1 Corinthians 2:1-16 (first 5 verses) 05/19/24
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And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Paul continues on his simple message.
Jesus Christ and him crucified
We are called to this message. Either you get it, or you don’t.
2 Ditches
High view of grace, low view of sin (liberal)
Low view of grace, high view of sin (legalist)
The cross gives us a proper view:
High view of grace, high view of sin
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
[[back to text]]
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
It must lead to humility.
A proud Christian most of all should be afraid.
…And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling...
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
THEREFORE...
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Just a few verses earlier, Paul writes:
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
As we look at Christian maturity, a huge part of that is understanding the power and implications of the cross.
Remember last week:
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
As we grow in our understanding of God, our understanding of his holiness deepens.
The cross becomes more and more radical.
As we grow in our understanding of self, our understanding of sin deepens.
The cross becomes more and more radical.
This is not self-deprecation or self-punishment or shame...
This does not result in head down navel gazing,
but head up, hear-softened, awe-inspired worship.
[[back to text]]
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
What is the object of your faith?
To what is your faith pointed?
On what does your faith depend?
[[Continuing with main text]]
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
This is a wisdom that transcends the wisdom of man.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Posture before God.
What is the response of your heart when you think of God??
[[back to main text]]
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
…None of the rulers of this age understood this...
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
The longer and more we are in relationship with God, the more his grace is revealed, the more his mercy is felt, the more his unconditional love never fails us.
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life is not signs and wonders.
Don’t chase signs, feelings, emotions, sensations..
Chase a deepening knowledge of God and his holiness.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Application questions:
Application questions:
In who or what is your faith rooted?
In who or what is your faith rooted?
Do you take time to grow in your understanding of the cross?
Do you take time to grow in your understanding of the cross?
Do you feel confident taking the message of the cross to others?
Do you feel confident taking the message of the cross to others?
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.