QT 2/19/2025 1 Cor 1:18-22, Comparing the mind of man to God is like comparing an anthill to Mt Everest

1 Corinthians 1:18–22 (ESV) —

18 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. 19 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, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

 

NOTE: The message of the cross, which during the time of the letter, would have been to the Greek "a cruel and disgusting penalty" (Cicero), and to the Jew a "curse." The message of the free gift of eternal life goes against human wisdom. We say the same thing all the time, "nothing is truly free," or "it's too good to be true." But salvation was never free, it cost God a lot. Only an incredible love, such as a man laying down his life for a friend or his children can explain it.

 

To the world, a free salvation seems like foolishness. Today, the idea of God is considered foolishness. Man has convinced himself that there were no miracles despite the eyewitnesses and biblical record. We are told these are fabrications, yet many eyewitnesses testified to the truth of the accounts. Thousands of copies were made during the time of the events. And 11 of the men who travelled with Jesus chose death or imprisonment rather than deny what they saw. Many other eyewitnesses, such as Stephen died standing up for the truth of the gospel. Martyrs who died for a cause generations after an event mean little to me. It is easy to be fooled. But martyrs who lived during the time and knew the truth, that evidence is impossible to ignore.

 

True foolishness is ignoring the evidence because it does not fit with our view of the world.

 

PONDER:

1. Have I truly examined the gospels and the claims of Christ?
2. Does the supernatural turn me off because I can't understand the science? If God created everything out of nothing, what really is impossible to God?

 

PRAYER: Father, I believe in the message that was recorded in the first century. I believe it happened just as the writers recorded it. I believe that your wisdom is not only greater than mine, but that it is infinitely greater than mine. For me, to understand your works fully, would be like me explaining a recurrent neural network to a 5 year-old child -- there are things too difficult for me to comprehend, but that doesn't make it untrue.