1 Corinthians

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor. 1:25) 

I was reading and studying 1 Cor. 1 yesterday.. The Jews were looking to power to "fulfill" them. That was their idol or value. The Greeks searched for wisdom as a chief cultural value, or idol. If the Jews were powerful, if the Greeks were wise, they felt "full." (1 Cor. 1:22). And I can change out “power” or “wisdom” for what I have looked to in order to fulfill me--for me, I looked for value and worth. Others may look for the American dream or prosperity.

The cross is completely opposite--to the Jews it was weak, to the Greeks it was foolishness. It completely undermined what they based their life on, their structure, their meaning, purpose, value, identity....(1 Cor. 1:23) To me, it was losing self. To the Americans, it can be being “impoverished” and surrendering the self-fulfillment of the American dream. 

But when we are called by God and the Spirit opens our eyes, we see Christ as the ultimate and TRUE COMPLETION of all we are looking for. To the Jews called by God, Christ is the true power. To the Greeks called by God, Christ is the true wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24-25). Christ is more than what we expected and wanted, the true satisfier. To me, Christ is my value and worth because He has loved me at the cost of His own life. To many Americans, He is the true riches, the true fulfillment. 

The cross is counter-cultural, undermining our idols, but then is the true completion of what we are looking for. It is upside down, unsettling, unshaking, when we have to STOP DEPENDING ON OURSELVES to fulfill what we are looking for, to completely depend on the grace of God. We have to recognize we are empty, that the ways we were looking for wisdom, for power, for value were empty. And then we find Christ and are filled.

And then we stand back amazed... "It is because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God [or in my case, my value from God, in the case of Americans, fulfillment from God, and fill in your idol]--that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (1 Cor. 1:30).

Once again, God gives me a timely message….My world is turned up-side down, in a place where I didn’t expect myself to be. He is reminding me that this ministry is NOT my ministry, but HIS ministry. I cannot do it in my own wisdom, strength, or forces…which is what I’m tempted to do. This is God’s good hand at work in my life. And He can do so much more than we can ask or imagine. (Eph. 3:20)