As we approach our study today, let's ask ourselves, what is the power source of the church? Is it from a highly eloquent, golden-tongue speaker who enthralls the crowd with his gifted oration and rallies the church to action? Or perhaps something else?
We find our answer in today's text of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 today:
“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. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 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 2:1-5 NIV
Question 1. According to 1 Corinthians 2:1 NIV, what things did the Apostle Paul not bring to the Corinthians?
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It is not that Paul was not eloquent or wise, but that he purposefully did not come with those things to the Corinthians. And why? Because the church’s power to change and grow does not come from a man’s speaking ability, knowledge, or human wisdom.
Question 2. When Paul established the church at Corinth, what did he resolve to know while he was with them? What did Paul preach?
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Paul’s message was “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” He narrowed his message to the suffering Savior, to the dying Lamb, to the blood Jesus shed for our sins. This message of the cross is “the testimony about God” (1 Corinthians 2:1), which God has given the Church to proclaim.
One important thing to note: Paul did not say, “I will speak of no other subject than the cross”; quite the opposite, Paul addressed a variety of topics - factions and divisions, sexual impurity, drunkenness, lawsuits, knowledge and wisdom, love, the resurrection of Christ, spiritual gifts, our resurrection bodies, immortality, and much more. So what did Paul mean when he said, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”?
Paul means that he addressed every issue and topic from the position of the cross. He brought the message of the cross to bear on every subject.
We saw this gospel focus in 1 Corinthians 1 when Paul addressed the topic of factions and divisions, and he asked, “Was Paul crucified for you?” thereby calling the Church to unity around the crucified and resurrected Savior and not a preacher.
As we continue our study through 1 Corinthians, we will see how Paul addresses so many subjects from the cross. I pray that we would each live and grow in the gospel so that, having our eyes fixed on the cross of Christ, we, too, would approach every issue of life from the perspective of the cross.
Paul came to the Corinthians in “weakness, great fear and trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3), not in eloquence and human wisdom and good speeches (1 Corinthians 2:4). He did this intentionally.
Question 3. According to 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV, to what is the message of the cross connected?
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The word “power” is mentioned twice in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5; the “Spirit’s power” (verse 4) and “God’s power” (verse 5). The message of the cross is always connected with the Spirit and with true spiritual power!
In the beginning, God spoke the world into existence, and the Spirit was hovering over the water (Genesis 1). The birth of the Earth illustrates how the Word and the Spirit are always connected and how God creates. And this is Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, that the Word of the cross comes with the power of the Spirit to make us "new creations in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
One thing is sure: God's church would be powerful if she refocused on the message of the cross, regardless of whether those speaking the gospel message are eloquent, worldly-wise, or admired speakers, as then her faith would rest in the power of God - the message of the cross!
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