1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God (cf. Is. 29:14)
18 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. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Glory Only in the Lord
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
Jesus Christ is the incarnate power and wisdom of God for He is the Almighty come in the flesh as a man (John 1:1, 14)! This message of God reaching down to us as if one of us and willingly suffering for our crimes of sin against Him and sacrificing Himself on a tree of cursing (Galatians 3:13) to take our guilt and punishment (Romans 8:3) is the gospel, the good news of our deliverance from our just sentence of eternal death which is unending suffering for our disobedience to Him. This message of eternal forgiveness from the wrath of God on our sin seems utter foolishness to those in the world who are yet blind to see the truth and deaf to hear and take the words to heart. For those who have our eyes opened to God’s word and work, we find ourselves reveling in awe at God’s infinite power and wisdom in crafting this plan of salvation (Genesis 3:15) from the very moment our ancestors defied their Creator (Genesis 3:6, 11) and brought the curse on us all (Genesis 3:17). We give Him all the glory and honor due to His name, the one who is because He is, and give unending thanks for sending His Son as a sacrifice to cover our sins forever as no mere ritual animal sacrifice from our best nearly per stock ever could. Only the perfect sacrifice of a perfect man who had to be God to be the Lamb without blemish could cover our sins of disbelief and disobedience begun from Adam and Eve and passed down in our spiritual DNA to us. His blood was poured out as the life it contained to keep we who believe Him from losing our own lives through death into never ending suffering as a just consequence as our cosmic criminal record necessitates. Therefore God made the gospel message simple. Take God at His word that we are all born in sin, guilty and deserving death (Romans 6:20-23), that our attempts at doing good will never hit the mark to exonerate us, and that only His suffering and death in our place can appease the Father and release us from our vain and impossible attempts to keep His law completely (Romans 3:23, James 2:10) and be delivered from the penalty of our sin. This is God’s wisdom and plan for we who hear and see it. God makes all man’s philosophy and religious works and rituals of no effect by providing the only way, the only truth, and the only eternal life in Jesus Christ. Yes, the Jews demanded that God show some more miracles as in Egypt and the promised land to validate the gospel and the Greeks required reason to explain all God is and does before signing on to the truth of the message, but neither could accept the simple truth of the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ as the answer because it relied on trusting God instead of their own wisdom and proof. Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God; signs and wonders should never be demanded to prove what God has already told us not should we expect to reason out God and the scriptures to define salvation as a set of steps or requirements. Academic pursuits are a dead end without the Spirit of God opening our eyes to see the truth and demanding supernatural proof only insults the Lord who provided all the miracles and words as demonstrable proof by the death and resurrection of His Son come as one of us to prove it. This is why not many wise men are called in Christ that we may point to His wise words and work in Jesus Christ and not our own abilities or intellect. He has also proven these things by His use of weak men to bear witness of this gospel to the world instead of using signs and wonders to convince people of the truth they need to hear, believe, and receive as such. These methods of God point us to give all glory to Him and His word and work and not our own to bear witness of He who alone can change the heart and cleanse the soul for eternity. His Son Jesus became for us all wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption from God! We have no right or standing to glory in anything we are able to do apart from Him and His work. These things the world still rejects on the whole, but some who hear are given faith to trust and understand that they may turn from sin to Him. Are you looking and listening to Him?
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