A Determined Man with a Definite Message (1 Cor. 2:2)

This sermon was preached on 10/2/2013

There is no doubt that if we were to compile a list of the individuals who have most influenced the course of human history and opinion we would include the name of the apostle Paul. Because of the greatness of his influence we may assume that he was a man marked by self-confidence and without fear. Yet as he tells us here the reality was very much different. He had come to Corinth, one of the prominent cities of the ancient world, round about the year 55. As far as we know, the gospel had never been preached there before. It was a city where sinful practices were prominent and where various religions were followed. So it is not surprising that Paul was apprehensive. 

As he wandered round the city and took in its atmosphere, he must have given thought to how he would win some of its inhabitants to the Christian faith. What would he say to the intellectuals who lived there? What would he say to the immoral people who live there? What would he say to the idolaters who lived there? What would he say to the infirm folk who lived there? Perhaps if others had been with him, they might have suggested this method or that message. 

Paul knew which message he was going to declare, and although he was feeling weak and apprehensive he was totally aware of what to say. Further, he was totally determined not to say anything else. Paul was competent to have discussions about life with every different group in the city. But he had no intention of engaging in verbal battles about what would have been secondary issues for him. Instead he was determined to tell the inhabitants about Jesus Christ and his cross, and the significance of him and it. As far as Paul was concerned, the cross of Christ made sense of time and of eternity, of his inner experiences and outward behaviour, indeed of his past, present and future.

Paul’s words here speak about communicating the gospel. When he refers to ‘wisdom’, he is not referring to a person speaking wisely. Instead he is refusing to use methods adopted by many speakers at that time when presenting their teachings. They would embellish their speeches with artificial and unnecessary details designed to impress their audience with the capabilities of the speaker. In contrast, Paul decided not to use any speech techniques when telling the gospel. He did not want any extras to compromise or conceal the message that people in Corinth had to hear.

The cause of his determination

The basic reason for his determination was that he himself had come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way. If Paul was able to tell us his story, this is roughly what he would say. He would inform us about his way of life before he encountered Jesus. During that time he had been a zealous Jew who hated the message about Jesus that his followers were spreading. Such was his loathing of this message that he did all he could to minimise its effects. Yet on a journey to Damascus to deal with some followers of Jesus who lived there he was stopped in his tracks by Jesus.

Paul had two problems with the message about Jesus that his followers declared. One was their claim that Jesus was divine and the other was their claim that Jesus, who had been crucified as a criminal, was raised from the dead and exalted to the throne of God. On the Damascus road, Paul discovered personally that both claims were true. He also discovered that Jesus had a plan for his life, a plan that involved taking the message he had previously despised to as many people as possible. Such was the effect of meeting with Jesus that Paul began his new task immediately.

What was it about the message of Jesus that so inspired Paul and made him willing to travel all over the world in order to spread it? An important aspect is that the message gave hope for the future. Previously when Paul had looked ahead, the prospects were hopeless. This was true nationally because his people were enslaved to a foreign power; this was true personally because he was getting older and life was getting shorter; this was true physically because his body was becoming weaker; this was true inwardly because his aspirations for peace within were never realised. No matter what he did, no matter how much enthusiasm he showed, no matter how earnest he practised his religion, he knew that there was something missing. 

After meeting Jesus, many of these external and physical aspects of life remained. His inner life was transformed, however. Now he had peace within and he could look ahead to whatever life brought with the knowledge that even when he died his soul would go to heaven, that in the future he would experience a glorified resurrection from the dead, and that he would live with all those who trusted in Jesus in a new universe. The message that he proclaimed declared all these prospects. In doing so, he was helping to create a forward-looking people, a community who anticipated the future with delight.

But it was all connected to the fact that Jesus had been crucified, which leads us to think about the centrality of his message.

The centrality of his message

This emphasis by Paul would have been very surprising to the people of Corinth when they first heard it from the lips of the apostle. After all, crucifixion was not an inspiring subject to speak about. It was all about punishment for crimes, of being the worst kind of person. As far as Jews were concerned, it suggested that the criminal had been abandoned by God; as far as Gentiles were concerned, it was a foolish message not worth listening to. Yet Paul was determined to take this message about a crucified person to every Jew and every Gentile who lived in Corinth. What would he say to them about the cross of Jesus?

One aspect of his message was that the cross was the divine solution to human need. The common understanding of the cross of Jesus was that he had been arrested for leading a rebellion against the authorities and had been put to death. Not so, said Paul. Instead the cross had been God’s remedy for human sinfulness which he had planned even before time began. Away back then, it had been decided by God the Father that he would send his eternal Son into the world on a path that would lead to the cross. And the Son was willing to come. 

A second aspect of his message was that the cross was where the Son of God became a substitute for sinners. He was not there because he himself had done anything wrong. In fact, he was sinless inwardly in his mind and heart as well as outwardly. He went to the cross because he wanted to take the place of sinners. They deserved to die because of their sins; he chose to die on behalf of those who deserved to die.

A third aspect of Paul’s message was that the cross was where Jesus suffered instead of sinners. We can look at physical features of the cross, real as they were, as pictures of what Jesus suffered spiritually there. In a literal sense, the cross was a picture of what it means to be abandoned by God, to be cursed by him. That was the penalty that we deserved for our sins. Yet Jesus had no personal sin, but he chose to bear the punishment that sinners would have had to pay.

It is impossible for us to describe what Jesus had to go through as far as what he felt when he was on the cross. We know that a person cannot understand punishment unless he experiences punishment. I don’t know what life imprisonment is like because I have never experienced it. Of course, I can describe it as an onlooker, mention its length and list what occurs throughout it. But I cannot feel it. We can detail the sufferings of Jesus in an objective sense and say that he suffered the wrath of God. But we cannot describe its intensity. What we can say is this: if we depend on Jesus, we know he paid the penalty for our sins. And Paul knew he could say this to the people of Corinth as well.

A fourth aspect of Paul’s message was that Jesus succeeded on the cross. We are aware of the seven recorded sayings of Jesus on the cross; the sixth saying was one that described success. Jesus cried in a loud voice, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). The work that he did on the cross was a completed work, one given to him by the Father to accomplish (John 17:4). On the cross, Jesus was exceptionally successful. The most successful achievement that there will ever be took place on the cross when Jesus completely paid the price for obtaining pardon for all those who would trust in him. His work was done for them, which means that all of them now receive the benefits of a successful work.

The proof of his success is seen what happened to him after he had endured divine punishment. He died peacefully, he was resurrected gloriously three days later, he then ascended majestically to the throne of God forty days later, and ever since then he had been overseeing the spread of his kingdom throughout the world. Countless millions have embraced his success. And even in Corinth, the city which he entered so afraid, Paul was to see the success of the cross as sinners of all kinds embraced his message and trusted in Jesus. 

The challenges of his message

To us come the same challenges that came to these Corinthians long ago. Paul thought it essential that he take this message to Corinth and if he were here he would repeat the same message to us. What are some of the challenges?

The first challenge concerns what we think about Jesus. ‘Paul’s only design in going to Corinth was to preach Christ; and Christ not as a teacher, or as an example, or as a perfect man, or as a new starting point in the development of the race – all this would be mere philosophy; but Christ as crucified, i.e. as dying for our sins. Christ as a propitiation was the burden of Paul’s preaching. It has been well remarked that Jesus Christ refers to the person of Christ, and him crucified, to his work; which constitute the sum of the gospel’ (Charles Hodge). Do we agree with Paul that we cannot think truly about Jesus unless we also include the purpose of his death?

The second challenge concerns our inner response to the message about Jesus. It is not sufficient to realise that an authentic message about Jesus will explain the significance of the cross. An entire audience could agree with this perspective, yet each of them could fail to make an adequate response. Having been informed about the meaning of the cross we should repent of our sins and place our trust in the risen Saviour. 

The third challenge concerns our outward response to the message about Jesus. As Paul later makes very clear in this letter (1 Corinthians 15), Jesus is now the exalted Lord. Our proper response to him is to live day by day as his disciples, serving him in a society that does not appreciate his teachings. In doing so, we will experience his ongoing grace and power as we are changed gradually into his likeness by the Holy Spirit.