| Introduction From time to time I hear people in the church at large, some times even Christian leaders, say that they want their church to be just like a New Testament church. Every time I hear that I scratch my head wondering why anybody would want to be like one of these churches. In a very real sense, we have the epistolary part of the New Testament exactly because the Holy Spirit did not want the New Testament churches to be like themselves! I sure hope we are not like the church at Corinth. I hope that we learn from the problems they had and from the solutions that Paul gives to us in this epistle. Paul urges the Corinthians to learn from the mistakes that others have made and I hope we can do the same. In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, we see Paul's Spirit-inspired reaction to the Corinthian Christians' attitude to Bible-centered preaching in general, and specifically to the preaching of the Gospel. I. The Word of the Cross Separates the Perishing Ones from the Being-Saved Ones, 18-19. A. We need to start by defining what the message of the cross is. B. As far as the message of the cross goes, all the people who have ever lived, including us here this morning, fall into two groups, 18. C. The message of the cross has this effect on people because God, who is the Author of the message of the cross, designed it to work this way, 19. II. The Word of the Cross Turns Wisdom into Foolishness and Foolishness into Wisdom, 20-25. A. What the world thinks is wisdom is actually foolishness, 20-21. B. What the world thinks is foolishness is actually wisdom, 22-25. III. The Word of the Cross Turns Nobodies into Sons and Daughters of God, 26-31. A. In essence, Paul is saying that the Church of Jesus Christ is mostly made up of nobodies who have been redeemed by God through the message of the cross, 26. B. As a matter of fact, Paul says that those who are called by God are generally the weak things of the world, 27. C. On top of that he says that those called by God are generally insignificant in the world, 28. D. Why? So that no one can boast before God that God benefited from saving him/her, 29. E. Yet, through the message of the cross there is a great transformation in us both personally and as a body, 30. F. The purpose, the so that, the goal of doing things this way is that when a Christian boasts, he boasts in, that is, about his God, not about himself, 31. Application & Conclusion · This passage teaches us that it is not what we were without Christ that matters, but what God has made us become in Jesus Christ. · Paul is not arguing against the mind or against intelligence; he is arguing against a worldview that magnifies the sinful mind apart from Christ. · We do not have to fear that one day somebody will be able to prove the Gospel wrong. · We do not have to be afraid of interacting with other worldviews as if they will be able to destroy our worldview. · We must be cross-driven in all we do.  | |||
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Saturday, June 30, 2012
The Word of the Cross - 1 Cor. 1:18-31
