There is a teaching given by Paul that is out of sync with Christ and the message of the cross. I was not even aware of it until the Holy Spirit referenced the above, giving me clues regarding, which sent me on a hunt to discover. My search landed me in Acts 17, where details of Paul’s visit to Athens shed light on a very unexpected teaching. Shocking really. After all, this is the famous Paul we are talking about who was radically saved, once a murderer. The same Paul who wrote nearly one-third of the New Testament. What did he teach that took me by surprise?
To impress a sophisticated audience of philosophers, Paul avoided the risk of offending them in that he preached a message void of Christ crucified. In fact, he preached on everything but the cross! He spoke of God, creation, repentance, resurrection, and judgment, and even gave a call to commitment. Paul was an educated man and beautifully articulated his message. But, as the Holy Spirit had indicated to me, that teaching was out of sync with Christ and irreverent.
Not surprisingly, the whole experience was a flop as those in Athens lost interest, and only a few converted. After all, the message of salvation is hinged on Christ and the message of the cross. The central theme of our Christian faith and where the power lies! How else does it make sense to speak on repentance, resurrection and judgment?
He must have realized his error, because during his ministry following that incident, Paul changed his tune and even his delivery style of in-person teachings, speaking in humility and putting all focus on Christ crucified (1 Cor 2:1-5). So much so, that there were complaints of how his audiences were unimpressed with him exclaiming how the boldness and weightiness of his letters contrasted with his in-person presence (1 Cor 10:10).
As a Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee, clearly he could have wowed them if he so chose, but instead, he humbly dialed it back so as not to allow smooth sophisticated speeches to distract from Christ and the message of redemption. In addition, all fear of offense was lost as he would preach unashamedly as he did in 1 Cor 1:18-31 which brings me to the verse in question:
1 Cor 1:23, “As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles; but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
In the context of the day, the Jews expected a conquering king, a messiah to deliver them from their occupiers and oppressors. Their scripture speaks of both a Suffering Servant and a conquering Messiah. It made no sense as to why He would be a servant. And it was especially offensive to them to think of a crucified messiah. Even blasphemous.
Jesus repeatedly said that the “first shall be last and last shall be first”. If we “want to be great we must be the least”. And “he who seeks to be greatest among you must first be a servant”. Though not an attractive message to some, Jesus led by example in living a life of humility and as a servant. He always practiced what He preached.
As far as a message of foolishness, the gentiles of that era were big into human reasoning and logic with great respect for the philosophers of the day, and thought how weak must this God of Israel be to serve people? Much less allow Himself to be humiliated and die to save human life. In their minds, powerful gods demanded from humans who were considered inconsequential. Surely this was a weak pathetic God who was not supreme or sovereign.
On the contrary! Jesus intentionally limited Himself. That took great restraint and incredible strength of character to allow Himself to suffer the worst death, being tortured beyond recognition as a man and bearing humanity’s sins for all time in His body. He didn’t have to set aside His lofty position and riches in Heaven to limit Himself, entering into His creation, and being born as a humble human being.
Matt 26:53, “Are you not aware that I can call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Yet Jesus did not take advantage of that fact. He was on a mission driven by love for His Father and us. He set His face like flint to willingly lay down His life as the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world.
John 10:18, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
Up till that time, and for centuries, the perversion-filled worship of countless deities involved the sacrificing of their children in exchange for favors like prosperity and success.
So it was like the One true living God, the God of Israel, flipped the script from what was considered the norm for thousands of years, by offering His Son instead of demanding ours. To offer US His EVERYTHING. But instead of seeing the power and beauty in Christ crucified, and instead of seeing the immeasurable and radical love of God, they thought the message of the cross was stupid. (Not to be offensive but the original Greek meaning for foolishness is moronic and idiotic.)
Isaiah 64:4, “From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God like You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.”
Isa 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
The living God of Israel did the unexpected, going against the grain in doing something that appeared completely foolish – allowing His Son to die, and in such a horrific shameful way. Who would have thought? Indeed, the powers, principalities, and rulers of darkness were fooled in thinking that they had triumphed over the Son of God. They were completely delusional thinking that they had made a public spectacle of Jesus through such a disgraceful death.
But in reality, in Christ Jesus, God’s great wisdom and mystery were revealed. What God had kept hidden for thousands of years was made known. Through Christ’s death on the cross and God’s display of ultimate power in resurrecting Him, Jesus beat them at their own game, defeating the power of death and sin over humanity. He took back the keys to the kingdom that was lost through Adam and made all powers, rulers, authorities, and dominions subject to Him.
Col 2:15, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public spectacle of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross.”
His achievements through the cross? Through Christ we have forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, and restored relationship with the Father to become children of God, rescued from divine wrath and hell, resurrection of the body, and eternal life.
1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”
1 Peter 2:24, “He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.”
Not only did He carry all our sins within Himself along with all our diseases, sorrows, pain, and suffering (with it all being nailed to the cross in His body), He died to set us free so that we could live in newness of life in Him.
Gal 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Speaking of sin or righteousness, Scripture says that whatever we choose to obey is our master. Refer back to the Garden of Eden where through Adam’s act of disobedience, he handed over the keys to the kingdom, giving authority and dominion to satan, the ‘prince and power of the air’.
In not fully trusting his Creator, Adam lost what God had given him. Immortality in a perfect world, the Garden of Eden and its access to the Tree of Life, and the authority and dominion that God had given him over all the world and everything in it. Not to mention the incredible blessing and privilege of being able to “walk and talk with God in the cool of the day” daily! (Genesis 3:8)
In the plan of redemption, God’s divine reversal, Jesus reclaimed all dominion and authority in which all things would be subject to Christ, who is described in scripture as the “second Adam” who came to do what the first Adam failed to do. To fully trust and obey God.
Because of Christ crucified, we no longer need to be slaves to sin or be subject to powers and principalities being Christ Jesus defeated them through His selfless sacrifice on the cross. That great act not only redeemed us, purchasing us back, but also put the powers of darkness under His feet!
And as long as we remain in union with Christ Jesus, they are under our feet as well! We need to remember that. The battle has been won. Jesus was victorious 2000 years ago. He removed their power over us, and in Christ Jesus we are enabled and empowered through Him to be overcomers and live in newness of life. But the enemy, the father of all lies, does not want us to know our authority in Christ Jesus, that they are in fact under our feet.
Col 2:6-15 New Life in Christ
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
1 Cor 2:8 “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
And that’s just like our God. To take the evil heart of man who is blinded in his sin and manipulated by foolish powers of darkness, and work it all together for the good of sinful humanity, forgiving those who hurt Him during the process! How great is our magnificent God! How wondrous are His ways! Truly there is no other God like ours. The One true living God. Our Creator. Our Redeemer. Our everything!
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