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Text: 1 Corinthians 2:2
Scripture Reading...
Let us read again the key verse that we will focus our attention on this morning…
Introduction
The world is searching for meaning.
Be that in philosophy.... be that in knowledge… be that in the quest for liberation from any man-made rules.... whatever route they may seek after, people are searching for this meaning.
They are searching for purpose in life.
When Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Corinth, he faced a serious confrontation with those who believed themselves to be both exceedingly wise, and extremely religious.
Corinth was a city in Greece, not too far away from the city of Athens.
Both of those cities were steeped in Greek culture, which included extensive worship of idols, and also much debate among the educated philosophers of that day.
A key picture in understanding the cultural environment of that day is found in Acts 17:22-34, where Paul engages with the Philosophers of that age at the Aeropogus.
You will recall that what led up to this was the proliferation of idols that marked the city of Athens, with each of these idols erected in honour of the gods of the age.
They also had an idol “To an Unkonwn God.”
So concerned were they to overlook a god that they hadn’t become aware of, that they made an idol to that which was unknown.
But this was the platform for Paul to preach the Gospel.
In Acts 17:23, we read...
As Paul proceeded to proclaim this Gospel message of Christ crucified, we need to recognise that it was not routinely accepted.
In fact, he was mocked and ridiculed by the vast majority of the philosophers.
In verse 32 of that passage we read...
As Paul departed from Athens, he went on to Corinth, another city of Greece, about 70km away.
This was a very wealthy city, with great prominence.
It was the city that Rome and made the capital of Greece.
Here were self-sufficient people.
Here were educated people.
But Paul proceeded to preach the Gospel of Christ crucified, and the church was established.
As Paul now writes to this church, both to encourage the believers and to confront them on some serious matters confronting them as the church, he reminds them of the simplicity of the message that He preached.
As we consider this morning the death of Jesus Christ,
Our Scripture reading reveals some interesting facts concerning Paul’s technique of preaching the gospel:
1.
The Marks of the message
There are a number of demonstrations of Paul in these few verses.
We’ve already considered much of the context in the introduction.
Essentially, there were all kinds of philosophers and “wise men” of the day that would seek to find meaning in life, explain life… and they would wax eloquent about their imaginations.
In addition to these worldly philosophers, there were also those claiming to be “super-apostles...” They thought that they were superior, and made great boasts about their abilities and gifts.
They demanded respect as “God’s Apostles.”
Paul’s message comes in stark contrast to this.
1.
He did not clothe it in great eloquence
Paul didn’t come in eloquent speech.
Keep in mind that as Paul had engaged with the philosophers in Athens, there was a great rejection, for the most part of the Gospel.
Certainly, when he arrived in Corinth and proclaimed the Gospel, he did so with simple language, with a simple message, that was understandable to the common person.
The Gospel message is not a grand message reserved for the elite of society, or those with exceptional understanding or academic ability.
The Gospel message is simple, and yet powerful.
2. His technique was not subtle oratory, vs. 3–4.
Here, Paul emphasizes the fact that he came to the Corinthian believers in much weakness and fear, with much trembling.
There was not an attitude of great pride.
Paul was a man with great humility.
He was a man who faced great affliction in the face of the proclamation of the Gospel.
If fact, in Corinth itself, he had faced much opposition.
After he had arrived in Corinth, he would go into the synagogue and seek to pursuade the Jews and Greeks that Christ was the Messiah.
But he wouldn’t do this with the worlds wisdom, or with some manipulative and cooercive strategy.
It was the simple preaching of the Gospel, that Christ died for sinners.
Christ was put to death in order to make atonement for sins.
Now, did he have fear?
Clearly there was a measure of fear.
In Acts 18:6-7, we read that
But two verses on, we find God’s command to him for the city of Corinth…
Paul was sent to preach Christ, and Christ crucified.
Although there was great opposition to the preaching of this simple message, God commanded Paul to continue preaching, because He had His chosen people in that city.
Therein was the secret to converts to Christ.
God had his chosen.
As such, there was no real need for Paul to try and muster up all his oratory skills and try and put on a show of his own abilities and intellect.
He relied on the power of God to work through a simple message of the cross.
His preaching of the cross in the face of affliction, leading even to the conversion of those who belonged to the Lord, was a demonstration of the spirit’s power.
This power that He speaks of here is the power promised by God as the Holy Spirit would come down on the disciples at Pentecost.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus said to His disciples....
Now, we need to see the implications of this.
The fact is that when the Gospel message is faithfully, even simply preached, God’s Spirit works and moves to transform lives.
The ability does not rest with the man bringing the message, but rather with God who works through the simple message.
What and encouragement this should be for any one of us trying to share the Gospel with others.
We don’t have to present the Gospel with grand abilities.
While it’s always helpful to have a good knowledge of Scripture, nonetheless, God can use even the simple, basic truths of the Gospel, Christ Crucified, to brings about transformation.
3.
He taught that faith in Christ was not a product of scientific / other education, v. 5.
In the context of Corinth, this “wisdom of man” referred to the philosophies of their day.
It referred to what they believed was a heightened intellect and understanding of life.
This was what was highly revered and esteemed in the day.
We need to see that this is little different in our day.
Ideologies and human wisdom in terms of thinking has always been something that confronts the Gospel.
If you’ve ever heard the term “Enlightenment,” “Modernism,” “Postmodernism” etc., you will realise that man has always been wrestling with trying to find meaning.
Man has always been trying to understand man, and humanity.
There has been a continual searching by man to know how we as humanity may live with ultimate meaning and fulfilment.
What Paul is saying is that the simple Gospel message is that which contains power.
The Gospel message stands in stark contrast to the systems and the wisdom of the world.
The Scriptures are God’s revelation for us to live by.
And central to that is the Cross where Christ was crucified.
2. What it Means to “Preach Christ”
With this in mind, we need to understand something of what Paul meant to preach Christ.
A Christ that is merely a product of the imaginations of man is no Christ at all.
In other words, Paul referred to Christ Jesus, as He was revealed to be.
In His true nature.
To preach Christ means…
1.
To declare Him as God’s incarnate Son Phil.
2:6.
In Philippians 2:6 we read these words concerning Jesus Christ…
Elsewhere we read…
Hebrews 1:3 (NIV84)
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word...
The Scriptures are very clear that Jesus Christ was the very revelation of the person and character of God.
He was God in the flesh.
Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
He was the very presence of God dwelling among people.
Listen to how Paul emphasizes this in his second letter to the Corinthians…
2 Corinthians 4:1–4 (NIV84)
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