It Starts Small

There are so many great and wonderful truths in God’s Word. One of the many, written through Paul, tells us that the wisdom and intelligence of the world has been turned upside through Christ.

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. ¹⁹ For it is written,

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? ²¹ For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. ²² For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. ²⁴ Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, ²⁵ because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:18-19 (CSB)

When we read through Corinthians, it helps to understand the background of the city of Corinth. It very much parallels our own modern day western civilization. Corinth was a major shipping hub. In it was a great multitude of Jews and Gentiles. There were all sorts of philosophies and people from many different walks of life. Many came to Corinth to seek fortune as it was a very rich area. There was a battle going on in this city. The people in Corinth valued wisdom. There have been statues that were unearthed that people erected for themselves. They honored themselves. People would pay money to go listen to these self proclaimed master of wisdom. You have religious teachers of all sorts of religion. They all had wisdom and in seeking wisdom, people would make famous these philosophers.

This worldly attitude began to seep into the church at Corinth. A division was occurring and the saints were all arguing amongst themselves about who was the better teacher. They were making their personal opinion a forced preference. They argued over Apolos, Paul, and Peter as to who was better. They argued about ways to get people into the church by the desire to want to make a spectacle out of church. They wanted to make the church more attractive to the people.

Pauls says hey, you guys are missing the point all together. The world’s religion and philosophy have been turned upside down. God is not of this world. Everything the world preaches and teaches, Christ has flipped upside down. WHat does this mean? What was Paul saying?

Christ came and stood against everything in this world. When the world says, as someone eloquently told me, it is too late and you are unworthy of every having a second chance, Christ said, you are worthy and I spoke your name. You will mess up many times, but that is not the end of you. The world says, when you mess up, that is it for you. You do not deserve second, third, fourth chances.

When the world pulls their crystal ball out of their pocket and speaks into your future, says you will do nothing by screw up time and time again, so you are not worthy, Jesus says, I have set you free. The world believes we are doomed to stay what we are. The world’s philosophy and wisdom is that there is no hope of being transformed into a new creation, no hope of overcoming. The world speaks you are who you are and there is no hope for you. Jesus says, death no longer holds you in the grave. I have called your name to make you whole. Walk with me, I will make you will overcome.

When the world labels you as unclean, unworthy and has abandoned, rejected and refused you, Jesus claims you as His! He says you are mine and through me you will have everything you need. I will protect you. I will comfort you. I will heal you. In me your worth is great. Jesus says, my blood washes you clean and my mercies are made new every morning. I will never leave you, nor forsake you.

You see, Jesus can not help himself. He is motivated by a perfect and pure love that we do not deserve. A praise and worship song asks a rhetorical question: what have I done to deserve a love like this? It is my rhetorical question in the title. SOmeone that has truly received Christ as their Savior and experiences His love day by day, moment by moment, knows there’s nothing we have done to deserve to be loved by our Heavenly Father or Christ.

For God so loved….

It is love that motivates. It is love that says I see you. I hear you. I call you. I have purpose in you. You are important to me. It is love that says I understand. It is love that says when you suffer, I am suffering with you. It is love that says I forgive you, as many times as it is needed to be given. It is love that says I will never leave you. It is love that provides. It is love that protects. It is love that says I accept you.

It is love that gives grace and mercy. It is love that gives us not what we deserve, according to the world’s philosophy, but what we need.

Jesus could have easily spent his ministry in the temples, preaching and teaching the religious leaders and devote religious peoples. Jesus did not spend his time ministering to the people in the temples, instead, he went to the very places the world says is undeserving. He knew the hearts of the pious religious ritualist. He knew their pride would refuse and reject him. No, he went to the red districts. He went to the slums. He went to the very place the world has cast me. He went to the people who knew they needed to be loved. He went to the hurting, the sick, the abandoned, the rejected, the refused, the unclean, and he said, I love you so much that I am going to defeat death by my own death and when you believe and receive me, I will not just heal you, I will make you whole.

The world’s philosophy can not wrap its mind around Jesus because his love goes against what seems conventional. If someone hurts you, hurt them back. If someone has done something sinful, cast them out in the trash and let them pile up in the dump with the rest of the trash and unclean of this world. The world says I have the power to live my life and get I want,and to live as I want.

Jesus, was the exact opposite. He says turn the cheek. He says forgive those who have hurt you and reconcile and make amends. He says that only through Him is a true power to live a life of freedom and liberty. He says, to live is to die to self and death is to hold on to your life. Jesus’s love is going to be contrary to everything this world speaks and does.

Can you wrap your heart around this sort of love? It is not easy. I can testify to it. When you have suffered greatly at the hands of others. When you have a life imprisoned by fear it is not easy to understand the level to which Christ loves us. When all you have had your entire life is nothing by hate, cruelty, rejection, abandonment, poured upon you, it is hard to trust. It is hard to open your heart and say yes, but unlike the world, Jesus says, I understand, and we will walk it one step at a time. Just trust me and I promise you the love that is in me comes from the love of my Father. Jesus says he will never fail us and that all of His Father’s promises are poured out to those who love Him.

It is the love of our Heavenly Father that motivates Jesus in all he does, and in turn Jesus works that same love in us and through us to not only work all God’s promises in us but through us to others. The world is right, we do not deserve anything except death as punishment for our sin, but Jesus is our pardon and paid our debt we owed. He turned the world’s philosophy upside down and when he works, and speaks to us, it is going to go against the wisdom of this world. The resistance we meet, is the world who does not understand the love of our Heavenly Father or Christ. The world seeks to destroy the very creation of life, but Jesus comes to set us free.

Could there be any greater life than a life in Christ? What worldly philosophy has taken up root in your life that is contrary to Christ?