It is only knowing Jesus Christ which saves, revives, restores, and sustains, so it is him alone who must be our aim.

By Ryan A. Sturgis