Skip to content

Tag: foolishness

2

Published on 2 Comments on I Corinthians 1:18 Foolishness

There are school children who are about to enjoy a four day weekend, and many of them have no idea why. A student once asked me, “What does Easter celebrate? Bunnies?” There was no knowledge of this country’s Christian heritage or traditions. And if someone asks you a similar question, and you try to explain Easter to them, what do you expect them to think? Jesus, the Son of God, came to Earth, lived for 33 years, and then was crucified. But He rose again. Why? So that we could live forever and never die. Really? Do you believe in little green men too?

In I Corinthians 1:18, the Apostle Paul reassures us that we are not crazy. He tells us that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but is the power of God—life and hope—to those of us who believe and are being saved. In I Corinthians 1:19, Paul refers back to Isaiah 29:14, a passage that his wise listeners would be familiar with. Paul’s assertion that God’s wisdom went far beyond human wisdom and understanding was not new. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Paul referred to the scribes, the Jews who were experts in Mosaic law, and the debaters or philosophers, the Greeks who were—and still are—regarded for their wisdom. These were the people who were considered the wisest by human standards, but they did not understand the ways of God. The Jews expected their long-awaited Messiah to be strong and heroic, not a small-town carpenter who would be executed in one of the most horrific ways possible. They wanted a sign to prove that Christ was indeed the one they were expecting, and crucifixion just didn’t seem to meet their preconceptions. The Gentiles, the Greeks, couldn’t get their minds around a god who would interact with humans and then allow himself to be crucified. That wasn’t the kind of god they were used to. (I Corinthians 1:20-25)

God requires us to have some faith. (Hebrews 11:6) We will probably never completely understand God or His ways, but the more we search for truth, the more we seek to understand Him, the more He will reveal to us through His Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:12-13) Salvation—eternal life with God starting now—is not something that we can achieve through our own efforts. (Ephesians 2:9) Our wisdom, understanding and good works will all fall short, but the work of Christ—His sacrifice on the cross—is sufficient. It is a gift to us, and all we have to do is accept. God does not want any of us to perish. (John 3:16, II Peter 3:9, Matthew 18:14, John 10:28) Difficult to understand? In our own wisdom yes, but it is the perfect plan of God.

3

Published on 3 Comments on I Corinthians 1:18-31 Believing Is Seeing

Years ago, my husband moved to a new town to start a new job.  Because I was in the middle of a Master of Education program at home, I didn’t move with him.  One or the other of us would travel back and forth to see each other on weekends, but his colleagues questioned whether I truly existed or not.  They didn’t know me.  They had never met me.  Some people are in the same position with God.  I often have people tell me that God doesn’t exist, that He is just a crutch for people that can’t deal with life on their own.  I, however, know that He exists, because I know Him.  I will never be able to convince someone who doesn’t know Him though; that is something that only the Holy Spirit can do.

The Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 1:18-31, gives the Corinthian believers a similar message.  The people of that time also thought that the idea of God, and especially of Christ, the Messiah, hanging on the cross, was foolishness.  The Jews expected, and demanded, miraculous signs, demonstrations of great power from their awaited Messiah, but they still would not believe. (Luke 16:31, John 12:37)  Where was the power in Jesus hanging on the cross?  It didn’t make any sense to them.  The Greeks, were, and still are, known for their great intelligence and wisdom, but their human wisdom was not enough to understand the value of Christ’s crucifixion.

Paul’s audience, the Corinthians, were not noble, powerful, or privileged, and yet they had become believers because they had accepted the call of God.  They knew God, because they chose to believe in Him by faith.  God calls all of us, but there is absolutely nothing we can do through our own power or wisdom to earn salvation.  All we can do is accept His gift.  We may not completely understand God’s ways of doing things, but that doesn’t mean that our ways are better or that we are smarter.  We can’t even begin to fathom the wisdom of God because it is so far above our own.  Christ’s willingness to sacrifice Himself in such a humiliating way, for us, is all that we should boast about.