1 Corinthians 1 Unity Around the Cross of Christ
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who [m]are perishing, but to us who [n]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 [o]message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for [p]signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach [q]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.
2 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the [a]testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
5 so that your faith would not [c]rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
We started this section of Scripture a couple of weeks ago, addressing one of the many problems that were found in the church at Corinth; Factions, Discord, Disagreements, Schisms, Divisions in the church. Paul chastises the congregation because they had divided up into competing groups; “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ.”
And their divisiveness directly contradicted our Lord’s desire for the church and for Christians; that we be One. So Paul spends the first three chapters of his letter trying to help them understand the error of divisiveness in the church, and how to correct that error. And the principal way that they are to correct the divisiveness is to understand what we are to be united around.
You see, Paul spends quite some time here making a point; that the church should have one voice, one opinion, one word, because they have only One Lord. Christ is not divided, so the church shouldn’t be divided. And so, the only way that a church can be divided is if someone, or some group strays from the Lord, or the Word of the Lord, and attaches themselves to some way or word of the world.
That’s what they had done. For example; The unity of the Lord would say, Paul, Apollos, and Cephas are all just servants of One Master. We don’t seek the servant, we seek the Master. But the world’s values say something altogether different. The world is full of schisms and opposing groups because they do not all follow one Master.
I was watching a TikTok video the other day. The guy was giving a short history lesson entitled; “Who hates Who in the world.” It was just a list of the countries and peoples that hate each other around the world. The commentator would pop a map up behind him with simple maps of countries in the world. He started with Serbia and Croatia. Serbians and Croatians hate each other. He didn’t go into why, just that they do. Chinese and Japanese hate each other. Indians and Pakistanis can’t stand each other. Vietnamese and Cambodians don’t want to be in the same room, at all. Residents of Turkey and Armenia can’t stand each other. Turks and Greeks also hate each other. Turks and Kurds they hate each other too. The Russians and the Chechnyans, Hungarians and Romans, Dinka and Nuer, the Irish and the British, the Scots and the British, that whole island hates itself, Ghana and Nigeria, which the commentator said he thought had something to do with their preference in rice. Iranians and the Saudis, Saudis and the Houthis, Saudis and the Qataris, Saudis and the Israelis, although the Saudis and the Israelis have sometimes been friends because the both hate the Iranians more. The Sudan and south Sudan hate each other. North Korea and South Korea hate each other. In fact, he said, if there are two countries with the same name, they definitely hate each other. Israelis and Palestinians, and last but not least; America. Everybody hates America. Which is why the commentators tip of the day was; if you travel abroad, wear a hat with a Canadian maple leaf on it.
The world is characterized by discord and division. I was noticing something regarding that video. A lot of the countries that hate each other, are right next to each other. The principle, people put together in a shared space don’t get along.
That’s why when a church is united in love for each other, it is a powerful testimony in the world.
Well last week I began giving you a summary of what we are to be united around. What doctrines or philosophies must we be united in? Frankly, that is a rather long list. But Paul addresses here the big ones that divided the Corinthian assembly, and still divide the Church today.
Our understanding of intelligence; 1:17; 2:1-5
2 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the [a]testimony of God.
4 and my [b]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 [c]rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
We can be divided because we either consciously or unconsciously esteem people for their wisdom or intelligence based on the world’s standards rather than God’s.
The world considers someone wise who has a large vocabulary, who can put words together in a persuasive way, who are well versed in the common wisdom of men.
But God’s wisdom is in the message of the cross, the Bible; the Word of God, and the demonstration of the work of the Spirit and power of God.
Our unity begins by highly prizing the Word of God, and the cross of Christ. But to the world, those things are foolishness.
We must also be united in…
Our understanding of the cross; 1:19-25
Prayer
Now, I originally wanted to break this section down into some sort of categories or divisions; wise and foolish, perishing and saved, weak and strong. But I didn’t want to lose the sense of the whole paragraph by dissecting this extensively. So let me just talk through these verses. You can follow along beginning with verse 18 while I try to give you a sense of what Paul is saying about the message of the cross.
1. The world considers our message moronic.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who [m]are perishing, but to us who [n]are being saved it is the power of God.
We have to come together on the message of the cross because the world thinks it’s foolishness. It’s not that they don’t understand it. They think it’s foolishness. The word for foolishness here is the word we get “moron” from. They think it’s idiotic. The idea that a crucified Jew from 2000 years ago is the key to my eternal destiny is ridiculous to the world. And no matter how pretty we make it with gold crosses, and contemporary songs, the idea is still idiocy to those who are perishing.
2. Our foolish message was God’s choice.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
Paul here is quoting Isaiah 29:14. When Isaiah first spoke those words he was speaking to the nation of Israel about an Assyrian invasion into their land. Assyria’s army had crossed the border into their land and was working to subjugate the people of Israel. So, when a country is threatened by an outside force, what does worldly wisdom tell them to do? Get help. Call on other nations to help. And that’s what they did. They formed an alliance with the nation of Egypt to stand against and fight the Assyrian invaders.
But Israel wasn’t just any nation. They were God’s people. And the first place they should have thought to go for help was to God. They needed to trust God to save them. You can read this entire story in 2 Kings 18 and 19.
But what Isaiah said in prophecy to the king of Israel and to the nation was, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
He is saying that worldly wisdom said to seek allies from other countries in times of war. But God was saying that He would “trip up” the wisdom of the world. He would reveal the world’s wisdom to be foolishness.
And He did. King Hezekiah listened to Isaiah’s words and went to the Lord in prayer for help.
14 Then Hezekiah took the [w]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and [x]spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who are [y]enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.”
35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when [ai]men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were [aj]dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. 37 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that [ak]Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
So, Paul draws attention to this passage in the Old Testament. So as God made the wisdom of the world; making war-time alliances, into foolishness by manifesting His power through something the world deems foolish; prayer to God, so He makes the world’s definition of wisdom foolish by manifesting His power through what the world considers moronic; salvation through the cross of Christ.
3. The world rejects true wisdom.
Paul continues…
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?
In terms of the true wisdom of God found in the cross of Christ, where is the wise man, scribe, or debater of this age? They are nowhere to be found. In all of their supposed wisdom, they ended up rejecting real wisdom; God’s wisdom.
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 [o]message preached to save those who believe.
God purposely took the one thing that they considered idiocy; the cross of Christ, and made it the cornerstone of His means of salvation. What was that? The cross.
How was the message of the cross moronic to the world?
22 For indeed Jews ask for [p]signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach [q]Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
The Jews to this day could not mentally surmount the idea that their Messiah would be crucified.
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.
Where did the Jews expect God to reveal His salvation? With signs. They were always looking for a sign.
Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
Make the sun move back in the sky. Bring a storm like Samuel did.
And it wasn’t just the Jewish leadership…
John 6: 26 Jesus answered them and said, …. 27 Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, …. 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” …. 33 For the bread of God is [i]that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” He kept trying to point them to Himself, they kept wanting more food as a sign.
Finally, despite volumes of miracles, they were still seeking a sign…Matthew 12:38-3938 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a [c]sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a [d]sign; and yet no [e]sign will be given to it but the [f]sign of Jonah the prophet;
The sign of the prophet Jonah was Jesus’ death on the cross, 3 days in the tomb, and resurrection the 3rd day. The cross of Christ
To the Jews it’s a stumbling block. A crucified Messiah is a huge hurtle for a Jewish person. They were looking for a Davidic King, then Jesus came and died a shameful death.
It contradicts their view of Messiah. It contradicts their view of God punishing evil and rewarding good. It contradicts their notion of being the chosen people. How could God’s chosen people have crucified their Messiah?
Deuteronomy 21:23 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is [a]accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
God took what they considered moronic and made it the means of salvation. The Greeks wanted wisdom.
To the Greeks the cross of Christ is foolishness. It’s ridiculous. The cross- Romans didn’t invent crucifixion, but they perfected it. Crucifixion was a punishment widely used by the Romans for public execution. To the Greeks and Romans, it symbolized shame and pain inflicted on those who resisted the power of Rome.
And for Christians to regard it as a means of salvation was foolishness. They did not consider it foolish because they didn’t believe in God, or gods. They believed in many gods. But their gods were gods of strength, of power over nature and human beings. And their gods were separate from humanity; aloof from humanity. They were apathetic toward humanity.
So, the cross was foolish because it displayed the Christian Savior in the height of weakness; humiliating Himself to become a man to the point of death, and the most humiliating of deaths; by crucifixion. And all because He loves humanity.
One author I read said this…
“From the Greek and Roman perspective, that was no kind of god to worship.
For the Gentiles, the idea of a God who would serve humanity by offering His own beloved Son as a sacrifice for sin was ridiculous. From a pagan perspective, strong gods required service from people in order to be rewarded. Only the weakest of gods would serve mortal humans, especially in death.”
So, what do we do with this? We are to be united in our doctrine and exaltation of the cross of Christ. Well, aren’t we? Let me ask you some questions to think about. Do you hold to any of the world’s wisdom about the cross of Christ?
To the Jews it was a stumbling block. It was offensive to them. When you think of the message of the cross, that Jesus was beaten, shed His blood, endured hours of pain, as a sacrifice for your sin; it that in any way offensive to you?
Colossians 2:14 having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
There are churches where that message is offensive.
“There has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different; the likenesses are superficial, the differences fundamental. The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood; the new cross brings laughter.”
Tozer continues, “Any objection to the carrying on of our present gold-calf [lukewarm] Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, ‘But we are winning them!’ And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ? Of course the answer to all these questions is…No.” A.W. Tozer
How do you know if the cross is sometimes offensive? If it represents to you a negative message. I want to focus on the positives. The encouraging words of Christ. I think it is telling today that many of Christ’s words and messages would not be allowed in some churches because the don’t fit the encouraging vibe they’re trying to achieve.
To the Greeks the message of the cross was foolishness, or moronic. Are there times, or among certain people that you are ashamed of the message of the cross? And lest you think that it was only the Greeks or the unsaved who considered the message foolish; Christians had to often be encouraged not to be ashamed of the message.
Mark 8:38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,
But let’s be honest, sometimes we are hesitant to speak our faith because we think that we will be considered ignorant. We’ve established some measure of respect from friends, family, and coworkers in this world. But if we begin to present to them the Scripture; God created the world in 6 days, God saved Noah and his family in an Ark, God caused a couple over 90 years old to have a child, God made the sun stand still, and God sent His Son, who is God, to be nailed to a cross, for the purpose of satisfying His own requirements for justice and punishment for sin, and that all who will repent and believe, will go to heaven when they die, a place with angels, and cherubim, and streets of gold, and gates of pearl.
When faced with speaking up regarding those truths, we feel some shame over the message.
Not only did Paul say how the world regarded the cross of Christ, he also contrasted what they say with what it actually is;
2: 4 and my [d]message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of [e]wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not [f]rest on the [g]wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.
Our message is not in persuasive words, like the world’s messages. When you break down the world’s messages, the are pretty words. They are convincing at the moment, but they ring hollow when it comes to actually accomplishing something.
I think of daily affirmations. We have a teacher at our school who is really into “speaking her truth” into the air. The thought is that I can just say what I desire to be true, and those words will somehow self-materialize. She made a bulletin board in the hallway with her affirmations. Here are some of her affirmations;
“I am enough.” “My unique talents are in demand.” “I am powerful.” “I love myself and accept myself as I am right now.” “Have faith in yourself.” “I am worthy.” “I know that everything is going to be okay.”
Now, not only are these not true, they actually accomplish little more than making you feel good for a moment.
Do you know what the error in many of these kinds of statements is? One word. That little word, I. I am worthy, I am powerful. As a Christian, it is not you who are worthy, or powerful, it is Christ.
Paul writes about his message of the cross of Christ,
4 and my [d]message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of [e]wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
And in the church, a third way we are not united in the message of the cross of Christ is not only be offended by it, being ashamed of it, but denying or forgetting that it is a Spiritual work, the work of the Spirit; not my work. Do you want some daily affirmations that actually have power behind them? Try these,
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
John 15: 4 Remain in Me, [a]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit [b]of itself [c]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him [d]bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.2 Corinthians 3:4-5 Such is the confidence we have toward God through Christ. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,
Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right handSo, are we united in the message of the cross of Christ, are we not offended in it, ashamed by it, understanding that it is our Spiritual power, not our own? And finally, Paul said that
4 and my [d]message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of [e]wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not [f]rest on the [g]wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.
Do we think of the message of the cross as the power of God? Power to do what? Save from eternal damnation to be sure, raise the believer to resurrection life, definitely. We all believe that. But do we believe in the power of the cross of Christ to save from sin in this life? Do we believe in it’s power to resurrect to new life in this world? In other words, are we united in understanding that the cross of Christ can change people, and us? Not in the sweet by and by, but in the down and dirty right now?
Scripture says that there will come a day when even the majority of those who identify with the church will,
2 Timothy 3:5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power
I think we are in that generation. And the power they deny is that salvation through the cross of Christ has the power to make a person new. Paul believed it.
1 Corinthians 6: 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [g]homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and [h]in the Spirit of our God.
Do you know what Paul was saying there? That people with sexual addictions, homosexuals, thieves, drunks, the verbally abusive, and crooks can change. Not by some 12-step program that has you acknowledge whatever higher power you decide on. But “you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and [h]in the Spirit of our God.”
Now hear me. I am not saying by this statement that there is nothing in human wisdom that can help a person change. What I am saying is that Christians, and the church have often set aside the cross of Christ as the greatest weapon in a person’s arsenal for self-improvement.
We are not in agreement in the church about the power of the cross of Christ. We do not go first to the Word of God in counseling people. We do not hold up repentance and faith as agents for change in marriage, finances, politics, whatever.
Paul is speaking in these three chapters about unity, about factions. And then he goes into how the world views intelligence, the cross of Christ, greatness, and wisdom. His point is that our unity will come when we choose to agree with Christ. When we seek to know His mind. Not the mind of some personality, or some great orator, or some person who has achieved notoriety for worldly wisdom. But Christ. “Is Christ divided?” No, then if we all seek His wisdom, neither will we be divided.
Our understanding of greatness; 1:26-31
Our understanding of wisdom: God’s wisdom 2:6ff Man’s wisdom chapter 3
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