When you study the culture of ancient Greece,
which by the way is a fascinating study in light
of the fact that they were one of the most advanced
civilizations in human history for that time,
when you study the Greeks you quickly see that
certain ideals and values in their culture rise
to the top. And this is important for us to understand
as we continue to study Paul's letter to the
church in Corinth, because in the first century,
when Paul was writing, Corinthian culture was
prevalent throughout the entire Greek world.
And many of their ideals and values are drawn
from the works of some of the most famous Greek
scholars and poets and writers that we know,
Homer and... Gosh, Thucydides and Herodotus and
Sophocles and Euripides. The list goes on. Demosthenes,
this list of amazing authors and writers. The
Greeks loved to draw inspiration from those great
works, and so they talked about things like physical
prowess and bravery in battle, things that were
personified in their pantheon of gods and their
larger -than -life heroes that they loved so
much. We know that the Greeks valued philosophical
wisdom and logic and rhetoric. They had an intellectual
curiosity. about everything that was high on
their list of virtues. They sought after knowledge
in terms of the natural world that was around
them, and they longed for immortality. If you've
ever seen the movie Troy, and I can't necessarily
recommend it, But he talks a lot about that Achilles
in that book or in that movie. They long for
immortality, whether it was in war or was in
athletic competition, the idea of becoming legendary,
the idea of achieving glory in this life. And
as you stop and think about this, as we look
at the background of the city of Corinth, you
come to realize that the Greeks are very much
like Americans are today because we are seekers
of status. We are seekers of renown. Most of
the people in our culture today idolize celebrities.
That is one of the most common things about us.
We idolize influencers, athletic superstars,
the ultra -wealthy. We want to have their lifestyle,
right? Or public intellectuals, even pastors
of megachurches. And we tend to put them on a
pedestal. We wish we could have just a fraction
of their lives. And so it's understandable that
the world thinks and acts this way. It's not
surprising to us at all, right? Because we are
walking in the footsteps of all these cultures
in the West that have gone before us and shaped
us, whether it's the ancient Greeks or it's the
Romans. But when it comes to God's people, when
it comes to the things of God, His thoughts and
His ways, everything I just described about both
Greek culture and American culture, those things
are completely at odds. with what he's revealed
to us in his word. We know that God consistently
turns the value systems of the world upside down,
turns them on its head. So what is foolish and
weak in the eyes of the world is actually divine
wisdom and divine power. And by saving both Jews
and Gentiles through a crucified savior, by drawing
sinful people to himself, the creator God has
confounded the wisdom. of the big wide world
out there. Now, in light of all that, here's
the problem that Paul was faced with as he sat
down to write this letter that we're studying
in this series. The believers in Corinth were
having a really hard time laying aside their
worldly Greek values. All those values we talked
about had seeped into the church, and now they
were struggling to lay them aside and struggling
to put on the mind of Christ instead. That's
why, as we saw a couple weeks ago, we see them
lining up behind certain teachers, right? Almost
treating them as their new heroes. They're lining
up, they're dividing the body while boasting
and quarreling about things that should never
be present in a local church. And so Paul has
some very strong words for them in today's passage.
Let's look at it. Grab your Bibles and let's
go to 1 Corinthians 1. And I want you to locate
verse 26. That's where we'll start this morning.
1 Corinthians. Chapter 1, verse 26 to 31. Last
Sunday we looked at verses 18 to 25, and remember
we saw how Paul essentially divided all of humanity
into two groups based on one all -important thing,
something he called the word of the cross. Remember?
First he said there are those who are perishing,
presently falling into spiritual ruin because
they've rejected the word of the cross. And then
he said there's a second group, those who are
being saved. presently justified in God's sight,
being sanctified by the Holy Spirit because they've
embraced and believed the word of the cross.
So that's what we saw last week. And we saw the
reasons why so many people in the world reject
the message of the cross that's been offered
to them. To them, it just sounds like what? Foolishness.
It's a stumbling block to them. It's foolish.
They very much prefer their own brand of wisdom,
their own brand of cleverness, their own emphasis
on things like status and power and influence.
But as we saw last week, what the world idolizes
in reality, this is the key from last week, what
the world idolizes in reality has absolutely
no power to meet any of man's greatest needs.
I mean, philosophy is fun to talk about, right?
We can go, we can grab a coffee and talk about
the best players in the NBA. We can talk about
wealthy. We can have all those conversations,
but all of that knowledge that we might pass
to one another has no power to deal with our
greatest need. That's the reality. So no philosophy,
no amount of education, no family connections.
No amount of followers on social media, no amount
of money in the bank, any of those things can
cleanse a man from sin. Right? None of those
things can usher a man into the presence of God
or grant them eternal life. So as fun as those
things are to talk about and even gain knowledge
about, they have no surpassing value. And that
was the contrast that Paul was making last week.
Even the best of things that mankind produces
cannot come close to the wisdom and the power
of the word of the cross. Do you believe that?
I hope you do. In fact, last Sunday's passage
we found out that God is actually in the business
of destroying all that the world thinks is wise
and clever. And the amazing thing is he's doing
it through what the world perceives as a bunch
of foolish people, you all, who have with you
a foolish message. So let's continue with that
argument here, beginning in verse 26. Here's
what God's word says. Paul says to them, consider
your calling, brethren, that there were not many
wise according to the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise. And God
has chosen the weak things of the world to shame
the things which are strong, and the base things
of the world and the despised God has chosen.
The things that are not, so that he may nullify
the things that are, so that, purpose statement,
so that no man may boast before God. But by his
doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to
us wisdom from God and righteousness. and sanctification
and redemption so that just as it is written,
let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Okay,
so let's work our way through this and I want
to start with the question. If both Jews and
Greeks are too wise and too sophisticated to
accept God's offer of salvation through his son
crucified on a cross, what kind of people would
God draw to himself? What kinds of people would
God draw to himself? Draw to himself. What kinds
of people are we? In verse 26, Paul essentially
says to the Corinthians, look around your church
and consider what kind of people you were before
God called you. And maybe we should do that this
morning. Look around. Look at each other. What
do you see? Or better yet, what don't you see?
Here's what you don't see. Not a lot of us are
celebrities here. Right? Nobody here is a big
-time influencer, as far as I know. None of us
hold positions of power. There's not a lot of
wealth or status among us. And for the most part,
that's been true of the church throughout all
of the ages. The church has always been filled
with everyday, ordinary people like us. Now,
obviously, there have been some rich and powerful
people who have bowed their knee to Christ, but
as Paul says here, not that many. Maybe you've
noticed that trend in our culture in America
today. In verses 26 to 28 alone, you see four
specific types of people who Paul's going to
highlight as everyday ordinary people who are
objects of God's saving grace. Let's look at
them. The first one are the foolish. Anybody
want to cop to this? Okay. It's okay. It's all
right. The foolish. Verse 27, God has chosen
the foolish things of the world. Up in verse
26, there's not many wise among you. And you
can see on the screen there, the Greek word for
foolish is moros, which carries a meaning that,
I'm just going to be honest, it's a little bit
offensive. The word means a bit dull. Not that
bright. It's where we get the English word, what?
Moron from. Yeah. I mean, that's the reality.
So look around, Paul says. Not a lot of high
IQ folks here. Not a bunch of Ivy Leaguers walked
in the door this morning. I was going to say,
look at all the morons, but I'll just, I'll let
that pass. By the way, I'm one of you, so. But
we understand why this is true, right? We understand
why. The vast majority of the intellectual elites
of our culture look down their noses at Christianity.
They look down their noses at you and I. You
really believe that ancient, dusty old book,
they ask? You believe that God actually can become
a man? You believe this Jesus was actually resurrected
to life? They look at that and say it's all foolishness.
We know obviously differently, but they say that
is foolishness. So we are the foolish. It's okay
to own that. Secondly, he says we're the weak,
right? Verse 27 again, God has chosen the weak
things of the world. Verse 26, not many mighty,
not many powerful among you. And the Greek word
there for weak is asthenes, which means not just
physical weakness, but it describes somebody
who is kind of feeble or sickly. And so Paul
says, look, that church in Corinth, it's filled
with folks who are needy, folks who are struggling
in life. with all kinds of trials and difficulties,
folks who don't have a lot of material resources
like so many others in the world. And again,
we understand why this is so, because those who
are rich and powerful and have access to all
kinds of resources, they have a tendency to feel
like, why would I need God? I have so much. Why
would I need him? That's why Jesus said, it's
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle. And for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God because they don't see the need.
They have so much. And so the weak. The third
is the group we refer to as the insignificant.
Verse 28. In the NAS it says the base. Maybe
a better translation is the lowly. The lowly
things of the world. Up in verse 26. Not many
of you are of noble birth. The Greek word there
is aganes. A word which commonly was used in
the ancient world to describe a person's lineage.
Like, where do you come from? Do you have this
noble family line or not? And again, Paul says,
look around your church, folks. Not a lot of
noble families represented among you. I don't
know of anybody connected to royalty here in
your body. Nobody here part of the ruling class.
You are the insignificant. And again, the reason
is obvious, right? The nobles of Greek society,
the proud, the self -sufficient, why would they
submit to a message about salvation based on
a Jew dying on a cross? They're just not going
to receive that. Finally, one last group, the
despised. The despised, verse 28, the despised
and the things that are not. The Greek word here
is exutheneo. a word which was used to describe
something contemptible, despised, something of
no regard whatsoever. Paul says, your church
is filled with folks who are on the lower end
of the social ladder. Back in my day, we'd say
they're from the wrong side of the tracks, right?
They're contemptible. So they're looked down
upon by the upper crust of society. And Paul
says, it's okay. This is who we are. And just
to bolster that truth of what Paul's saying,
in the second century AD, there was a very famous
pagan philosopher by the name of Celsus, and
his works have come down to us through the church
father Origen, and he was writing around the
year 175. He was what we call a middle Platonist.
a middle Platonist, and he championed traditional
Greek and Roman religion. When he looked at Christianity,
what he saw was a superstitious foreign novel
religion that undermined Greek values. He's very
much a nationalist in that regard. Can I show
you what he wrote about us? You're not going
to like this. Here's what he wrote in the year
175. He said, the following are the rules laid
down by them, meaning Christians. Let no man
that is learned, wise, or prudent come among
us. But if they're unlearned or a child or an
idiot, let him freely come. So they openly declare
that none but the ignorant and those devoid of
understanding, slaves, women, and children are
fit disciples for the God that they worship.
Ouch. He goes on. It gets worse. We see them
in their houses. They're wool dressers, cobblers,
the worst, the most vulgar, the most uneducated
persons. They're like a swarm of bats or ants
creeping out of their nests or frogs holding
a symposium around a swamp or worms convening
in the mud. Yikes. That was the view of the so
-called high -minded members of Greek and Roman
society in the first and second centuries. The
Christians were stupid and lowly and contemptible,
really unfit for any serious philosophical debate,
and more like base creatures than rational human
beings. From the high -minded, from the elites
of society. Now, in light of all that, in light
of this passage and what you just read, raise
your hand if you're offended this morning. It'd
be okay if you raise your hand. This seems offensive,
but there's a key to understanding Paul's argument
here. that you have to understand. And by the
way, let me admit to you, I remember probably,
must have been 35 years ago, when I really started
to study the Bible in depth, I remember reading
this passage and being super offended. I just
was, because I thought, I mean, at the time I
was young and impulsive, and I thought I was
pretty smart, as most young men think they are.
And I thought I was, Micah, yeah. I thought I
was pretty smart. And so this felt like a real
attack on my character to call me these things.
But now I know better. What you have to understand
about this passage is that Paul is not speaking
objectively here. He's not saying you're objectively
stupid, objectively moronic, right? What he's
saying is this is the perspective of the world.
It's not objective. This is from the unbelieving
world's perspective. In fact, it's built into
the text. If you look again at verses 26 through
28, count how many times Paul refers to either
the world or worldly standards. Consider your
calling, brethren, that there were not many wise
according to the flesh. That means according
to the world's standards. God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise,
the weak things of the world to shame the things
which are strong, and the base things of the
world. This is the world's perspective. Four
times he says it. This is how the unbelieving
world sees us. We are in their eyes foolish and
weak and lowly and despised, but that's according
to their standards, not God's standard. And that's
what matters most, right? In fact, it's the opposite
of God's standard. And what Paul is doing here,
we've already seen him use a number of sort of
literary techniques here, appeal to absurdity,
things of that nature. This is what we call divine
inversion, where we see God delighting and flipping
over the values of the natural man. In God's
thoughts and ways, think about this, the humble
are exalted, right? Divine inversion. The last
will be first. God flips the values of the world
completely upside down. So in that vein, while
the wise and the strong, who are perishing, by
the way, While they judge the word of the cross
as foolishness, the simple and the weak who are
being saved, we judge that very same word as
the power of God unto salvation. You see the
contrast he's drawing here? It's light and darkness,
isn't it? And we need to, more often we need
to see the world in these terms, light and darkness.
Two groups of people perishing, being saved.
Because that's what Paul's saying here. Now,
a quick caveat, we have to be careful that we
don't get arrogant ourselves. God hasn't designed
his kingdom in this way because being weak and
foolish is better. There is no better when it
comes to humanity. We're all sinners. None of
us deserves to be saved. So we have to be careful
and go, well, I can now boast in my weakness
and boast in my foolishness and my moronic behavior,
right? We don't want to boast in that. God has
purposed to order things in this way so that
all glory is given to him and not to prideful
men and women, no matter where we are on the
socioeconomic scale. Now, God is 100 % sovereign,
he's all -powerful, and he could accomplish his
will in any number of ways, yet he chooses to
do it through simple, unimpressive servants like
us. The question is why? Would you design it
that way? If you were God, would you say, you
know what? I'm going to pass over those really
wealthy, powerful people who in our minds think,
well, those people could get a lot of things
done. Nope. I'm going to look at that really
simple person down here, and I'm going to use
him or her as my servant. Why? Well, Paul gives
us two explicit reasons in this text. One I'm
going to save for later, but the first one we
need to talk about because it fits with this
idea of divine inversion. In verse 28, Paul says,
and I'm going to put this on the screen, I'm
going to put the CSB version on the screen because
it's much more understandable than the NAS. It
says, God has chosen what is insignificant and
despised in the world, what is viewed as nothing,
to bring to nothing what is viewed as something.
That's one of the purposes why he uses folks
like us. It's God's plan and purpose to bring
to nothing all of the things that the world views
as something and to nullify it, to shame it.
In common terms, we could say to eradicate everything
that the world thinks is so great and so important.
That's what God wants to do through us. That
means all human power, all human wisdom, all
human honor, every false standard that the world
holds to, and every reason that man has to boast
in himself. God's going to obliterate it. And
here's the most amazing part. God has purposed
to do that, to magnify his name through the very
people who are despised by the world. That's
our mission, you guys. God has chosen us as simple
servants to carry out that mission, to nullify
and to shame the things that the world thinks
is so great. Now, again, don't let that pump
you up and make you arrogant yourself. That should
humble you that God has chosen you to do that.
Calvin put it this way. I love what he says.
He says, the Lord has designed this in order
to bring down the glory of the flesh by preferring
the contemptible over the great. That's an awesome
quote. Christians who are considered simple and
foolish, are you ready for this, are in reality
the wisest people on earth. The wisest. The poor
man. The slave. The former criminal. The man
without any education. If that man is reconciled
to God through the word of the cross and is being
led by the Holy Spirit, he has more wisdom than
the greatest philosopher the world has ever produced.
Wow, right? If he's been reconciled to God, he's
being led by the Holy Spirit, he has way more
wisdom than an unbeliever who talks a big game.
We are God's rebuke to the wisdom of the world.
And it drives arrogant men like Celsus absolutely
mad. It irks them to no end to see the confidence
that we have in the truth that God has revealed
to us. It irks them beyond measure to see the
eternal hope that we cling to in Christ. And
hasn't God always worked this way from Genesis
to today? When you look at the scriptures, inverting
the wisdom of the world, you can trace this all
the way back to the Torah, right? Back to God's
choice of one particular people among all the
nations of the ancient Near East, right? Israel.
What does Yahweh say about them in Deuteronomy
7? He says, the Lord did not set his love on
you nor choose you because you were more in number
than any of the peoples for you were the fewest
of all peoples. It makes no sense to us that
God would pick Israel, right? Why would you pick
the smallest tribe and use them? If we were God,
we'd say, show me the biggest tribe with the
largest military because we want to dominate.
Why would he do that? Because when he chooses
the fewest people, who gets the glory? God does.
It actually makes sense in his world, in his
economy. It's always been God's pattern to choose
the most unlikely people and the least impressive
people by worldly standards, again, to nullify
and shame the wise. In the New Testament, James
says this as well. He says, listen, my beloved
brethren, did not God choose the poor of this
world to be what? Rich in faith. To be rich in
faith. And heirs of the kingdom which he promised
to those who love him. So both Old Testament
and New Testament. And then you just walk down
the list of characters we see in the Bible. All
of the unlikely people that God chooses. Who
would have chosen David? the least likely of
all the brothers in that family, to be king over
Israel and the forerunner of the Messiah, a shepherd
boy. This is how God operates. Think of a simple
farmer, a tender of sycamore trees named Amos,
who God calls to be a prophet to judge the idolatrous
nation of the northern kingdom, Amos. Think of
an orphaned exile named Esther who comes out
of nowhere. to be queen in Persia and a savior
of her people. Or an old woman named Anna who's
called to be a prophetess, testifying to the
redemption of Jerusalem when she first sets her
eyes on Jesus. And if you're not convinced by
those, consider the man that Jesus describes
like this. Among those born of women, there has
not arisen anyone greater than who? John the
Baptist. John the Baptist, not a man admired
by society. Not a man who looked favorably on
by the elites of the world at that time. No education
that we know of, not from a noble family, no
real power, just a single voice of conviction,
crying out in the wilderness, and a very strange
character to boot. Does not fit any of the standards
of the world. But he was God's man at just the
right time. And so the Lord used John the Baptist
as a rebuke to the powerful chief priests in
Jerusalem, didn't he? Absolutely unlikely. All
of these folks were judged to be insignificant
by the world, but not by God. So this is a very
consistent trend that runs right through 1 Corinthians
1. Do you see it? Now, at this point, you may
hear all that and go, okay, well, that's starting
to make some sense. What am I supposed to do
with this? Like, what am I supposed to do with
this passage? Is there a practical application
here? O ye of little faith. There is so much
in this passage for you and I to take home this
morning, not the least of which are all the ways
that in the background of this text we just read,
those six verses, you see multiple ways that
God has loved you in unfathomable ways. It's
right there. I say in the background because
how many times do we rip through a passage and
we don't slow down enough to see these words
that are absolutely loaded with theological meaning.
We read right past them and we sometimes miss
them entirely. In these six verses, 26 to 31,
Paul describes at least four ways that God has
shown unfathomable love for you. So we're gonna
walk through those. The first one is election.
The first one is election. You were chosen by
him. And look, I know sometimes you guys get
tired of me talking about sovereignty and election
and all this. It's everywhere in the Bible. So
we're going to do it again. Get used to it because
Paul likes election. Look what it says, verses
27 to 28. Three times he uses the word chosen.
We can't just ignore that word. God has chosen
the foolish things. God has chosen the weak.
The despised God has chosen. And understand,
that's not a throwaway verb that Paul is using
here. It's the very same verb where it describes
how Jesus chose the 12. Did you think that might
have been random? That Jesus chose, give me 12
fishermen. It's a very biologically loaded word
that he uses here. In fact, It's the same verb
that Jesus uses in the upper room when he says
to his disciples, you did not choose me, but
I chose you. And then three verses later, I chose
you out of the world, it says. And then famously,
it's the same verb Paul uses to describe the
very beginning of how any of us in this room
got saved. Going back to Ephesians chapter one,
he chose us in him before the foundation of the
world. He chose us in Christ before a thing was
made that we would be holy and blameless before
him. Well, hold on a second. How can we be holy
and blameless? He will make it so because he's
chosen you. In love, that's the motivation, he
predestined us to adoption as sons. through Jesus
Christ to himself according to the kind intention
of his divine will, which cannot be thwarted.
That's a powerful passage, isn't it? Paul is
saying here in 1 Corinthians 1 that before we
even came into existence, God fully understood
the depths of our sin, the depths of our rebellion,
and in spite of that, he graciously marked us
out to be saved. Has he loved you? It's unfathomable,
isn't it? The fact that you're saved this morning
originated in the divine will and purpose of
God even before time began. And to me, what's
most amazing about election, and we talk about
this within the framework of Calvinism, it's
unconditional. It's not conditioned upon your
performance or my performance. God didn't say,
I chose you, Jeff, because I knew you'd be good
and obedient. Because I wasn't. He didn't say
to me, I chose you, Jeff, based on the fact that
I knew someday you would choose to believe in
me. In Scripture, there's no conditions placed
on God's choosing. It is simply his good and
sovereign will. And I know that's a hard principle
to wrestle with. It's everywhere in Scripture.
So that's the first thing. Second way that God's
love for us is found in our passage is back to
verse 26, that God called us. He called us. Paul
starts by saying, consider your calling, brothers
and sisters. That's the Greek word klesis. It's
a word that's synonymous with the idea of receiving
an invitation. That's a really good practical
way to think about calling. Being invited by
God into a saving relationship with Christ. Okay?
It's the same word used in Romans 11 when Paul
describes God's faithfulness to Israel, saying
the gifts and the calling of God to Israel are
irrevocable. In other words, the covenant invitation
given by Yahweh to Israel can never be taken
back, can never be nullified. And the same can
be said of God's calling of you and me. By the
way, if God can revoke his calling given to Israel,
what security do we have? that he might change
his mind again. It's irrevocable, he says. And
so the calling he's given to us, once he chooses
us as part of a sovereign will and divine purpose,
he will call us with a calling that is irrevocable
because God doesn't make mistakes and he doesn't
go back on his word. That's good news for us,
right? Calling is also used powerfully in 2 Timothy
1, being connected both to the basis of our salvation
by faith alone and to election. Look at this
verse. God has saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which
was granted us in Christ Jesus from when? From
all eternity. It's not just in Ephesians 1. Here
it is in 2 Timothy. So completely apart from
any merit in us or any good works that we had
done, God graciously extends to us this holy
invitation to know him. by opening our eyes to
see Christ for who he is, which Paul also speaks
of in Ephesians 1. He says, I pray that the eyes
of your heart may be enlightened so that you'll
know what is the hope of his calling, what are
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
the saints. What a beautiful word picture here,
right? This calling of hope that brings light
into our hearts, this invitation that God gives
us, that enlightens us. It's an invitation that
draws us out of darkness and death and brings
us into light and life. It is God's irresistible,
life -giving command that says, come to me. Come
to me. So if you're a believer this morning,
that is the truth about how you got saved, with
an effectual calling from God that produced in
you his divine will. That your spiritual eyes
would be open, that your affections for Christ
would be stirred in your heart such that you
would turn to him, see him, love him, and believe
in him and be saved. That's part of the calling
that God, sometimes the word is drawing, but
this calling, this holy invitation to know God.
He did the work to open your eyes so that you
see him and love him. Isn't it great? Unfathomable
love that God has shown us by choosing us and
calling us. Third way that we see here, look
again at verse 30. This is another one of those
statements that you might read right past if
you're not careful, but it's filled with meaning.
But by his doing, it says, by his doing or because
of him, you are in Christ Jesus. This is a beautiful
picture of being united, being in union with
Christ, meaning you get a new identity. Once
you're united to Christ, you have a new identity.
You're a new creation. You are reckoned as righteous
in the sight of God. It means getting a new life.
You're now considered to have died with Christ
to sin. and to be raised to him in new life,
now walking in the spirit. So a new identity
and a new life, and then a new relationship.
You now share an ongoing fellowship with Jesus.
You are a branch connected to the vine, abiding
with him and bearing spiritual fruit. All of
that happens because of our union with Christ.
This is why, oh, by the way, being united to
Christ also means being joined to his body, right?
The church. That's a part of it, being united
to his body. And by being united to the body,
you're united to every believer who is also spiritually
connected to the vine. This is why we talk about
all the time at Oak Hill that being a member
of a local church is not optional. It's just
not. You can try it, but you're never going to
find the fullness of your union with Christ if
you're not connected to others who are in the
vine. That's for another sermon. Once again,
we see that this unity connects both to election
and calling because the only reason we're united
to Jesus is because God sovereignly acted. Look
at what it says in verse 30. It's by his doing,
not by your choice, right? Not by, well, I believe.
No, by his doing, you are in Christ Jesus. Again,
I'm not trying to nullify the fact that we made
a real decision to love Jesus and believe in
him. I always want to make this caveat because
it's just that God changed our affections so
that we loved him, so that we believed in him.
But it's by his doing that that happened, that
you are in Christ Jesus. He chose us in eternity
past. Then within time and space, he called us
into light and life. He granted us faith to believe,
and then he brought us into union with his son.
Is this not unfathomable love? This is not something
that any of us could do on our own. Only God
can graft you into the life of his son. Only
God can keep you grafted into the life of his
son. And I say amen to that. Fourth thing that
we need to look at, stay there in verse 30. By
his doing, it says, you are in Christ Jesus who
became to us wisdom from God. Stop there. became
for us wisdom from the Father. And look at these
next three things, righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Now, what Paul is emphasizing
here is being found in Christ in union with him.
That is true wisdom that comes down from above.
Being united to Christ is true wisdom, the truest
of wisdom that comes down from the Father. And
again, think about the contrast between this
and worldly wisdom. A man could be super smart.
A man could come from a wealthy background, have
a big title and a powerful position. A man could
understand every philosophical construct known
to mankind and reject the word of the cross.
And at the end of his life, he will stand before
God. He will be judged for sin and cast into
hell. So is that man really wise? No. I don't
care what he had in this life. That man is not
truly wise because true wisdom is only found
in Christ. That's what Paul's saying here. It
comes from God's revelation in Christ. For in
him, there is first of all, what? Righteousness.
Whose righteousness? His righteousness. Given
to us, granted to us, right? He takes on your
sin and you receive from him all of the moral
perfection that he walked in during his days
on the earth. His righteousness is credited to
your account as a believer. That's what we get.
True wisdom from God is, first of all, righteousness.
The great exchange, right? Your debt that you
owe to God for sin completely satisfied. That's
true wisdom. Doesn't matter how simple and lowly
you are on this earth. If you have that, you
are truly wise. Secondly, in him, there's sanctification.
We talked about this last week, this idea that
you're positionally holy. You're seen as holy
by God through Christ. But now also sanctification
refers to this process, this progressive spiritual
maturity, this idea that we're practically growing
into holiness. And then finally, there's redemption.
being purchased by the blood of Christ, bought
back as his possession. The blood of Christ,
which washes away our sins and leads us into
eternal life. Guys, do you see this? Do you see
this now? How easy was it to read right past
all that? And this is why I love, man, I love
Bible reading plans and it's great to just rip
through the scriptures. There are times you just
gotta slow down. And look at every single word
and see the love that God has for you. Amazing.
Okay, one last thing we have to touch on before
we're done. Earlier I talked about two reasons
why God chooses to use the simple and the unimpressive
to accomplish his will. The first is to nullify
the things of the world, right? To shame the
wise. The second reason is found twice in our
passage in verse 29 and verse 31. God has chosen.
I'm going to get it. God has chosen the foolish
and the weak and the despised, verse 29, so that
no man or no flesh may boast before God. Let's
talk about boasting. And I want you to see that
this is actually another aspect of God's love
for us. It's a protective kind of love. God is
not going to allow us to boast before him. He's
gonna protect us from ourselves. It's like a
good father who says, son, I know you feel like
you should be able to make a choice to go play
on that freeway. I'm not gonna let you do it
because I know more than you and it's not gonna
end well. God loves us so much that he is gonna
prevent us from diminishing his glory by allowing
us to exalt ourselves in his presence. Now. The
reality is I'm certain that once we pass from
this life and into the presence of Christ and
we see the fullness of his glory, not one of
us is gonna feel like boasting on ourselves,
right? But as a loving father, he's warning us
in advance through Paul, you won't boast before
me and here's the reason why. He's telling us,
here's why you're not gonna boast before me.
You're not gonna be in my presence because you
were so smart. You're not going to be before
me because you were so spiritual or so strong
or so articulate or from some noble birth. You
are in my presence because I chose you, because
I marked you out in love. Because I called you
to myself. Because I brought you into union with
myself. Because I credited my righteousness to
your account. Because I sanctified you as holy.
Because I redeemed you by my own blood. That's
why you're here. Any questions for that? I mean,
do you see the contrast? Here's the thing. We
see at the end of the passage in verse 31, boasting
isn't necessarily wrong. It all depends upon
the object you're boasting in, right? And so
in verse 31, Paul says, go ahead, boast in the
Lord because he's worthy of your boasting. And
Paul is referring back. He says, see, it's written.
He's referring back to Jeremiah chapter nine.
We read it this morning. Kenny read it as part
of our call to worship. Here, I'll put it on
the screen because it's so worth knowing. Jeremiah
9, 23 and 24, thus says the Lord, let not a wise
man boast of his wisdom, let not the mighty man
boast of his might, let not a rich man boast
of his riches, but let him who boasts, boast
of this. Here it is, boast of this, friends,
that he understands and knows me, that I am the
Lord. who exercises loving kindness, justice,
and righteousness on earth, for I delight in
these things, says the Lord. So go for it, Christian.
Boast away, right? Boast in who your God is.
Boast to the world. Proclaim it from the rooftops,
in your conversations during the week, at work,
wherever. Boast in the Lord. Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, the goodness, the grace, the mercy
of the Lord. Boast in the cross of Christ, in
what happened there, the work that was accomplished
for you. Boast in the fact that as a nobody in
this world, you are somebody precious to God.
Boast in that. Oh, but you're a foolish, simple
person. Not to God. Boast in that. God sees me
as precious and important, and his opinion is
all that matters. That's true wisdom. Boast in
the fact that his weakness became your strength,
that his suffering and death became your salvation.
And those things boast away. And friends, listen,
this is gonna be our joy forever. We are gonna
spend all of eternity boasting in our God and
praising his name. So in a practical sense, here's
what I want you to walk away with this morning.
I want you to know just how much the Lord has
loved you. And hopefully you know more about
it than you did when you walked in this morning.
Or maybe you forgot it. In the stress of life,
it kind of has disappeared from your mind. Let
it come back. Meditate on that truth. How much
God has loved you. And I want you to walk into
the world tomorrow. It doesn't matter where it
is, right? Whether it's at work or in the home
or at school, wherever you are. And I want you
to walk confidently. Knowing what true power
really is. I want you to walk with boldness,
knowing what true strength looks like. And I
want you to walk into the world with contentment
and joy, knowing what true wisdom is according
to God's word, because all of those things are
yours in Christ. Amen? Let's bow our heads.