February 11, 2009 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Christ Is God's Power and Wisdom
The teaching about the cross is foolishness to those who are being lost, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. It is written in the Scriptures: "I will cause the wise to loser their wisdom; I will make the wise unable to understand." Where is the wise person? Where is the educated person? Where is the skilled talker of this world? God has made the widsom of the world foolish. In the wisdom of God the world did not know God through its own wisdom. So God chose to use the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe. The Jews ask for miracles, and the Greeks want widsom. But we preach a crucified Christ. This causes the Jews to stumble and is foolishness to non-Jews. But Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to those people God has called-Jews and Greeks. Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sister, look at what you were when God called you. Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence. Not many of you came from important families. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and he chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose what the world thinks is unimportant and what the world looks down on and thinks is nothing in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. God did this so that no one can brag in his presence. Becuase of God you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. In Christ we are put right with God, and have been made holy, and have been set free from sin. So, as the Scripture says, "If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord." ~1 Corinthians 1:18-31~

This passage is about God's wisdom and power. God's wisdom and power is Christ Jesus. Through our saviour, we have received wisdom and power. Although all of us want a God who heals us, a God who would take the pain/suffering away from us, but...that is not who our God is. Our God, instead of rescuing us from our troubles, joins with us in our troubles and rescues us that way. Our God, instead of taking away the pain, enters into the pain with us, and bears our pain. Our God, instead of fixing things for us when we our powers aren't strong enough, weakens himself, to be alongside with us in our weakness. This is our God. This is the foolishness of the cross.

This powerful God expects us to do the same thing. He expects us to enter into each other's pains and burdens, and those of the world around us. To the expectations of the world (world view) this is a very foolish way of life, but to those who have taken up their own cross to follow Jesus, this is the one and only way of life! It is the power of God that is within us!