Taught 4/19/2009
1 Corinthians 2:1-9
The work of God ~ Part 1
Open your Bible to…
1Cor. 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
1Cor. 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
1Cor. 1:28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
1Cor. 1:29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
1Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—
1Cor. 1:31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
Pray
Intro
√ The work of God
It’s been a few weeks since our last study in 1st Corinthians so I thought it best to read the last section of scripture we studied in Paul’s letter to his friends at Corinth.
The reason is that we need this foundation to understand the context of what Paul writes in chapter 2.
You’ll remember that the purpose of Paul’s comments in the closing verses of chapter 1 was to realign his friends’ perception of themselves with reality!
They had a very inflated view of themselves and their pride had caused great divisions in the church.
So, Paul reminded them that God had not chosen them because of who they were…
…rather, He chose them in spite of who they were!
The reality was that an honest appraisal of their congregation would reveal that they were pretty low in social standing!
Therefore, God’s choosing of them to receive salvation should not be interpreted as an indication that they were somehow better than others.
Rather, as Paul pointed out God had chosen them, the weak, the foolish, and the ordinary so that their transformed lives might bring Him glory!
So, as we pick up chapter 2 we find that Paul reveals he was just like them!
That he too was chosen by God not because of who he was or what he could do…
…but that God had chosen Paul so that He could demonstrate His power through Paul’s weakness and His wisdom through the simple message that Paul preached!
Paul’s point then in chapter 2 was to break them of their tendency to exalt the messenger by reminding them that the work of God is accomplished by the…
Power of God
Wisdom of God
Spirit of God
Therefore, regardless of who brought the message to them, whether it be Paul, Peter or Apollos…
…that the divisions in their church would disappear when they recognized that God alone should be exalted and not the men through whom He works.
Ap. It’s His work!
In our day of celebrity status Christianity this chapter is a great reminder that God’s work cannot be accomplished by human strength or wisdom…
…God works through those who recognize their own weakness and trust themselves completely to His power, wisdom and Spirit.
The Power of God (vs. 1-5)
1Cor. 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.
1Cor. 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
1Cor. 2:3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
1Cor. 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
1Cor. 2:5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
√ The power of God
Paul’s blunt estimation of his friends at the church at Corinth in the previous verses was probably a blow to their egos.
Which was a good and necessary thing!
However, it also had the potential to put them on the defensive whereby they would reject his instruction and correction.
So, here we find Paul reminding them that he too wasn’t anything special!
He wasn’t a super apostle, nor did he see himself as superior to them or anyone else.
Rather, he reminds them that when he first came to Corinth to preach the Gospel that he was…
Weak ~ he wasn’t a physically powerful man…
…rather, he was filled with fear, a lack of confidence and was often sickly.
Simple ~ he wasn’t an eloquent or captivating communicator…
…rather he stuck to the basic Gospel message.
Unimpressive ~ he was small, not very attractive and wasn’t dressed in fancy clothes…
…so he wasn’t much to look at nor did his appearance inspire faith.
His point is two-fold…
First that God chose him just as He chose the Corinthians believers, not because of who he was but in spite of who he was so that God would get the glory from his transformed life.
Second that their salvation was the result of God’s work, not Paul’s special ability to communicate the Gospel, nor his indisputable logic, nor his charm or good looks!
Rather, as Paul makes so clear in vs. 5 their salvation came as a result of God’s power working through Paul’s life and message so that…
“that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. “
His friends at Corinth had forgotten that truth and that is in part what led to the many divisions in their church!
They were hung up on the messenger rather than the message.
For example…
Those who aligned themselves with Apollos were of the mind that if they could just get their lost family members to come and hear this brilliant and eloquent speaker then surely they would get saved!
Those who followed Paul were sure that he was the ticket to bringing their loved ones to faith in Jesus.
But Paul’s point is that the believers in Corinth had misplaced their faith for it was God’s power working through the message of the Gospel that touched a person’s heart and brought them to salvation not the messenger!
As he writes in the next chapter…
1Cor. 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
1Cor. 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
1Cor. 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
The reality is that anything of eternal value that the Corinthians received was the result of God’s power working through Paul and Apollos.
Ex. The Calvary motto
If you’ve been around Calvary Chapel very long you recognize that what the Apostle Paul is communicating in these verses is what we always try to emphasize in our ministries!
Read the book “Harvest” and you’ll see that it was God’s power not pastor Chuck’s that brought a whole generation to Jesus.
Read the stories of men like Mike McIntosh, Raul Reiss, Jeff Johnson and Greg Laurie and you’ll see that they were the least likely candidates from a human perspective to lead a great revival.
Yet, that’s exactly who God used so that all would know that the great work accomplished was…
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts.” ~ Zech. 4:6
Keep that perspective and God will keep using you in greater and more awesome ways to advance His kingdom!
Ap. God’s attracted to weakness
I recently rediscovered this truth from another unlikely servant of God, Jim Cymbala in his book, “Fresh wind, fresh fire” where he writes…
“I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him.”
That’s exactly the point that Paul is making here in our text!
Every great work of God, every true revival, comes through those who finally understand that they can’t do anything without God!
Because until a man or woman is willing to acknowledge that truth then they will find themselves powerless to effect real change in our lost world.
Look at Moses who tried to deliver Israel in his own power, or Peter who boasted that he would never fail Christ in his own power or John Wesley who met with failure in his first evangelistic outreach to America!
Each of these heroes of the faith had to first be drained of their own power and self-sufficiency before God could use them so that all would know it was God at work in their lives!
The same is true for each of us!
God longs to work in and through our lives to touch others with His power.
But, until we are willing to lay aside our pride, our self-sufficiency and strength He cannot use us.
So, in your daily prayer honestly and sincerely humble yourself before God and admit your weakness and cry out for His power to be manifest in your life…
…then watch and wait because God is attracted to those who are weak!
The Wisdom of God (vs. 6-9)
1Cor. 2:6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
1Cor. 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
1Cor. 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Cor. 2:9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
√ The wisdom of God
In the last part of chapter 1 Paul wrote that the Greeks, those who esteemed themselves as wise, often rejected the message of the Cross because it was too simple!
In one sense that is true!
The Gospel message is simple enough that a child can grasp it so that anyone can be saved.
Yet, it is also profound and will provide the most astute theologian or philosopher with a lifetime of contemplation!
So, in these verses Paul opens up some of the profound truths of the Gospel message for us to contemplate and marvel over!
Mystery ~ vs. 7
Paul writes…
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery…”
The word “mystery” means that God’s plan of redemption was hidden in times past and has only now been understood through the ministry and teaching of Christ.
It’s not that God had been silent about His plan in the Old Testament…
…however, how it would all work out was a truth not fully revealed until Jesus.
For example, the very first prophecy in the Bible is found in Gen. 3:15…
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
Here God reveals the means by which He would defeat Satan and redeem Mankind…
But it didn’t make a lot sense until Jesus’ death on the Cross!
Then the mystery of God’s plan to destroy Satan’s work through the death of His Son is understood!
The point is that God’s plan of salvation was a mystery that the wisest man could not understand until Jesus revealed it through His teaching and ministry.
Ex. Revelation
Remember that human beings cannot know God through scientific inquiry or philosophical observation!
God is well able to hide Himself from His creation!
The point is that God’s wisdom is beyond the reach of our human capabilities, therefore all we can know about God is what He chooses to reveal to us.
That’s Paul’s point to his friends at Corinth who were so impressed with the itinerant preachers working the church circuit in the 1st Century.
They might have been smooth, sophisticated and entertaining in their presentations…
…but they had nothing of eternal value to offer because they did not have God’s wisdom.
So Paul’s exhortation here is that God’s wisdom is hidden from those who don’t know Him but is revealed to those, who no matter how despised they are by men, know and love Him.
Ordained ~ vs. 7
Next Paul tells us that God’s wisdom as demonstrated in His plan of redemption predates Man’s creation!
“the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory” ~ vs. 7
The word “ordained” means that God made the plan to save us, put it together, and set it in motion, before it was needed!
That is, God had the plan thought up, put together and will see it through before…
…Mankind was even created and before there was any sin for which we would need to be redeemed from!
Talk about wisdom!
It’s one thing to get your mind around the plan of redemption, the sacrifice of Christ to redeem us as a fix for our sin.
It’s a whole different thing to try and grasp the reality that God knew we would need a Savior even before He created us.
And that He put the plan together anyway! Rather than simply not creating us, and saving Himself all the heartache and grief that we’ve caused Him.
The wisdom revealed then is that the plan of redemption wasn’t put in place as a response to our sin…
…rather God was wise enough to initiate the plan before we needed it because He knew how our enemy would lead us into sin so He put in place a plan to save us from our enemy!
Ex. Aircraft
Folks that design aircraft are pretty smart!
They also know that flying thousands of feet above ground can be dangerous.
So, they have designed into aircraft multiple layers of safety contingencies to protect the people on the plane.
Plans in place to keep the motors running if a fuel line ruptures; backup electrical systems if the main power fails; manual over-ride of the computer systems so that a pilot can manually fly the plane if the CPU fails; and a co-pilot just in case the pilot has a heart attack.
But I don’t think an aerospace engineer alive prior to 2002 ever thought to design a safety protocol to keep a terrorist from using a plane as a weapon!
The point is human beings aren’t wise enough to foresee all of the problems that could develop which would threaten our lives…
…but as Paul writes here in our text God is that wise and His wisdom is demonstrated by His plan to redeem us!
Unknown ~ vs. 8
“which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” ~ vs. 8
That is, God’s wisdom is so deep that without His revelation no one could figure how He planned to redeem us from sin and death…
…neither His enemies nor His people!
A) His enemies ~ vs. 8
Some have suggested that in vs. 8 Paul is speaking of the human rulers who sent Jesus to the Cross.
The idea being that Pontius Pilate and the Sanhedrin didn’t know that they were sending the King of the universe to the His death.
And that if they did recognize Jesus as God then they surely would not have cried for His crucifixion.
Thus we find Jesus praying for those who crucified Him…
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” ~ Luke 23:34
Others have suggested that Paul is referring to demonic rulers in the spiritual realm.
The idea is that Satan and his demon hoards didn’t realize that they were playing right into the Father’s plan to redeem Mankind when they were stirring up the religious leaders and Pilate to send Jesus to the Cross!
Satan thought Calvary was God’s great defeat only to discover too late that it was God’s greatest victory!
I personally think the second interpretation fits better with the text and Paul’s other letters (ex. Col. 2:15).
It also reminds us that without God’s spirit a person, or in this case a demon and Satan himself cannot understand God’s wisdom even if they read it!
Ex. Satan knew the Scripture
Evidenced by his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
Yet, for all his knowledge of the letter of the Law he could not discern the Spirit of what was written because he was and is spiritually blind.
B) His people ~ vs. 9
“But as it is written:
‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’”
We most often use this verse as a reference to heaven, but look at the context and we find that Paul is actually speaking about God’s plan of redemption!
That is, that the mystery of how God planned to save us was hidden from His people as well!
Certainly the prophets spoke of God’s plan as He revealed it to them, however, they saw only glimpses of it and did not understand it in their life times.
But, with the advent of Messiah, His teaching, ministry and sacrifice then the dots were connected and we understood the marvelous depths of God’s love as expressed in the Cross of Christ.
Close
√ The work of God
I love this section of scripture because it brings us back to ground!
Reminds us that the work of God can only be accomplished by the power of God, with the wisdom of God and by the leading of the Spirit of God!
Christian, no matter where you are in your spiritual growth you’ll find greater effectiveness in your life and ministry if you will daily confess your weakness and need for Him.
Remember, Jesus said…
“…without Me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:5
God wants to work through you, are you willing to acknowledge your weakness?