The Power of God – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The Power of God – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 18, 2009 AM
Have you ever heard foolish talk? Have you ever received foolish advice? This is the realm of atheist’s thinking. Usually it rests on a circular argument like this: Religion is only mythic speculation, therefore, God does not exist. Why? We find no proof he does. What about creation? It is a random series of events. How? Evolution of molecules like RNA. Where did these come from? They occurred randomly. How? We aren’t sure. If you aren’t sure isn’t that speculation? Yes. If it is speculation, isn’t that “faith” and therefore we have to accept your speculation by faith in how these random events all came together to form life? Yes. Then isn’t this “faith” a religion? Like I said, foolish arguments.
For those who say there is no God, I have found it is usually an excuse for them to live an ungodly lifestyle. To do whatever they want, whenever they want, without feelings of guilt, which they blame on humanity’s misguided view of there being a God. Yet the overwhelming ontological, physical, and scientific proof is overwhelmingly on the side that there is indeed a creative intelligence – God. In fact the historical evidence of eyewitness accounts in the Bible have held up under some very severe scrutiny over the centuries. However, belief in Christ boils down to an individual’s willingness to place their faith and trust in Jesus. Paul writes that the proof is the power of God. Let’s find out how…
READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
A Christian cannot be “all things to all people.” When Paul made this declaration he was not excusing his sinfulness nor that of others. Rather what he meant was that he was willing to share Christ anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Not that he would acquiesce his faith like so many do in our day. Too many want to be “friends with the world” rather than been seen as a friend of God. Paul knew that as soon as you trust Christ, you are an enemy of the world. (James 4:4) Why? Because…
I. The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive! (vv. 18-19)
1. Faith is not taking a leap, it is securely found in certainty! Jesus never asked anyone to “take a leap of faith.” He always wanted them to trust what they saw and knew to be true. Why? People cannot blindly believe because that is an insincere and insecure faith! The “message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” not because they cannot think things through, but because they have not trusted in God’s provision. The power of God, the message of the cross, is immediately divisive because of this and always has been. A suffering and dying Savior seems “foolish” to a material world. Like much of the world today, the Bible Knowledge Commentary states that the Corinthian believers “were trying to live their Christian lives on the basis of unsanctified common sense which has self-preservation as its ultimate goal. This kind of life is self-seeking, self-serving, and ultimately self-destructive!” Jesus reminds us that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:24) The message of the cross cuts to the quick of our self-centeredness. It destroys our “wisdom” and “frustrates” us. We want to be the ones to secure our own salvation, but the cross says we cannot. We must trust in that which we cannot see, have no power over, and cannot argue through. The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive.
EXAMPLE: If you are spiritually and physically dying because of your sin, you will not want to admit your error for non-belief. First you would have to admit that you personally are not in control of your ultimate destiny. Secondly, you would have to admit that there is a God who has provided a way for you obtain eternal life. And, finally, you would have to admit that your practical pragmatic wisdom cannot give you all the answers for your life! You would have to admit that you need to depend on something other than yourself. This can be personally disturbing. Dennis De Haan writes that “An illusion is defined as ‘an erroneous perception of reality.’ Magicians depend on it to trick their audiences. But some illusions can be fatal. If I chase a mirage in the desert, thinking it's water, I could die of thirst. The most dangerous illusions of all are spiritual.” This is certainly true. For those who do not want to admit their sin and only rely on practical proof are running a dangerous race. Proverbs reminds us that “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” (Proverbs 28:26) And David declared, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalms 14:1) The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive.
There are those who find it disturbing to trust in Christ because they know they have to admit their own need in someone other than themselves. This takes humility where pride rules and reigns. Yet, Paul reminds us that…
II. The power of God is discovered in personal humility! (vv. 20-21)
1. You can either be full of yourself or full of God – there is no in between! Paul mockingly asks, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” He remembers that God tells us “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” and in fact God relates that, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts!” (Isaiah 55:8-9) The “wisdom” of mankind: philosophies, speculations, and learning are no match for the wisdom of God. If you try to find the “proof” of God in all His fullness in these you may fail. Why? God has to be first spiritually recognized in a person’s life before finding Him in other ways. Paul would write, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) In fact “whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son!” (John 3:18) Jesus’ own words! James writes, “That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up!” (James 4:6, 10) We have to come to the realization that “since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” The power of God is discovered in personal humility.
EXAMPLE: Two Florida men charted a course and drove their fishing boat out into the Gulf of Mexico. Using the boat's compass, they headed to deep waters 60 miles offshore where they hoped to catch grouper. When they arrived at what they thought was the right place, they turned on their depth finder and realized they were nowhere near their target. They discovered that one of them had laid a flashlight near the ship's compass, and the attached magnet had affected the reading. We can be so focused on where we are headed in life intellectually that we get lost spiritually. We can be so concerned for our own needs of the moment we fail to see God working around us. We can be so full of ourselves that we cannot see God. It is a matter of pride clouding our view of God. Paul, a very prideful person, only found God after he was literally made blind. He knew without a doubt that the power of God is discovered in personal humility.
There are those who will try to adjust Biblical teaching with the latest scientific reasoning. While many things in our natural world can be explained through Scripture we would do well to remember that it is not to be the natural world that dictates what we believe, but rather our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When we try to make all the things of the world jive spiritually with what we are to believe we run the risk of diluting the Word of God and heresy. This is why Paul teaches us to never forget that…
III. The power of God is declared as God’s foolishness! (vv. 22-25)
1. Proof is not always in the pudding, but found in the believing! Paul related that “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom.” There are those who say they will not place their trust in Jesus until He does something for them to make them believe. They are the “show me” folks. Then, there are those who want to philosophize their way into God’s good graces. They will not only argue with you about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, they will argue with you about whether or not the pin really exists or what constitutes “dancing!” However, the simple message of “Christ crucified” is the “power of God and the wisdom of God.” It is the only thing that matters. From this all other questions in life are asked and answered. What will you personally do with Jesus who died for you and proved it by coming back from the dead? There is only two answers: “I will believe,” or “I chose not to believe.” That’s it. Why? Because “the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” Your faith is not dependent upon the wisdom of the world. It is not found in what you can personally do. You cannot be smart enough, good enough, wise enough, or even physically capable. You have to be willing to “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, (and) you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) The power of God is declared as God’s foolishness!
EXAMPLE: Why would a prison inmate escape from prison the day before his scheduled release? That's what a Rhode Island prison spokesman wondered as he answered questions from reporters. He said, “For the life of me, I don't know what possessed him to leave with only one day of his sentence left to serve.” Once captured, the escapee would be arraigned on charges that could land him back in prison for up to 20 years. We would say that this was stupidity and we would probably be correct. In our world today there are those who would try and tell you that your faith is Jesus is just as foolish. But your faith does not depend on man’s wisdom or concrete proof. Your faith is to solely rely on your trust in who Jesus said He was and what He did. Therefore be satisfied in your faith that those in the world do not fully understand it because remember that the power of God is declared as God’s foolishness for you!
Conclusion:
The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive; the power of God is discovered in personal humility; and the power of God is declared as God’s foolishness!
----
This article is copyrighted © 2008 by Lee Hemen and if you reprint it, reproduce it, or want to use it in any way, you must do so in its entirety or get the written permission of its author.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 18, 2009 AM
Have you ever heard foolish talk? Have you ever received foolish advice? This is the realm of atheist’s thinking. Usually it rests on a circular argument like this: Religion is only mythic speculation, therefore, God does not exist. Why? We find no proof he does. What about creation? It is a random series of events. How? Evolution of molecules like RNA. Where did these come from? They occurred randomly. How? We aren’t sure. If you aren’t sure isn’t that speculation? Yes. If it is speculation, isn’t that “faith” and therefore we have to accept your speculation by faith in how these random events all came together to form life? Yes. Then isn’t this “faith” a religion? Like I said, foolish arguments.
For those who say there is no God, I have found it is usually an excuse for them to live an ungodly lifestyle. To do whatever they want, whenever they want, without feelings of guilt, which they blame on humanity’s misguided view of there being a God. Yet the overwhelming ontological, physical, and scientific proof is overwhelmingly on the side that there is indeed a creative intelligence – God. In fact the historical evidence of eyewitness accounts in the Bible have held up under some very severe scrutiny over the centuries. However, belief in Christ boils down to an individual’s willingness to place their faith and trust in Jesus. Paul writes that the proof is the power of God. Let’s find out how…
READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
A Christian cannot be “all things to all people.” When Paul made this declaration he was not excusing his sinfulness nor that of others. Rather what he meant was that he was willing to share Christ anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Not that he would acquiesce his faith like so many do in our day. Too many want to be “friends with the world” rather than been seen as a friend of God. Paul knew that as soon as you trust Christ, you are an enemy of the world. (James 4:4) Why? Because…
I. The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive! (vv. 18-19)
1. Faith is not taking a leap, it is securely found in certainty! Jesus never asked anyone to “take a leap of faith.” He always wanted them to trust what they saw and knew to be true. Why? People cannot blindly believe because that is an insincere and insecure faith! The “message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” not because they cannot think things through, but because they have not trusted in God’s provision. The power of God, the message of the cross, is immediately divisive because of this and always has been. A suffering and dying Savior seems “foolish” to a material world. Like much of the world today, the Bible Knowledge Commentary states that the Corinthian believers “were trying to live their Christian lives on the basis of unsanctified common sense which has self-preservation as its ultimate goal. This kind of life is self-seeking, self-serving, and ultimately self-destructive!” Jesus reminds us that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:24) The message of the cross cuts to the quick of our self-centeredness. It destroys our “wisdom” and “frustrates” us. We want to be the ones to secure our own salvation, but the cross says we cannot. We must trust in that which we cannot see, have no power over, and cannot argue through. The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive.
EXAMPLE: If you are spiritually and physically dying because of your sin, you will not want to admit your error for non-belief. First you would have to admit that you personally are not in control of your ultimate destiny. Secondly, you would have to admit that there is a God who has provided a way for you obtain eternal life. And, finally, you would have to admit that your practical pragmatic wisdom cannot give you all the answers for your life! You would have to admit that you need to depend on something other than yourself. This can be personally disturbing. Dennis De Haan writes that “An illusion is defined as ‘an erroneous perception of reality.’ Magicians depend on it to trick their audiences. But some illusions can be fatal. If I chase a mirage in the desert, thinking it's water, I could die of thirst. The most dangerous illusions of all are spiritual.” This is certainly true. For those who do not want to admit their sin and only rely on practical proof are running a dangerous race. Proverbs reminds us that “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” (Proverbs 28:26) And David declared, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalms 14:1) The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive.
There are those who find it disturbing to trust in Christ because they know they have to admit their own need in someone other than themselves. This takes humility where pride rules and reigns. Yet, Paul reminds us that…
II. The power of God is discovered in personal humility! (vv. 20-21)
1. You can either be full of yourself or full of God – there is no in between! Paul mockingly asks, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” He remembers that God tells us “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” and in fact God relates that, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts!” (Isaiah 55:8-9) The “wisdom” of mankind: philosophies, speculations, and learning are no match for the wisdom of God. If you try to find the “proof” of God in all His fullness in these you may fail. Why? God has to be first spiritually recognized in a person’s life before finding Him in other ways. Paul would write, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) In fact “whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son!” (John 3:18) Jesus’ own words! James writes, “That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up!” (James 4:6, 10) We have to come to the realization that “since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” The power of God is discovered in personal humility.
EXAMPLE: Two Florida men charted a course and drove their fishing boat out into the Gulf of Mexico. Using the boat's compass, they headed to deep waters 60 miles offshore where they hoped to catch grouper. When they arrived at what they thought was the right place, they turned on their depth finder and realized they were nowhere near their target. They discovered that one of them had laid a flashlight near the ship's compass, and the attached magnet had affected the reading. We can be so focused on where we are headed in life intellectually that we get lost spiritually. We can be so concerned for our own needs of the moment we fail to see God working around us. We can be so full of ourselves that we cannot see God. It is a matter of pride clouding our view of God. Paul, a very prideful person, only found God after he was literally made blind. He knew without a doubt that the power of God is discovered in personal humility.
There are those who will try to adjust Biblical teaching with the latest scientific reasoning. While many things in our natural world can be explained through Scripture we would do well to remember that it is not to be the natural world that dictates what we believe, but rather our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When we try to make all the things of the world jive spiritually with what we are to believe we run the risk of diluting the Word of God and heresy. This is why Paul teaches us to never forget that…
III. The power of God is declared as God’s foolishness! (vv. 22-25)
1. Proof is not always in the pudding, but found in the believing! Paul related that “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom.” There are those who say they will not place their trust in Jesus until He does something for them to make them believe. They are the “show me” folks. Then, there are those who want to philosophize their way into God’s good graces. They will not only argue with you about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, they will argue with you about whether or not the pin really exists or what constitutes “dancing!” However, the simple message of “Christ crucified” is the “power of God and the wisdom of God.” It is the only thing that matters. From this all other questions in life are asked and answered. What will you personally do with Jesus who died for you and proved it by coming back from the dead? There is only two answers: “I will believe,” or “I chose not to believe.” That’s it. Why? Because “the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” Your faith is not dependent upon the wisdom of the world. It is not found in what you can personally do. You cannot be smart enough, good enough, wise enough, or even physically capable. You have to be willing to “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, (and) you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) The power of God is declared as God’s foolishness!
EXAMPLE: Why would a prison inmate escape from prison the day before his scheduled release? That's what a Rhode Island prison spokesman wondered as he answered questions from reporters. He said, “For the life of me, I don't know what possessed him to leave with only one day of his sentence left to serve.” Once captured, the escapee would be arraigned on charges that could land him back in prison for up to 20 years. We would say that this was stupidity and we would probably be correct. In our world today there are those who would try and tell you that your faith is Jesus is just as foolish. But your faith does not depend on man’s wisdom or concrete proof. Your faith is to solely rely on your trust in who Jesus said He was and what He did. Therefore be satisfied in your faith that those in the world do not fully understand it because remember that the power of God is declared as God’s foolishness for you!
Conclusion:
The power of God is intellectually and spiritually divisive; the power of God is discovered in personal humility; and the power of God is declared as God’s foolishness!
----
This article is copyrighted © 2008 by Lee Hemen and if you reprint it, reproduce it, or want to use it in any way, you must do so in its entirety or get the written permission of its author.
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