Imagine you are in a war about to head into battle, and as guns and ammunition are being handed out, you see a skinny, weak-looking soldier shake his head saying ‘I’m sorry. I don’t use guns,’ while moving, empty-handed, to the front. Would you think that soldier was wise or foolish? Strong or weak?
Would you trust him, or an expert sniper, to save you in battle?
The movie “Hacksaw Ridge” was based on the real-life story of an American Army soldier, Desmond Doss in WWII. He was a Christian and objected to killing but wanted to serve his country. So he decided to serve as a battlefield medic without carrying any weapons. He was scorned as a coward by his fellow American soldiers for his seemingly weak and foolish choice. But through his trust in Christ’s power and wisdom over his own, he saved many soldiers’ lives, both American and Japanese.
How does God use the things that appear utterly foolish and weak to reveal the greatness of his strength and wisdom?
Let’s explore the wisdom of God found in 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16 as we try to answer that question.
Today, we dive into the drama where worldly wisdom is being destroyed. A disruptive message has exploded: hitting 3 camps of people in different ways. Some are saying it’s nonsense, some are saying its weak, and some are being saved.
The War of Wisdoms
God Destroys the Wisdom of This World Declaring it Foolishness
Paul welcomes us into the war of wisdoms in 1 Corinthians 1:18-20.
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. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1 Corinthians 1:18-20
I like how God fights.
Instead of contending with people, God destroys the wisdom of this world altogether.
By showing it to be foolish, he wipes it out entirely.
3 Soldiers of Worldly Wisdom
Paul points out some soldiers of this world’s wisdom: the wise, the scribe and the debater. These people are extremely gifted and knowledgeable through study, letters or questions. But, no matter how smart, how talented, how devoted, God routed his enemies with such finality that not one is left standing.
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
Psalm 130:3
Who can Stand?
The wise can’t be confident standing before God on the basis of their own wisdom. Because even the very best of all they could ever learn and achieve would never be perfect or complete, would not come close to making them equal to infinite, perfect, creator God.
And so in his mercy, God prevents people from knowing Him apart from the wisdom of Christ Jesus.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:21)
2 Types of Wisdom
The Bible contrasts 2 very different types of wisdom. God’s wisdom and the world’s wisdom.
- The World’s Wisdom
The wisdom of this world is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. Worldly wisdom looks to see what it can get from someone, before offering to help them. Worldly wisdom wants what someone else has and uses any means necessary to get it. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. James 3:15
Without revelation from God, we all have been swimming in worldly wisdom, unaware of the existence of any other. It’s kind of like an old fish swimming by two young fish. The old fish nods and asks how’s the water? The young fish reply “what’s water?” - God’s Wisdom
God’s wisdom, on the other hand, is described like this:
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. James 3:17
Foolishness on Display
So we know that God destroys the wisdom of this world by showing it to be unwise.
But how does he do that exactly?
Foolishness.
Through foolishness.
Through what is seen as foolish by this world.
it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
See 1 Corinthians 1:21
The Message of the Cross
The message of the cross contains all aspects of Godly wisdom because Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God, but to the world and everyone who loves and lives by its wisdom, the message of the cross is utter foolishness. 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.
1 Corinthians 1:18
Surely, the wise, the scribes and the debaters of Paul’s day saw the cross only as a torturous death, a message that proved Jesus’s defeat and weakness. It made no sense that the humiliating execution of Jesus, its head, would be the power of the church, its victory or goal. That would be utter foolishness.
Theologian Dr. Doug Bookman described the process of crucifixion this way: “The cross was cruel, lasted a long time, public, on a low hill- just outside the city gate.”
That doesn’t paint a picture of power or victory at all. There’s no power or glory in a pale. Nothing special about a stake.
In fact it appears foolish and weak to those who are perishing. To the Jews who pursued power and accomplishment, it showed weakness, the defeat of Jesus at the hands of the Romans. To the Greeks who pursued logic, philosophy, worldly wisdom, it made no sense at all. But, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (see 1 Corinthians 1:21)
Where is the Power and Wisdom of God Revealed?
The message of the cross is the power and wisdom of God. It has always been God’s plan.
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. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Yet, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Remember, in his purity, Jesus Christ the Son of God became the offering for our sin so that those in Christ could be made right with God.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Jesus Came in Weakness
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:7-8
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5
Jesus emptied himself of all the glory he held as creator God and was sent down into his creation. In his birth he went down, into an animal manger. He submitted himself to life as a child, and then as a poor carpenter, and then lived without a home. Jesus was born under the law he created to pay a price he didn’t owe and die a death he didn’t deserve for sinful people like us.
But how exactly is this a message of power and wisdom?
When Jesus was conceived by the virgin mary in an animal stable, did he come in all his glory?
When he was silent before his accusers, did he display his splendor?
When Jesus came to call sinners, the sick, the poor and the poor in spirit, was he favored by the elite?
No, Jesus came in weakness. Why?
This message of the cross is that:
- Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
- that he was buried
- and raised to life 3 days later.
Jesus Became Our Righteousness
Jesus became what we desperately needed in our darkest hour. The bright morning star, Jesus Christ, stepped into our darkness by God’s perfect power and translated us into the kingdom of light.
The message of the cross is offensive because it’s directed at those who know they are weak and foolish, the poor and the poor in spirit.
God chooses the foolish. God chooses the weak. God chooses the low and despised. The ones dead in sin—sinking towards destruction—called and chosen in Christ Jesus. His call demands a response.
For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2
Jesus came DOWN in weakness
He delivered us in his weakness by paying with his blood. This is really important because if he came in all his power and glory, no one could stand. We would have all been rightfully judged and destroyed. The reason He came in weakness was not to destroy but to be destroyed; to pay the penalty of sin and break its power over us.
Jesus Became our Redemption
And so He drank the full cup of the Father’s fury. We needed deliverance from our darkness, our blindness, and the death that sin pays out. Jesus Christ paid for our release from dark waters with his sinless lifeblood. We were delivered at a horrible price.
He graciously sank in our sin so we could see and hear the Father’s call.
Instantaneously reborn, we are climbing toward the upward call of God by the faith God gives only by grace.
The Corinthians originally heard this call, but they were soon sinking back into immaturity and carnality; playing favorites and being divisive.
Grace in Vain?
So God listened to the Corinthians in their time of need. He extended salvation to them by his grace. Did they receive it in vain? Commentator David Guzik points out that to receive the grace of God in vain is to “receive the goodness and favor of God, yet to hinder the work of grace in one’s life”
In their pride, the Corinthians were doing that. The Corinthians were immobilized by sin.
God catches the wise in their craftiness.. They needed a warning.
So, Paul called them aside. Summoning them to step away from the rush of sin to remember 3 things:
1. Because of God, you’re in Christ Jesus, the power and wisdom of God.
2. Warning them to see their calling!
3. God chose them—boasting isn’t allowed.
God Chose Them so Where’s Boasting
God chose them.
Before the world existed, God chose them
God chose what is foolish in the world.
God chose what is weak in the world.
God chose what is low and despised.
God revealed his wisdom and power to them in Jesus Christ.
God knew their worthless thoughts
God knew all of the secrets of their hearts
And yet the holy, creator God still chose them.
And He Still Chose Us
He chose us not because we are good but because He is good. And so we can now rest from trying to achieve wisdom; trying to achieve power and status; trying to achieve something we can boast about and stand in.
Jesus Christ: The Power and Wisdom of God
Because Jesus Christ became to us our power and wisdom from God.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God (see 1 Corinthians 1:30)
Christ Calls Out in Our Darkness
Consider God’s calling Christians in Christ. Sitting in foxholes of sin..
Dark. Dead.
Christ jumps in—you hear the message of the cross.
Light. Belief.
BAM! You’re born-again to new life in Christ!
Woken by God’s Wisdom
Through the message of the cross, God awakened us in Christ!
Jesus Christ is the wisdom and power of God.
And yet we and the Corinthians had forgotten that most of us:
• weren’t wise
• weren’t powerful
• weren’t noble
How foolish!
And in his love, God still chose us to be united to Christ.
Paul wants Christians to really see their calling; In the original language, this is much more than a vivid picture. When he writes “consider” your calling in 1:26 He’s saying watch out!
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1 Corinthians 1:26, 30
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
So, Jesus became to us wisdom from God.
More than a General
Much more than a general, Jesus Christ dirtied his feet stepping into our world. As the power of God and the wisdom of God, Jesus understood God’s everlasting kingdom. The one where God reigns supreme over everything, everywhere. Jesus perfectly understood this kingdom from the beginning to the end. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Revelation 21:6
He wasn’t wondering what he was getting himself into. As the wisdom of God, he already knew. Jesus was the only one who could usher in the kingdom of God. To destroy the enemies of God.
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power 1 Corinthians 15:24
Total Enemy Destruction
Jesus will annihilate every rule, every authority and power. In wisdom, God planned his kingdom before this world began. Wisdom like that produces results through the power contained in the message of the cross.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:8-10
In weakness, Jesus sliced under the barbed wire of our sin—called out to those God chose. The foolish, the weak, the low, the despised. He willingly surrendered his heavenly throne, his life, his power, his glory, in order to answer the Father’s call. Mocked. Beaten. Belted by the sins of the world. Gasping for air on the cross. Choking on the Corinthians and our quarreling, pride, gross immorality and drunken debauchery.
Jesus called out to his executioners on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus demonstrated a greater love than anyone has ever known or will ever know.
Responding to God’s Choosing & Calling You
We need that love to change us. Our hearts are like altars displaying the things we love. They hold our strengths and hide our weaknesses and fears. When we lean on our own understanding, we default to our hearts’ fleshly desires and demands. New idols that absorb our hearts and imagination more than God are lifted up. Established idols grow. Worldly wisdom calls it “the secret to a long and happy life” or one’s Ikigai, in a sense. Whatever we put on those altars will empower our lives. It’s not a question of if we will worship. We’ll do that because we were created to worship by God.
Who Will We Trust?
The question is: Will we trust God’s wisdom or our own? Will we receive the grace of God in vain?
Desmond was willing to run into the fire of battle to help his enemies at the risk of his life because he knew that Jesus ran into God’s fiery wrath at the cost of his life to save him.
To receive the grace of God in vain is to “receive the goodness and favor of God, yet to hinder the work of grace in one’s life”
In their pride, the Corinthians were doing that.
The Corinthians lifted up and trusted in their riches, talents, and worldly wisdom.
Consider the Cost of Our Calling
To the Christians here: God is calling us through his word to consider (remember that’s a warning) our calling in light of His choice of us. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus. Jesus is your power and your wisdom. Boast in him not yourself.
He put up his beloved son to die on a cross in weakness so that we could receive the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
If we let go of our foolish attempts to control our lives, we’ll remember that God chose to enlighten our eyes to the hope of his inheritance displayed for eternity. Press towards that prize in Christ Jesus!
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
All by God’s grace.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10
Wayne
God is Creator