daily bible readings

The cross of Christ Jesus is a problem to the world. It’s a problem in so many different ways, in many different contexts. Obviously, for other religions, the exclusivity of the cross presents a dire problem. For atheists, the cross is non-sense. For others it is simply a problem.

The Jews and the Greeks, in Pauls day, were not different. The Jews, says Paul, demand miraculous signs. Life for the Jew in Jesus’ day was hard. They were oppressed by the Romans and  even though they lived in their own land, aka the Promised Land, they were ruled over by pagans. They did not have their own king from the line of David on the throne ruling over them.

To the Jews, who awaited Messiah to come and save them, a so-called Messiah who came in humility and mixed with ruffians and sinners was unacceptable. A Messiah who flouted the laws of the Patriarchs was inconceivable. God in the past had come to His people, the Jews, with mighty acts. He smote Pharaoh in Egypt with ten plagues. He lead the people through the see of Reeds. He defeated the nations of Canaan and set up His people in the Promised Land. A so-called messiah who dies on the cursed cross is, to put it simply and plainly, is just unacceptable. The Jews were demanding miraculous signs.

The Greeks were no different. They didn’t demand miraculous signs but rather, the eloquent wisdom built up over the centuries. The Greeks valued their cultured learning and mental superiority to the rest of the Barbarian world. Anyone who demanded to be worshiped had to prove themselves with wisdom akin to the greats of the past. 

But in contrast to the Jews and the Greeks, “we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength,” 1 Corinthians 1:23–25.

The Crucified Christ is God’s way of coming into creation and fully sharing our humanity with us so that by becoming human God might be able to share with us a gift of love and mercy ever attainable. Christ is God’s way of identifying with humanity and to lift humanity up to God as they put their faith in the Lord Jesus.

All those who are called by God , come to discover that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. As Paul says to Romans in 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Only a crucified and risen Saviour can send the Holy Spirit to regenerate dead hearts. Only a victorious Lord can change and renew the head, the heart and the mind.

Jesus is also the wisdom of God. He is the way to God the Father, the only way. He is the truth of God and the life of God. He is the source of a full and joyous life. He is the exact representation of God and brings the love of God to fruition in His death and resurrection. We can only truly understand God (as best as our finite minds can understand Him) as we come to Christ and know Him better.

PRAYER

Adoration:

·  Adore God that Jesus is the wisdom and power of God.

· Adore our Lord and Saviour that He loves us so much that Jesus comes into the world to save us from our sins by dying on the cross in our place and by rising from the dead.

Confession

· Take time to confess your sins to the Lord and to ask for forgiveness

Thanks

· Thank God that He has called you and opened your eyes to the reality of Jesus Christ.

· Thank the Lord that you have everything you need to live a life of godliness and wisdom.

Supplication

· Pray that your church would shine brightly that the wisdom and the power of God so that others come to worship Him as Lord and God as well.

· Pray that you and your church would see God work powerfully in the community.  

SMALL GROUPS

Scripture

Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-31.

Sing songs of adoration and praise.

Outline Paul’s argument throughout chapter 1.

In what way is the message of the cross foolishness to those who are perishing? (v18).

What comparison is being made in verse 18?

In what way is the cross the power of God for us who are being saved?

According to v22, Jews look for signs and Greeks look for wisdom. what does the world look for today?

In what way is Christ the wisdom and power of God?

Why does Paul turn to the Corinthians’ own experience at the end of this section?

Observation

What does this week’s passage teach us about:

a/. our Saviour? (Think Father, Son and Spirit)

b/. Saints

c/. Sinners.

Paul chides the Jews for looking for miraculous signs. Does this mitigate against miracles happening today? Explain your answer carefully.

Paraphrase what Paul is saying in vv18-31.

GOING DEEPER

What is biblical wisdom?

Describe the power of God in the New Testament?

In vv26-31, Paul refers to the Corinthians past. Why is it important to always remember we came from?

Application

What does it mean for us to have the wisdom and power of God?

How is this displayed in our life individually?

How is this displayed in our life corporately as the church?

Share a time where you have personally witnessed the cross being either the foolishness of God or wisdom and power of God to someone else.

What does 1 Corinthians 1:18-30 imply for our evangelism?

PRAYER

Spend time as a Small Group in

Adoration

Confession

Thanks

Supplication

PASTOR’S COMMENT

The Corinthians were following various Christian leaders in much the same way as the world followed orators who sought to have disciples and students. The result in the church was division and disunity.

Paul hints that this division and disunity empties the cross of its power. It is contrary to everything that Christ stands for. Such disunity makes a mockery of Christ Jesus and of the Godhead that is perfectly united in all things. Such division is unacceptable because all are brought into the kingdom through the same Lord and Saviour. There is only one faith, one Lord and one baptism.

Paul calls for unity that is above and beyond anything capable by human institutions and corporations or gatherings. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul appeals to the “brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

The wisdom and power of Christ Jesus is the wisdom and power of God that allows this unity and oneness to be achieved in the body of Christ Jesus, the church.

As the Corinthians grow in Christ, rather than growing in their so-called spirituality and Christian completeness, they would grow in unity and oneness. They would come to realise the vital importance of unity in the body of Christ Jesus.

This concept of unity is so important that Jesus Himself prayed for it in His high priestly prayer of John 17. “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:22–23.

The wisdom of God and the power of God is the source and the pathway to such unity that is unattainable in our own efforts.