First Corinthians
Monday, January 6 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
“I came to you inweakness”
Paul uses himself as an illustration ofhow God is able to use the weak to confound the strong. If any of the readers had been offended byhis earlier statement that there were not many among them who were wiseaccording to the world, they could be comforted by the fact that Paul includedhimself in the statement. The spirit ofhumility he asked of his readers he had exhibited himself both in his messageand in the manner of his life. Thecorrespondence between the minister and his gospel is what gave it power,because the messenger must match the message.
Paulis here laying a foundation for dealing with the divisions in the church. He wants to remind them that neither thegospel he preached not the manner in which he preached it had in any waycontributed to the schism in the congregation. He had come to them as an announcer of good news – not to argue orpersuade. Since the gospel is not asystem of philosophy or logic but a statement of God’s revelation in Christ,the proper stance for its messenger is proclaimer.
We share the gospel, Lord, to win converts,not compliments. Amen.
Tuesday, January 7 1 Corinthians 2:6-9
“We speak thewisdom of God”
Paul has made astrong case that the gospel owes nothing to human wisdom and that both its messengerand message are despised by the rulers of this world. But now he seems to be aware that peoplemight take what he has written to mean that any kind of wisdom is bad. So in these verses he makes an emphasis onthe kind of wisdom that is good – divine wisdom. He teaches that there is such a thing asChristian wisdom. It centers in God’splan of redemption as revealed in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
The “wisdom ofGod” is a reference to the gospel in all its implications. It is not just a sermon on the cross butinvolves all that is included in understanding God’s redemptive purpose, thenature of God, and the destiny of humanity. The mystery or “hidden wisdom” of God is that which was hidden in thepast but which has now been made known by a revelation of God. This wisdom is such that human beings wereincapable of anticipating it, a plan which no one but God could have made, andwhich people cannot understand unless the Spirit assists them.
Youhave revealed your wisdom to me, Lord, by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wednesday, January 8 Isaiah 64:1-4
“No ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you”
Isaiah calls onGod to leave his home in the heaves and to come to his people’s aid. The reason for his doing so is that thenations may know the name of God, that is, that they might know exactly who Godis, the sole Sovereign of the universe. Only when those nations see God blessing and defending his people willthey recognize him appropriately. God’sactions in the past demonstrate that Isaiah’s petition is not based infantasy. Whenever God had manifestedhimself in the past, dramatic things occurred, from the parting of the Red Seato the stopping of the rain for three years. God can act and he has acted, so it is not foolish to ask him to actagain.
But if Isaiahknows that God can act, he also knows that there are conditions for that tooccur. God acts in behalf of those whowait for him, that is, those who put their trust in him rather than in theirown intellectual understanding of God’s character and what they may expect fromhim. From the beginning, the “ears” and“eyes” of those who see themselves as wise have attempted to manipulate God inorder for him to do their bidding, but they will not succeed.
There is no Godlike you, Lord, and I put my trust in you. Amen.
Thursday, January 9 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
“We have God’s Spirit, not the world’s spirit”
The phrase “spirit of the world” refers tothe spirit of this age. In all of Paul’swritings he contends that history is divided into “this present age” and “theage to come.” By “this age” he meansthat world which is marked by rebellion against the creator – a self-centeredworld. By the “age to come” he meansthat Kingdom which God has already begun to create through Christ. While Paul was quite realistic about thepowers of the world, his writing is infected with a great confidence concerningGod’s ultimate triumph in all things.
While Paul will begin to develop the ideaof immature and worldly Christians in the next chapter, he introduces here thecontrast between the natural and the spiritual person in his discussion ofdivine wisdom. To him the “naturalperson” was one who, because they had not received the Spirit of God in theirlife, still had their understanding very much limited to this world. It is not the suggestion that a person cannotunderstand, but that a person, even at his or her very best, cannot understandspiritual matters without the help of the Spirit of God.
Your Spirit livesin me, Lord, helping me to understand the things of God. Amen.
Friday, January 10 I Corinthians 2:13-16
“It all soundsfoolish to them”
William Barclay defines the person withoutthe Spirit as the kind of individual who “lives as if there was nothing beyondthe physical life and there were no needs other than material needs.” Such a person “thinks that nothing is moreimportant than the satisfaction of the sex urge” and thus “cannot understandthe meaning of chastity in singleness and fidelity in marriage.” One “who ranks the amassing of materialthings as the supreme end of life cannot understand generosity,” and one “whohas never a thought beyond this world cannot understand the things of God.” Surely sexual immorality, materialism, andatheism prevail even more pervasively in our Western world today than inmid-twentieth-century Scotland where Barclay first wrote these words.
The person with the Spirit, that is, anyChristian, has the ability to bring God’s perspective to bear on every aspectof life. As such, Christians are notsubject to any merely human evaluation, meaning one that does not take God’sperspective into account. Evenevaluation by fellow believers is provisional; the only judge who ultimatelycounts is God.
Make me wise, Lord, that I may see allthings from your point of view. Amen.
Saturday, January 11 Isaiah 40:12-14
“Who knows enoughto teach God?”
Earlier in the chapter, Isaiah verifiedGod’s desire and intention to deliver his people; but can he do it? After all, from one perspective, he seemedunable to prevent the Babylonians from capturing the land and city in the firstplace, so why should we think he will be able to deliver the people now? Isaiah’s approach to answering the questionis to assert that God is unique. He isable to deliver not because he is greater than the Babylonian gods; he is ableto deliver because he is the only God!
In these three verses the prophet employsa series of rhetorical questions intended to bring the reader to the point ofsaying that God is the sole Creator of the world, and he needed no one’s helpor advice. Similarly, he has ordainedwhat is right and good for how people are to live with their God and with oneanother and, again, he needed no one’s assistance to do so. Being able to do such amazing things all onhis own, is it too much to believe that he can rescue his people from theircaptivity?
Youhave rescued me from sin, Lord, and I praise your name. Amen.