Foolishness or Power

July 22

2 Chronicles 24-25

Psalm 83:1-8

Proverbs 18:17-18

I Corinthians 1

Foolishness or Power?

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.” I Corinthians 1:18-19 HCSB

In verse 17, Paul explains that God did not send him to give eloquent words of wisdom, but rather to preach the gospel so that the cross of Christ would not be emptied of its power. He divides the world into two categories of people: those who are perishing and those being saved. For those who are perishing the cross seems foolish. Ungodly people think that believers and their faith are either stupid or weak. In Paul’s day, the cross was still used by the Romans as a means of public execution. It was a symbol of shameful crimes and powerlessness. The Greeks and Romans believed in all kinds of gods, and they ranked them based on their perceived power over nature and humanity. The cross of Christ was seen as foolish by the pagan culture because Jesus was rejected by His own people and crucified like a common criminal. They did not understand why anyone would worship a god who was powerless to stop his own execution. Any god who would die on a Roman cross, especially as a sacrifice for human sin, seemed weak and foolish. Today, those who are perishing do not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. They do not believe in miracles and think that those who believe in those things are foolish. Many think that to believe in miracles and a god who performs miracles is a sign of weakness and only for people who need a crutch to get through life.

For those who are being saved, the cross is understood to be God’s most powerful act. Jesus did not lose a battle with the Jewish leaders or the Roman government. He wasn’t overpowered or outmatched. God the Father sent His Only Son to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus, with complete power and authority, willingly gave His life as a ransom to pay the penalty for the sins of those who were perishing. The Romans did not take His life. Jesus gave His life. Only through immense power and self-control was Jesus able to endure the cross, experience death, and then raise Himself from the dead to defeat death and Hell once for all. I imagine the angels were standing ready to come down if He had spoken the word, but He loved us so much that He chose to remain on the cross so that He could secure our redemption. This is true power.