A Lesson in 1 Corinthians

I am taking a class on 1 Corinthians right now. One of the assignments is to do 4 book reports on the book of 1 Corinthians, each from a different translation. Have you ever got to the point when you were reading the Bible and God gives you one of those WOW! moments and you just can't put the Bible down - then when you put it down, you are still trying to wrap your head around what God just said? That's what happened to me tonight in the Chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians.

1 Cor. 1:30-31 "But from Him you are in Christ Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord."

This verse is building upon Jeremiah 9:24, "Let he who boast, boast in this: that he knows and understands Me."

When we start that journey of knowing and understanding God, Jesus then becomes wisdom for us sent from God on top of righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, "The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches. But the one who boasts should boast in this - that he knows and understands Me."

When we unpack this, and see what Christ has done for us - it almost becomes mind boggling. 1 Cor. 1:5 says that we were made rich in everything, in all speaking and all knowledge (let not the rich man boast in his riches, or the wise man boast in his wisdom). 1 Cor. 1:24 says, "Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom." (the mighty man not boast in his might & again, the wise man not boast in his wisdom)

This is what I'm getting at: To boast in the LORD means to have an intimate knowledge of Him (let he that boasts, boast in this: that he knows and understands Me), and through that intimate relationship, God greatly increases through Christ what men long for: riches, power and wisdom.

Material riches will fade away. All it takes is a few bad hits on the stock market, or a recession and see what happens to material wealth; however, the riches God gives through Christ will never fade or spoil. To the homeless man $10,000 seems like a fortune, but the multi-billionaire would give everything he had to have his deceased son back. In this case, who desires the true riches?

Physical power is limited and will eventually be gone. Sickness will take it away and so will death, but to us who are called, Christ is God's power and God's power is infinite. The 12 year old boy would idolize the massive body builder because of his strength, but would pay no attention to the tower crane lifting steel beams to the 60th floor of a skyscraper. What has more strength?

We all want to look smart, nobody wants to look like a dummy, but our knowledge and wisdom are limited also, but God sent Christ to become wisdom for us, even though it looks like foolishness to those who are perishing. Are we going to look to man's wisdom that gets us into trouble, or are we going to seek God's wisdom. The Psalmist says that God's foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom, just like the tower crane is stronger than the body-builder and just like the deceased son is worth more than billionaire's fortune.

So this is the question I am going to leave you with. Who is Jesus Christ to you? Is he a myth or an archaic god? Is he a theological entity that we should at sometime learn something about, or is He truly the Son of God who desires you to know Him in the fullest sense?