1 Corinthians Chapter 2

Throughout the ministry of Jesus, he focused on revealing the very nature of God the father. This was important because the Jews had a storied history of the God of their forefathers, yet relationally they did not know Him. Therefore, Jesus came into the world to first reflect who God is and then to become a divine bridge for men to cross over into a personal relationship with God as Father.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

It is through belief in Jesus that we are adopted into the family of God. Therefore, as God’s adopted children we are commanded to preach the gospel of the redemptive work of His Son. It is this truth which serves as a backdrop to which we now proceed with the text. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, it reads

“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”.

At the outset of the scripture, the Apostle Paul is establishing a marked separation of his skills as a preacher from the message that he preached. If you looked back at the previous lesson of 1 Corinthians chapter one, titled “A fool for God”, I mentioned how Paul was addressing a congregation in Corinth who craved deep philosophical teaching. This runs counter to the simplicity of the gospel of Christ Jesus. In verses, 1-2, Paul is reaffirming that his message was as simple as his unimpressive speech. His statement of self-deprecation can appear as false humility to the skeptical eye. However, as you read through verses 3-5, he is clearly shaping the contrast between mere human ability and the powerful work of God the Holy Spirit. In verse 3,

“I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. (1 Corinthians 2:3)

To consider Paul’s statement in a larger context, he recently endured an unimpressive showing at Mars Hill in Athens. Remember,

“22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” Acts 17:22-24

Instead of simply preaching the gospel, Paul wanted to first play to the religious yearnings of a pagan people. He goes on to talk about God not being anything that can be created with human hands, or earthly material. Ultimately, he said that faith in the resurrected Christ Jesus is the only way to God. After which, the scripture reads, “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered” (Acts 17:32). In the end, the Apostle left with a handful of converts. Since that time, as you read his preaching in Romans and now at Corinth, he has simplified the message to the basics of the gospel. Starting in verse 4,

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power”.( 1 Corinthians 4-5).

First, at the cross, we see the clearest evidence of the world’s guilt. The cross was the most graphic and horrendous display of human sin at its peak. At Calvary, an innocent man was battered, bloodied, and stretched bare as corrupt humanity stared on. Everyone involved was finally and fully exposed. In this glorious exhibition of God’s love, Jesus showed the extent to which the Father would go to redeem man back to himself. It is at the cross that Jesus destroyed the power of sin. It was three days later, at His resurrection, the grip of death was finally loosened. This serious and sober message finds good soil in the open heart. The person who agonizes over their own failures, shortcomings, and desires a real and meaningful spiritual life. The message of the cross although simple has the power to ignite hope in the willing vessel of the possibility for a life with the Creator as Father. No longer limited to a God either in the abstract or a graven image, one could enjoy a connection with the Heavenly Dad. This new life in Christ and with the Father finally culminates in a wondrous eternity in Heaven. The sheer beauty and imagery of this message possess everything necessary to stir the soul and open hearts.

The plainness of the cross allows everyone regardless of their station in life to consider the possibility of being accepted by God, through justification by faith. As the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit is supremely capable of convicting hearts that are ripe for harvest or to bury seeds of salvation for another time.

In verses 13-14, Paul emphatically continues,

“13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:13-14)

This is at the crux of the power of the cross. It is only the Holy Spirit that can lead people to you to preach the message to them. It is therefore only the Holy Spirit who can take the message and convict the person to repentance. And finally, it is only the Holy Spirit who knows the state the person is in relative to accepting the message or not. Given this truth, why do we try and dress up the gospel as if we have the power to assist the Holy Spirit? The power of the cross was the work of Jesus at the cross; it is the way to finally get to the Father; so, therefore, we just need to get out of the way.

Be encouraged,

Thomas Knowles – Minister of the Gospel of Christ Jesus