Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
All around the world, during these weekend days, people will make many choices seeking satisfaction. Food, music, time with friends or family, entertainment, hobby pursuits, and for some people there will be time spent reaching for God in some way.
Let’s rejoin Paul as he is writing his first letter of encouragement and challenge to his Christian friends in the big Greek city of Corinth. A report has come to Paul that things are not as Paul had left them when he was last in Corinth nearly three years ago.
Corinth, like the big city of Ephesus, from which Paul was writing this letter, was a city filled with many religious options, philosophies and even temples of worship. Powerful speakers, devout spiritual leaders called out to the people of Corinth challenging them to make spiritual choices. Remember these Christian in Corinth did not have the New Testament as we know it.
Apollos, a gifted teacher, had recently arrived in Corinth, and he was doing his best to nurture their spiritual hunger with God’s truth. But there were so many different voices in Corinth, so much noise of contrasting opinions about God. Paul is dictating his letter: “The message of the cross [of Jesus] is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I [Almighty, all wise God] will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (1 Cor. 1:18,19)
Paul was quoting from the Jewish prophet Isaiah. (Is. 29:14) God had proclaimed through Isaiah, 600 years before Jesus was born, that God’s wisdom and truth were far superior to that of any person, and God predicted that when the Messiah would come, He would proclaim God’s truth with clarity and power, as no one had ever done before!
Paul, of course, proclaimed boldly that Jesus is this long-awaited Messiah and Jesus did exactly what Isaiah had predicted, and therefore any wise human being will seek to understand the words of Jesus and live their life in alignment or harmony with Jesus! Also, any person who rejects Jesus and His teachings will find themself wallowing in the despair of foolishness and the downward spiral of self-destructive thinking, attitudes and choices. Do you see that in the city where you live, my friends?
Paul continued dictating: “Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the Law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Cor. 1:20) What do you think about that statement? As you listen to the voices in your part of the world, the influential voices, the powerful voices, the loud voices, what do you hear?
In my part of the world, I hear one clear and consistent message from those voices: “GOD, get out of our world! God, we don’t want YOU involved in our politics, get out of our education, get out of our families, get out of our entertainment, get out of our sports, get out of our social values. God, we’re even going to rewrite our history if we have to, to remove God from our history.” Sadly, I even hear some loud voices in some places, some churches and denominations in America shouting: “God, get out of our religion, we don’t even want God in our churches!”
Now my friends, when a person, or a family, or a group says these words, at the very same time they are often saying “I AM my own god! I bow my knee to no one!” Do you see that happening in your part of the world? Are government leaders and politicians redefining the politics, laws and values of your society, with a very clear agenda of making sure God has NO part in their deliberations, their decisions, their leadership of the people? How about the media? Do you see those who shape the media making a very clear attempt to remove God and God’s truth from what the public hears or reads from the media? Do you see them endorsing and promoting a Godless society!?
Is the same true for those in your city or nation who shape educational values, practices and policies, at all levels of education, from small children to the highest level of advanced degree education? WHY? This isn’t new of course. This effort by humanity to reject God, to remove God from any involvement in society, to eliminate God from any conversation, even any thinking… this effort has been the passionate pursuit of millions, nay billions of people since the days of the Bible book of Genesis, the beginning of the human race! Just consider Genesis chapter 6 & 7 and the great global flood. Genesis 6:5 reports “…every inclination of the thoughts of the hearts of human beings was only evil all the time.” Does that sound like an accurate overview of humanity in many parts of our world today?
And so, Paul’s summary, conclusion statement of what history shows us after several millennia of time: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Cor. 1:20) Yes! History teaches us that as a person, a family, a school, a business, a church, a society push God OUT, the darkness of wickedness, evil and self-destruction, ignorance and what some would call insanity, fills the void. It dominates everything and everyone touched by those who have pushed God out. Now ponder that and consider history as you know it, and I’m sure you see it is true.
Paul continued: “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Jesus Christ crucified, a stumbling block for Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Jesus Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor.1:22-25) Throughout history mankind has longed for, and worked hard to achieve, life independent from God in every way. Can you see that as you look at your world, even your extended family? Even when God was living here on earth, in the person of Jesus Christ, many people made every effort to marginalize Him, argue with Him, reject Him, and eventually kill Him.
One thing about Jesus, people could not ignore Him or pretend He was insignificant. The life and words of Jesus demanded a response from everyone then, and still today. That’s why Paul said, “Jesus Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” That’s one of those truth statements that you can reject or ignore or argue with, but it stands as undeniable truth proven in every generation since the beginning of time.
So, let’s pause right there and reflect deeply on those statements. Do you see HOW Jesus Christ is the living evidence of the unlimited POWER and WISDOM of Almighty God? Here’s a song to help us celebrate this great truth, my friends.
Today’s Scripture is 1 Cor. 1:18-25.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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