1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 | "We Preach Christ Crucified"
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· 277 viewsSunday, May 16, 2021. 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 | “We Preach Christ Crucified.” “We preach Christ.” GREAT! Few would have any problem with that statement. Now, add one more word, the word “crucified,” and everything changes! Jews stumble, Greeks scoff, and a division is immediately made between those who are being saved and those who are perishing. This is the power of the cross as the word of the cross, the gospel message is preached.
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I. Reading of Scripture
I. Reading of Scripture
18 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.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
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?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
This is God’s Word, Amen.
Pray
1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 “We Preach Christ Crucified”
1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 “We Preach Christ Crucified”
II. Introduction
II. Introduction
The title for this message is the confession of verse 23: “We preach Christ crucified.”
If we were to take each word of that confession alone, and meditate on one word for a time, we would have a worthwhile and enriching study.
“WE preach Christ crucified.”
“We” - who is the “we”? Paul and Sosthenes. Little is revealed about Sosthenes in the Scriptures, but much is revealed about Paul, whom God used to write much of the New Testament.
As we study, we would learn that Paul, “called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus” (1:1) had reason to put confidence in his flesh. He had reason to trust in his human experience to preach the Gospel message that Jesus sent him to preach.
Paul was humanly capable and able.
In Acts 22:3, Paul says this to a crowd gathered in Jerusalem:
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
In Philippians 3, Paul says this —
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
If a person could be saved from sin and brought into right relationship with God through human experience, then Paul would be saved that way.
He was educated. A Hebrew of Hebrews. He had the power in his flesh to go at his mission alone, to boast in himself, to gain a following of people and make a name for himself.
Yet, he asks the church in Corinth this revealing question —
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
“Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
[…]
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
If Paul becomes powerful, the cross becomes emptied.
If Paul becomes emptied, the cross becomes powerful.
And so it is, brothers and sisters, that there is only room for one power. There is only room for one glory. There is only room for one object of boasting.
If we make much of ourselves, then we cannot at the same time make much of God and his redeeming work. God does not share his glory that way.
For the power of God to become known, the work must be God’s — and God’s alone!
Paul says to the church in Corinth —
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
“We PREACH Christ crucified.”
The second word, the verb, the present action, is “preach.”
Paul was not sent to baptize, but to preach.
The Holy Spirit of God validates preaching.
The power of God is accompanied by preaching.
Faith finds rest in the object of preaching.
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.
“We PREACH Christ crucified.”
That word “preach” means to proclaim aloud (BDAG). The message that is preached is not something that is kept to oneself. It is not hidden away and kept quiet. It is publically announced! It is proclaimed aloud!
And what is the message that Paul and his companion preach?
“We preach CHRIST crucified.”
Christ — [Χριστός ], the Greek translation of the Hebrew and Aramaic word “Messiah” (LN).
This is the “Anointed One” (BDAG) - the Deliverer, the Savior. This is Jesus!
This name “Christ” locates the message of preaching not ONLY to the present moment in time, but to all of God’s promises and work throughout his dealings with humanity in history.
Said another way - preaching Christ is not a message only concerned with the here and now. It is much more comprehensive and glorious than this fleeting moment in time!
Christ is the fulfilment of God’s promise to redeem His people - to save them from their sins - a work God began in Christ before the foundation of the world, has performed in Christ through His life, death, burial and resurrection, and it is a work God will bring to completion in Christ in a soon coming day when all will bow the knee before Him and confess Him as Lord of all!
Preaching Christ brings all of salvation history into view — past, present, and future.
The message that we preach is the whole counsel of God, not just the New Testament, but the whole Word of God - beginning to end. It is all about Christ!
"We preach Christ CRUCIFIED.”
“We preach Christ - hung on a tree.”
It is at precisely this point of the message that there becomes a problem for some hearers.
I imagine a mixed audience in Paul’s day listening in agreement, thinking something like this —
We have no problem with the “we.”
Multiple people preach this message. This is good. This i not just a lone-ranger, fanatic, crazy person teaching us crazy things. If Paul is crazy, then they all are crazy because it is not just Paul preaching this. There is credibility in multiple preachers.
We have no problem with preaching.
“Proclaim your message! We like the conviction. Perhaps we may be persuaded? Perhaps we will obey your message.”
We have no problem with preaching Christ.
“We believe the Old Testament. We believe that God will send a Messiah, a Savior of the world. We look forward to that! And you just said “Christ,” Paul. You didn’t say “Jesus.” You didn’t tell us who “Christ” is. You only said that there is a Christ, an Anointed One, whom you preach. We are listening. We are in agreement. Ya’ll keep preaching Christ.”
But then comes the word, the descriptor, the qualifier that makes all the difference. We are not just preaching Christ. We are preaching Christ crucified.
That word “crucified” makes all the difference for those who believe, and those who do not.
We can preach Christ all we want to, but if we don’t preach the CROSS of Christ we are not preaching the Christ of God, or the power and wisdom of God.
That word “crucified” is very difficult for many people to accept.
According to verse 23, it is “a stumbling block to Jews.”
To the Jews, the people of God who were given all the promises of God, and the oracles of God, and the history of God - they are walking along fine until mention of the cross and then they trip. They stumble over the cross.
The word “stumbling block” is the word [ σκάνδαλον ]. Do you hear the word “scandal?”
To the Jews, the cross is a scandal! An outrage! An offense! A stain! (BDAG). They cannot accept the Messiah of Isaiah 53 who is a suffering servant. In the wisdom of their imaginations, they seek a sign from God to a point that they cannot see the Savior.
The cross is the opposite of the sign they are looking for.
And furthermore - the cross would mean Messiah has a name, and his name is Jesus because Jesus died on the cross. So to speak of Christ crucified is to say that Jesus is Messiah.
And being blinded in mind, the Jews cannot accept this.
To the Greeks — this preaching of Christ crucified is “folly.”
Nowhere in the wisdom of this world does it make sense for God’s anointed to be crucified.
This is not the way the story is supposed to unfold. It is not predictable, rational or even acceptable to them.
Because the Greeks seek wisdom.
Not the wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 9:10) but the wisdom that is cherished in the eyes of the world.
The philosophers are the wise ones. Wisdom is prized. But this cross preaching is anything but wisdom according to worldly wisdom. In fact, it is outright foolishness. Nonsense. Incompatible with the wisdom they seek.
So Paul explains the cross —
Not to the Jews, and not to the Greeks, but who does he explain the cross to?
He explains the cross “to the church of God that is in Corinth” (1:2). And he explains the cross to church hearing this word today.
This is a message to the church, called saints, who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the recipients of this message matter.
III. Exposition
III. Exposition
A. Fundamentally (1:18-25)
A. Fundamentally (1:18-25)
1:18
1:18
18 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.
First, notice:
1. The Gospel
1. The Gospel
“the word of the cross”
Paul keeps his eyes upon Christ, so that as he sees problems in the church at Corinth he answers them by looking to Christ. Now, he takes it one step further.
Paul keeps his eyes upon Christ and his cross.
Not just Christ’s person, but also Christ’s work.
The word of the cross is not just the image of the cross. It is the event of the cross. It is God’s saving activity at Calvary (see Herm.)
It is the gospel Paul was sent to preach (see 1:17).
The word of the cross and the gospel are the same.
So why is it that so little is made of sin and the cross in modern evangelism?
Why are we content to display the symbol of the cross on our clothes and on jewelry but it is nowhere to be found on our lips through our words?
If we are to preach the gospel, we must preach the word of the cross.
That “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3).
We cannot bypass the cross, or shy away from it and only talk about God’s love and power.
The cross IS the demonstration of God’s love (Rom. 5:8) and God’s power!
As I was preparing this message, working on my computer, the power in my home went off. The lights went off. The air turned off. My computer shut off.
For a moment, it was dark, eerily quiet, and everything was still.
And then a moment later, the power returned. Alarms began to sound and machines began to hum, the lights flickered back as power was restored.
My first response was to be frustrated and a bit angry with the power company. And then I thought for a minute, and thanked God for the illustration.
For when the power was out and the room was dark and all was quiet - that is the gospel that does not have the cross. It is empty, void, powerless.
But preach about the cross - and the power comes on!
And the power of the cross will have an effect on all who hear.
If our preaching is not creating a separation among our hearers, then our preaching is powerless. The preaching of the cross will divide people, between those who are perishing and those who are being saved.
18 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.
There are two groups of people mentioned here and two effects of preaching the word of the cross.
The word of the cross separates those who are spiritually alive, and those who are spiritually dead.
The first group is revealed to be “those who are perishing.”
18 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.
These who are perishing are lost. They are being ruined and destroyed.
Their attitude toward the person and work of God given for their salvation is to disregard it and cast it aside as silliness, so it does not give them life but brings about their destruction (GCM).
Friends who are listening, if you treat the word of the cross as silly, you too will perish. The cross of Christ is the only way to atone for your sin!
Christ did not die because he was not liked. Christ did not die because he had done something wrong. Christ died because we deserved to die, because we all sin, and by giving His life in our place He paid the debt for our sin that was ours to pay. That is how much he loves us! He gave Himself for us!
To think that foolish is to perish and be destroyed.
The second group mentioned is “us who are being saved.”
18 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.
Not them - who look at the cross with an attitude of foolishness.
But US — who look at the cross with an attitude of humility, seeing in the cross the power of God to save. Seeing in the cross our inability to save ourselves by any wisdom or instruction but only by God’s intervention and acting!
Hearing this word - this preaching - is what produces faith.
This word divides the faithful from the faithless.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
1:19
1:19
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
This is God’s plan, and God’s acting and God’s ways. If you have a problem with the cross - take it up with God! This is his plan from the beginning, to divide those who are being saved from those who are perishing — by the cross of Christ.
1:20
1:20
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?
Wisdom of the world is not just knowledge, but it is an attitude.
A wise person is not the one who knows all things, but who seeks wisdom from the source which is God, and considers what God is doing.
A wise person does not say to God “that’s not how I would accomplish salvation” but instead says with humility, “God what is it that you are doing?”
1:21
1:21
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
In verse 18, the church is called “us who are being saved.”
In verse 21, the church is called “those who believe.”
What is believed?
ANSWER - What is preached! The word of the cross.
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
1:22
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1:23
1:23
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
1:24
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
This phrase “those who are called” completes three descriptors of the church in this passage.
“us who are being saved.” (v.18)
“those who believe.” (v.21)
And now, “those who are called” (v.24). Those who are saints (1:2). Those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:2).
To be called, to be saved, to believe - all speak of the same people. The people who receive the word of the cross not as foolishness, but as the power of God.
All three words describe God’s work.
God does the saving, God gives the faith for believing, and God calls.
Did you know you cannot call yourself? Save yourself? Or believe yourself?
I tried on my phone to dial my own phone number - and I couldn’t call my own phone. The call wouldn’t go through.
These are reminders to the church of what God has done for them in Christ. He has saved them, he has given them faith, and he has called them in Christ.
And all who are saved know that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25
1:25
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
B. Exemplified by the Community (1:26-31)
B. Exemplified by the Community (1:26-31)
1:26
1:26
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1:27-29
1:27-29
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
1:30
1:30
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1:31
1:31
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
This gets to the point of what Paul is teaching to a church divided over who they follow. Your divisions are meaningless because the only division that matters is between those who know Christ and those who do not.
The divisions and wisdom of the world are not worth boasting about because God has taken the world’s wisdom and made it foolish. Boast in the Lord Jesus Christ - and you are wise. He unites all who are in Him!
So Paul now turns to himself as an example and as a preacher of the gospel, the word of the cross.
C. Exemplified by himself (Paul) and his Preaching (2:1-5)
C. Exemplified by himself (Paul) and his Preaching (2:1-5)
2:1
2:1
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
2:2
2:2
2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
2:3
2:3
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
2:4
2:4
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
2:5
2:5
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
The delivery of the Gospel message is important, just as the content of the message is important.
The Gospel is not made powerful by plausible words of wisdom. Do not overcomplicate the Gospel!
Let the word of the cross speak for itself, and let the Spirit bring the power to the message.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Do you believe this?
IV. Conclusion
IV. Conclusion
A. Gospel Proclamation
A. Gospel Proclamation
For us who are being saved, we know God’s transformative power that made us a new creation in Christ.
If you are hearing this message and you have not believed, perhaps God is giving you faith to seek after a wisdom that is not of this world - the wisdom of God in Christ by His cross.
Do not reject the message of the cross!
“We preach Christ crucified.”
And the Gospel invitation is for all who
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.