1 Corinthians 1 - The Foolishness of God is Wiser than Human Wisdom. The Weakness of God Stronger Than Human Strength!

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Paul begins his first letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was a wealthy and cosmopolitan city based on its location on between the Aegean and Ionian seas. It was a seaport with lots of commerce and activity, which made it a hotbed of sexual immorality and vice. This produced the saying, "to Corinthianize", which meant to corrupt good company with bad morals. 

Click on Here for Commentary on the City of Corinth by Bible Odyssey

Paul mentions in the first verse he was called by, "God and our brother Sosthenes". 

This man Sosthenes is perhaps mentioned in Acts 18:17, as the head of a Corinthian synagogue who was beaten because he protected Paul. - Guzik

As Paul's introduction to the Corinthians in this first letter (he probably wrote 4 letters to the Corinthians), he uses the phrase, 

 "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

I think this is a really nice to greet brothers and sister in Christ.  I always start my sermons out with this phrase for this reason. 

Thanksgiving

One of the major themes in Paul's letter to the Corinthians is the many spiritual gifts God had given them. Specifically the "declarative" gifts of speech and words of knowledge. Athens was an intellectual center of the world at that time, so it would make sense God would supply these gifts to the church. 

Paul affirms what is true of every church. They are not lacking in any spiritual gifts, as they await Jesus' return. Note that most of Paul's letters intimated Jesus' return was going to come sooner versus later. He used this as a motivator to the church to be eager to fulfill its mission. Paul focuses on God's faithfulness. It is God, "who will keep you blameless until the day of Christ Jesus". Though the Corinthians are gifted, Paul reminds them that it is God who should get the glory. 

Thanksgiving

Paul then addresses the major problem in the Corinthian church. Since there is unity in the name of Jesus Christ, he urges them to keep this unity. It is only when human pride gets in the way of God's purpose for the body of Christ that disunity can happen. We can either keep the unity we are given through the fellowship of Christ, or destroy it through pride and self interest.

In the case of the Corinthians, cliques developed based on which apostle they were following. The three names mentioned are Paul, Apollos, and Cephas (which is Peter's Jewish name). Finally, some say "we follow Christ!" He is not saying this in a positive way, as this group pridefully suggested that they were more "spiritual" then the other 3 groups. 

Bottom line is Paul says, "Were any of these three men crucified for you?" They even argued over which apostle who baptized them. He reminds them they were baptized in the name of Jesus. 

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

Paul points to the gospel and how it defies human logic. Because the Corinthians were so obsessed with wisdom, Paul says the gospel destroy and frustrates the intelligence of the wise. Through all the wisdom in the world, the world did not know God. It was so smart it didn't recognize the Son of God coming in the flesh. Paul concludes by saying, 

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

Simply put, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not particularly sophisticated. Even a young child, or an uneducated person can "get it". After all, fishermen are some of the first people to follow Jesus. They didn't have PhD's in religious studies.  

Jesus simply calls us to follow Him. As we hear gospel that Jesus came to earth as the Son of God, showed us the unconditional love of God, died for our sins on the cross, and rose again proving He is truly the Son of God, we only need to believe it is true. As we take up our own cross and follow Jesus, we experience the abundant life we have always wanted fueled by the Holy Spirit. 

In fact, God chose the so called "weaker things of this world to shame the wise. Why? So that we may know that this all surpassing power came from God not man. This leaves no room for boasting or pride. 

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

Though the Corinthians were highly gifted and probably, in fact, pretty intelligent people, Paul starts this letter by reminding them that is was not because of this that God chose them. As they emptied themselves of pride, God could use them in amazing to show their power came from Him!

Where do you need to die to pride? I.e. God chose you because of your intelligence? Where do you feel natural weaknesses in your life? How does it make you feel that God actually uses our weaknesses to show your power comes from Him?