1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 Christ Crucified is God's Power and Wisdom
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing 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; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." (Isaiah 29:14)
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher 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 know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (Jer. 9:24)
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.
God is foolishness to the world and the world is foolishness to God. But only one can frustrate the other down to its very existence, and that's God. The world was made by God. Of course God can turn the tables on the world. If God wanted to, He could make gravity cease to exist. That would throw everything into chaos, but He really could. What we know cannot compare. That is why Paul gives a stage verse at the end of the first real paragraph. There is nothing foolish or weak about God. Repeat that: There is nothing foolish or weak about God! So why did Paul say that? The reason is that it is saying if there was, it would still be greater than the world's greatest portions. But if you take into account that God is only strong, how much difference is actually there between the world and God? I'd say an eternal amount of difference. Today people seek wisdom and signs, but they think they will find it in creation. Because they look at the creation itself they miss the creator, the actual source of true wisdom and all signs. And He's right in front of us all. God's ways are impossible to understand, His creation is the same. God's wisdom and power will be a stumbling block and foolishness to the world until the very end. But to us who believe, He is just what He is: Wisdom and Power. Jesus Christ is the ultimate form of God's power and wisdom here on earth. Jesus Christ and Him crucified are God's most complex Grace plan that is easily shared in a simple paragraph for a child to understand. He is power and that power is in the world to break down the wisdom and ways of the world that all of us might see our need for God. And when we see that we are not, God comes and makes us something new.
This is the start of the next paragraph of Paul's writings. We realize that we are not much when we are called. And that is because it is not just things that are not that follow God's call; it's the things that know they are not who answer His call. We change because God's wisdom frustrates ours and humbles us. In this world, the things that call themselves weak and live according to God's Word are seen as weak. So Paul is also right in saying that we are the lowly things and despised things of this world, because that is how the world sees us. They see us as foolish beings. But the reason they see us as foolish is because they see God's power in us. God puts Himself and His Love and Spirit in us to use us to shame the world. That is why the disciple system Jesus created works, because it isn't human wisdom and eloquence, it is God alone. When we let Him work in us, He shows the true power of the Gospel in things that are not, going out and shaming the world's standards. In the process we are made righteous, holy, and clean. As we let God work, He humbles us and shows us our nothing so He can put Himself in and make us something new. This new creation shames the world and humble it until it goes to God more and more. But today we break the chain reaction after we become new. We get complacent and we don't go out to let God do the work He wants to do with us.
We do what we want. Whether we're afraid of confronting the world, or we just want to spend our time and money on what we want. We're wasting God's efforts. He made us new so that He could use us to make others new. The only reason we're in Him is because He called us to Him. He wants to use us to call others. But we are refusing. There can't be any division in the church right? That's what we saw last. But there also can't be division in ourselves. We can't divide ourselves between earthly pleasures and God's will for us. You can't serve two masters. If you try, nothing will work. What does this mean? We have to choose God alone in each moment. That takes an understanding that God's way is the only way. John 14:6 Jesus replied, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It comes back to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Wisdom and Power of God. It takes that understanding to be able to do anything in God. And it's the reason that we should only boast in Christ when anything is accomplished.
Paul tested this by resolving to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified when he went to the Corinthians. He was afraid to go and preach the Gospel, just like we Christians often get today when we feel the calling to share the Gospel at school, work, or anywhere. Paul wanted them to receive the Gospel, but that is all He wanted them to receive. Not Paul's preaching method or words. Paul wanted to stay out of the way, so He made the resolve. He preached Jesus Christ alone. And that became the power of God and the wisdom of God among the Corinthians. A church was established and many came to Christ. This still happens today. Ridding the preaching of our fancy talk and our involvement is like purifying precious metal. With the Gospel of Christ, it allows the Gospel to be the only thing that reaches the ones being reached out to. That is all that is needed to save someone, God's pure power and wisdom and Love. It is God that calls, saves, changes, and uses us.
This system is perfect because it is not just made by God, it is God. He is in charge of the whole thing. And we get to be made a part of it. In fact, we're not just part of it, we reap benefits from it. God blesses us with it and shows us a glory that is not worth comparing to any present sufferings or worldly pleasure. So let us be willing to be used by God for His work. Let us boast in Him alone when He does a new work. Let God use His wisdom and power to mold us and work to mold those around us just as He used His wisdom and power to mold the creation around us.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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