The Message of the Cross Is the Wisdom and Power of God

Intro: What is wisdom? What is power?

What’s the world’s idea of wisdom and power? Perhaps they think of science and the pursuit of knowledge, maybe they think of important people who advise others on how they should live, maybe they think of things in nature that can supposedly give insight to the secrets of existence. In regards to power, they might think of military might, or money that makes the world go round, or individuals that wield so much influence that others follow them.

The words before us today show us that none of these things are true wisdom and power. True wisdom and power comes from only one person—he is the almighty and allwise Creator of all that exists. He puts this world’s wisdom and power to shame. He does that by showing us his Son, crucified for us. The Message of the Cross is the answer to life’s toughest questions. The Message of the Cross is the Wisdom and Power of God.

Christ crucified is the wisdom of God

What are the toughest questions life poses to us? I did a Google search, and here’s one of the lists it spat out at me:

Who am I? Is God real? What is the purpose of my existence? What happens when I die?

People have debated these questions for almost as long as humanity has existed. All people feel the tug of these questions to some degree. They yearn for answers. Some spend their whole lives looking for those answers. They look in all kinds of places—science, philosophy, religion, inside themselves. But the wisdom this world has to offer will always fall short of giving the answers we need to those kinds of questions.

God’s way doesn’t seem wise

He provides a way to heaven that makes no sense

Paul writes: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing...” Why is it foolishness to them?

It goes against humanity’s natural inclinations

It’s been said, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Getting something for nothing goes against what people feel is right inside. So when people think of the problem of wickedness and evil, they conclude that people must overcome it by doing good instead. If we can just tip the scales in the right direction, things will be ok. This is how the world works, so it makes sense to people that this is how God would work too.

So when God tells people that’s not how he works, it doesn’t make sense to them. He tells us salvation is free, and that goes against every natural bone in our body. Not only that, it makes us feel small, because we feel like we have to have some part in our redemption, we’ve got to have some skin in the game and get some of the credit. Anything else is utter foolishness to our minds.

It makes God seem foolish

Then there’s how God himself looks in the midst of all this. God is to be a holy and just being, yet he punished his innocent Son for the sins of others? That not only doesn’t make sense, it sounds atrocious! It seems like the act of some madman!

The world provides its own answers

Philosophies

So the world turns away from God’s answer to seek answers on their own. Philosophy is one example. In the time of the Romans, there were two predominant schools of thought—stoicism and epicureanism. You may not recognize the names, but you recognize the ideals, because they’re still around today. Stoicism’s ideal is acting virtuously no matter the circumstance. This leads to a sense of doing one’s duty, even when it may be difficult or painful. The soldier who lays down his life for his country or the worker who is ready to do whatever it takes to finish the job show the stoic philosophy.

Epicureanism goes in a very different direction. This is the philosophy that says, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” We have a limited time available to us, so we should gain as much pleasure and positive experience for ourselves as we can while we can. Do you recognize this philosophy today? Do what makes you happy. Truth is whatever is true for you. These kinds of phrases all come from this philosophy because it’s all about one’s personal happiness.

Whichever one a person followed, you can see what’s at the center—the person. Either as one who is doing good for the sake of being virtuous, or one who is seeking pleasure the sake of themselves.

Religions

It’s been said there are only two religions in the whole world—the religion God gave us, and the one man made for himself. When you examine the religions of the world, you see a pattern develop—every religion besides Christianity puts the focus on something a person must do to achieve some better life here or afterlife later.

God makes all our wisdom look foolish

They give no lasting answers or certainty

See verses 19-20 again. “It is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” The fact is that the answers mankind comes up with on their own aren’t good enough. They can’t lead us to the truth about God or ourselves or what happens when we die. Paul says in verse 21: “The world in its wisdom did not know [God]”. None of man’s attempts in science or philosophy or religion have led to the truth. They all fall short in answering those tough questions we listed earlier.

Paul also says that God arranged it this way by his wisdom. He didn’t want mankind to be able to find these answers on their own. Instead, he wanted people to recognize that their methods weren’t enough, that they provided no lasting answers or certainty as they try to make sense of life. God wanted that because he wanted to share with us his wisdom, his answers to these tough questions. And he shares his wisdom with us through his Word, through the message of the cross.

He gives answers to life’s questions

They never lead back to us

In his Word, God shares answers with us to life’s toughest questions. For those struggling with identity and asking, “Who am I? God tells us, “You are my redeemed child, bought with the blood of Jesus.” For those seeking purpose in this life, God tells us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself,” and “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” We find that these answers all lead us away from ourselves and our own conclusions, and instead, they lead us to Christ and him crucified.

They all center on Christ and him crucified

Christ crucified is God’s wisdom because it shows he knew things we could never know on our own. See, we can all conclude that we are far from perfect, but we could never know that our sin was such a severe disease in us that we would never be able to rid ourselves of it or somehow make up for it. We can all know that there must be a reckoning for the sins we’ve committed, but we could never know that someone else could pay the penalty we deserve, or that his perfection could be credited to us. We could conceive of a loving God, but not a God that was so loving that he would be willing to take the place of his enemies and die in their place so that they might live. These are truths too marvelous for sinful human minds to think up. They are “wiser than human wisdom.” That’s why Christ crucified is the wisdom of God.

And the message of his wisdom in Christ shows his power as well, as Paul says, “…to us who are being saved it [the message of the cross] is the power of God.”

Christ crucified is the power of God

People who have power and control are respected in our world. They can do what they want, they can often have others do what they want. And people pursue paths to power and control so that they too wield those things to get what they want and be respected. Not so with Jesus. Instead, Jesus pursued weakness and humility.

Jesus appeared weak

Jews were offended because he wasn’t the powerful Messiah they desired

This offended the Jews, who were looking for a powerful demonstration of God’s power from his Messiah. They wanted someone who would take them to higher heights of glory, power, and control. It’s an understatement to say they were disappointed.

Are people disappointed today? Are you and I sometimes disappointed? Following Christ should mean more for us, right? We should have more power and control as Jesus’ followers, right? We should be the ones to lead countries and tell others what to do and have wealth and honor. At the very least, our lives should be easy and enjoyable, shouldn’t they?

His method of conquering was through love and mercy and sacrifice

But Jesus’ wielded his power in a hidden way. He chose not to conquer people’s hearts through force, but through gentleness and meekness. He chose the way of love and mercy and sacrifice. So he left power and wealth and comfort behind and lowered himself to humble service and ultimate sacrifice. And the fact is, in so doing, Jesus shows that he could not have been stronger.

Jesus couldn’t have been stronger

His life and death showed strength, not weakness

Only his perfect life and innocent death could pay for sin and make us righteous

God’s wisdom knew that there was only one way to save his fallen creatures from their sin. Jesus followed that way, confident of his Father’s plan. It took perfect trust to follow that plan, to endure the pains that Jesus endured without concluding that all this wasn’t worth the souls of God’s enemies. It took perfect love to go the way of the cross and allow himself to be punished for things he had never done without ever once saying or even thinking, “Forget this! Let them die for their countless rebellions!” It took perfect humility to constantly put the wellbeing of all the people of this world ahead of his own, without ever desiring or demanding the power and glory that was his by right. Jesus was not weak. His willingness to live and die as our substitute shows his immense strength.

Only his perfect life and innocent death could change our hearts of stone

One more point to make: Have you heard about CRISPR? It’s a gene-editing process. There may be a day when people are engineered to grow and develop in certain ways by manipulating their actual DNA. It’s amazing (and more than a little scary). However, with all the power that such a technology gives to doctors, there’s something it will never be able to do—change a person’s heart, remove the evil that resides there.

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. God has the power to do it. And he uses the message of the cross to make it happen. Through simple words that tell of a man who lived and died for us, God has transformed our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. He has rewired us to love him and others rather than be focused on ourselves. He has made us children in the likeness of his Son, ready to trust and love and sacrifice, all to the glory of his name.

That’s amazing power that’s affected you and me and countless others. Could there be anything more powerful? And it comes to us through such apparently weak means—words, water, bread and wine. But the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

What is wisdom? What is power? This world will have its answers to those questions, but they will be the wrong answers. God is the only one who knows true wisdom and power. And The Message of the Cross is God’s Wisdom and Power. If we want to know true wisdom and power, let us look no further than Jesus Christ. If we want to teach others about true wisdom and power, let us join with Paul and the rest of the Christian church by preaching nothing but Christ crucified. Amen.