Foolishness - Wisdom - Power - Love - The Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

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? 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. ²² For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; ²⁷ but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no man may boast before God. ³⁰ But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, ³¹ so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

2 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, ⁴ and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Today’s text begins saying:  For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… 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? 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. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.     If we accept that this is true, it raises the question: Should we continue to share the gospel; to preach the message of the cross, if the world will think that it is foolishness?  Indeed, many in the world today do think that the gospel is foolishness. They believe the Bible is a collection of stories and myths. Indeed Christ and the cross have become a stumbling blocks and any mention or symbol of Him and the crucifixion is considered offensive to many. Should we then stop preaching; stop sharing the gospel?  Certainly that is not the case. First because Jesus called, commanded and commissioned us as His disciples to:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)   He said:  “Go into all the worldand preach the gospel to every creature.He who believes and is baptized will be saved;but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16)  “You shall receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you; andyou shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea andSamaria, and to theend of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)    So, even if we would appear foolish in the eyes of people, should we not be obedient to our Lord, who Himself was mocked and made a fool of on the cross, as He died for our sins? In addition though we know that, while it is foolishness to some, to others who believe; to those who are the called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is not for us to determine who will believe and who will think our message is foolishness. It is only ours to be obedient to the call and commission of our Lord. It is not futile or foolish to share the gospel, by the wisdom of God, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, many will believe. What may be futile and foolish on our part is to debate the debaters of this age. Surely if the word of God and the power of God and the wisdom of God has not convinced them, our words, our arguments, our endless debate will also be futile. Rather than debate those who think us foolish, we should continue to share the good news with those who believe.   

Paul says:  When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.    Something else we need to recognize, understand and accept is that if the world does not accept, receive and believe God’s wisdom, His power demonstrated in Christ and the cross, then they also will not receive, believe or understand God’s love, which is also demonstrated in the cross. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.    John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world that He gave His only begottenSon, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.     The world will try to tell us how we should love others. They will say that we should tolerate accept and even embrace every choice, every action, every lifestyle of everyone. That though is not the message of God or the word and the wisdom of God. It is not the power of God to leave the world in sin, but rather it is the power of the cross, the demonstration of God’s love, to redeem those who believe. We then should love the world, as we ourselves have been loved by God, through the message of the cross, the good news of redemption from sin.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; by Your power, according to Your word, may I be a witness of Your wisdom. I will be foolish in the sight of unbelievers, so that by the power of the cross and the demonstration of Your love, those who You have called will be redeemed.    Amen.