The Power We Didn't Expect
The Power We Didn’t Expect
A Simple Line with a Serious Purpose
How often do you pay attention to the dashed centerline on the interstate?
One time my family was traveling with my oldest daughter and her husband when someone brought up the length of one dash of the center line on the highway. Do you know the answer? Unbelievably, one dash is ten feet long. And yes, I did pull over to check one out.
That centerline serves a purpose. It separates one side of the road from the other, and we use caution when we cross it because it often marks a division in the flow of traffic.
Division is exactly what the apostle Paul is addressing in today’s passage.
A Church Divided—and a Gospel Recentered
Paul is writing to a divided church in Corinth. You may have seen those memes that say, “If Paul were around today, we’d be getting a letter.” This is one of those letters the memes are talking about.
Believers were aligning themselves with:
Beneath the surface disagreements was a deeper problem: people were evaluating the gospel using the world’s standards of wisdom, power, and honor.
So Paul recenters everything on the cross.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”¹
The Cross as the True Dividing Line
Here, the dividing line is not ten feet of paint on a highway—it is the cross.
On one side of the cross are those who judge God by human logic.
On the other are those who submit to God’s self-disclosure.
And if we are honest, many of us struggle with that submission. We want all the information now, on our timeline—not God’s. We often assume we know best.
When Human Wisdom Reaches Its Limit
Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”²
Isaiah spoke these words to confront human pride—an echo heard in Job and in our own lives whenever we assume we have all the answers.
Paul continues:
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”³
Here is a difficult but necessary question for honest self-reflection:
How often do we operate as though we can make ourselves right with God through our own wisdom, credentials, or effort?
These rhetorical questions expose the inability of even the most impressive human systems to produce salvation.
Christ Crucified: Offense and Power
Corinth was known for award-winning rhetoric, philosophy, and debate. Think of popular media personalities, influential commentators, or the know-it-all voice on social media.
Paul undercuts all of it.
“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”⁴
The Jews sought signs.
The Greeks sought wisdom.
That sounds familiar.
We search for credentials, certainty, voices to follow, and systems to trust. But Paul says:
“But we preach Christ crucified.”⁵
To many Jews, the cross was a stumbling block.
To Gentiles, it was embarrassing by worldly standards.
When people operate from a purely worldly perspective, the cross offends pride—because God saves in a way that prevents any group from claiming superiority.
Superiority belongs to God alone.
“But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”⁶
God issues his call through the message of the cross—but not everyone receives it as God’s wisdom and power.
God’s Call and God’s Grace
Think about a birthday party invitation from childhood. You could respond—or ignore it.
God’s call, however, is not passive background noise. It is like a ringing phone. To receive what is on the other end, we must answer.
For some, the same cross that reveals God’s wisdom repels others. What looks like weakness is actually divine victory.
The cross does not need defending—it redefines reality.
Grace That Ends Boasting
Paul then turns directly to the Corinthians:
“For consider your calling, brothers.”⁷
God chooses what the world considers:
Salvation is not a reward for merit. Grace dismantles boasting. God’s kingdom exposes the illusion of human status.
“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”⁸
These are not achievements we earn.
They are gifts we receive in Christ.
Paul concludes by quoting Jeremiah:
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”⁹
Everything we lack, God supplies in Jesus.
Where We Look for Answers
In a world overflowing with voices and opinions, it is easy to believe we can be experts in everything.
Paul reminds us that the message of the cross cancels every human system of wisdom, power, and status.
What the world dismisses as foolish, God uses as the means of rescue. By choosing the lowly and supplying everything in Christ, God ensures that no one may boast—except in the Lord.
When you are searching for answers in an often-broken world, remember: everything we need is found in God.
Stay in the Word daily, it will save your life.
Scripture References (ESV)
A Simple Line with a Serious Purpose
How often do you pay attention to the dashed centerline on the interstate?
One time my family was traveling with my oldest daughter and her husband when someone brought up the length of one dash of the center line on the highway. Do you know the answer? Unbelievably, one dash is ten feet long. And yes, I did pull over to check one out.
That centerline serves a purpose. It separates one side of the road from the other, and we use caution when we cross it because it often marks a division in the flow of traffic.
Division is exactly what the apostle Paul is addressing in today’s passage.
A Church Divided—and a Gospel Recentered
Paul is writing to a divided church in Corinth. You may have seen those memes that say, “If Paul were around today, we’d be getting a letter.” This is one of those letters the memes are talking about.
Believers were aligning themselves with:
- leaders
- social status
- education
- verbal skill
Beneath the surface disagreements was a deeper problem: people were evaluating the gospel using the world’s standards of wisdom, power, and honor.
So Paul recenters everything on the cross.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”¹
The Cross as the True Dividing Line
Here, the dividing line is not ten feet of paint on a highway—it is the cross.
- On one side: folly
- On the other: the power of God
On one side of the cross are those who judge God by human logic.
On the other are those who submit to God’s self-disclosure.
And if we are honest, many of us struggle with that submission. We want all the information now, on our timeline—not God’s. We often assume we know best.
When Human Wisdom Reaches Its Limit
Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”²
Isaiah spoke these words to confront human pride—an echo heard in Job and in our own lives whenever we assume we have all the answers.
Paul continues:
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”³
Here is a difficult but necessary question for honest self-reflection:
How often do we operate as though we can make ourselves right with God through our own wisdom, credentials, or effort?
These rhetorical questions expose the inability of even the most impressive human systems to produce salvation.
Christ Crucified: Offense and Power
Corinth was known for award-winning rhetoric, philosophy, and debate. Think of popular media personalities, influential commentators, or the know-it-all voice on social media.
Paul undercuts all of it.
“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”⁴
The Jews sought signs.
The Greeks sought wisdom.
That sounds familiar.
We search for credentials, certainty, voices to follow, and systems to trust. But Paul says:
“But we preach Christ crucified.”⁵
To many Jews, the cross was a stumbling block.
To Gentiles, it was embarrassing by worldly standards.
When people operate from a purely worldly perspective, the cross offends pride—because God saves in a way that prevents any group from claiming superiority.
Superiority belongs to God alone.
“But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”⁶
God issues his call through the message of the cross—but not everyone receives it as God’s wisdom and power.
God’s Call and God’s Grace
Think about a birthday party invitation from childhood. You could respond—or ignore it.
God’s call, however, is not passive background noise. It is like a ringing phone. To receive what is on the other end, we must answer.
For some, the same cross that reveals God’s wisdom repels others. What looks like weakness is actually divine victory.
The cross does not need defending—it redefines reality.
Grace That Ends Boasting
Paul then turns directly to the Corinthians:
“For consider your calling, brothers.”⁷
God chooses what the world considers:
- foolish
- weak
- low
- despised
Salvation is not a reward for merit. Grace dismantles boasting. God’s kingdom exposes the illusion of human status.
“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”⁸
These are not achievements we earn.
They are gifts we receive in Christ.
Paul concludes by quoting Jeremiah:
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”⁹
Everything we lack, God supplies in Jesus.
Where We Look for Answers
In a world overflowing with voices and opinions, it is easy to believe we can be experts in everything.
Paul reminds us that the message of the cross cancels every human system of wisdom, power, and status.
What the world dismisses as foolish, God uses as the means of rescue. By choosing the lowly and supplying everything in Christ, God ensures that no one may boast—except in the Lord.
When you are searching for answers in an often-broken world, remember: everything we need is found in God.
Stay in the Word daily, it will save your life.
Scripture References (ESV)
- 1 Cor 1:18
- Isa 29:14; cited in 1 Cor 1:19
- 1 Cor 1:20
- 1 Cor 1:21
- 1 Cor 1:23
- 1 Cor 1:24–25
- 1 Cor 1:26
- 1 Cor 1:30
- Jer 9:23–24; cited in 1 Cor 1:31
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