Foolishness of God_Part I
NEW SERIES: THE TROUBLED TRIUMPHANT CHURCH
Sermon 4 – “Foolishness of God” Part I
1 Cor. 1:18-25
Introduction
This week, in Wednesday’s Tennessean, I read an interesting article entitled, “Scientists in Switzerland to smash protons today……Skeptics fear doom, but safety is assured.” The article described a $10 billion dollar, 20 nation scientific project built to find one thing….what scientists call the “God particle.” This is a sub-atomic “theoretical” particle (even smaller than protons and neutrons) that some believe will help scientists explain, (AND I QUOTE) “the ‘big bang’ theory that a colossal explosion created the cosmos.” The US sent $531 million to the project that constructed this collider with a 17 mile underground tunnel designed to “push (the) proton beam around the tunnel at a rate of 11,000 times per second (close to the speed of light)! This will occur at full power….something that is at least a year away. Skeptics feared that the experiment Wed. would mean the end of the world, “fearing that the proton collision could unleash microscopic black holes that would eventually doom the earth.”
Good News! A smaller article Thurs. in the Tennessean announced the success of the first experiment announced as physicists in the U.S. held a “pajama party” near Chicago.
Tie in – You know, as creatures….as a species….humans are pretty intelligent beings. We are the only known creatures who have the capacity for higher-ordered reasoning[i]- or our ability to think about thinking. Our innate desire to know and understand has always driven the human race to push itself to…. “seek to understand” all there is! But it’s interesting, that as intelligent and inquisitive as we are…..we still often do some really stupid things! Just a quick look at the annual “Darwin Awards” confirms this through some pretty egregious examples of stupidity:
· A Pennsylvania man refused to go to the hospital after being bitten by a Cobra…instead choosing to go to a bar where he finished off three drinks before dying from the poison.
· Then there was the Ukrainian fisherman who ran electrical cables from his house into the river so that he could electrocute some fish….and then he waded in to collect the fish without removing the cables….electrocuting himself in the process!
Yet, we tend to believe that we can solve any problem……find a solution to any difficulty…..we tend to, in many ways, worship the human ingenuity and initiative! But we are willing to accept such far-reaching theories as proposed by many scientists – that the cosmos was formed by some sort of spontaneous combustion without any intelligent design or a designer behind it – simply because they are unwilling to yield to the existence of God. Many will accept that there are other salient beings in other galaxies that would be far more “advanced” than we humans…..but no….it is simply fairy tales and fantasy that there is a God and that, as the Apostle Paul wrote, He is a “…… God, who ……calls into being that which does not exist” (Rom. 4.17).
Yet Scripture makes it clear that human wisdom is vastly different and infinitely less than God’s wisdom! In fact, the Bible goes so far as to say that human wisdom is in reality foolishness when contrasted to the wisdom of God!
It is this contrast….between human and divine wisdom that we’re going to look at this morning and next Sunday…as we discuss Paul’s on-going dealings with the divisions in the Church in Corinth. This morning, in looking at 1 Cor. 1:18-25…we will see that:
The Wisdom of God finds its pinnacle in the cross of Calvary
and that the Cross alone stands in absolute, uncompromising
contradiction to human wisdom!
READ TEXT
In our passage, today, we will see:
1. The Preeminence of God’s Word – His Wisdom
2. The Permanence of God’s Word – His Wisdom…..and the
3. The Power of God’s Word – His Wisdom.
The Preeminence of God’s Word – His Wisdom: Look at v.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.
The Corinthian church, as we saw last week, had sub-divided itself into at least 4 groups….all revolving around placing their faith in the teachings of men….Paul, Apollos, Peter, or their own rebellious, anti-authoritarian egos. But here in v. 18, God does His own dividing! In the Jewish world, there were only two primary societal groups; Jews and Gentiles. But God says, YES, there are really only two groups within the human race, but it isn’t along ethnic, racial, or societal distinctions! It revolves around the word of the cross!
In v.17, Paul had said he didn’t come preaching with “words of eloquent wisdom” which translates literally, the wisdom of words…..but here in v.18, Paul grounds the wisdom of God in the cross and – perhaps using a deliberate play on words, writes “For the word of the cross….is the power of God.” We have in v.18 a direct contrast between the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God! One is foolish…the other is infinitely great……one is grounded in humility…the other in pride! One finds its greatest triumph and expression in a barbaric and crude form of killing…the other in false and self-centered expression.
How the cross is understood is the indicator of which group one falls! The 2 groups:
· Those who are perishing (lit. BDAG – those who are lost) – see the Cross as foolishness (folly)(Gk____________). From this Gk word moria – we get the word “moron.” It is moronic….it is absolute non-sense to the lost person – that God would take on human form; that he would be born in a dark, stinky, smelly barn to poor peasants and live a life of poverty! That God would leave the opulence of heaven to come and be mocked, spat on, and condemned to die a horrific death on a piece of timber set in rocky ground….it is simply absurd! This is the word of the cross – the complete gospel message and work – even more it encompasses all of God’s revelation – all of his promises and commands and prior acts of redemption for His people – for they all find their completeness in Jesus Christ and the summation of their purpose on the cross!
· But, to those who are experiencing Jesus Christ – to those who have believed the gospel message – this same cross that is foolishness to most – well it is the Power of God! Paul would have seen this illustrated….before coming to Corinth Paul had delivered his sermon on Mars Hill in Athens – in Acts 17 – As Paul preached they were captivated…the stoic and epicurean philosophers….but then Paul mentioned that God was calling all to repentance – that one man had been appointed judge over all – and that God had shown this by raising him from the dead, and v.32 “ Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” (Acts 17.32)
To the natural, fallen mind – whether Jew or Gentile – the cross is offensive and unacceptable….it is absurd foolishness! We all fall into one of these groups….which one are you in this morning? The preeminence of God’s Word – His Wisdom – is found in the purpose and accomplishments of the Cross of Calvary!
But then, we have The Permanence of God’s Word-His Wisdom (vv19-20)
Paul quotes Isaiah in v. 19 – “For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Isaiah’s prophesy will one day be complete – when Jesus returns and all of mankind’s philosophies and objections to the gospel will be swept away! But also, Isaiah’s prophecy had an immediate fulfillment when God defied the Assyrian army as it threatned to besiege Jerusalem around 701 B.C. – God said through Is. that he would destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment or cleverness of the clever…..And with one angel God destroyed 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night (2 Kings 17).
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
It is God’s wisdom that is stronger….that endures! Paul asks, “Where are the greatest minds in the world?” We can ask the same questions? As we spend Billions of dollars on proton beam accelerators….billions on medical research against cancer and heart disease……as we fight a war against terror on two fronts……we might ask – in all of our human wisdom – with our greatest physicians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, physicists, economists, and statesmen – How much closer are we today to alleviating hunger, poverty, disease, crime, totalitarianism, and immorality than in Paul’s day? Has human wisdom made any real inroads into understanding the basic human questions….questions that transcends all cultural differences?
· Why am I here?
· Where did I come from?
· What’s wrong with the world?
· Where am I going after I die?
Modern human wisdom is great at seeing the problem and working on the symptoms…..BUT they refuse to see the root cause of all problems….and that is sin! Our wisdom will one day be destroyed – humanity will never solve the problems of world hunger or world peace. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work for peace and feeding the hungry – we’re commanded to do these things – but we do them all under the banner of truth – the truth of Jesus Christ – who is the only hope for every person in every place!
The wisdom of God …..we find in Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible: this wisdom endures eternally! Love, joy, peace, hope….harmony and brotherhood among people – all comes only through Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross. Those who refuse to see the cross – are doomed! Those who see the cross as foolishness are doomed to perish by their own foolishness!
The Power of God’s Word – His Wisdom: Paul sharpens the focus of contrast even more in the vv. 21-25 as he shows us”
- the plan of salvation by his wisdom…..and
- the substance of salvation by his wisdom.
First….the plan of salvation – in v.21….In his wisdom, God established his own way to redemption…a way or a plan that human wisdom can never find and will not seek!
1 Cor 1:21
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Humanity cannot find God because we refuse to look at the real issue – sin as rebellion against our holy, Creator God! Rom. 1:18-32 details this human folly. Look especially at v.22: After saying that mankind “suppresses the truth” about God….refusing to know Him….Paul writes, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools…” Our own sinful nature is the root of all human problems! But even if, in our own human wisdom, humanity were to recognize the problem lies within ourselves….we just don’t have the power to change it…..but God does have the power!
His plan is revealed, “through the folly (___________) of what we preach to save those who believe.” God is pleased that the “foolish, moronic (in human understanding) message of the gospel is the wisdom that save all who believe! We must look to v. 24 to understand how believing the message saves….. “but to those who are called,….Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” so here is the grace of God in action…..it is the calling of God that moves us from the perishing to those being saved! It is God, through the gospel preached, calling us to Christ and the cross that brings us into salvation! In between v. 21 and v. 24 we have the contrast in sharp focus – the contrast of our fallen wisdom and God’s ultimate wisdom. “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly (foolishness) to Gentiles,” this word translated “stumbling block” _____________ gives us our English “scandal”! The plan of salvation comes through, what is to fallen human wisdom, a foolish message that seems scandalous to Jews and moronic to Gentiles…but to those where the grace of God is working / / calling, and showing the truth of God’s wisdom…we find the substance of salvation – the power of God and the wisdom of God in Christ Jesus!
Conclusion
It is the Word of the Cross – it is the most shameful of objects and despicable of acts of execution – that God has chosen to manifest His greatest wisdom and strongest power! The cross stands alone in absolute, uncompromising contradiction to human wisdom. The Lord of Glory….crucified! The greatest contradiction: that the God of the heavens and the King of the universe – full of splendor……would endure the greatest act of humility, shame and weakness in being crucified! To Humans – Folly! To God – Grace!!
Invitation:
Does it seem foolish to you? Have you perhaps rejected this message in the past….yet God is stirring your heart even now…..convincing and showing you your sin and rebellion against your Creator! Even now….Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God stands ready to accept you! The cross stands throughout all time as the symbol of hope and life…..because of the One who bled and died for the sins of those whom God calls to repentance and faith! Jesus said, “unless you repent,you will all likewise perish!” If God is speaking, respond in faith.
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[i] Boa and Bowman, 20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists, 114.
