1 Corinthians Chapter 1 (The Cross)

The Message of the Cross

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1 Corinthians 1

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17 Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

18 The message about the cross doesn’t make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work. 19 As God says in the Scriptures,
“I will destroy the wisdom
of all who claim
to be wise.
I will confuse those
who think they know
so much.”

20 What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn’t God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish? 21 God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.
Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. 22 Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise. 23 But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish. 24 Our message is God’s power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen. 25 Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.

26 My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn’t think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

28 What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important. 29 God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him. 30 You are God’s children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy. 31 So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord.

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Read I Corinthians 1:17-31

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Have you ever heard the African-American Spiritual “Were You There?”

1. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh . . .
Sometimes it causes me to tremble
Tremble
Tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

2. Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?

3. Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?

4. Were you there when the sun refused to shine?

5. Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

It is good for us to think about what it would feel like to watch Jesus die. It should make us tremble. Think about that while you read the next section.

The Jews were jealous, afraid of losing political power. When Pilate asked what Jesus had done, they merely repeated, “Crucify Him.” Did they not have a good reason to have this “good teacher” crucified? Why didn’t they give specific charges against Him? His only crime was that he claimed to be the Son of God. Jesus had committed no crime against Rome. The Jews were not allowed to execute anyone. So, they had to go to the Roman government. What a pickle! The Jews could not execute Him and yet they could not charge him with a crime against Rome that would warrant execution. It was best to solve the problem quickly. So they told the crowds to shout, “Crucify Him!” What more could they say?

Can you imagine the uncertainty and humiliation of your teacher bleeding and dying. You can’t look, but you can’t walk away. It all seems to be over. The trembling comes from the uncertainty—nailed to a tree, laid in a tomb. What would happen next? What did it all mean?

What did those previous three years mean? Was it really true? Multitudes were fed with only a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Blind men could see. Men laid out and unable to stand began to run. And there was the compassion. There was the obvious love for His disciples. In a moment His love showed itself as righteous anger when money and goods scattered in the temple. “Thieves, all of you,” Jesus had declared. Who was this man? Love and compassion reaching out to those others didn’t talk to. Righteous anger skillfully answering the religious leaders. Even in death, He taught. In life and in death, Jesus was an example of the truth.

Can you see Him taken down from the cross? Do you see His lifeless body laid in a cave? Do you begin to feel it’s over when a large stone is rolled in front of the cave? Some would like to believe that Jesus could live again. The religious leaders were determined that this man would be forgotten.

Do you feel the confusion and fear? For three years, Peter, James, and John had given everything to Jesus. Their very lives revolved around Jesus. Nine other men had also traveled with Him. Although they were not as active as James, Peter, and John, they had left their jobs and their familiar lives to follow this man. Countless others experienced radical change as Jesus became a part of their life.

Can you feel the anger, jealousy, and outright hatred? The religious leaders could not win. He skillfully answered every question, pointing out the true character of the religious leaders. He could not be silenced. Silence only came in His death.

And yet . . . the truth He had taught could not be silenced. He had allowed his life to infuse these men like tea infuses a cup of hot water. The voice the religious leaders heard was no longer Jesus’ voice, but it was His message. One by one, the disciples also demonstrated the grace of Jesus’ message. Despite the religious leaders’ best efforts, the message could not be silenced.

That large rock was away from the cave. Inside lay the grave clothes, but the body was gone! Someone had stolen the body. Please show me where they put my Lord. Then they looked, the gardener was indeed my Lord. Feel the presence of an awesome God. Know that He is no longer in the grave. He is standing before you.

Are you there? Do you recognize that Man hanging on the tree? Do you see that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords? He is who He claimed to be. Do you recognize Him? Is He your King or is He merely the gardener?

Can you imagine actually watching the story? Can you imagine being Peter or John or Mary? Let’s look a little closer at what Jesus says when he’s on the cross.

Psalm 22 shows the Messiah’s suffering. He was forsaken, hated, and ridiculed. Enemies surrounded him. He was stared at, naked and injured. But, even worse, when He needed His Father most Jesus could not rely on His Father’s strength. In that moment, when he took your sins and mine, Jesus was alone.

“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Forgive them! It seems impossible as he was dying. But look closer. For whom was Jesus asking forgiveness? Pause. Do you hear those words being spoken for you? Forgiveness was not only immediate, but also eternal. Christ’s first words from the cross show the meaning of His death. Many people did many wrong things to bring Him to this place, but it was only an opportunity to extend grace to an undeserving people. Two words, “Forgive them,” built a bridge across an impossible divide.

The first person to cross that bridge was a thief. But, Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) No one could possibly connect disobedient man to a holy God. So we all deserve to die “for all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) But God’s promise is Paradise for all who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

“Woman behold your son.” “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26, 27). God’s grace reached out to Mary to provide for her. Grace allowed John to see Mary as his mother. Imagine Jesus’ words to us. “Father, behold your son (daughter).” “Behold your Father!” In no way do I deserve to have intimate friendship with a Holy Father. I am not good enough to seek God as my Father—my Abba. But this is a command. My relationship with God is an act of grace.

Jesus’ next words bring pain to my heart. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). How many times have I been a little bit uncomfortable and decided that I would not sacrifice so some “undeserving” person could benefit. If it is apparent that a person deserves our sacrifice, we will give up quite a bit, but others we don’t help. I am thankful that Jesus did not run to His Father when He needed His Father most. Jesus’ willingness has become the magnet that draws people to His message.

Jesus was fully human, crying out, “I thirst!” (John 19:28). He was also fully God and provided for everyone who thirsts so they could come to the waters. (Isaiah 55:1) God calls me to His living water. I cannot earn the right to drink. I can only respond to His invitation, “come to the waters.”

Jesus’ declaration that “It is finished.” (John 19:29) shows that He accomplished God’s plan. There is nothing I can add to the cross. But, still, I struggled with being content in God’s finished work.

God’s grace is sufficient for me. It doesn’t matter how valuable I feel. The work of the cross is sufficient for me. There is nothing I can add to it.

Jesus knew that humble obedience was enough. With the knowledge that it was finished, he declared, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46). You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. (Psalm 31:5). We have been redeemed, bought back, from a sentence of eternal death. We don’t have to surrender to the hopelessness of sin anymore. By faith, we declare with Christ that it is finished, and we commit ourselves to a holy God. God’s grace reaches toward you; all you need to do is commit to Him.

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Thought Questions

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1. I Corinthians 1:17 How can the cross be emptied of its power (NIV) or made of no effect (NKJV)?

2. I Corinthians 1:18 What is the power or the effect of the cross? What is the power of God that brings salvation? (Romans 1:16)

3. Are the cross and the resurrection two different events or two parts of the same whole? Would the cross have any importance without the resurrection?

4. I Corinthians 1:22-24 Why didn’t the Jews and Gentiles understand the message of the cross? Why don’t we receive the message of the cross today?

1 Corinthians Chapter 1 (Unity)

Unity and Divisions

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1 Corinthians 1

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1 From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.
2 To God’s church in Corinth. Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people, and you worship in his name, as we and all others do who call him Lord.

3 My prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

4 I never stop thanking my God for being kind enough to give you Christ Jesus, 5 who helps you speak and understand so well. 6 Now you are certain that everything we told you about our Lord Christ Jesus is true.
7 You are not missing out on any blessings, as you wait for him to return. 8 And until the day Christ does return, he will keep you completely innocent. 9 God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

10 My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don’t take sides. Always try to agree in what you think. 11 Several people from Chloe’s family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. 12 They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter or Christ. 13 Has Christ been divided up? Was I nailed to a cross for you? Were you baptized in my name? 14 I thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. 15 Not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 I did baptize the family of Stephanas, but I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else. 17 Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

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Read I Corinthians 1:1-17

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In Publishers Weekly, 1/12/2004, Marcia Ford reported that surveys show that few people actually read the Bible. Instead they are reading books about the Bible.

Then there are internet, i-Pods, television, CDs and DVDs. It is becoming increasingly easy to set aside the Bible, kick back, and let someone else do the hard work of understanding the Bible. Let those take time to pray. The rest of us can just learn from their experience.

As I listened to the man on TV expound on impartations, I was cautious. This man claimed that those who touched him were used by God to heal and perform miracles. He detailed an out of body experience. A young man touched the preacher’s wrist and joined the TV preacher in his out of body experience. The man did not use the Bible. He simply talked a lot about wonders and miracles done because someone touched him—receiving the impartation in gifts of healing.

The Bible does not say that we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit by touching someone. As a matter of fact, Peter rebuked Simon when he offered to buy the gift. (Acts 8:19-23) True, people were healed as Peter’s shadow fell on them (Acts 5:15, 16) and the sick who touched Paul’s apron or handkerchief were healed (Acts 19:11, 12). But these were not doctrinal teaching.

How could I know that man’s teaching wasn’t right if I didn’t read the Bible and ask God?

When we give up our right to read the Bible, we become very vulnerable. Without the living and active Word of God judging the thoughts and actions of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12), we easily find teachers who tell us what we want to hear. Allegiance to people begins to override allegiance to God’s truth.

This is what had happened to the Corinthians. They picked their favorite teacher and claimed to do what he taught. As a result, the congregation divided. They had arguments about what they thought their preferred teacher was saying. It seems that there may have even been some arrogance in those who claimed to follow Christ.

Paul begins his letter by establishing his credibility as an apostle. He has a right to correct error in the church, but he does not encourage people to follow him. His wants them to hear God’s wisdom through him and to know Christ better. Paul then reminds the people of the good things he sees in the Corinthians. These are the things they should build on so they can stop the quarrels among them.

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Questions

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Read verses 2, 4-9. How does Paul describe the Corinthians? What has Christ done for them? What will Christ do for them?

Read verse 10. What does Paul want for the Corinthians?

Read verse 11. How did Paul find out about the troubles in Corinith?

Read verse 12. Paul preached mostly to the Gentiles. He said that becoming Jewish was not necessary to becoming a Christian. Peter preached primarily to the Jews. Although Peter agreed with Paul, it was hard for him to set aside his Jewishness to speak to Gentiles (Galatians 2:11-13). Appolos knew the Scripture well and was an excellent speaker.

How could allegiance to these men cause quarrels in the church?

Read verses 13-17. What does Paul mean when he asks, “Has Christ been divided up?” Why did Paul think it was important that he baptized very few people?

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OK, now that we have looked at “What did it mean?” let’s look at “What does it mean?”

1. How can you use Paul’s description of the Corinthian church to talk about your church?

2. If an outsider were to go to your church, what would he/she see? What would he/she want for the church?

3. How do others find out about the problems in a church? What are the positives and negatives of others finding out about a particular church’s problems.

4. How can we discourage people from having more devotion to a teacher than to God?

5. How does Paul’s example of baptism apply to the church today?

Introduction to 1 Corinthians

Read Acts 18:1-18

Imagine an evangelist being forced to leave a church in your hometown.

In this church, people’s traditions were more important than the personal experience of God during a Sunday morning meeting. This church was so polite and formal that the people thought the Word of God was only good stories with very little real truth.

But, somehow a man who worshiped God was invited to speak. Sunday after Sunday he told people that Jesus is the Christ. They believed that “Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say.” (I Cor. 15:3,4)

Soon, people said, “We have never done it that way!”, “Hypocrite!” and “God did not call us to judge people. He is a God of love.” The evangelist was forced to leave the church.

He could have said, “Let me back,” but, instead, he “shook the dust from his clothes and told them, ‘Whatever happens to you will be your own fault! I am not to blame.’” (Acts 18:6) He also explained that he would talk to those who would listen.

The evangelist went next door to a place where people worshiped God. People came to hear the truth and believed. Yet church members still threatened and accused, trying to stop what was happening. (Why do we often hate what we do not understand?)

The evangelist felt both discouragement and success. Then God “said, ‘Don’t be afraid to keep on preaching. Don’t stop! I am with you, and you won’t be harmed. Many people in this city belong to me.’” (Acts 18:9, 10)

The evangelist continued teaching for a year and a half. The church leaders panicked and went to the president, but he wanted the people to talk to each other. He refused to get involved saying they should settle it themselves.

“If you were charging this man with a crime or some other wrong, I would have to listen to you. But since this concerns only words, names, and your own law, you will have to take care of it. I refuse to judge such matters.” (Acts 18:14, 15)

The evangelist openly preached to all kinds of people: Americans, Indians, Brazilians, Frenchmen, Koreans, Kenyans, people who committed sexual sins, thieves, drug addicts, gamblers, as well as the covetous, and many others. (I Cor. 6:9, 10)

Now, imagine all of these accepting Jesus as Christ and going to one church together. They know grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. But they don’t know how to live a Christian life in their city. They only know how to live a sinful life in the church. They want to add their beliefs and experiences to the evangelist’s message.

Before the evangelist goes to another city, he asks a new leader to help the people apply the message to their experiences and understanding. (This is like letting God’s Word change how we think about our world.) There are conflicts. The new leader knows he needs help and sends an e-mail to the evangelist. (I Cor. 1:11).

The evangelist is very busy at another church, so he sends an e-mail to everyone in the church. He promises to visit as soon as he can. He teaches the church to seek truth and live by it. Finally, he answers their questions (I Cor. 7:1).

This is what happened in Corinth.

Corinth was a large city of 400,000 to 600,000 people, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. It was near the water that, today, divides Greece in half. To the west was the Gulf of Corinth; to the east, the port of Cenchrea.

Corinth had a lot of people from different places and with different ideas. Corinth was known for not following laws or rules. To “Corinthianize” began to mean, “go to the devil”. There are also some phrases that use “Corinth” to mean the same thing.

God’s grace swept over the city and made a church of people who really believed. But their past did not disappear as they entered the church doors. So much was the same, but Paul wanted them to know what should change and how to change it.

Thought Questions

1. Mark 7:8 (Amplified) You disregard and give up and ask to depart from you the commandment of God and cling to the traditions of men [keeping it carefully and faithfully]. (CEV: “You disobey God’s commands in order to obey what humans have taught.”) What are some traditions that keep us from hearing God’s truth? If Paul went to your church, would you be ready to hear the truth?

2. How should we respond to people who ignore God’s message? (Acts 18:6)

3. How has God strengthened you when you felt both discouragement and success? You see your success, and yet you doubt.

4. How should church conflicts be solved? The Jews believed in the Law and traditions, but they could not see Jesus as Christ. Some Christians believe in Biblical principles, but deny essential truth. What issues threaten to divide Christians in your home country? Is there a time to let government resolve conflict? Explain.

5. How can we let the “Church” influence the “world” instead of letting the “world” influence the “Church”? How do we let the world influence the “Church” instead of letting the “Church” influence the “world”?

Questions posed by Spittler (page 15)

1. What is the difference between an adult Christian and a baby Christian? How can a person show elements of God’s Spirit and still be immature?

2. How can we live our lives when we have important responsibilities in God’s Kingdom and also obvious sin?

3. What does it mean to live an “adequately Christian life in a dominantly pagan culture”?

Thoughts to consider as we study I Corinthians

(Morris, 26)

1. Morris states that Paul “set right disorders which the Corinthians took lightly, but which he saw as grave sins.” (Paul corrected things that he thought were important and the Corinthians didn’t.) What did the Corinthians think was unimportant?

2. What are the questions that the Corinthians had for Paul?

3. What issues of belief did Paul address? Why did Paul spend a whole chapter talking about the resurrection?

Bibliography

Hamar, Paul A. 1980. The Book of First Corinthians. Springfield, Mo. Gospel Publishing House

Morris, Leon 1999. I Corinthians. Leicester, England. Inter-Varsity Press.

Spittler, Russell P. 1976. The Corinthian Correspondence. Springfield, Mo. Gospel Publishing House

by Janice Brockus

edited Amanda Brockus