Christ Crucified, the Power & Wisdom of God, 2/1/26

Today in our study we come to 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 1:17–31

1 verses 17 to 31. Our subject today is Christ

crucified, the power and wisdom of God. Hear

the word of the Lord as the Apostle Paul wrote

to the Corinthians under the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit. These are God's words. Let us pay

heed to them. Verse 17. For Christ did not send

me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not

with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ

should be made of no effect. For the message

of the cross 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 will

destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing

the understanding of the prudent. Where is the

wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer

of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom

of this world? For since in the wisdom of God

the world through wisdom did not know God, it

pleased God through the foolishness of that message

preached to save those who believe. For Jews

request the sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom,

but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a

stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness,

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Because the wisdom of God is foolisher than men,

is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is

stronger than men. For you see your calling,

brethren, that not many according to the flesh,

not many mighty nor many noble are called. But

God has chosen the foolish things of the world

to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen

the weak things of the world to put to shame

the things which are mighty, and the base things

of the world and the things which are despised,

God has chosen, and the things which are not,

to bring to nothing the things that are, that

no flesh should glory in his presence. But of

him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us

wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification

and redemption. That as it is written, he who

glories, let him glory in the Lord. Let's pray

and ask God's blessing. Father, we come to you,

Lord, with this rich passage. And Lord, we pray

that in the moments, the minutes before us, Lord,

I pray. that we could learn what you are speaking

here. We pray, Lord, that you would bring it

to our hearts, that you would ignite this within

us and give us a love for the cross and an understanding,

Lord, and make us truly wise, even though that

wisdom appears as foolishness to men. We pray,

Father, for your blessing and for the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit as I speak these words. We

pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All throughout the

world, a universally recognized symbol is a cross

on a building which signifies that within those

walls is a church that in some way proclaims

the crucified Lord Jesus Christ. While an object

of scorn, of ridicule, and of hatred to many,

even not being allowed to be displayed in some

parts of the world, the cross is an enduring

emblem of the fact that on or around AD 30 or

33, scholars disagree on the exact date, during

the Jewish Passover season, the man known as

Jesus, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Messiah, was, as Acts 2 says, delivered by

the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God,

was taken by lawless hands, was crucified and

put to death. He was accused and delivered by

the Jewish leaders to the Roman authorities who

carried out the execution, and thus both were

complicit in his death. He was murdered, but

in that very act, he laid down his life as an

atonement for his people, all those in the past

and the present and in the ages to come. who

would be called and chosen by God the Father,

and who believed in faith to the saving of their

souls. But a crucified God is unpalatable and

unsavory to many. As stated in the passage today,

the Jews stumbled at this because it did not

fit their understanding of who the Messiah would

be, and they considered this the foolish tale

of an imposter. And to the Greeks who prize human

wisdom, the crucifixion is foolishness against

their understanding of God's fashion in their

own understanding of human wisdom and reason.

But God in his great wisdom chose the foolish

things of the world to put to shame the wise.

And the weak things of the world. To put to shame

the things which are mighty. And abase and despise

things of the world. That of a crucifixion on

the cross. To bring to nothing the things that

are. That no flesh might glory in his presence.

The Corinthian church misunderstood the simplicity

of the gospel. And they misunderstood the ministry

of the gospel that God had ordained. both in

the message of the ministers and in the nature

of the mission of the ministers. This was the

underlying reason for the divisions amongst them.

Today in this passage, Paul addresses the message

of the minister of God and what the church is

to believe and to understand. And he tells them

to stop their boasting and their glorying in

themselves. That message is that all ministers

of God are called to preach the pure gospel.

which is Christ crucified, the power and the

wisdom of God. And through the crucifixion of

Jesus Christ, those who are called are in Christ,

who became for us wisdom and righteousness and

sanctification and redemption, all in Christ,

so that all who glory will glory in him. So today,

it is my intent and purpose to exalt and glorify

our triune God for such a wonderful work through

the cross and to understand what Paul is teaching

the Corinthian church in this passage and then

to apply this word from God to us. The first

point is to consider Paul's mission to preaching

the gospel simply and not with human eloquence.

Verse 17, for Christ did not send me to baptize,

but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom

of words, lest the cross of Christ should be

made of no effect. The leading and grand purpose

of Paul as a minister is to preach the pure gospel.

And that in its purity, it is nonetheless in

all of its power and in its simplicity. It is

not. in the eloquent wisdom of words or the persuasive

words of human wisdom as Paul speaks in chapter

2 and verse 4. By using these words, Paul is

most likely signifying human reason in the manner

of rhetorical argumentation which was so highly

prized among the Greeks. The way the Greeks would

approach it would be with eloquence as a fine

orator or a deep philosopher attempting to show

off his deep reason and extraordinary science

and skill. Matthew Henry says Paul did not set

himself to captivate the ear by fine turns and

eloquent expression nor to please and entertain

the fancy with lofty flights of sublime notions.

The pure gospel Is that Jesus Christ came to

save sinners. And to that end he was crucified

for our sins. That is the pure and the simple

gospel. We see this so clearly in this most well

known passage in John chapter 3. For God so loved

John 3 · chapter mention

the world that he gave his only begotten son.

that whoever believes in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life. For God did not send

his son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world through him might be saved.

To his son in the faith. Timothy, Paul writes

in chapter 1, verse 15 of 1 Timothy, this is

the faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance,

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save

sinners of whom I am chief. And then in Romans

Romans 5:8

chapter 5, verse 8, he says, God demonstrates

his own love toward us in that while we were

yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than...

Having now been justified by his blood, we shall

be saved from wrath through him. Now there are

other places in the scriptures where the apostles

develop deep and rich theological truths that

are a result of this salvation. Even Peter admits

that Paul, he says, Our beloved brother Paul,

according to the wisdom given to him, has written

to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking

in them of these things in which some things

are hard to understand. which untaught and unstable

people twist to their own destruction, as they

do also the rest of the scriptures. Paul is not

denigrating the ability to speak persuasively

using sanctified human reason according to the

wisdom that was given him by God, but not so

with the foundational and basic truth of the

pure and the simple gospel. This should be the

grand object of all ministers, to minister according

to the gifts that God has given each one, to

proclaim Christ crucified, and to recognize that

God gives the increase in the proclamation of

the gospel. All ministers of the gospel, no matter

how lofty their minds or how eloquent their speech,

they must be able to proclaim with clarity and

boldness the simple gospel message and call sinners

to believe and have faith in God through Jesus

Christ. By the Holy Spirit. This means that we

cannot. We must not. We may not shy away. Hide

or in any way denigrate the fact. That Jesus

died on the cross. And he shed his life's blood.

As an atonement for our sin. Thus bringing about

a reconciliation. Between sinful man and a holy

God. They must proclaim this. They must preach

this great truth so that all, under the sound

of their voice, are called to repentance and

faith in the crucified one. To this very end,

God has ordained that whenever and wherever the

church is gathered together to worship our triune

God, what are they to do? They are to proclaim

the death and crucifixion of Christ in the Lord's

Supper. Every Sunday. As we meet here together,

no matter what the subject matter is before us,

no matter of what truths there are that are proclaimed

from the richness in the word of God, and whether

spoken eloquently or perhaps less so, every Sunday

we proclaim this truth in the Lord's Supper.

Jesus died and was crucified for us, and we remember

this. We remember this in the Lord's Supper.

To do otherwise is to make the cross of Christ

of no effect, Paul says. If Christ is only preached

as a good man, as one who became divine and makes

us divine by his persuasiveness and his teachings

and his moral life, then we are still in our

sins and have not escaped the wrath to come.

For even the devils and demons believe, knowing

who he is, and they tremble. But there is no

atonement for them, no way of escape from the

wrath to come. And if all men do is speak lofty

words in the manner of the Greeks or call for

signs like the Jews or attempt to create God

in their own image as all false religions do,

then all are still in their sins. There is no

atonement through just believing that Jesus was

a good and a holy man who lived a moral life.

There's no atonement. There's no appeasement

of a holy God who cannot abide nor tolerate sin.

The cross has no effect if this is all that we

preach. Back in the early 20th century, during

the modernist and fundamentalist debates, there

were men like Harry Emerson Fosdick. He was a

prominent early 20th century modernist and liberal

Protestant preacher. And he irreverently referred

to the traditional doctrines of blood atonement.

as a slaughterhouse religion, as meaning a bloody

religion. To him and others like him, the idea

that Jesus' sacrificial death and shed blood

were necessary to appease God's wrath and to

atone for sin wasn't anachronism. It was an old

thing, kind of like a tradition, but not one

worthy. of continuing to believe. He and they

viewed such ideas as primitive and outdated and

incompatible with modern ethics and science,

arguing that Christianity needed to evolve beyond

them. Of course, they rejected literal interpretations

of doctrines like the virgin birth of Christ,

biblical inerrancy, and substitutionary atonement,

and they saw the historical emphasis on a bloody

substitutionary sacrifice as barbaric and something

the church should move past to remain relevant

and thus the cross was made of no effect through

the lofty ideas of human reason just like the

wisdom of the world of which Paul is writing

against in this letter There is no gospel, there

is no saving faith, there is no redemption, no

power to save and to sanctify in such a belief.

All are still in their sins and only hope to

achieve immortality through human means, creating

a God made in their own image. Now this belief

was not limited to their time. It is still with

us today in many different forms. Even as it

was then and as it was in the days of Paul in

Corinth. Number two. The gospel is the message

of the cross. It is the power of God to those

who are being saved. Verse 18. For the message

of the cross is foolishness to those who are

perishing. But to us who are being saved. It

is the power of God. The power of God speaks

of the strength, of the might, and of the ability

of God to save. And it comes through the cross

of Christ. This is the message of truth. It is

the message of salvation. For all have sinned.

All have come short of the glory of God. No man

can save himself. including the use of human

reason, it will never, never save anyone. And

no man can approach God on the basis of his own

works and righteousness. The scripture speaks

here of salvation in the past. That is, we have,

actually not here, but elsewhere. The scripture

speaks of salvation in the past. We have been

saved. It speaks of the present. We are being

saved. And of the future, we will be saved. In

the past, have been, is it like Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:8

verse 8 and 9. For by grace, you have been saved

through faith, and that not of yourselves. It

is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone

should boast. But also then Paul in Romans chapter

Romans 5 · chapter mention

5 speaks of that we will be saved, but God demonstrates

his own love toward us in that while we were

yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than

having now been justified by his blood, we shall

be saved from wrath through him. But in this

verse, it is the present and continuous sense

that we are those being saved. For not only was

the blood of Christ shed on the cross for our

sins in the past, but the blood is atoning and

making provision for what is happening to us

as we are being saved. Being saved from the sins

that we still commit. This is why we have this

time of confession. In the beginning of the service,

we again, we cleanse, we are cleansed from our

sins. Through the blood of Jesus Christ. Even

as we confess them and ask God for forgiveness.

Through the blood of Christ. We are being saved.

The blood of Christ makes provision for what

is happening to us. Even as we go through our

everyday life. This is as John the Apostle Paul

writes in 1 John 1 .8. If we say that we have

no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is

not in us. There is none among us that is sinless.

The idea of sinless perfection, as some teach,

of the Christian being in a state where he can

no longer sin and is entirely sanctified, this

is simply wrong. It is false and it is deceptive.

But to all, as we are being saved in this life,

we continually run to the Father. For indeed,

as 1 John continues in verse 9, if we confess

our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive

our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

From whence does this forgiveness come? It comes

from the power of God to those being saved through

the message of the cross. The everlasting gospel.

And this is why we must be continually reminded

of the cross. Because we still sin. And so as

we sin, we are reminded again of the cross. Cleansing

us from sin. Cleansing us from sin. Yes, we sin.

And then we are cleansed and washed and cleansed

and washed. Yes, we are being saved. But in this,

we look back to the cross where Jesus atoned

for all of our sins. The gospel is the message

of the cross. It is the power, the strength,

the might of God. To those being saved. Number

three. We consider the paradox. Of the message

of the cross. In verses 18 to 25. This is the

paradox of the message. For indeed it is very

profound. And yet it is so simple. It is a simple

truth. With incredible ramifications. First of

all, we look at verse 18 of the cross as foolishness

versus power. Through the saving message of the

cross, those who are saved experience the power

of God, as I have just recounted. But to those

who are perishing in their sins and who do not

believe and trust in the atoning work of Christ,

the message of the cross is foolishness. It is

silliness. It is absurdity. How in the world

could a man dying the death on a cross in the

very early A .D. 30, 33, somewhere around there.

How could a cross save us? A man dying the death.

It seems utterly impossible and foolish and ridiculous

according to human reasoning. To believe such

a thing, it is ludicrous to the natural mind,

to those who are perishing in their sin. And

yet, the scriptures tell us, what a fate awaits

them. To die in their sins is to face a holy

God on the judgment day, to be judged, to be

condemned, to be pronounced guilty and cast away

into eternal darkness and into the fires of hell.

We read of this in the book of Revelation chapter

Revelation 20:11

20 verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne

and him who sat on it from whose face the earth

and the heaven fled away and there was found

no place for them. And I saw the dead small and

great standing before God. and books were opened,

and another book was opened, which is the book

of life, and the dead were judged according to

their works by the things which were written

in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were

in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead

who were in them, and they were judged, each

one according to his works. Then death and Hades

were cast into the lake of fire. This is the

second death, and anyone not found in the book

of life was cast into the lake of fire. These

are so sobering, sobering words. And as we consider

the cross of Christ, in which all of our dead

works and our sins were placed upon him, and

he died. So that we can stand before God. As

holy. As righteous. And as forgiven. And on that

day. We will be able to stand before the God.

Of the universe. And he will pronounce us. Cleansed.

Forgiven. Through Christ. Because Christ stands

before him. And intercedes on our behalf. And

thus. We will ever be with the Lord. God destroys.

And confounds. Human wisdom. In this great truth.

He confounds it. Verse 19 to 21, for it is written,

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring

to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

This is a prophecy from Isaiah chapter 28. Where

Isaiah 28 · chapter mention

is the wise, Paul says? Where is the scribe?

Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God

made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since

in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom

did not know God, it pleased God through the

foolish. of the message preached to save those

who believe. And in this great action, prophesied

by the prophets of old and attested to by the

voice of the Father thundering as Jesus was baptized,

this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

And again at the mount on the transfiguration,

he again says, this is my beloved Son in whom

I am well pleased. Hear him. no wise men of the

Greeks or Jews could come up with anything like

this it goes against experience and reason no

wise no scribe no disputer of the age would ever

have this kind of wisdom or knowledge but in

so doing as Paul quotes Isaiah 29 and verse 14

that in this marvelous work God destroys the

wisdom of those who think themselves wise and

he brings to nothing the understanding of those

who are thought to be prudent he makes this world

wisdom foolish turning it upside down and paul

says it pleased him it pleased god through the

foolishness of the message preached to save those

who believe it brought god pleasure and he thought

it good to choose that seeming foolishness of

the proclamation and preaching of the gospel

to save those who believe. Who then are we to

out -reason and out -think God? In our supposed

day of enlightenment and progress, we think,

we think we can out -think God, and yet we still

think. And speaking we, collectively, our modern

age still thinks that the created world evolved

out of nothing and that there is no difference

between girls and boys and that they're interchangeable,

assigned at birth, they say. Seriously? God laughs

at them. And while he laughs at those who set

themselves against him, he uses a wooden cross

and metal nails that pierce through the flesh.

And a sword that pierces the side of Jesus. And

through the cross, through the cross and blood

and the death, he saves all those who then will

trust and believe in him. And it pleases him

that this is the message that is preached and

proclaimed. And he sends forth the Holy Spirit

to accompany that preaching. And he gives faith

to those who hear and they believe. And are saved.

What an amazing and wonderful story. Impossible

to reason. Or understand apart. From the revelation

that God planned it. That he executed it. And

through the preaching of it. The heart is made

alive. The spirit is quickened. And dead men

are raised. And come to life. And obtain eternal

life. Hallelujah. This is the plan of God. In

this crucifixion. That we. Would be saved. No

the cross. The cross offends both Jews and Greeks.

As he brings out in verse 22 through 24. The

Jews request a sign. And the Greeks seek after

wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To the

Jews a stumbling block. And to the Greeks foolishness.

But to those who are called. Both Jews and Greeks.

Christ the power of God. And the wisdom of God.

Again, to the natural unsaved man and woman,

this is offensive. On the one hand, it is too

easy. And on the other hand, it is too hard.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will

be saved, you and your household. This is too

simple. And yet it calls out for all of you,

every part of you, a total casting of yourself

upon Christ. The Jews were always seeking a sign

from Jesus. John chapter 2, verse 18, the Jews

John 2:18

answered and said to him, that is to Jesus, what

sign do you show us since you do these things?

Nicodemus confessed that they knew that Jesus

was a teacher from God because of the signs.

John 3, verse 2, this man came to Jesus by night

John 3:2

and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are

a teacher come from God, for no one can do these

signs that you do unless God is with him. The

truth is that Jesus did many signs and so did

the apostles. Here's a few. John chapter 2 verse

John 2:11

11 and the miracle of turning water into wine

at the wedding in Cana. It is recorded this beginning

of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested

his glory and his disciples believed in him.

This was the beginning of signs that Jesus did.

We see more signs of the day of Pentecost. Acts

Acts 2:22

chapter 2, verse 22. Men of Israel, hear these

words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you

by God. How? Through miracles, wonders, and signs,

which God did through him in your midst, as you

yourselves also know. John again records in John

John 12:37

chapter 12, verse 37. But although he had done

so many signs before them, they did not believe

in him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might

be fulfilled, which he spoke, O Lord, who has

believed our report, and to whom has the arm

of the Lord been revealed? The problem was not

that they didn't see any signs. The problem was

that they didn't like. the signs that they saw

because it didn't fit their ideal they wanted

a messiah who would deliver them from roman rule

one who was made in their own image and according

to their own ideas and thus as the apostles preached

christ crucified they being complicit in his

murder were offended and they stumbled not believing

Paul writes of this in Romans 9 verse 31. Israel,

Romans 9:31

pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained

to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they

did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by

the works of the law. For they stumbled at that

stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold, I

lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense,

and whoever believes on him will not be put to

shame. The crucifixion of their Messiah, that

was a stumbling stone to them. And not having

faith, but seeking to justify their own works

by the deeds of the law, and not having the faith,

they stumbled at Jesus and him. crucified this

of course is not all of them but it was many

of them and sadly it continues to this day and

we pray that their eyes would be opened and that

the spirit of god would work in them and that

many would be saved and believe in jesus now

the greeks however they sought after wisdom And

so this message is just utter foolishness to

them. The crucified Christ was offensive to their

sensibilities for they wanted a God of reason,

a God of philosophical abilities and imagination

with a development and soaring rhetoric of the

wisdom of the world. To them, the cross of Christ

is offensive, regarded as foolishness and an

absurdity. The common thing between them both,

though, between both Jews and Greeks, is that

they wanted a God like them. They wanted a God

like them, made in their image and according

to their imagination and in their likeness. And

so do many in our day. Oh yes, we refer to God.

We might even refer to Jesus. But it's made after

man's image and not according to the scriptures.

And the revelation that God has given to us.

He goes on and says, but to those who are called,

both Jews and Greeks, the cross is not offensive.

It is not offensive. It is the power of God.

The wisdom of God. Christ in his crucifixion

and resurrection and ascension is both the power

of God and the wisdom of God which is far above

any sign that the Jews would have desired and

any wisdom that the Greeks wanted to see. The

calling here that is spoken is the undeniable

calling of God of saving sinners who then believe

in him. This is not speaking of just the wide

and evangelistic general call and invitation

to the world, but is the effectual calling of

those who are partakers of that heavenly calling.

Those whom God has saved and called with a holy

calling, as 2 Timothy 1 verse 9 says, not according

2 Timothy 1:9

to their works, but according to his own purpose

and grace, which was given to them in Christ

Jesus before the time began. But to those who

are called. both Jews and Greeks. The cross is

the power of God. And then we see in verse 25

that this foolishness, this so -called foolishness

of God is actually wiser than men. And this so

-called weakness of God is actually stronger

than men. God who is greater than all. He is

wiser than the wisest person on the earth. He

is stronger than any created being. He laughs

at them because even his foolishness and weakness

is much stronger than anything that they could

ever do or think. In fact, their ability even

to reason at all comes from his good hand. But

we preach Christ. crucified this is the message

that is needed and this is the message that all

ministers must preach this was the message of

Peter this was the message of Apollos and this

is the message of Paul ministers all one planted

one watered and God gives the increase and gets

the glory we're going to see this develop more

in chapter 2 Number four, then, we finally consider

what is God's purpose in choosing the foolish

and the weak. Verses 26 to 31. We see, first

of all, the Corinthians' own calling and experience.

He reminds them, verse 26, For you see your calling,

brethren, that not many wise according to the

flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

In their congregation, there was not many of

the mighty and noble in the city. They were caught

up in their own imaginations of their hearts

in wanting what they thought was the wisdom of

the world. And so not many of them were part

of the congregation. He shows that God has a

purpose in choosing what is foolish and what

is weak according to man's understanding. But

Paul then uses this as an illustration to them

in light of their misunderstanding. This is not

an example. gate that the prophecies that kings

and rulers and princes will come to Christ but

he shows them that in Corinth to the Corinthians

not many were there not many of them were saved

and thus he shows the power of the cross and

the necessity of that which seems foolish to

men is actually more powerful God then also Shows

a deliberate choice to shame the wise and the

strong. The ones who were perceived wise and

strong. In Corinth. Verse 27 and 28. God has

chosen the foolish things of the world. To put

to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak

things of the world. To put to shame the things

which are mighty. And the base things of the

world. And the things which are not. The things

which are despised. God has chosen. And the things

which are not. to bring to nothing the things

that are. You know, God has a way of these incredible

paradoxes of making a grand point with something

that we think is, why? Why did he use this? Something

so simple, something so plain, and yet through

this, he destroys the wisdom of the wise. God

has this way of doing it, and he did it with

the cross. He did it with the cross. Why does

he do this? Well, it's for his own glory's sake.

Because what seems to be the foolishness of God

actually ends up being demonstrated that it's

much wiser than the humanly wise. Now in this,

God is not saying that we purposely seek weakness,

foolishness, and baseness. Though we may seem

fools for Christ, yet indeed we are to seek wisdom

and strength, but according to God. and according

to his word, and not according to human wisdom.

That sets up a God. It's in its own image. There

are many scriptures that call us to seek wisdom

and to be wise, to be strong in the Lord, but

our minds and our reason must be sanctified through

the word and the spirit. And God uses these seemingly

foolish things to overturn our order, to reorient

our mind, and to bring us to the point of sanctification

and understanding of what true wisdom is and

what true reason looks like. In this then, number

three. Of this last point. If this stops the

human boasting before God. And we see this verse

29. He says. See God wants pure worship from

us. Not boasting worship. Not where we come before

the Lord. And we boast in our own gifts. That

we were able to do this. And thus this makes

us more acceptable to you. That's the problem

of work. Salvation. We continually revert to

it. We set up idols. God's in our own image and

we want our own good works to outweigh the bad

so that God will surely just let us in instead

of falling at our feet, confessing that we are

undone, that we are sinners, that we cannot help

ourselves and we cannot save ourselves and thus

we need Christ. We need the crucifixion. We need

the atonement. This stops all human boasting

before God. so that no flesh should glory in

his presence. Finally then, in verse 30 and 31,

he speaks to us of the sufficiency of Christ,

who is really and truly the source of everything

good that we have. He says, but of him, you are

in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from

God. Yes, we can be wise. But it's through Christ.

It is Christ's wisdom. Because of Him, we are

in Christ Jesus. And He becomes wisdom for us.

And He is righteousness for us. And He is sanctification

for us. And He is redemption for us. So that

as it is written, He says, He who glories, let

him glory in the Lord. Oh, I hope and trust that

out all of this, that each one of you goes away

from here glorying in the Lord. Not in that I

have done this and I have done this and it's

because of my reason or because of my decision

or because of my this or that, but that we glory

in the Lord for it is him who is our righteousness.

It is him who is our sanctification. It is him

who is our. sanctification, our glorification,

and our wisdom in Christ. And so therefore, we

glory in the Lord. We rejoice in him. We extol

the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, the one whose

blood was shed for us on a cruel cross. And he

overcame death in that greatest feats of all,

the resurrection of the body from the dead. Well,

how shall we then live then in light of this?

First of all, dear Christian, embrace the cross.

Embrace the cross of Christ. Do not be ashamed

of it. In fact, do as Jesus says, take up your

cross and follow Christ. Understand the scandal

and the foolishness of the cross. Do not weaken,

change, or dilute the gospel to fit the world

or to make your message. Appear more pleasing

to the flesh. Embrace the cross. In bringing

about such a great salvation. God has spoken

to us by his son. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 to

Hebrews 1:1–3

3. whom he has appointed heir of all things,

through whom also he made the worlds, who bring

the brightness of his glory and the express image

of his person, and upholding all things by the

word of his power, when he had by himself purged

our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty

on high. And after recounting the glory and the

majesty and the exaltation of Christ, Paul continues

in chapter 2 of Hebrews, verse 3, and he asks

this question, How shall we escape if we neglect

so great a salvation? Which at the first began

to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to

us by those who heard him. And God also bore

witness both with signs and wonders and various

miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according

to his own will. Brothers and sisters, embrace

the cross of Christ. Let it be glorious to you

and thank God for it. Number two, reject boasting.

Reject boasting in human leaders or in our own

status. or in our achievements, or even the achievements

of others. The Corinthians had their factions,

and so can we. God chooses the lowly and the

humble, the ones who tremble at his word. In

a culture that idolizes charismatic or gifted

leaders or influencers, as the term currently

is, that defines success in a worldly way, instead,

worship the God of heaven. Embrace his ways.

Boast in him and not in yourself or in other

men. Boast in Christ crucified. Number three,

find your calling. Find your identity and find

your fulfillment in Christ. In and through Jesus

Christ. For he is your wisdom. All of these other

things. Glory in him. Let him be your identity.

In summary, this passage calls us to a counter

-cultural faith. It is a faith that is humble,

that is cross -centered, unimpressed by worldly

status and measurements, and wholly unified around

Jesus Christ alone. around Jesus Christ alone.

This is a faith that challenges our pride and

our self -sufficiency and yet it also comforts

our insecurities because God doesn't depend on

our strength or our smarts or our status. He

uses what the world thinks is weak and foolish

to accomplish his purposes and then we obey.

Because of the transformed work of Christ in

us. Yes, we obey. Yes, we do. But we give the

glory to him and not to ourselves. We are able

to obey because of his provision. It is all him

working in us. What do we have that we didn't

receive? Nothing. It all comes from him. Let

us live this out daily. That we proclaim the

simple and the pure gospel. That we embrace the

offense of the cross. That we reject division.

And that we boast in the Lord. That we'll preach.

And that message. will transform lives as it

has in the past, as it is doing now, and will

continue to do so until the Lord returns. Even

so come, Lord Jesus. Let's pray.