The Cross and True Wisdom
First Things First: A Study in 1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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This morning we are kicking off a new series called first things first. We are going through the book of 1 Corinthians.
I want to reassure some of us that we are not going to take 65 weeks to get through it.
It’s only going to be about 6 weeks.
BUT we are going to cover some deep and quite honestly some uncomfortable topics.
We live in a culture that loves the idea of “protect your peace.”
But too often we try to “protect our peace” by avoiding being uncomfortable.
Avoiding conviction. I’m going to make us very uncomfortable over the next several weeks. Myself included.
But it’s important and necessary because we have to get back to the what matters.
Now, I know we’re in a series on 1 Corinthians…
and I’m about to quote from Revelation.
Which—yes—I fully realize is a little unorthodox.
Some pastors ease into a letter like this with Greek context and warm greetings…
I’m starting with the apocalyptic literature where Jesus is calling out churches.
But hey—welcome to my preaching style.
Jesus is talking to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2 but he says something that is absolutely applicable to this series, and a great way to set up this series.
3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
We have to get back to the first love. It’s not about the what, the how, the when, it’s about the who.
Jesus. Jesus is our first love.
We have to get back to the first things first.
Before we dive into the book, I want to give you some history and context.
Paul established this church during his 18-month stay in Corinth.
If you remember in Acts 18 he had just come off of an extremely difficult missionary season.
He worked there with Aquila and Priscilla as a tentmaker, experienced persecution and opposition.
But establishes the church in Corinth.
Opposition has not and will not ever stop the church.
The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.
Now, that doesn’t mean a church will be perfect.
It doesn’t mean it will always be right in everything that it does.
Sometimes a church needs correction and repentance.
This is where we find the church in Corinth.
Corinth was a powerful, wealthy, and morally chaotic city—deeply spiritual, but deeply confused.
If you’re trying to imagine what Corinth was like, don’t picture a small, dusty ancient village—think Austin, Texas.
A booming, influential, creative, and independent city full of life… but also full of confusion. A place where everyone has a voice, everyone has a platform, and no one wants to be told what to do.
And that same confusion had crept into the church.
That’s the kind of culture Paul planted a church in—and that’s exactly what makes this letter so relevant for us today.
Now, I know it’s called 1 Corinthians, but here’s something most people don’t realize:
This wasn’t actually Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
In 1 Corinthians 5:9, Paul says, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people…”
That refers to an earlier letter we no longer have—a lost correspondence.
So technically, 1 Corinthians is more like 2 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians would actually be at least the third in a series of letters.
But this one—what we call 1 Corinthians—was the first inspired letter that the Holy Spirit preserved for us.
And in it, Paul doesn’t hold back.
He confronts division, pride, sexual immorality, misuse of spiritual gifts, confusion about gender, and even resurrection.
Why? Because this church, like many Christians and churches today, had drifted from their foundation.
So with all of that in our minds turn with me to 1 corinthians we are going to start in verse 1.
1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
I love how Paul starts his letter.
Paul was not afraid to tell you he was called by God.
Too often, we get timid.
We don’t want people to know we’re Christians because of what they might think—much less tell them we are called by God.
But here’s the truth: You are called by God.
So why are you worried about what they might call you?
The only call or label that should matter to us is the call of Christ.
We are sons and daughters of the Most High God.
Never be ashamed of who God has called you to be.
Culture doesn’t get to define you—God does.
Then Paul goes on to say how he gives thanks for all that God has given the church in Corinth.
Through the first nine verses, Corinth has to be feeling good.
“Man, we’re good! Paul gives thanks for us…”
And then… verse 10.
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.
16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
So Paul goes from “I thank God for you” to “THANK GOD I didn’t baptize most of you”—real fast.
It’s a sharp turn, but it’s intentional.
Because the Corinthians had taken their spiritual identity and anchored it to human leaders—Paul, Apollos, Cephas—rather than to Christ Himself.
Paul’s saying,
“Listen, I’m glad I didn’t baptize more of you, because clearly you’d have made that about me too.”
He’s calling them out:
You’re dividing over personalities.
You’re elevating giftedness over unity.
And in doing that, you’re emptying the cross of its power.
This is the danger when the church forgets who it belongs to.
We start building our identity around pastors, preferences, worship styles, secondary doctrines—or even political tribes.
Here is the question i want you to ask yourself this morning:
Have I traded the power of the cross for the comfort of personality?
Pray
My wife always picks on me because I have a lot of random useless facts running around in this ADHD brain.
I’m talking about facts that I have no business knowing.
Some of my favorite facts are the ones that don’t seem true—but are.
Let me give you an example:
Honey never spoils.
It has a low moisture point and a high acidity that doesn’t allow bacteria to grow in it.
Now, some of you were like, “That’s common knowledge, Pastor Kyle…”
Oh yeah? Well, did you know that archaeologists have found edible honey in ancient Egyptian tombs over 3,000 years old?
See? That’s what I’m talking about.
Why does anyone need to know that?
How about this one:
Oxford University was founded in 1096 and predates the Aztec Civilization, which didn’t begin until about 1325.
That one sounds untrue—but it’s not.
Alright, I’ve got one that could save your life.
You ready?
Doritos are extremely flammable—they burn hot and long.
Now you’re like,
“Pastor, how in the world will that ever save my life?”
I’m glad you asked.
If you’re ever stranded in the wild with only matches and a pack of Doritos,
you can start a fire.
Come on—somebody say amen.
That’s one of those facts that feels silly and foolish… until you need it.
Look what Paul says in verse 18:
18 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.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Paul is essentially saying this:
Unless you’ve encountered Christ, the message of the cross sounds foolish. It sounds unnecessary.
It doesn’t make sense to the world.
Because it’s not flashy.
It’s not intellectual.
It’s not strong by human standards.
But when you’ve met Jesus—when you’ve experienced the grace that flows from that cross—it stops sounding foolish and starts sounding like power, like hope, like everything.
Verse 26 honestly makes me laugh
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
Did Paul just call some of the Corinthians stupid?
I’m pretty sure he did.
And just in case they missed it, he doubles down in verse 27:
27 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;
Paul is reminding them—and us—that God didn’t call the impressive.
He called the humble, the ordinary, the overlooked.
The old preachery way to sat it is God doesn’t call the qualified he qualifies the called.
Why?
So that no one could boast in anything but Him.
jump to chapter two look what paul says
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Paul is not saying he dumbed it down.
He’s saying, “I didn’t want you to be impressed with me—I wanted you to see the power of God.”
That’s a huge word for us today.
The reason a lot of our evangelism tactics fail is because we’re trying to be persuasive in speech
instead of just giving someone Christ.
We think we need to be clever…
convincing…
eloquent…
But Paul says, “I gave you Jesus. That’s it. And that was enough.”
The fascinating thing about this is the culture of the day.
The city of Corinth loved its philosophers, debaters, and celebrity speakers.
They were obsessed with eloquence, intellect, and status.
They gathered in theaters for TED Talks before TED ever talked.
This was a culture where the best communicator often won the crowd—regardless of whether they spoke truth.
But Paul intentionally refused to play that game.
He didn’t show up with a branded message, a power suit, or a five-point TED Talk.
He came with one message: Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
And it was more than enough.
It was enough then—and it’s enough now.
Paul isn’t anti-wisdom.
He just knows that real wisdom doesn’t come from intellectual brilliance— It comes from spiritual maturity and the Spirit of God.
If you’re not receiving the deeper things of Christ,
if the Word feels flat,
if the cross still feels foolish…
Then you might need to ask yourself:
Am I spiritually mature?
Because spiritual revelation requires spiritual maturity.
You can’t receive Spiritual things with flesh filters.
And this was exactly the problem with the church in Corinth.
Look at chapter 3:
1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
Paul’s saying: “I wanted to go deeper—but you weren’t ready.”
“You’re still acting immature. You’re still acting fleshly.”
“You’re still driven by jealousy, by division, by ego and offense.”
You can almost hear the heartbreak in Paul’s words.
He’s not just rebuking them—he’s grieving that they’re still stuck on milk.
Too many Christians get upset and leave churches saying:
“I’m just not getting fed.”
But my question is:
Have you learned how to eat yet?
We think it’s the pastor’s job to feed us.
But it’s not.
It’s our job to teach you how to hunt, how to open the Word,
how to feed yourself, how to grow in Christ—not just survive on Sunday spoon-feeds.
If you aren’t getting fed that’s not the pastors fault it’s yours.
Your spiritual maturity will only grow as much as your willingness to develop it.
Nobody can grow for you. You’ve got to decide to grow for yourself.
So here comes the big question
How do I become Spiritually mature?
See—the church in Corinth had all the gifts of the Spirit.
They could speak in tongues.
They could prophesy with the best of them…
But there was a problem.
They had gifts, but they lacked humility.
They had power, but not character.
7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
Paul is saying:
“Everything you have—it’s all grace.
You didn’t earn it.
You didn’t create it.
You just received it.”
So why are you acting like you made it happen?
The church in Corinth was obsessed with image and perception.
They mirrored the culture around them—a culture that was:
self-absorbed,
driven by appearance,
and only concerned with what they wanted.
Individualism was king.
Personal happiness was more important than anything else—even morality.
Sound familiar?
Culture today is the exact same way.
And it’s creeping into the church.
We’ve made it about platforms…
about personalities…
about preferences…
But we have to get back to the first thing.
And the first thing is not:
my ego.
my identity.
my status.
It’s not my anything.
The first thing is:
Christ—and Christ crucified.
That’s the foundation.
That’s the power.
That’s the wisdom.
You want to know how to be spiritually mature?
Then understand this:
Christ being crucified wasn’t just for your salvation—It was for your everything.
It’s not just the starting point of faith—It’s the center, the sustainer, the standard, and the goal.
And maybe that’s exactly why we come back to the table today.
Yes—we took communion last week.
But this is not a repeat.
This is a return.
A return to the cross.
A return to our first love.
A return to the only thing strong enough to unite a divided church, heal a broken soul, and sustain a weary believer.
Because Christ and Christ crucified isn’t just a message we preach—It’s a reality we receive.
And just like Paul reminded the Corinthians… we don’t outgrow the cross.
We don’t graduate from grace.
This table isn’t just a ritual—it’s a reset.
A moment to re-center our hearts,
Re-align our worship,
And re-anchor our lives in the finished work of Jesus.
Paul in chapter 11 of this letter says
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Christ—and Christ crucified.
Every time we take communion, we’re proclaiming the finished work of Jesus.
We’re reminding our souls: He did it. It’s done.
I don’t know about you, but I need that today.
I need to re-anchor myself in what’s already been finished on the cross.
Many of us have been fasting and praying this week.
This is the moment we break our fast—but more importantly, it’s the moment we return to our first love.
Not with hype… not with emotion… but with hunger.
So as we prepare to take communion, I just want us to slow down… and confess something together in worship.
There is a song that we used to sing in church that says, and I’m desperate for you, I’m lost without you.
Think about that moment, when you fell love in with Jesus.
That moment where you were desperate for Him.
Let’s get back to that moment together.
