The message about the cross doesn’t make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work.
As God says in the Scriptures, “I will destroy the wisdom of all who claim to be wise. I will confuse those who think they know so much.”
What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn’t God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish?
God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him. Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise.
But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish.
Our message is God’s power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen.
Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.
My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn’t think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families.
But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.
What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important.
God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him.
You are God’s children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy.
So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Deu 28:1 Today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the LORD your God. Always obey them, and the LORD will make Israel the most famous and important nation on earth, and he will bless you in many ways.
Deu 28:2 (SEE 28:1)
Deu 28:3 The LORD will make your businesses and your farms successful.
Deu 28:4 You will have many children. You will harvest large crops, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats will produce many young.
Deu 28:5 You will have plenty of bread to eat.
Deu 28:6 The LORD will make you successful in your daily work.
Deu 28:7 The LORD will help you defeat your enemies and make them scatter in all directions.
Deu 28:8 The LORD your God is giving you the land, and he will make sure you are successful in everything you do. Your harvests will be so large that your storehouses will be full.
Deu 28:9 If you follow and obey the LORD, he will make you his own special people, just as he promised.
Deu 28:10 Then everyone on earth will know that you belong to the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.
Deu 28:11 The LORD will give you a lot of children and make sure that your animals give birth to many young. The LORD promised your ancestors that this land would be yours, and he will make it produce large crops for you.
Deu 28:12 The LORD will open the storehouses of the skies where he keeps the rain, and he will send rain on your land at just the right times. He will make you successful in everything you do. You will have plenty of money to lend to other nations, but you won’t need to borrow any yourself.
Deu 28:13 Obey the laws and teachings that I’m giving you today, and the LORD your God will make Israel a leader among the nations, and not a follower. Israel will be wealthy and powerful, not poor and weak.
Deu 28:14 But you must not reject any of his laws and teachings or worship other gods.
