The Folly of the Cross

As we read through the Gospels we find many truths that are key to living, and yet it is the cross that is the central message that we have been called to deliver to mankind. If you take out the message of the cross, then the Christian church has no message. It is the message of the cross that reconciles us to God, transforms our lives, and calls us to sacrificial living!

As we look at 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, I want us to see three lessons that are learned through the message of the cross.

1. Man is defined by his response to the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV) – “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.”

We tend to describe people based upon their ethnic group, their physical make up, their personality type, their economic status, etc.… But the Bible describes us by one of two defining characteristics:

(1) Those who are perishing, and

(2) Those who are being saved

This characteristic is determined by their response to the gospel.

· Those who see the cross as nonsense, they are on their way to ultimate ruin.

· But to those who respond to the cross with repentance and faith, the cross is the power of God that is effective in bringing about salvation in their lives.

Not only is man defined by the way he responds to the cross, but also it is . . .

2. Man’s wisdom keeps him from God

1 Corinthians 1:19–21 (ESV) – “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 . . .”

In verse 19, the apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 29:14, to show God’s sentence against human wisdom. God says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.” The word “wisdom” here describes the ability to acquire and discern truth without God. Then He says, “The discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” This speaks of man’s ability to understand the meaning and importance of something.

Man is inclined to try and solve their own problems and fight their own battles in their own ingenuity and in their own power. But when it comes to our sin problem, our efforts keep us from God and the salvation that He offers.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

In verse 20, the apostle asks four rhetorical questions that remind us how puny we are in God’s presence.

· “Where is the one who is wise?” This refers to the Greek philosopher.

· “Where is the scribe?” This refers to the Jewish teachers of the Law.

· “Where is the debater of this age?” The men of Corinth loved to sit around and debate the various philosophies of the day.

· “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” Paul is asking them where has all the clever arguments and impressive speeches got them.

We could ask the same question today. Where have our philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, economists, scientists, and statesmen – brought us?

Paul continues in verse 21, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom.”

Left to ourselves, we are not able to find God. Our self-sufficiency and wisdom stands in the way of us coming to know God.

We can be the smartest person in the room and yet our wisdom still will not lead us to God!

3. God has provided a way of salvation

1 Corinthians 1:21–25 (ESV) – “ . . . 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.”

In the first part of verse 21, the apostle Paul says that man’s wisdom keeps Him from God. But in the last part of the verse, he says that it is through the foolishness of the message of the cross that those who believe are saved.

In verses 22-23, we are given the reason that the people struggled with the message of the cross.

· For the Jews, Paul says that they “demand signs” and that the cross is a “stumbling block.” Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Jews were constantly demanding that He would show them a sign to validate Him and His message. Jesus told them in Matthew 12:39–40, “No sign will be given . . . except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” He also says that for the Jews the message of the cross was a “stumbling block.” To the Jews a crucified Messiah was the ultimate scandal. They understood that a man hanging on a tree was a sign of being cursed by God (Deut. 21:23).

· Paul goes on to say that the Greeks seek after “wisdom” and the cross to them is “folly.” For the Greeks nothing was more important that the pursuit of wisdom. The message of a crucified Christ was nothing but superstition.

To those who are seeking signs the cross is a stumbling block, and to those who seek after wisdom the cross is foolishness!

In verse 24, Paul says that for those who believe in God’s Son, the crucified Christ is both “the power of God” and “the wisdom of God.”

In verse 25, Paul brings his argument to a close by grounding it in this reality: God is both wiser and more powerful than mere humans.

CONCLUSION

In this world there are only two types of people.

1) Those who are perishing

2) Those who are being saved

Which are you?