1 CORINTHIANS - Chapter 1
1 CORINTHIANS 1: 18-25
The Message of The Cross
Sunday Evening Service
July 29, 2012
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
1 Cor. 1: 18: “”For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but to us which are saved it the power of God.”
Worldly wisdom, that expression of carnality among the Corinthian believers, is the very antithesis of the wisdom of God revealed in the cross of Christ. This section abounds in contrasts as Paul demonstrates the total alienation of thought between that worldly wisdom so prized by the Corinthians and the wisdom of God. The gospel, the Word of the Cross, is folly to the wise man of this age, but God will reveal their falsity, showing His foolishness as superior to their wisdom!
People react differently to the message of the cross according to their condition. To those who are perishing, it is sheer folly. However, to those who are saved by the power of the Cross, it is the power of God. This is not spoken as an uncertainty but with total conviction. It is not just the wisdom of God, but power. The Cross is God’s wisdom in action.
1 Cor. 1:19: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
This is a quote and fulfillment of a prophecy given by Isaiah 29: 13-15. It is written by Isaiah where the prophet is referring to the failure of worldly statesmanship in Judah in the face of the judgment of the Assyrian invasion. “Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; and say, who sees us? And who know us?”
This states a principle that the wisdom of man is no match for the power of God. The worldly man with his wisdom will be destroyed in all his skepticism of God’s ways.
We are a prophetic church and have many visiting ministers who operate in the Knowing gifts of the Holy Spirit. If anyone has hidden sin, agendas or motives, it is soon brought into the light of the Cross.
1 Cor. 1:20: “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Here is three “Where’s”. The challenge to produce the wise man, scholar or philosopher who can stand before God reflects the scene of Isa. 33:18 when all signs of the apparently invincible Assyrian conqueror have been swept away by the power of Jehovah.
The exact designation of the wise, scholar, and philosopher whether Gentile, Jew or Greek is not clear. Most probably Paul is making no specific reference to Jew or Greek, but his terms refer to all those champions of worldly wisdom, whom God is determined not merely to outclass, but to prove utterly foolish.
Even today we have in our society, “the elitist” who consider their knowledge and intellect a higher power that the power of the Wisdom of the Cross.
The city of Corinth was the most cosmopolitan of all the nations of the Mediterranean seaboard. It had the influence of Roman law, government and infrastructure. It had the Greek scholars, Greek architect and also Italian art, music and literature.
1 Cor. 1:21: ‘For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
That God was pleased indicates the sovereignty of His choice to save men through faith in the message of the cross of Jesus Christ and through no other means.
1 Cor. 22-23: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness.”
Jews—signs; Greeks—wisdom: These are national characteristics of Jews and Greeks. These mind sets only increase their difficulty in accepting what is preached which is Christ crucified. Jewish demands of Christ for a sign indicated the pattern of their thoughts.
Matthew 12:38: “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered saying, Master, we would seek a sign from you. But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah; For as Jonah was three days in three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth…”
Jesus repeats this message again in Matthew, Chapter 16.
Matthew 16: 1, 4: “The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that he would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them…O you hypocrites…discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
The sign of Jonah proved the greatest stumbling block of all. Greek speculation could not accept a doctrine of salvation based on the foolishness of the crucified Nazarene. The acceptance of Christ crucified, “The Messiah nailed to a cross’ called for the abandonment of all their cherished concepts.
The age not unlike today was one of speculation. Acts 17:21: “(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) They were seekers of allegorical, mystical, metaphysical and cabbalistic interpretations of the Scriptures by Jewish rabbis and Greek philosophers.” (Finis J. Dake)
As Paul states in chapter 2:2 “I am determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
The life, ministry, death, resurrection and Glorification of Christ cannot be separated from the Cross.
1 Cor. 1:24: “But to them which are called, both Jews and Greek, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”
Christ the power of God as demonstrated in the miracles of incarnation, death and resurrection of Romans 1:4: And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
This is the wisdom of God with power for it brings salvation. This is the point where Greek thinking failed. Jesus Christ Himself is the personification of wisdom.
(At this point in the sermon, we experienced a “Hoy Silence”.)
1 Cor. 1:25: “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren how that many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”
The Cross in all its weakness and foolishness when measured by human standards is presented by God is infinitely greater in saving capacity than all man’s mightiest efforts can produce.
1 Cor. 1: 27-31: “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are; that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that it is written, he that glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
Not only is the message of the cross folly, but to present that message, God takes men/women commonly considered to be foolish, weak and of no consequence. Through these messengers of the cross he vindicates the superiority of His own wisdom as seen in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The “calling” of the Corinthian Church called out of the depravity of Corinth is in reference to their conversion, not vocation. For the most part they were not wise, influential, or noble by worldly standards. There were in fact a few gifted influential and cultured, but “not many”. Crispus was ruler of the synagogue. Erastus was the city treasurer.
These “pagans” were chosen by God’s obvious choice through whom He purposed to shame the wise and strong. This points ahead with unerring certainty to the accomplishment of His purpose, not only to nullify the things that are, so excluding all human boasting; but to His complete and absolute exaltation in Christ as the fount of all true wisdom and salvation.
To this end, as media of the revelation of His power and wisdom, He uses the lowly things of this world and the despised…and the things that are not---the nonentities of this life---mere nothings to nullify, to reduce to ineffectiveness, render inoperative the wisdom of the world. He will do it again!!!!
You are in Christ by God’s act. Chris is revealed as the embodiment of God’s wisdom…that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Chris is all of these, which eliminates the possibility of all human boasting---except in the Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23: “Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord which exercises loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
So convinced was Paul of the superiority of the word of the cross over the wisdom of the world and of God’s purpose to use human nonentities for the revelation of His wisdom in Christ, that he resolved when preaching in Corinth to do so with all the simplicity and weakness of un-garnished, trembling speech, that the dynamic of the cross of Christ alone might be experienced. This was to achieve the one objective that their faith should rest not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
They were still trying to “identify” themselves with the affluent leaders of Christianity. One would say, “I am of Paul”, another, “I am of Apollos”, “I am of Peter”, and another “I am of Christ”. Only the insecure are followers of men. We are all one in the Body of Christ and saved through the same power of the Cross.
Here Paul list 5 things Christ is “made” to us:
- The power of God.
- The wisdom of God.
- The righteousness of God.
- The holiness of God.
- The redemption of God.
Verse 31 is the third Old Testament prophecy quoted in 1 Cor. which was fulfilled by Christ.
To be continued
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V.; I entered into the labors of F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary, Paul W. March; Finis J. Dake Annotated Reference Bible. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.