The idea that the Resurrection of Jesus, in short the cross, can give us life might be strange to some people. But it truly is the fountainhead of all Life for us. Last week we talked about how the Resurrection gives us hope that we have the truth. We can have a confidence that this heavily witnessed event is proof that what Jesus taught was true.
Just as this world can make us cynical to the ability to know we have absolute truth, so we can be cynical about this life and hope that we can have a good life. It doesn't help that we often get the wrong ideas about what is a good life. The much touted "American Dream" today is not what it originally was. Today it often means trying to make a bunch of money so that I can have a nice house, sweet cars, take long vacations to exotic places and a companion that makes me feel good. We have come to target all the wrong things with our hope and we have based those hopes upon all the wrong thing.
If you have learned anything make sure that you understand that our False Hopes Must Die So That True Hope Can Rise. If you have lost hope about this life and whether it is worth living, then let me just say this: the death and resurrection of Jesus gives you hope for your life that cannot be changed by the economy or the death of a loved one. It is a hope that is based upon God himself and changes what we are living for. It also changes how we experience life.
As I said earlier, the cross becomes the central point of the gospel. It is the gospel in a nutshell. In some mysterious way, Life comes out of death. In first Corinthians 1:17-18, Paul is reminding these believers of the gospel that he had given them. Jesus had chosen a path that seemed foolish to the world. In fact it seemed foolish even to the religious people both the sincere and the hypocritical. However, the path Jesus chose made life available to all those who would believe on or put their faith in him. He could have taken up his power and paid them all back, but instead he goes down a different path.
In the Bible there is a concept of "The Way of The Lord." This is contrasted with the way that seems right to a man. On one hand there are as many ways to live life as there are humans, but they all are expressions of the way of self. There really are 2 paths. We see this exampled with Eve in the Garden. The serpent tempts her to find a better path for herself. She ends up rejecting God's way and trying the way of her self. We see this in the old testament with Moses.
"19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;" Deuteronomy 30:19(NKJV)
With the giving of the Law of the Lord, Israel now had possession of the Way of the Lord. The way the Lord asked them to do life. Much of it was ethical, but some of it was metaphorical. That means God commanded it not because it was right in and of itself but because it pointed to a greater spiritual truth. A case in point of this would be the Sabbath and the dietary laws. They could follow their way or God's way.
In Matthew 7:13,14 Jesus says, "13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (NKJV) Here the way actually has a gate on it. Notice that the Lord's way is narrow, straight, and difficult as opposed to wide, crooked, and easy, which is the way of pleasing our self.
In verse 18 of 1 Corinthians Paul says that the message of the cross is the Power of God for those who are being saved. The message of the cross gives us power that goes beyond that miracle of resurrection that God promises to those who believe in Jesus. It is a spiritual power that enables us in this life. It is a power that is available to whosoever will receive it. Those who are being saved are compared to those who are perishing. The word perishing refers to a present and continuous process by which they are being destroyed. However those who are being saved are in a present and continuous process of being healed and protected. We are saved from the guilt of our sin. And, we are enabled to live righteously through the Holy Spirit's help and God's Word.
I can know that when I die to the desires of my flesh it is not the end. God will cause life to rise up within me. I will come alive to him in greater ways. The new life that has been birthed in me is not based up on the desires of the flesh. That life is fleeting and never satisfied, while is destroys us. In short it is no life at all. Don't look at God's Word and the things it gives us to do as a drudgery. Rather see them as the key to life. When I die to the desire of my flesh that fights this truth of God, then True Life will be poured into my life and of those around me.
In verse 19 God is quoted as saying that he will destroy the wisdom of the wise. To me this doesn't just sound like a declaration of his intentions. It is more a viceral rejection and declaration of war against man's wisdom. Why would God make such a declaration? The great wisdom of man has failed over and over again to truely help mankind. Even worse, the wisdom of man has always led it away from God and never towards him (vs. 20). God despises this wisdom that grows into a thing that rejects him, then denies him, and puts man in bondage to his own fleshly desires and to other men. He will bring it all crashing down.
The message of the cross is foolishness to this world. So the world continues to pursue the wisdom of man. It continues to believe it can weave clothing out of moth-eaten material. We make our wisdom more and more convoluted and twisted so that today we see man's wisdom declaring almost the exact opposite of God's Word.
God chose the plan of the cross not just because a price had to be paid, but precisely because to do it in this way would put to shame the wisdom of this world. Think of it, that same wisdom that has ridiculed those who were "stupid" and the "ignorant" believers, has itself been put to shame by the wisdom of God. David did not defeat Goliath because he stood up to the giant. He defeated him because he trusted in God and God gave him the power to take down the giant. If you are not wise according to the world's standards, do not fear. God offers you a wisdom that, if you will trust him, will cause you to excell far above all those "wise" people who look down on you.
Are you trying to become one of those "wise" men of this world? Are you struggling, studying, and jockeying for a position among the "Brights" of this world? O friend, recognize that you are pursuing the greatest folly. In trying to be wise you are becoming foolish and in trying to "save yourself" you are losing your own soul. Paul says in verse 26 that not many who are wise according to this world are called and not many of the mighty are called. Why? Because they refuse to let go of this world's power and wisdom. The refuse to let go of all they have accomplished. Pride. Make a choice today. You will either continue to sacrifice all to obtain the power and wisdom of this world, or you surrender to God and embrace his power and wisdom. This will revolutionize your life. Sure you will incur the ridicule and shaming of this world. But, you will have a place among those who are truly wise, and you will be given the right to participate in his glory when Jesus returns to establish the kingdom of God here on earth.
This rejection is pointed out by Paul in verses 22-25. The Jews represented those who had the true religion, but had become merely religious. They looked for great signs and wonders to convince them of power and wisdom. They wanted Jesus to miraculously lead them to victory over the Roman Legions. That was the only power and wisdom they were willing to accept from God. The Greeks was a term that represented the nations of the world as a whole. They are a picture of not just false religion, but really the wisdom of man, whether that is projected in a religious way or a secular way. They put their confidence in wisdom. Though Jesus was truly wise, his wisdom did not fit their mold. They wanted a wisdom that gave them military ascendancy and economic superiority. This was the only wisdom they would accept from God. Thus the cross and its message become a stumbling block to both religious and secular people. Unless we let go our expectations of what God's power and wisdom must look like, then we are doomed to be destroyed by the coming day of God's judgment.
When verse 25 uses the phrases, "foolishness of God" and "weakness of God," it is meant to be tongue in cheek. People will look at the design of an eyeball and say that God must be wise. But when they look at the cross they have great cognitive dissonance. When people look at the amazing power of all the suns in the universe and the galaxies scattered among the universe and they say that God must be powerful. But when they look at Jesus, God taking on the weakness of human nature, it causes the same confusion. It is a stumblingblock, or rather a scandal that they are unwilling to have associated with them. What about you? Will you be associated with the "foolishness" of God and the "weakness" of God? The world's mindset does everything to avoid the cross. It would never choose to go to it. Jesus appears foolish and weak when judged by the wisdom of this world. This world will stomp any real righteousness out of you as you compromise in order to survive. But, Jesus says to you today, "Pick up your cross and follow me."
I don't know all the ways in which you are going to have to die to the things of this world. But I promise you this. If you will follow Jesus and quit trying to save yourself, then you will actually be saved by God's wisdom and God's power. Then this life will have great meaning for you. You will have the same power that enabled simple men and women to stand before kings without caving in. You will have the same wisdom that enabled Jesus to not only be resurrected, but to provide life for WHOSOEVER would believe on him.