True Wisdom | 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

When you study the culture of ancient Greece,

which by the way is a fascinating study in light

of the fact that they were one of the most advanced

civilizations in human history for that time,

when you study the Greeks you quickly see that

certain ideals and values in their culture rise

to the top. And this is important for us to understand

as we continue to study Paul's letter to the

church in Corinth, because in the first century,

when Paul was writing, Corinthian culture was

prevalent throughout the entire Greek world.

And many of their ideals and values are drawn

from the works of some of the most famous Greek

scholars and poets and writers that we know,

Homer and... Gosh, Thucydides and Herodotus and

Sophocles and Euripides. The list goes on. Demosthenes,

this list of amazing authors and writers. The

Greeks loved to draw inspiration from those great

works, and so they talked about things like physical

prowess and bravery in battle, things that were

personified in their pantheon of gods and their

larger -than -life heroes that they loved so

much. We know that the Greeks valued philosophical

wisdom and logic and rhetoric. They had an intellectual

curiosity. about everything that was high on

their list of virtues. They sought after knowledge

in terms of the natural world that was around

them, and they longed for immortality. If you've

ever seen the movie Troy, and I can't necessarily

recommend it, But he talks a lot about that Achilles

in that book or in that movie. They long for

immortality, whether it was in war or was in

athletic competition, the idea of becoming legendary,

the idea of achieving glory in this life. And

as you stop and think about this, as we look

at the background of the city of Corinth, you

come to realize that the Greeks are very much

like Americans are today because we are seekers

of status. We are seekers of renown. Most of

the people in our culture today idolize celebrities.

That is one of the most common things about us.

We idolize influencers, athletic superstars,

the ultra -wealthy. We want to have their lifestyle,

right? Or public intellectuals, even pastors

of megachurches. And we tend to put them on a

pedestal. We wish we could have just a fraction

of their lives. And so it's understandable that

the world thinks and acts this way. It's not

surprising to us at all, right? Because we are

walking in the footsteps of all these cultures

in the West that have gone before us and shaped

us, whether it's the ancient Greeks or it's the

Romans. But when it comes to God's people, when

it comes to the things of God, His thoughts and

His ways, everything I just described about both

Greek culture and American culture, those things

are completely at odds. with what he's revealed

to us in his word. We know that God consistently

turns the value systems of the world upside down,

turns them on its head. So what is foolish and

weak in the eyes of the world is actually divine

wisdom and divine power. And by saving both Jews

and Gentiles through a crucified savior, by drawing

sinful people to himself, the creator God has

confounded the wisdom. of the big wide world

out there. Now, in light of all that, here's

the problem that Paul was faced with as he sat

down to write this letter that we're studying

in this series. The believers in Corinth were

having a really hard time laying aside their

worldly Greek values. All those values we talked

about had seeped into the church, and now they

were struggling to lay them aside and struggling

to put on the mind of Christ instead. That's

why, as we saw a couple weeks ago, we see them

lining up behind certain teachers, right? Almost

treating them as their new heroes. They're lining

up, they're dividing the body while boasting

and quarreling about things that should never

be present in a local church. And so Paul has

some very strong words for them in today's passage.

Let's look at it. Grab your Bibles and let's

go to 1 Corinthians 1. And I want you to locate

verse 26. That's where we'll start this morning.

1 Corinthians. Chapter 1, verse 26 to 31. Last

1 Corinthians 1:26–31

Sunday we looked at verses 18 to 25, and remember

we saw how Paul essentially divided all of humanity

into two groups based on one all -important thing,

something he called the word of the cross. Remember?

First he said there are those who are perishing,

presently falling into spiritual ruin because

they've rejected the word of the cross. And then

he said there's a second group, those who are

being saved. presently justified in God's sight,

being sanctified by the Holy Spirit because they've

embraced and believed the word of the cross.

So that's what we saw last week. And we saw the

reasons why so many people in the world reject

the message of the cross that's been offered

to them. To them, it just sounds like what? Foolishness.

It's a stumbling block to them. It's foolish.

They very much prefer their own brand of wisdom,

their own brand of cleverness, their own emphasis

on things like status and power and influence.

But as we saw last week, what the world idolizes

in reality, this is the key from last week, what

the world idolizes in reality has absolutely

no power to meet any of man's greatest needs.

I mean, philosophy is fun to talk about, right?

We can go, we can grab a coffee and talk about

the best players in the NBA. We can talk about

wealthy. We can have all those conversations,

but all of that knowledge that we might pass

to one another has no power to deal with our

greatest need. That's the reality. So no philosophy,

no amount of education, no family connections.

No amount of followers on social media, no amount

of money in the bank, any of those things can

cleanse a man from sin. Right? None of those

things can usher a man into the presence of God

or grant them eternal life. So as fun as those

things are to talk about and even gain knowledge

about, they have no surpassing value. And that

was the contrast that Paul was making last week.

Even the best of things that mankind produces

cannot come close to the wisdom and the power

of the word of the cross. Do you believe that?

I hope you do. In fact, last Sunday's passage

we found out that God is actually in the business

of destroying all that the world thinks is wise

and clever. And the amazing thing is he's doing

it through what the world perceives as a bunch

of foolish people, you all, who have with you

a foolish message. So let's continue with that

argument here, beginning in verse 26. Here's

what God's word says. Paul says to them, consider

your calling, brethren, that there were not many

wise according to the flesh, not many mighty,

not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish

things of the world to shame the wise. And God

has chosen the weak things of the world to shame

the things which are strong, and the base things

of the world and the despised God has chosen.

The things that are not, so that he may nullify

the things that are, so that, purpose statement,

so that no man may boast before God. But by his

doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to

us wisdom from God and righteousness. and sanctification

and redemption so that just as it is written,

let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Okay,

so let's work our way through this and I want

to start with the question. If both Jews and

Greeks are too wise and too sophisticated to

accept God's offer of salvation through his son

crucified on a cross, what kind of people would

God draw to himself? What kinds of people would

God draw to himself? Draw to himself. What kinds

of people are we? In verse 26, Paul essentially

says to the Corinthians, look around your church

and consider what kind of people you were before

God called you. And maybe we should do that this

morning. Look around. Look at each other. What

do you see? Or better yet, what don't you see?

Here's what you don't see. Not a lot of us are

celebrities here. Right? Nobody here is a big

-time influencer, as far as I know. None of us

hold positions of power. There's not a lot of

wealth or status among us. And for the most part,

that's been true of the church throughout all

of the ages. The church has always been filled

with everyday, ordinary people like us. Now,

obviously, there have been some rich and powerful

people who have bowed their knee to Christ, but

as Paul says here, not that many. Maybe you've

noticed that trend in our culture in America

today. In verses 26 to 28 alone, you see four

specific types of people who Paul's going to

highlight as everyday ordinary people who are

objects of God's saving grace. Let's look at

them. The first one are the foolish. Anybody

want to cop to this? Okay. It's okay. It's all

right. The foolish. Verse 27, God has chosen

the foolish things of the world. Up in verse

26, there's not many wise among you. And you

can see on the screen there, the Greek word for

foolish is moros, which carries a meaning that,

I'm just going to be honest, it's a little bit

offensive. The word means a bit dull. Not that

bright. It's where we get the English word, what?

Moron from. Yeah. I mean, that's the reality.

So look around, Paul says. Not a lot of high

IQ folks here. Not a bunch of Ivy Leaguers walked

in the door this morning. I was going to say,

look at all the morons, but I'll just, I'll let

that pass. By the way, I'm one of you, so. But

we understand why this is true, right? We understand

why. The vast majority of the intellectual elites

of our culture look down their noses at Christianity.

They look down their noses at you and I. You

really believe that ancient, dusty old book,

they ask? You believe that God actually can become

a man? You believe this Jesus was actually resurrected

to life? They look at that and say it's all foolishness.

We know obviously differently, but they say that

is foolishness. So we are the foolish. It's okay

to own that. Secondly, he says we're the weak,

right? Verse 27 again, God has chosen the weak

things of the world. Verse 26, not many mighty,

not many powerful among you. And the Greek word

there for weak is asthenes, which means not just

physical weakness, but it describes somebody

who is kind of feeble or sickly. And so Paul

says, look, that church in Corinth, it's filled

with folks who are needy, folks who are struggling

in life. with all kinds of trials and difficulties,

folks who don't have a lot of material resources

like so many others in the world. And again,

we understand why this is so, because those who

are rich and powerful and have access to all

kinds of resources, they have a tendency to feel

like, why would I need God? I have so much. Why

would I need him? That's why Jesus said, it's

easier for a camel to go through the eye of a

needle. And for a rich man to enter into the

kingdom of God because they don't see the need.

They have so much. And so the weak. The third

is the group we refer to as the insignificant.

Verse 28. In the NAS it says the base. Maybe

a better translation is the lowly. The lowly

things of the world. Up in verse 26. Not many

of you are of noble birth. The Greek word there

is aganes. A word which commonly was used in

the ancient world to describe a person's lineage.

Like, where do you come from? Do you have this

noble family line or not? And again, Paul says,

look around your church, folks. Not a lot of

noble families represented among you. I don't

know of anybody connected to royalty here in

your body. Nobody here part of the ruling class.

You are the insignificant. And again, the reason

is obvious, right? The nobles of Greek society,

the proud, the self -sufficient, why would they

submit to a message about salvation based on

a Jew dying on a cross? They're just not going

to receive that. Finally, one last group, the

despised. The despised, verse 28, the despised

and the things that are not. The Greek word here

is exutheneo. a word which was used to describe

something contemptible, despised, something of

no regard whatsoever. Paul says, your church

is filled with folks who are on the lower end

of the social ladder. Back in my day, we'd say

they're from the wrong side of the tracks, right?

They're contemptible. So they're looked down

upon by the upper crust of society. And Paul

says, it's okay. This is who we are. And just

to bolster that truth of what Paul's saying,

in the second century AD, there was a very famous

pagan philosopher by the name of Celsus, and

his works have come down to us through the church

father Origen, and he was writing around the

year 175. He was what we call a middle Platonist.

a middle Platonist, and he championed traditional

Greek and Roman religion. When he looked at Christianity,

what he saw was a superstitious foreign novel

religion that undermined Greek values. He's very

much a nationalist in that regard. Can I show

you what he wrote about us? You're not going

to like this. Here's what he wrote in the year

175. He said, the following are the rules laid

down by them, meaning Christians. Let no man

that is learned, wise, or prudent come among

us. But if they're unlearned or a child or an

idiot, let him freely come. So they openly declare

that none but the ignorant and those devoid of

understanding, slaves, women, and children are

fit disciples for the God that they worship.

Ouch. He goes on. It gets worse. We see them

in their houses. They're wool dressers, cobblers,

the worst, the most vulgar, the most uneducated

persons. They're like a swarm of bats or ants

creeping out of their nests or frogs holding

a symposium around a swamp or worms convening

in the mud. Yikes. That was the view of the so

-called high -minded members of Greek and Roman

society in the first and second centuries. The

Christians were stupid and lowly and contemptible,

really unfit for any serious philosophical debate,

and more like base creatures than rational human

beings. From the high -minded, from the elites

of society. Now, in light of all that, in light

of this passage and what you just read, raise

your hand if you're offended this morning. It'd

be okay if you raise your hand. This seems offensive,

but there's a key to understanding Paul's argument

here. that you have to understand. And by the

way, let me admit to you, I remember probably,

must have been 35 years ago, when I really started

to study the Bible in depth, I remember reading

this passage and being super offended. I just

was, because I thought, I mean, at the time I

was young and impulsive, and I thought I was

pretty smart, as most young men think they are.

And I thought I was, Micah, yeah. I thought I

was pretty smart. And so this felt like a real

attack on my character to call me these things.

But now I know better. What you have to understand

about this passage is that Paul is not speaking

objectively here. He's not saying you're objectively

stupid, objectively moronic, right? What he's

saying is this is the perspective of the world.

It's not objective. This is from the unbelieving

world's perspective. In fact, it's built into

the text. If you look again at verses 26 through

28, count how many times Paul refers to either

the world or worldly standards. Consider your

calling, brethren, that there were not many wise

according to the flesh. That means according

to the world's standards. God has chosen the

foolish things of the world to shame the wise,

the weak things of the world to shame the things

which are strong, and the base things of the

world. This is the world's perspective. Four

times he says it. This is how the unbelieving

world sees us. We are in their eyes foolish and

weak and lowly and despised, but that's according

to their standards, not God's standard. And that's

what matters most, right? In fact, it's the opposite

of God's standard. And what Paul is doing here,

we've already seen him use a number of sort of

literary techniques here, appeal to absurdity,

things of that nature. This is what we call divine

inversion, where we see God delighting and flipping

over the values of the natural man. In God's

thoughts and ways, think about this, the humble

are exalted, right? Divine inversion. The last

will be first. God flips the values of the world

completely upside down. So in that vein, while

the wise and the strong, who are perishing, by

the way, While they judge the word of the cross

as foolishness, the simple and the weak who are

being saved, we judge that very same word as

the power of God unto salvation. You see the

contrast he's drawing here? It's light and darkness,

isn't it? And we need to, more often we need

to see the world in these terms, light and darkness.

Two groups of people perishing, being saved.

Because that's what Paul's saying here. Now,

a quick caveat, we have to be careful that we

don't get arrogant ourselves. God hasn't designed

his kingdom in this way because being weak and

foolish is better. There is no better when it

comes to humanity. We're all sinners. None of

us deserves to be saved. So we have to be careful

and go, well, I can now boast in my weakness

and boast in my foolishness and my moronic behavior,

right? We don't want to boast in that. God has

purposed to order things in this way so that

all glory is given to him and not to prideful

men and women, no matter where we are on the

socioeconomic scale. Now, God is 100 % sovereign,

he's all -powerful, and he could accomplish his

will in any number of ways, yet he chooses to

do it through simple, unimpressive servants like

us. The question is why? Would you design it

that way? If you were God, would you say, you

know what? I'm going to pass over those really

wealthy, powerful people who in our minds think,

well, those people could get a lot of things

done. Nope. I'm going to look at that really

simple person down here, and I'm going to use

him or her as my servant. Why? Well, Paul gives

us two explicit reasons in this text. One I'm

going to save for later, but the first one we

need to talk about because it fits with this

idea of divine inversion. In verse 28, Paul says,

and I'm going to put this on the screen, I'm

going to put the CSB version on the screen because

it's much more understandable than the NAS. It

says, God has chosen what is insignificant and

despised in the world, what is viewed as nothing,

to bring to nothing what is viewed as something.

That's one of the purposes why he uses folks

like us. It's God's plan and purpose to bring

to nothing all of the things that the world views

as something and to nullify it, to shame it.

In common terms, we could say to eradicate everything

that the world thinks is so great and so important.

That's what God wants to do through us. That

means all human power, all human wisdom, all

human honor, every false standard that the world

holds to, and every reason that man has to boast

in himself. God's going to obliterate it. And

here's the most amazing part. God has purposed

to do that, to magnify his name through the very

people who are despised by the world. That's

our mission, you guys. God has chosen us as simple

servants to carry out that mission, to nullify

and to shame the things that the world thinks

is so great. Now, again, don't let that pump

you up and make you arrogant yourself. That should

humble you that God has chosen you to do that.

Calvin put it this way. I love what he says.

He says, the Lord has designed this in order

to bring down the glory of the flesh by preferring

the contemptible over the great. That's an awesome

quote. Christians who are considered simple and

foolish, are you ready for this, are in reality

the wisest people on earth. The wisest. The poor

man. The slave. The former criminal. The man

without any education. If that man is reconciled

to God through the word of the cross and is being

led by the Holy Spirit, he has more wisdom than

the greatest philosopher the world has ever produced.

Wow, right? If he's been reconciled to God, he's

being led by the Holy Spirit, he has way more

wisdom than an unbeliever who talks a big game.

We are God's rebuke to the wisdom of the world.

And it drives arrogant men like Celsus absolutely

mad. It irks them to no end to see the confidence

that we have in the truth that God has revealed

to us. It irks them beyond measure to see the

eternal hope that we cling to in Christ. And

hasn't God always worked this way from Genesis

to today? When you look at the scriptures, inverting

the wisdom of the world, you can trace this all

the way back to the Torah, right? Back to God's

choice of one particular people among all the

nations of the ancient Near East, right? Israel.

What does Yahweh say about them in Deuteronomy

7? He says, the Lord did not set his love on

you nor choose you because you were more in number

than any of the peoples for you were the fewest

of all peoples. It makes no sense to us that

God would pick Israel, right? Why would you pick

the smallest tribe and use them? If we were God,

we'd say, show me the biggest tribe with the

largest military because we want to dominate.

Why would he do that? Because when he chooses

the fewest people, who gets the glory? God does.

It actually makes sense in his world, in his

economy. It's always been God's pattern to choose

the most unlikely people and the least impressive

people by worldly standards, again, to nullify

and shame the wise. In the New Testament, James

says this as well. He says, listen, my beloved

brethren, did not God choose the poor of this

world to be what? Rich in faith. To be rich in

faith. And heirs of the kingdom which he promised

to those who love him. So both Old Testament

and New Testament. And then you just walk down

the list of characters we see in the Bible. All

of the unlikely people that God chooses. Who

would have chosen David? the least likely of

all the brothers in that family, to be king over

Israel and the forerunner of the Messiah, a shepherd

boy. This is how God operates. Think of a simple

farmer, a tender of sycamore trees named Amos,

who God calls to be a prophet to judge the idolatrous

nation of the northern kingdom, Amos. Think of

an orphaned exile named Esther who comes out

of nowhere. to be queen in Persia and a savior

of her people. Or an old woman named Anna who's

called to be a prophetess, testifying to the

redemption of Jerusalem when she first sets her

eyes on Jesus. And if you're not convinced by

those, consider the man that Jesus describes

like this. Among those born of women, there has

not arisen anyone greater than who? John the

Baptist. John the Baptist, not a man admired

by society. Not a man who looked favorably on

by the elites of the world at that time. No education

that we know of, not from a noble family, no

real power, just a single voice of conviction,

crying out in the wilderness, and a very strange

character to boot. Does not fit any of the standards

of the world. But he was God's man at just the

right time. And so the Lord used John the Baptist

as a rebuke to the powerful chief priests in

Jerusalem, didn't he? Absolutely unlikely. All

of these folks were judged to be insignificant

by the world, but not by God. So this is a very

consistent trend that runs right through 1 Corinthians

1. Do you see it? Now, at this point, you may

hear all that and go, okay, well, that's starting

to make some sense. What am I supposed to do

with this? Like, what am I supposed to do with

this passage? Is there a practical application

here? O ye of little faith. There is so much

in this passage for you and I to take home this

morning, not the least of which are all the ways

that in the background of this text we just read,

those six verses, you see multiple ways that

God has loved you in unfathomable ways. It's

right there. I say in the background because

how many times do we rip through a passage and

we don't slow down enough to see these words

that are absolutely loaded with theological meaning.

We read right past them and we sometimes miss

them entirely. In these six verses, 26 to 31,

Paul describes at least four ways that God has

shown unfathomable love for you. So we're gonna

walk through those. The first one is election.

The first one is election. You were chosen by

him. And look, I know sometimes you guys get

tired of me talking about sovereignty and election

and all this. It's everywhere in the Bible. So

we're going to do it again. Get used to it because

Paul likes election. Look what it says, verses

27 to 28. Three times he uses the word chosen.

We can't just ignore that word. God has chosen

the foolish things. God has chosen the weak.

The despised God has chosen. And understand,

that's not a throwaway verb that Paul is using

here. It's the very same verb where it describes

how Jesus chose the 12. Did you think that might

have been random? That Jesus chose, give me 12

fishermen. It's a very biologically loaded word

that he uses here. In fact, It's the same verb

that Jesus uses in the upper room when he says

to his disciples, you did not choose me, but

I chose you. And then three verses later, I chose

you out of the world, it says. And then famously,

it's the same verb Paul uses to describe the

very beginning of how any of us in this room

got saved. Going back to Ephesians chapter one,

he chose us in him before the foundation of the

world. He chose us in Christ before a thing was

made that we would be holy and blameless before

him. Well, hold on a second. How can we be holy

and blameless? He will make it so because he's

chosen you. In love, that's the motivation, he

predestined us to adoption as sons. through Jesus

Christ to himself according to the kind intention

of his divine will, which cannot be thwarted.

That's a powerful passage, isn't it? Paul is

saying here in 1 Corinthians 1 that before we

even came into existence, God fully understood

the depths of our sin, the depths of our rebellion,

and in spite of that, he graciously marked us

out to be saved. Has he loved you? It's unfathomable,

isn't it? The fact that you're saved this morning

originated in the divine will and purpose of

God even before time began. And to me, what's

most amazing about election, and we talk about

this within the framework of Calvinism, it's

unconditional. It's not conditioned upon your

performance or my performance. God didn't say,

I chose you, Jeff, because I knew you'd be good

and obedient. Because I wasn't. He didn't say

to me, I chose you, Jeff, based on the fact that

I knew someday you would choose to believe in

me. In Scripture, there's no conditions placed

on God's choosing. It is simply his good and

sovereign will. And I know that's a hard principle

to wrestle with. It's everywhere in Scripture.

So that's the first thing. Second way that God's

love for us is found in our passage is back to

verse 26, that God called us. He called us. Paul

starts by saying, consider your calling, brothers

and sisters. That's the Greek word klesis. It's

a word that's synonymous with the idea of receiving

an invitation. That's a really good practical

way to think about calling. Being invited by

God into a saving relationship with Christ. Okay?

It's the same word used in Romans 11 when Paul

describes God's faithfulness to Israel, saying

the gifts and the calling of God to Israel are

irrevocable. In other words, the covenant invitation

given by Yahweh to Israel can never be taken

back, can never be nullified. And the same can

be said of God's calling of you and me. By the

way, if God can revoke his calling given to Israel,

what security do we have? that he might change

his mind again. It's irrevocable, he says. And

so the calling he's given to us, once he chooses

us as part of a sovereign will and divine purpose,

he will call us with a calling that is irrevocable

because God doesn't make mistakes and he doesn't

go back on his word. That's good news for us,

right? Calling is also used powerfully in 2 Timothy

1, being connected both to the basis of our salvation

by faith alone and to election. Look at this

verse. God has saved us and called us with a

holy calling, not according to our works, but

according to his own purpose and grace, which

was granted us in Christ Jesus from when? From

all eternity. It's not just in Ephesians 1. Here

it is in 2 Timothy. So completely apart from

any merit in us or any good works that we had

done, God graciously extends to us this holy

invitation to know him. by opening our eyes to

see Christ for who he is, which Paul also speaks

of in Ephesians 1. He says, I pray that the eyes

of your heart may be enlightened so that you'll

know what is the hope of his calling, what are

the riches of the glory of his inheritance in

the saints. What a beautiful word picture here,

right? This calling of hope that brings light

into our hearts, this invitation that God gives

us, that enlightens us. It's an invitation that

draws us out of darkness and death and brings

us into light and life. It is God's irresistible,

life -giving command that says, come to me. Come

to me. So if you're a believer this morning,

that is the truth about how you got saved, with

an effectual calling from God that produced in

you his divine will. That your spiritual eyes

would be open, that your affections for Christ

would be stirred in your heart such that you

would turn to him, see him, love him, and believe

in him and be saved. That's part of the calling

that God, sometimes the word is drawing, but

this calling, this holy invitation to know God.

He did the work to open your eyes so that you

see him and love him. Isn't it great? Unfathomable

love that God has shown us by choosing us and

calling us. Third way that we see here, look

again at verse 30. This is another one of those

statements that you might read right past if

you're not careful, but it's filled with meaning.

But by his doing, it says, by his doing or because

of him, you are in Christ Jesus. This is a beautiful

picture of being united, being in union with

Christ, meaning you get a new identity. Once

you're united to Christ, you have a new identity.

You're a new creation. You are reckoned as righteous

in the sight of God. It means getting a new life.

You're now considered to have died with Christ

to sin. and to be raised to him in new life,

now walking in the spirit. So a new identity

and a new life, and then a new relationship.

You now share an ongoing fellowship with Jesus.

You are a branch connected to the vine, abiding

with him and bearing spiritual fruit. All of

that happens because of our union with Christ.

This is why, oh, by the way, being united to

Christ also means being joined to his body, right?

The church. That's a part of it, being united

to his body. And by being united to the body,

you're united to every believer who is also spiritually

connected to the vine. This is why we talk about

all the time at Oak Hill that being a member

of a local church is not optional. It's just

not. You can try it, but you're never going to

find the fullness of your union with Christ if

you're not connected to others who are in the

vine. That's for another sermon. Once again,

we see that this unity connects both to election

and calling because the only reason we're united

to Jesus is because God sovereignly acted. Look

at what it says in verse 30. It's by his doing,

not by your choice, right? Not by, well, I believe.

No, by his doing, you are in Christ Jesus. Again,

I'm not trying to nullify the fact that we made

a real decision to love Jesus and believe in

him. I always want to make this caveat because

it's just that God changed our affections so

that we loved him, so that we believed in him.

But it's by his doing that that happened, that

you are in Christ Jesus. He chose us in eternity

past. Then within time and space, he called us

into light and life. He granted us faith to believe,

and then he brought us into union with his son.

Is this not unfathomable love? This is not something

that any of us could do on our own. Only God

can graft you into the life of his son. Only

God can keep you grafted into the life of his

son. And I say amen to that. Fourth thing that

we need to look at, stay there in verse 30. By

his doing, it says, you are in Christ Jesus who

became to us wisdom from God. Stop there. became

for us wisdom from the Father. And look at these

next three things, righteousness and sanctification

and redemption. Now, what Paul is emphasizing

here is being found in Christ in union with him.

That is true wisdom that comes down from above.

Being united to Christ is true wisdom, the truest

of wisdom that comes down from the Father. And

again, think about the contrast between this

and worldly wisdom. A man could be super smart.

A man could come from a wealthy background, have

a big title and a powerful position. A man could

understand every philosophical construct known

to mankind and reject the word of the cross.

And at the end of his life, he will stand before

God. He will be judged for sin and cast into

hell. So is that man really wise? No. I don't

care what he had in this life. That man is not

truly wise because true wisdom is only found

in Christ. That's what Paul's saying here. It

comes from God's revelation in Christ. For in

him, there is first of all, what? Righteousness.

Whose righteousness? His righteousness. Given

to us, granted to us, right? He takes on your

sin and you receive from him all of the moral

perfection that he walked in during his days

on the earth. His righteousness is credited to

your account as a believer. That's what we get.

True wisdom from God is, first of all, righteousness.

The great exchange, right? Your debt that you

owe to God for sin completely satisfied. That's

true wisdom. Doesn't matter how simple and lowly

you are on this earth. If you have that, you

are truly wise. Secondly, in him, there's sanctification.

We talked about this last week, this idea that

you're positionally holy. You're seen as holy

by God through Christ. But now also sanctification

refers to this process, this progressive spiritual

maturity, this idea that we're practically growing

into holiness. And then finally, there's redemption.

being purchased by the blood of Christ, bought

back as his possession. The blood of Christ,

which washes away our sins and leads us into

eternal life. Guys, do you see this? Do you see

this now? How easy was it to read right past

all that? And this is why I love, man, I love

Bible reading plans and it's great to just rip

through the scriptures. There are times you just

gotta slow down. And look at every single word

and see the love that God has for you. Amazing.

Okay, one last thing we have to touch on before

we're done. Earlier I talked about two reasons

why God chooses to use the simple and the unimpressive

to accomplish his will. The first is to nullify

the things of the world, right? To shame the

wise. The second reason is found twice in our

passage in verse 29 and verse 31. God has chosen.

I'm going to get it. God has chosen the foolish

and the weak and the despised, verse 29, so that

no man or no flesh may boast before God. Let's

talk about boasting. And I want you to see that

this is actually another aspect of God's love

for us. It's a protective kind of love. God is

not going to allow us to boast before him. He's

gonna protect us from ourselves. It's like a

good father who says, son, I know you feel like

you should be able to make a choice to go play

on that freeway. I'm not gonna let you do it

because I know more than you and it's not gonna

end well. God loves us so much that he is gonna

prevent us from diminishing his glory by allowing

us to exalt ourselves in his presence. Now. The

reality is I'm certain that once we pass from

this life and into the presence of Christ and

we see the fullness of his glory, not one of

us is gonna feel like boasting on ourselves,

right? But as a loving father, he's warning us

in advance through Paul, you won't boast before

me and here's the reason why. He's telling us,

here's why you're not gonna boast before me.

You're not gonna be in my presence because you

were so smart. You're not going to be before

me because you were so spiritual or so strong

or so articulate or from some noble birth. You

are in my presence because I chose you, because

I marked you out in love. Because I called you

to myself. Because I brought you into union with

myself. Because I credited my righteousness to

your account. Because I sanctified you as holy.

Because I redeemed you by my own blood. That's

why you're here. Any questions for that? I mean,

do you see the contrast? Here's the thing. We

see at the end of the passage in verse 31, boasting

isn't necessarily wrong. It all depends upon

the object you're boasting in, right? And so

in verse 31, Paul says, go ahead, boast in the

Lord because he's worthy of your boasting. And

Paul is referring back. He says, see, it's written.

He's referring back to Jeremiah chapter nine.

We read it this morning. Kenny read it as part

of our call to worship. Here, I'll put it on

the screen because it's so worth knowing. Jeremiah

9, 23 and 24, thus says the Lord, let not a wise

man boast of his wisdom, let not the mighty man

boast of his might, let not a rich man boast

of his riches, but let him who boasts, boast

of this. Here it is, boast of this, friends,

that he understands and knows me, that I am the

Lord. who exercises loving kindness, justice,

and righteousness on earth, for I delight in

these things, says the Lord. So go for it, Christian.

Boast away, right? Boast in who your God is.

Boast to the world. Proclaim it from the rooftops,

in your conversations during the week, at work,

wherever. Boast in the Lord. Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit, the goodness, the grace, the mercy

of the Lord. Boast in the cross of Christ, in

what happened there, the work that was accomplished

for you. Boast in the fact that as a nobody in

this world, you are somebody precious to God.

Boast in that. Oh, but you're a foolish, simple

person. Not to God. Boast in that. God sees me

as precious and important, and his opinion is

all that matters. That's true wisdom. Boast in

the fact that his weakness became your strength,

that his suffering and death became your salvation.

And those things boast away. And friends, listen,

this is gonna be our joy forever. We are gonna

spend all of eternity boasting in our God and

praising his name. So in a practical sense, here's

what I want you to walk away with this morning.

I want you to know just how much the Lord has

loved you. And hopefully you know more about

it than you did when you walked in this morning.

Or maybe you forgot it. In the stress of life,

it kind of has disappeared from your mind. Let

it come back. Meditate on that truth. How much

God has loved you. And I want you to walk into

the world tomorrow. It doesn't matter where it

is, right? Whether it's at work or in the home

or at school, wherever you are. And I want you

to walk confidently. Knowing what true power

really is. I want you to walk with boldness,

knowing what true strength looks like. And I

want you to walk into the world with contentment

and joy, knowing what true wisdom is according

to God's word, because all of those things are

yours in Christ. Amen? Let's bow our heads.