The Wisdom and Power of God (1 Cor 1:18-21)
By: Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
1. What is the message of the cross?
The message of the cross is God’s wisdom and power. The message of the cross is God sending His only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins, making the Sinless to be sin for us, dying on the cross and solving our sin problem through His death.
2. Was God’s way of solving the problem of sin – wisdom or foolishness?
3. What is God’s wisdom and God’s power?
The message of the cross shows how weak and foolish man is, that apart from Christ and His cross, we have nothing. But because of Christ and His Cross, we have everything, because Christ is our wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption (1Corinthian 1:30). This is the wisdom of God and the power of God.
The Story of Solomon
The wise seek wisdom. Solomon’s wisest endeavor was knowing himself, he acknowledged, “…I am only a little child, and do not know how to carry out my duties… So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” Man’s greatest foolishness is not knowing himself, assuming that he can do anything, but actually, if not for God’s grace, we can do nothing.
The Story of the Prodigal Son
The story of the prodigal son tells us: man is too self-righteous, too selfish. Man doesn’t seek God unless he lands in a hopeless situation. When the prodigal son was enjoying himself, squandering his wealth, he didn’t even remember his father; however, when his circumstances became desperate, the Bible says: “…he came to his senses.” This is our weakness, when we are eating steaks, we forget God; when we find ourselves in dismal situations and have to eat “hog food,” then we remember our heavenly Father. Hence, God used the foolishness of the cross to save foolish men like us.
Paul’s Story
Paul had a thorn in his life. This thorn was Paul’s cross. Each one of us has his own cross to bear; all of us have our own thorn in the flesh. No one can take the thorn from us. That thorn may be your sickness, it may be a family member, an enemy, or a personal weakness. God, in his wisdom, allows that thorn to remain in your life so that God’s power may be made manifest in your life, that you may become a stronger person.