Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 192 True Wisdom - Part 2 (a series in 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4) 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 KJVA (18) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (19) For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. (20) Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (21) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (22) For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: (23) But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; (24) But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Men by their own wisdom and philosophies can arrive at some truth, but not at all truth, and not at the truth that gives eternal life. Archimedes, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and Planck all arrived at truths about nature - but studying their theories will not get you eternal life. Knowing Pythagoras's Theorem may help you with trigonometry - but it will not conquer your sin. Thus God makes foolish the wisdom of the world because all the great thinkers, who make great contributions, cannot save their own souls with their great theorems. They can only save their souls through Christ. Paul writes: "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." What does he mean by "the world by wisdom knew not God". Just think of all you learned at school or University. Did they set out to teach you the knowledge of God? Did Geology, History, Mathematics or even Philosophy lead you there? By the wisdom of God, He has made Himself inaccessible to even the most determined Reason but readily available to Faith. This is so that anyone can come on the basis of faith, but none can come on the basis of superior intellect. People are saved by "the foolishness of preaching" - the publicly declared and expounded word of God. Nowadays people are also saved by missionary radio, books, websites, friendship evangelism and even by Christian films such as the Jesus film. Preaching is kerugma, which comes from the verb kerusso which means the work of a "herald" or proclaimer of news. It is broader in meaning than just standing behind a pulpit on Sunday morning in a consecrated building. It also applied to the town crier in the public square. I have some personal reservations about the effectiveness of preaching on Sunday mornings. It is more like lecturing than heralding. The work of the "herald" is often now the radio personality or webmaster who is actively sharing the gospel. (On another note I am an exponent of "Cybermissions" or using the Internet to spread the gospel to closed countries. For a few short articles on this go to: http://www.aibi.ph/missions/ ) Paul write about what people expect of the gospel: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: (23) But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; (24) But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. " The gospel is unexpected. Its message is a stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to Greeks. God seems to have made the gospel difficult. He did not give us the gospel we anted, rather the gospel we needed. The cross stumbles those expecting a triumphant messiah, and the cross is un-intellectual, absurd folly, to the Greek lover of sophistry. But to those 'being saved " it is a marvel - the very power and wisdom of God! God does not preach to a sub-culture, he preaches to faith. God does not tailor the gospel to fit this or that sub-group but rather calls out to those who are seeking God with faith in their hearts. This does not mean that we can abandon all contextualization of the message, but it does mean that we need to remember that we are primarily trying to reach those who are genuinely seeking, and if the rest don't understand just yet, that is only to be expected. Some people will be stumbled, and others will think we are foolish, the gospel will always have that effect. Some are offended by the cross or bemused by the resurrection or offended at the incarnation, others want to hold to reincarnation or other New Age doctrines. We cannot eliminate the cross, the resurrection, the incarnation or a single judgment after death from the gospel just because they offend millions of people. They offended in Paul's day on Mars Hill (Acts 17) and they will offend still. Such folk may eventually believe but they may not be ready just yet. Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God. No human philosophy can save you from dying but Jesus can give you eternal life. No human philosophy can give you power to cast out demons, break curses and heal the sick - but faith in Jesus can. No human philosophy can give you a completely new nature and break addictions to alcohol and drugs - but faith in Jesus can and does. The foolishness of God is wiser than men. When God appears "foolish" in the cross He is actually setting out a solution to everything from sin and salvation to Middle-East peace and pollution. If the world embraced the cross and the teachings of Christ then swords would be turned into ploughshares and the land would have its rest. If Christ was fully embraced by all people then we would be peaceful, prosperous, Spirit-filled, joyous, healed and happy. The weakness of God is stronger than men. God at His weakest, nailed to tree, helpless, dying, created a new world order that kings have tried to create for centuries without success. All the vain attempts to build a perfect world are undone by sin. By Christ undid sin itself! Death devoured kings and empires, but Christ conquered even death. God at His weakest was stronger than all kings and empires through the ages. The wisdom of God is the real wisdom. Accept no substitutes! Blessings, John Edmiston Were you blessed by Eternity Daily Bible Study? 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