Who Is The Center of Your Universe?
Series: Study of 1 Corinthians - 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5Pastor Ed Riddick - Sunday, October 10th, 2004
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Introduction:
How do you explain politicians that how to one view of abortion but
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Non-rational – faith – religion Leap of faith
Rational – facts – academics
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To another view politically and legislatively?
Faith separated from legislation, education, judicial system.
Marginalized personal faith from the arena of life.
Well, is God anti-intellectual? Is God against education?
Is personal faith a leap into the dark?
1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16 is probably the most extensive passage
in Scripture about wisdom and the message of the gospel.
The dominant elements of our present worldview…
Subjective and narcissistic – the mind is used to justify my subjective
desires
Pragmatism – the mind is useful as a means to make things work
Neither mentions objective truth.
Relativism – there is no absolute truth.
Evangelical suspicion of education
Some Christians to embrace anti-intellectualism. Emotionalism
Billy Sunday who died in 1935 said, “If I had a million dollars I’d give $999,999 to the church and $1 to education.”
Why? Viewed as out of touch with real life.
How does the Bible portray the life of the mind?
In an 1839 attack on the Harvard faculty of divinity by George Ripley
“The mind may detect error but
it cannot give so much as a glimpse of the glory of Christ
It cannot bind the heart to the love of holiness
Jesus did not take this (intellect) into consideration in the selection of the 12…he committed the promulgation of his religion to “unlearned and ignorant” men; the sublimest truths were entrusted to the most common minds; and, in this way, “God made foolish the wisdom of the world.”…Christ established no college of apostles; he did not revive the school of the prophets which had died out; he paid no distinguished respect to the pride of learning; indeed, he sometimes intimates that it is an obstacle to the perception of truth; and thanks God that, which he has hid the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven from the wise and prudent, he has made them known to men as ignorant as babes…”
I. The Message of the Cross
” For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 1 Corinthians 1:18-20
“the message of the cross” = the gospel = “Christ crucified”
2 Effects:
1. for those on the way to destruction it is foolishness
2. for those on the way to salvation it is the power of God.
The cross redefines wisdom.
The cross is meant to impact our whole way of seeing the world.
II. The Clash of Two Wisdoms (Is God Against Education?)
A. Two types of wisdom:
1. The wisdom of this world that places man at the center and the
measure of reality and leaves God out.
2. The wisdom of God that begins with His glory and makes that the aim of all He does and leaves the world’s self-sufficiency and independence out.
B. God on “wisdom” - What does God delight in? what does He reject?
Negative
Wisdom in the negative sense:
1:20, 22, 23, 25, 26; 2:1,4,13; 3:18-20
1 Corinthians 1:20 ” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” ESV
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 ” Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”” ESV
Luke 10:21 ” In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” ESV
MAN’S WISDOM
The wisdom of the world: 1:20; 3:19
The wisdom of men: 2:5
Wisdom according to the flesh: 1:26
Human wisdom: 2:6
(1 Cor 1:19; 8:11; Is 29:14; Jer 9:23; 1 Tim 6:20; James 3:15)
Isaiah 29:14 ” therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”” ESV
Jeremiah 9:23 ” Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,” ESV
James 3:15 ” This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” ESV
Positive:
GOD’S WISDOM
The wisdom of God: 1:23, 24; 2:7
The wisdom not of this age: 2:6
Proverbs 1:22 ” “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” ESV
Proverbs 2:1-5,10 ” My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God…wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;” ESV
Proverbs 8:11 ” for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” ESV
Isaiah 5:13 ” Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst.” ESV
Hosea 4:6 ” My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” ESV
Psalm 111:10 ” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! ” ESV
Proverbs 9:10 ” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” ESV
C. The difference?
Human wisdom delights in seeing humankind as self-sufficient and self determining, not dependant on God’s grace and thus, nullifies the cross: 1:17; 1:23 When, in fact, the cross is the wisdom of God.
The cross stands for the ungodliness and helplessness of humanity
The grace of God
And the justice of God
The cross humbles dependent, helpless man and exalts the sufficiency of God. God’s wisdom is that we boast in Christ and not in ourselves! God’s wisdom is the supremacy of His glory as the beginning, middle and end of true wisdom.
“Divine wisdom begins consciously with God. Ps 111:10
Is consciously sustained by God and has the glory of God as its conscious goal.
God’s wisdom is true wisdom because it takes all of reality into account. When we do not begin and end of God we are not thinking wisely but foolishly and will end up with intellectual relativity and meaninglessness.
The “infants” here are those who know and feel themselves helpless and unworthy of God’s grace. They renounce all pride. They admit that if they are to ever know God it will be because of His grace.
They are those who know that they are totally dependant on the death of Christ to open the door of access to God and his wisdom. Infants admit with longing and hope that Christ is the way to wisdom.
The “infants” are not necessarily uneducated. God reveals himself through His magnificent external and internal universe, through objective, historical written Word and the historical, incarnate Christ.
The “wise and intelligent” are offended by the word of the cross. They resist anything that contradicts their sense of self-sufficiency. They want credit for being smart. The wisdom they have is a remarkable construction of the world without its most important reality – God Himself. They reject God as the origin of the world and His purpose for it and from them. They are deeply committed to making man the center of the universe and the measure of all things.
If we are not willing to see ourselves as helpless, ungodly sinners and throw ourselves on the mercy of God we will not know God or be saved. It is the “wise and intelligent” of this world from whom God hides himself. Not necessarily the educated.
Isaiah 2:17 ” And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” ESV
God has a purpose in the world to humiliate its wisdom and power.
III. Living Proof of God’s Wisdom – Exhibit 1!
A. Who Does God Choose? Look around you!
You can see what I mean when you take a look at those in the church.
Think of what you were when you were called…
The kind of person called, the nature of the community of believers
It is obvious that God uses different standards than those used by either the religious or secular world.
Not many wise according to human standards
Not many powerful
Not many of noble birth.
Acts 4:13 ” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
The rag-tag gang.
God is clearly engaged in over-throwing the worlds false values.
God chose what the world counts as foolish.
In the world’s estimation
God has chosen those who unpromising to put to shame the
world’s rich and famous.
He shames the world by proving them wrong!
The foolish…The weak…The lowly (opposite of nobly born)
The despised…The things that did not exist
When God set his plan in motion there was no church in Corinth except in his intention. Now it exists!
B. Look at the the cause: “By His doing you are in Christ”
By His Doing - God is the efficient cause
Your saving union with Christ is not due to yourselves
It is not because you are wiser, better or more diligent than others
Every person who comes to faith in Christ can look back and see the footprints of God in their lives. He is the prior cause.
John 1:12-13 ” But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” ESV
John 6:44 ” No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” ESV
Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” ESV
“In Christ”
United to Christ in personal relationship at least 3 ways.
1. Representative Headship – Adopted into Christ’s family
Def: the actions of one man have a real impact on his descendants
Romans 5:17 ” If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” ESV
1 Corinthians 15:22 ” For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” ESV
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All that is His, is mine. I am a fellow heir. His standing with God. His +R; His power, His peace, His joy, His security, His presence.
2. Vitally as a branch is in the vine
John 15:5 ” I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” ESV
3. Consciously and voluntarily by faith
Romans 3:21-25 ” But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…” NASB95
Romans 5:1-2 ” Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” ESV
Romans 8:1 ” There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” ESV
The fact that we are true Christians is due to God’s work in our lives and not to ourselves.
And God has a purpose in the church that none glory in the church except in the cross of Christ!
It is not the world’s false wisdom and ability that caused Paul to write this letter. But it is the false boasting in the church where Christian have gotten off base and are glorying in men and wrongly evaluating their own gifts using them for themselves and focusing on the spectacular.
They can only do this because they’ve forgotten that they are Christians only by God’s doing! 1:30
C. Look at the effects of this relationship
In Christ God has given us what we need: wisdom, righteousness,
holiness and redemption
But God has not given us these things in the abstract but in the person of Christ Himself. He is the personification of each gift.
Wisdom
Christ is the true wisdom. He is the Logos, the revealer, the one who explains and shows God to us.
John 1:1, 14, 18 ” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth…No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” NASB95
Romans 11:33-35 ” Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? ” NASB95
Colossians 2:2-3 “a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ” NASB95
He is the One who explains God to us.
He is the interlocketter who clears up the fog and makes since out of life. Without Him life does not make since.
He is the linchpin that holds all knowledge together. Without Him the pieces of knowledge and truth do not come together.
True wisdom is not found in religious precision, eloquence, or philosophical speculation and debate but in Christ. It is Christ’s wisdom that created the world and holds it together.
It is ‘in Christ’ that God turns our knowledge into
wisdom Christ becomes for us the wisdom we do not
have. The world’s wisdom cannot transform us but
Christ can. The world in its wisdom worships the
creation and not the Creator.
His life demonstrates wisdom or is wisdom personified. And his life challenges the wisdom of this world.
Wisdom to serve…wisdom to give…wisdom to trust…wisdom to
hold your tongue…wisdom to wait…wisdom to deliberately
choose to be last…to give up control of your life and
enthusiastically follow Christ with reckless abandon.
And he gives wisdom
Colossians 3:16 ” Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ” NASB95
James 1:5-7 ” But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ” NASB95
Daniel 2:20-23 ” Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.” ” NASB95
Righteousness
The world in its wisdom had fallen away from God and become morally bankrupt. Man is arraigned in God’s court of
justice and found wanting. He cannot produce righteousness and is therefore unable to justify himself
Mankind only has RR in himself
But ‘in Christ’ +R righteousness is restored. And it is ‘in Christ’
that mankind has been restored to God.
It is ‘in Christ’ that God gives us righteousness. Christ becomes for us righteousness we do not have. The world’s wisdom cannot transform us but Christ can.
Sanctification - Purity
Used in a similar way as righteousness. Specific reference to
moral purity. It is a reference to
holiness without which no one can approach God.
Heb 12:14 There is no doubt that the world’s wisdom and power cannot produce holiness.
It is ‘in Christ’ that God gives us holiness.
Christ becomes for us the holiness we do not have.
The world’s wisdom cannot transform us but Christ can.
Redemption
When God ‘in Christ’ gives us wisdom and righteousness and holiness it is not merely a legal transaction or a magical reality. The transference of righteousness and holiness to those who are unrighteous, immoral rebels can only be accomplished by the act of a divine, infinitely valuable sacrifice – Christ crucified, the only hope of the world.
Redemption refers to entering a dangerous world, coming under hostile fire, paying the ultimate sacrifice to drag some out of the line of fire, and liberate enslaved captives.
Wisdom, righteousness and holiness are available to us only through Christ’s infinite payment for sin.
If anyone is to glory, boast, exult, rejoice, celebrate, it must be in Christ alone.
IV. Living Proof – Exhibit 2! Paul Magnificent Obsession!
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. ” ESV
A. He did not come with eloquent oratory designed to impress an audience.
There is a rhythmical parallel construction in this paragraph that shows polish and balance. But that is not his focus!
B. Paul’s magnificent obsession!
Robert the bobert the big bellied man!
He ate a cow, he ate a calf, he ate a butcher and a half
Paul the apostle the single focused man!
Galatians 2:19-200 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”” NIV
Philippians 3:7-11 ” But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” NIV
“I decided” “Jesus Christ and the crucifixion” is the basis and sum of everything Paul says. He pushes us to chose a single focus.
Mark 8:35 ” For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” ESV
Vision of Louie Giglio, page 47, Don’t Waste Your Life
“yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for you,
for Your name and Your renown are the desire of our souls.” Is 26:8
“passion exists to glorify God by inviting students everywhere
to seek God wholeheartedly in an atmosphere of corporate worship.
through His grace and in His presence we ask that God change us,
and ignite in our souls a passionate pursuit of Him
and a desire to declare His glory in our lives, our campuses,
and the ends of the earth.”
Why glory in the cross?
“Because for those who are being saved, every good thing and every bad thing that God turns to good was obtained for us by the cross of Christ. Apart from the death of Christ, sinners get nothing but judgment. Apart from the cross there is only condemnation.
Everything we enjoy as Christians was purchased for us at the cost of the death of Christ.”
“Christ is the glory of God. His blood-soaked cross is the blazing center of that glory. By it he bought for us every blessing – temporal and eternal. And we don’t deserve any. He bought them all. Because of Christ’s cross, God’s elect are destined to be sons of God. Because of his cross all guilt is removed, and sins are forgive, and perfect righteousness is imputed to us, and the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Spirit, and we are being conformed to the image of Christ.
Therefore every enjoyment in this life and the next is a tribute to the infinite value of the cross of Christ. Thus a cross-centered, cross-exalting, cross-saturated life is a God-glorifying life. All others are wasted.” Page 59