July 14, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next 16 days we will be reading through the book of 1 Corinthians together. The church in Corinth was an absolute mess! They were plagued by serious issues of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and confusion concerning doctrine as well as the particulars of their moral living under the gospel. This church needed a wake-up call, a call to repentance and purity, to renewed devotion to Christ, to love and unity, and to zeal for the gospel. The church has changed little over the last 2,000 years, but praise God that there is abundant grace for the mess! Each of us needs this same call to humility faithfulness, unity, and fervor today as much as they needed it then. Let\u2019s heed this call which God gave the church at Corinth through the apostle Paul and let it shape the way we live as Christ\u2019s body!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the opening chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul jumps right into the problems he has heard rumor of going on in Corinth. The people were arrogantly one-upping each other by claiming to be followers of whatever gospel preacher they considered to be most eloquent or wise, and it was causing the church to be divided into factions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul here exposes the foolishness of such thinking: the power of the gospel does not lie in eloquent speech or in worldly wisdom but in the cross of Jesus Christ! Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are thinking in a worldly way when they are divided like this, and the gospel itself sounds like lunacy from a worldly perspective!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think about it: the gospel flips all of our worldly expectations upside down. The God of all glory was meek and humble. The way He conquered was by allowing Himself to be unjustly betrayed, tortured, humiliated, and murdered. In order to live we have to die with Him. Nothing about the gospel makes sense from the perspective of the world, but that\u2019s the point! The gospel is folly to the world, but to us who have been saved it is \u201cthe power of God\u201d (v.18)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The upside-down gospel reminds us that we live in an upside-down kingdom. The weak in the eyes of the world are strong. The foolish in the eyes of the world are wise. The poor in the eyes of the world are rich. Those who put others before themselves end up on top in the end. We need to be reminded of this, and that it is never our own wisdom, our own power, our own righteousness that does anything. It is only in Christ, His power, His wisdom, His righteousness and His grace that we have anything at all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though it looks like foolishness and weakness from a worldly point of view, to us Jesus Christ is the very wisdom and power of God! Today, instead of seeing your faith from a worldly perspective, be reminded of your own powerlessness and your absolute dependence upon the power and grace of Jesus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n