power<\/em>. So, this Jewish sign seeking was power seeking. They were wanting to find a Messiah that would be a miracle worker to wield divine power in victory over all their enemies. That\u2019s why they sought such signs ultimately. They craved such supernatural power, especially if they could direct it toward their enemies.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd so, think of what the cross looks like to such unbelieving Jews. It looks like weakness to them. Jesus didn\u2019t wield divine power to destroy the Romans. He was put to death by the Romans. Furthermore, verse 23 says that Jews see the cross of Christ as a stumbling block. That\u2019s because the Old Testament said that someone who is hanged is cursed by God. So, when Jesus dies on the cross, these unbelieving Jews who sought a sign actually thought they got the opposite. Instead of seeing in Jesus a victorious savior who wields divine power and comes in the blessing of God, they saw a weak failure who was cursed by God. Remember the passersby who mocked Jesus as he hung there. That was their basic attitude toward Jesus. If anything, the cross to them was a sign that Jesus wasn\u2019t the Christ.
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So that was the perspective of the unbelieving Jew. Notice now what Paul says about the unbelieving Greek. Verse 22 also tells us what these Greek sought. They sought after wisdom. You might recall all the classic Greek philosophers and their long and continued impact on western thinking: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and others. That\u2019s even what the word philosopher means \u2013 \u201clover of wisdom.\u201d There were Stoics, Epicureans, Cynics, Skeptics, and various other schools of thought. Or remember what\u2019s described in Acts 17 about the Areopagus at Athens \u2013 that there everyone would spend all day doing nothing but talking about the latest ideas. The Greeks loved to philosophize. They prided themselves in reason and rational thinking. They claimed Zeus as their god, but their own mind was their real god. And so, their chief end was a quest for knowledge and wisdom, and, humanly speaking, they did acquire much.
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And so, Paul tells us what these unbelieving Greeks thought of the cross of Jesus. It was foolishness to them. Remember how much the Proverbs contrast the wise man versus the fool. Wisdom is opposite of foolishness. Such Greeks see the cross of Christ as the exact opposite of what they were looking for. How could a criminal on a cross really be the son of God? How could the death of a man bring eternal life to those who believe in him? How could the shed blood of someone who is crucified wash away sin? How could gospel preaching of the cross of Christ change hearts? \u201cShow me proof,\u201d they would demand! \u201cGive me rationalistic certainty, then I\u2019ll believe,\u201d \u2013 or so they claim. Of course, to some of the Greek philosophies, the very notion that God would come in the flesh was foolish because they believed human flesh to be inferior to the spiritual or divine order. And so, for various reasons, their wisdom didn\u2019t have a place for the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, Paul reminds us of how the unbelieving Jews and Greeks respond to the cross of Christ. Instead of finding salvation, they reject Christ to their own demise. Their hearts become hardened to Jesus and the gospel because they perceive him as the very opposite of what they are looking for in life. But this is not the case for those who are effectually called by the Spirit through the preaching of Christ. Verse 24, \u201cBut to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.\u201d The very things the unbelieving Jews and Greeks seek, that\u2019s actually what Christ-crucified is, in a way far better than they could realize. That\u2019s what verse 25 asserts about both wisdom and power. Verse 25 says that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. In other words, what unbelieving Greeks call foolishness \u2013 the cross of Christ \u2013 is actually God\u2019s wisdom which is far above the wisdom of men. Basically, these so-called wise Greeks aren\u2019t wise enough to understand that! Likewise, verse 25 says that the weakness of God is stronger than men. In other words, what Jews calls weakness \u2013 the cross of Christ \u2013 is actually God\u2019s power which is far stronger than the power of men.
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Think then how the cross of Christ is this wisdom of God, this wisdom that makes man\u2019s wisdom look like foolishness in comparison. As Paul says in Romans 3:26, the means of the cross provides the way for God to be both just and the justifier of one who has faith in Jesus. In other words, this is God\u2019s wise solution for how to be both merciful and just at the same time. In the cross, he gives a fully righteous punishment for the sin of his chosen ones, but that is meted out upon Jesus who is able to endure it. In this, he can then show mercy to his elect without disregarding the righteous demands of justice. Furthermore, this wisdom serves to simultaneously humble the pride of man and cause him to rejoice in the goodness of God \u2013 for he realizes that he doesn\u2019t and can\u2019t save himself. Rather, the horror of the cross only serves to remind him of what he deserved for his guilt and to take joy in what blessing he has received as a gift from God. All this wisdom is yet further to be seen in that only his chosen ones recognize this, so that the objects of his mercy are saved while the objects of his wrath are left in their sin. He opens the eyes of his elect to see the wisdom in the cross, while he leaves the reprobate in their blindness to see the cross as but folly. This is the wisdom we recognize today and declare:
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Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
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Think then how the cross of Christ is this power of God, this power which makes man\u2019s power look like weakness. Ever since the fall, man has been powerless to make peace with God, but through Jesus\u2019 sacrifice, God has brought reconciliation to heaven and earth, making peace through the blood of the cross. Man has repeatedly fallen prey to the power of the devil, but through Jesus being struck on the cross, God through Jesus crushed the head of the serpent, destroying the works of the devil. Despite man\u2019s efforts, we\u2019ve not found a way to cheat death, but through the cross, God shows his power over that last enemy, securing eternal life for those under the verdict of death.
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And it was by God\u2019s power that Jesus was even able to endure the cross. For which man, by his own strength, could have endured the wrath of God? None, save Christ, could bear the penalty for sin and yet overcome it. Think about it. If we had to individually bear the punishment for just our own sins, it would require an eternity in hell. Let alone to pay for the sin of all God\u2019s elect! If we don\u2019t have power to pay off in the full our own debt of sin, how much power is demonstrated by Christ\u2019s relatively short time on the cross and in the grave to pay for all our sin. By his might he fully and completely satisfied all our debt. When he declared, \u201cit is finished,\u201d he meant it!
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And it was by God\u2019s power that Jesus rose from the dead. Think about that as a sign. That is the sign of all signs. Jesus even said that when they asked for a sign in John 2 \u2013 \u201cDestroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.\u201d Jesus\u2019 resurrection from the dead, as predicted, was the sign that he truly was the Son of God. It was the sign that he really was sent from the father in power and might to save God\u2019s people from their sins. It was the sign that he had overcome death. It was the sign that showed that God\u2019s power is greater than all.
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And it\u2019s this great power that continues to work whenever gospel preaching converts sinners. As Paul goes on to say in the next chapter here, gospel preaching doesn\u2019t convert people because of human eloquence or persuasion. No, when people are converted by the preaching of Christ-crucified, it\u2019s because God\u2019s Spirit is working in power. As 2:5 says, God works our salvation this way so that our \u201cfaith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.\u201d
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Today, we\u2019ve thought of both the right and wrong perspectives toward the cross of Christ. Of the wrong perspectives, we can still find similar expressions today. Like the Jews back then, still today you can find people who crave supernatural power to make improvements in their current life circumstances. They make their religion about the pursuit of such \u201cmiracles\u201d and \u201cexperiences\u201d. But the cross of Christ says we need to pursue the power to conquer our biggest problem, sin and its consequences. That\u2019s the power that\u2019s in the cross. And like the Greeks back then, still today you find people who in their claim of rational think they are too wise to believe in Jesus. But the cross of Christ stands as the wisdom of God that found a way to show mercy to all us \u201cfools\u201d by the willing sacrifice of the one and only righteous human being. And so, the right perspective of the cross holds out the very sort of things that the unbelieving world craves, yet in their spiritual blindness they overlook. There is great power and wisdom in the cross. Not as the world wants, expects, or demands. But to those with eyes to see and minds to understand: the wisdom and power of God! May the Lord grant you today, through the preaching of the Word, and by the power of the Spirit, to see the cross as such and to trust in it as such, to the very saving of your soul.
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So then, for us who have such faith, we find the exhortation that comes from all this in verse 31. In light of all that we\u2019ve considered today, the application in verse 31 is this, \u201cHe who glories, let him glory in the Lord.\u201d \u201cLet the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.\u201d May the cross of Christ be our glory and boast again this evening! The wisdom and power of God that has come in the cross should humble man so that we glory and boast in the Lord. That is our confession again today! Amen.
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Copyright \u00a9 2019 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sermon preached on 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Good Friday worship service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 4\/19\/19 in Novato.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17],"tags":[150,2202,2302,2301,2287,2210,877],"yoast_head":"\n
Christ Crucified - Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay (OPC)<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n