The reception of the gospel comes through the power of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. I am encouraged that Paul said the proclamation of the gospel is powerful while he was weak and trembling for the gospel needs not the wisdom and oratory of man. As a messenger of the gospel I must walk in the Spirit and allow the power of God through the gospel to go forth. Skillful presentation cannot substitute for the power of God through the gospel.
God is wisdom and he gladly imparts to those who know Jesus Christ and him crucified through the Spirit. The wisdom is mysterious to the American culture as well as to the Corinthian culture of the time. World leaders are confused by it just as Corinthian leaders were confounded by it. Unknown to leaders the wisdom of God was decreed before all ages. The failure to tap into the wisdom of God resulted in Christ being crucified. The lack of wisdom from God results in blindness to what God has prepared for those who love Him.
The Spirit of God reveals the great depths and majesty of God the Father. It’s important that the spirit of this world not have a foothold in my life, rather the Spirit of God will masterfully unite my thoughts and actions to those of my Heavenly Father. The Spirit of God is also one who helps to understand things freely given to us by God one of which is salvation. The Spirit allows me to marvel at this gargantuan subject of soteriology. The Spirit steps in to unravel the great mysteries of God equipping messengers to impart in words the greatness of God to those who are spiritual.
God thanks for revealing your great wisdom through the Spirit. May I be engaged in active participation yearning to understand what your Spirit is teaching about you. The Spirit is equipped to describe your thoughts, which are freely given as we meditate on you. Lord help me to fellowship with you well today.
Look at you how many of you in Corinth were wise according to worldly standards, strong, high and magnified, or more than mere nothingness? Very few. What does the wise think? How do the strong act? What do the high and magnified do? Paul encourages the Corinthians to consider God’s purpose in the cross of Christ. Humans are arrogant creatures, whether quiet or loud humans have a strong sense of I’m better than you and I did this own my own. God says, I easily make the wise foolish, the strong weak, and the high and magnified low and despised. Why? So I dare not enter the presence of God claiming to arrive via my own wisdom, power, or position. But why is it so important that I know this? Would I rather find out later that my current wisdom, power, or position did not suffice for the God of the universe? How unjust is it for a sovereign God to not declare my unworthiness and then later depart from me because I didn’t measure up. God conveys the message clearly; you are nothing. Thankfully God is an artist who can make something out of nothing. I am a nothing who only found something in Christ. Christ is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In Christ I am God’s wisdom, unparalleled by anybody. In Christ I am righteous, which is legit power. In Christ I am sanctified, which is a fantastic position. In Christ I am redeemed, what other position could I desire more? Dare I walk into the presence of God and boast, not by any means of my own! I may only boast in Christ.
TRAILS From The HEART 