I Corinthians 1:18-25 "The Foolishness of the Gospel"

Introduction: Setting by an assistant attorney to the attorney general of the United States.

I could tell that he not only had disdain for Christianity but also for the gospel itself.

This was not surprising because Scripture tells us this very thing.

As a matter of fact our text tells us that this is part of what God has done in the message of the Cross. The Gospel doesn’t accommodate human wisdom but it destroys it when it comes to what constitutes salvation. Look at verses 18-21:

I. The Destruction of Human Wisdom (18-21).

The destruction of human wisdom is an act of God.

It was foretold in the Old Testament in Isaiah 29:14. God is the one who made it folly to those who are perishing and He is the one who displays His power in saving people by the word of the Cross.

He destroyed the human wisdom of the age. Paul ask, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater? (20).

All of these questions are rhetorical in nature in order to make the point that through the message of the Cross God has turned human wisdom into foolishness.

The world may consider the message of the Cross folly but God has turned the tables on the world.

Christian it is the message of the Cross that brings about the salvation of fallen human beings.

Christ and His work is the embodiment of the wisdom of God and it is through Him that human wisdom is put in its place.

This doctrinal truth should serve to eliminate any intimidation that we may have in the world when human wisdom is held up as superior.

Christian it is not the wisdom of the world that has saved you and it is not the wisdom of the world by which you are being sanctified.

God has planned it to be that way because in doing so He has established His own wisdom as supreme over the wisdom of the world. Look at verses 22-25:

II. The Establishment of Divine Wisdom (22-25).

Notice the contrast that is being set up. Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom.

The Jews in Jesus day wanted to see signs over and over again. The would declare, show us a miracle as a sign that you are who you say you are.

Jesus did many supernatural works and still most of them did not believe. They clung tightly to their traditions derived from the Mosaic law code while rejecting Christ as their Messiah.

The Greeks were the pinnacle of ancient culture in Roman society in Paul’s day. Logic and rhetoric in the traditions of the philosophical schools of debate ruled the day in the first century and still have a profound impact on us in our day.

In both systems of thought and practice, the message of the Cross would be held to be an utter failure and absurdity. The idea that God would take on flesh and then triumph through such scorn by death on a Cross would have been absolute nonsense.

Christian it shouldn’t surprise us that people still see the message of the Cross as ridiculous in the modern age.

We are not too different in our day from the ancient Greeks when it comes to the wisdom of our current age. I think of it in the categories of philosophical thought and religious pantheon where man is the measure of all things.

The problem with these worldviews being in contradiction is of little concern to the post-modern mind of our day.

Why? Because ones worldview is seen as sacred to one’s self. The pragmatic benefit that a worldview has for the individual holding it is all that matters. This is a clever trick of the evil one.

What can take it on and penetrate to the depths of the heart of man and go beyond the heights of the exaltation of the self as supreme? Answer:

We preach Christ Crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Greeks but to those who are called, Christ the power and wisdom of God (23-24).

If this is true why would the Church today in the west attempt to circumvent the message of the Cross?

I think it is largely that our audience doesn’t find that message convincing? This is one of the problems of bringing marketing strategies into the Church.

If people are treated as the consumers and they think our message to be ridiculous then we may attempt to adjust the product to fit the demands of the consumer.

We may even take the felt needs of the consumer as being what determines what our message should actually be.

People often perceive that their biggest problem in life is something other than their standing before God.

Story of Redemption Recovery. People were astonished that their biggest problem was separation from God and being justly under His judgement.

But Pastor, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can catch with vinegar” This is true when it comes to flies but not when it comes to dealing with fallen men and women.

Such cliques can easily be turned into tidbit expressions of human wisdom but when it comes to the message of the Cross make no mistake the foolishness of God revealed in the person and work of Christ is wiser and stronger than man’s wisdom.

Businesses market their product to get the consumer to buy it. The message of the Gospel is to surrender yourselves to the product.

Take up your Cross and follow Jesus. It is impossible to market that in such a way that is effectual apart from the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.

And it may surprise you to know that He works according to divine wisdom and not the wisdom of the age.

Christian if I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t stand up here and preach the gospel Sunday after Sunday.

And if not for the message of the Cross you wouldn’t show up for worship on Sunday morning either.

Christ crucified is the wisdom of God that puts all the conventional wisdom of the age in its place.

Christian the Gospel is the message that the Holy Spirit uses to transform God’s people.

And it is foolishness to those who are perishing but it is the only means by which the perishing are converted to salvation by faith alone.

From a ministerial perspective we need, not to just believe in the message of the gospel as the means of our salvation, but we need to believe that the gospel is the means of salvation for those who are lost as well.

Statisticians tell us that America for the first time has moved to having less than 50% of the people being in church.

One would think that over the last 30 years of adjusting church to fit the masses that we would be going in the other direction.

The wisdom of the age believed that it made pragmatic sense to adjust our approach and our message to appeal to our audience. But it appears to have had the opposite affect.

Take away or minimize the gospel and the implications of it and in the end the true gospel becomes irrelevant to man’s relationship with God.

Man will just base his relationship with his God/god on his own subjective perceptions. The biblical necessity of being born again is replaced with something created out of human imagination.

Why do people do this in the end? David Wells gives us insight into why this is the case: (Read Page 53*)

The true gospel becomes irrelevant and so does biblical worship. People imagine they can have their own relationship with God on their own terms and who are we to tell them anything different if we are marketing them into the Kingdom. We may be tempted to accommodate them.

Christian, subjectivity doesn’t just kill the church it is destroying our society right in front of our eyes. Our disconnect from God as a culture is causing us to be deconstructed by the cultural Marxist in academia, media, government and even in religious institutions.

I know of nothing powerful enough to defend the church in such times except the word of God and nothing even remotely powerful enough to advance her in her mission against such opposition except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Perhaps today is the day that we as the covenant people of God need to once again bind ourselves together with a renewed commitment with absolute certainty in the gospel to do its work.

Mother’s Day 2021 here at Crete Church we once again declare and affirm the sufficiency of the gospel to still be the power of God for salvation. (3 John 1:4)

Still saving us after all these years and still the basis of our hope for now and eternity.

So much so that if you are an unbeliever here today we are glad you are here. And we know of no other way of salvation except faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Christian confess and receive. Let’s pray!