Christ Is the Power and Wisdom of God

Introduction

Prayer

O God, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our hearing,

be with us now to sanctify unto us the truths that shall be delivered from them.

Be with us especially to enlighten our minds by the Holy Spirit;

And by the mighty working of thy power,

bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived.

Be pleased also O Lord to strengthen such as do stand,

and comfort and help the weak hearted,

and raise up them that fall.

And finally beat down Satan under our feet.

All this we humbly ask in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Introducing the Text (1 Cor 1:18-31)

Setting

Let me put that text in its context there in 1 Corinthians.

Greeting (1 Cor 1:1-3)

Thanksgiving (1 Cor 1:4-9)

Divisions (1 Cor 1:10-17)

Wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:18-31)

Paul’s Message of Wisdom (1 Cor 2)

Opening Comments

Thanksgiving and Benediction (1 Cor 1:1-9)

Greeting for God’s church in Corinth (v. 2): a called, holy people

Benediction: May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. (v. 3)

Thanksgiving (vv. 4-9):

For a church endowed with eloquent words, knowledge, and spiritual gifts (vv. 4-6)

For a church that the Lord sustains strong and blameless till the end (vv. 7-8)

For a church living in fellowship with Jesus Christ (v. 9)

Exhortation about Division (1 Cor 1:10-17)

“Some of you are saying, ‘I am a follower of Paul.’ Others are saying, ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Peter,”’or ‘I follow only Christ.’ ” (1 Corinthians 1:12, NLT). Paul responded, “Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!” (1 Corinthians 1:13, NLT).

"The quarreling at Corinth was not over trivial matters but over something fundamental. Even those who said they were of Christ were at fault, because they were implicitly denying this to others and making Christ the head of a faction rather than the head of the whole church.” (Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians 3.5.10)

Paul’s response to this factionalism: “Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.” (1 Corinthians 1:17, NLT)

Instruction and Proclamation (1 Cor 1:18-31)

Paul follows up this note about Corinthian factionalism with teaching that highlights the underlying problem and points toward a solution.

Finding God’s wisdom in what looks like pure folly (vv. 18-25)

Boasting in God alone (vv. 26-31)

Finding God’s Wisdom (1 Cor 1:18-25)

Key verse: “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25, NLT)

Proclamation of the cross (1 Cor 1:18)

Paul opens his case for the cross this way:

1 Corinthians 1:18 NLT

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise” (1 Cor 1:19-21)

In verses 19-21, Paul says God has barred human wisdom from playing any role in redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:19–21 NLT

19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

“The cross is … foolish for those who are headed for destruction” (1 Cor 1:22-23)

1 Corinthians 1:22–23 NLT

22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

Jews

Seek signs

God had given many throughout the OT: He had showed his mighty hand during the exodus and wilderness years; but they had moaned and grumbled and considered rejecting their very liberation for a return to Egypt.

He had given many signs during Jesus’ ministry; but they kept demanding one sign after another without showing any sign of accepting this “messiah” who refused to define his office after their fashion instead in obedience to his Father who sent him.

Are offended

They were offended by the way of the wilderness

They were offended by a Messiah who would rather give eternal life and lead them into the kingdom of God than give them a glorious death assaulting Roman legions and claiming ownership of a little patch of land about the size of New Jersey.

They were certainly offended by crucified “Messiah.”

Apparently they had never taken a liking to Isaiah’s language about a Messiah who came as a Suffering Servant, a lamb led to the slaughter while bearing their sins.

They had never gotten the ultimate point of stone temple, blood of bulls and goats, and repetitive sacrifice for sin.

Greeks

Seek wisdom

In this regard they were the direct intellectual descendants of the couple who stood at Eden’s forbidden tree and decided to “self-actualize” in rebellion against God’s clear standing orders.

Refusing to acknowledge that the “fear of God is the elementary principle of wisdom”; the Greeks set out to multiply gods to the point that they covered their bases with an altar to the “unknown god.”

Say it’s all nonsense

We hear their voice on Mars Hill, where philosophical dilettantes were bemused by Paul’s speech until he spoke of the resurrection.

We hear in in the voice of those who reject the doctrine of blood atonement, insisting that they could never worship any God who would murder his own Son.

We hear the voice of their descendants today in the rabid follower of scientific naturalism that shuts out God as an “unnecessary postulate.”

“… we who are being saved know it is the very power of God” (v. 18b, 1 Cor 1:24-25)

1 Corinthians 1:24–25 NLT

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

Power

As to the signs that Jews seek, this is the power of God behind anyone who can perform signs:

Signs of prophetic ministry in the OT

Signs of messianic ministry in the Gospels

Signs of an apostle in NT

Power of God unto Salvation (Rom 1:16)

Romans 1:16 NLT

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

Wisdom

Wisdom that supplants the so-called wisdom of this world (1 Cor 1:19)

1 Corinthians 1:19 NLT

19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

Wiser than the wisest of human plans (v. 25)

The wisdom by which the world were created (Prov 8:25-31

Boasting in God (1 Cor 1:26-31)

Key verse: “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”” (1 Corinthians 1:31, NLT; quoting Jer 9:24)

Humble Origins (1 Cor 1:26-29)

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 NLT

26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

United with Christ (1 Cor 1:30-31)

1 Corinthians 1:30–31 NLT

30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

Against the spirit of factionalism, Paul says, “God has united you with Christ” (v. 30a)

“He has becomes to us wisdom from God” (σοφία … ἀπὸ θεοῦ); he is world-creating wisdom, the way of life, the the one who has pioneered his way in ahead of into glory.

“He has become to us … righteousness” (δικαιοσύνη); he “made us right with God.”

“He has become to us … sanctification” (ἁγιασμός); he “made us pure and holy.”

“He has become to us … redemption” (ἀπολύττρωσις); he “freed us fro sin.”

Against those who would boast in Paul, Apollos, or Peter—even in Jesus as a mere faction leader, Paul warns, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

Conclusion

So this morning, I want to warn and exhort you. Flee from the wrath that will fall on anyone who chooses the way of worldly wisdom, anyone who rejects the folly of the cross for some shiny counterfeit.

Exhortation and Warnings

Don’t let the folly that the world calls wisdom steal your soul and keep you on the road to destruction (Prov 14:12)

Proverbs 14:12 NLT

12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

It was this self-willed “knowledge” that put mankind on the path to destruction at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It is an insane antichrist spirit that will contend with and refused the cross.

Before the cross, Jesus retorted, “Get behind me Satan” when Peter tried to turn him away from the path to the cross.

“The power of the cross is not recognized by those who are perishing, because they are out of their minds and act like madmen, complaining and rejecting the medicines which bring salvation.” (Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians 4.1.8)

Wisdom bears is fruit (Luke 7:35)

Luke 7:35 NLT

35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”

Praise God for his wisdom (Rom 11:33)

Romans 11:33 NLT

33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

Prayer