When you stop and think about it, the lordship and saviorhood of Jesus Christ is the most significant and relevant issue for people in contemporary culture for at least two reasons. First, it is where all eternity is headed. After describing Jesus’ humility in submitting himself to the death of the cross, Paul said that “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).
All of eternity is going to wind up bowing at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, all because of His saving act! Second, it is the only way anyone can head for eternity. Paul said to the Romans, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). Salvation from sin, death, and an eternal life with God can be found only in the crucified Christ.
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From beginning to end our Bible is a book about the Christ event. Jesus Himself claimed not to have come “to destroy the Law or the Prophets . . . but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). He told the religious hypocrites of His day, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). To the disciples on the road to Emmaus, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself’ (Luke 24:27).
Charles Spurgeon said that he would begin at any point in the Bible and make a beeline for the cross. Maybe Katherine Hankey summarized best what ought to be the confession of every preacher when she wrote:
I love to tell the story; ‘tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet . . . I love to tell the story, ‘Twill be my theme in glory To tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.
If you are looking for a camp to be in when it comes to preaching trends, camp out on the “Old, Old Story.” Such is part of the mystery of preaching — the consistent reminder of the crucified Christ.
The Tension of Reminding
There is a very real tension, however, that the preacher as reminder must navigate. Certainly not everyone today recognizes the importance and relevance of the Christ event. Nor did they in Paul’s day. Yet he made it the heart of his preaching even though he knew it was a “stumbling block” to the Jews and “foolishness” to the Greeks (1 Cor. 1:23; cf. Gal. 6:14). To be sure, the cross always offends! While the crucified Christ is a familiar concept to us, it remains a foolish and offensive idea to the world.