The Wisdom Of God

OPENING PRAYER:

Lord, I pray for myself, my church, and the Church. May the servant-heart prevail, and may our love and unity show to the world the difference you make in relationships.

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-25

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

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. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a]

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For 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. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14

REFLECT:

In Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky says, ‘It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.’ What do you think he meant? Perhaps that is something of what Paul is saying in this passage.

To the watching world it seemed God’s plan to rescue humankind had failed as Jesus died on the cross. The disciples on the road to Emmaus sadly said, ‘We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel’ (Luke 24:21). But, praise God, says Paul – what seemed a disastrous failure is in fact the power of God (v 18)! Even God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and his weakness is stronger than human strength.

In CS Lewis’ Narnia books, the White Witch called Aslan, the Christ figure, a fool for giving his life up for the sake of a traitor, but in the end she was proven even more foolish as she had failed to understand the power of Aslan’s sacrificial death. In the same way, those who have preconceived ideas of how God will act (like the Jews) or who try to gain salvation by intellect and reason (like the Greeks) think that Jesus’ death as a criminal was foolish. But those who believe that Jesus died for their sins and put their trust in him, discover the wisdom and power of God.

APPLY:

Suppose someone said to you that Jesus was a misguided individual who died a criminal’s death. How would you answer them? What do you know of the power and wisdom of God?

CLOSING PRAYER:

Thank you Lord; when I need it you fill me with your wisdom. When I waver, you infuse me with your power and strength.

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