1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
John 3:16-17
God's Love for the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 17:3
Now This is Eternal Life
3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Acts 1:1-3
Jesus Appeared for Forty Days After His Resurrection
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Romans 5:5
God Has Given Us A Holy Spirit
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
John 16:13
The Spirit of Truth
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
St. Paul writes that the message of the cross is mere foolishness...It is an odd and weird story that is particularly hard to believe, when you examine the message about the cross logically...The story is about a God who LOVES us plain and simple...He created a regular man and woman...They fell from grace and began to sin...We do many things that are not morally right and we sin often, and continuing sinning even today...But by God's Grace and His LOVE, He would remedy that...But it would be thousand of years between the fall from grace to when He sent His Son...One might think that long wait, for the Messiah, is odd...And His Son would be born of a virgin, who would find out she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit...That is odd, and seems mythical...And this Baby Boy, this Son of God would be born in a manger...A divine Young Baby born in a stable...The Boy would grow up and be surrounded by God in thought and deed...At the age of twelve in the temple of God, He calls God, His Father...Years later, around the age of thirty or so, He would begin His ministry...So God would send His Son, a Man who would come to earth, only to minister to us for about three years...After the three years of teaching God's Son would then die on a cross for us, so that our sin debt would be paid...A Man who would die for somebody else's sins and not His own (now that seems odd)...And by believing in God and this Man He sent, God will give us eternal life...And besides these things the Man who died on this cross, would somehow come back to life and live again...To add to these things, this Man would live on the earth again...He would live for forty more days after He resurrected form His death...And for those who believe in such things, He still lives to this very day...
How odd a story...No wonder St. Paul says that this message is a little foolish...If you are wise or intelligent, can you believe in a story like that?...And Who would have or could have thought up that story?...The answer is God...God can destroy the wisdom of the wise, and frustrate those who are intelligent...
And though this story is quite odd, not only do I believe it -I need this story with these many odd verses...I need to have faith...I need to have have the hope of a Savior...I need this kind of LOVE from a Father...When it boils down to believing in this story and a LOVING Father, how many wise and intelligent people write down on a ledger on the right side and write "This is why I believe in God."...And on the other side of that ledger, (the wise and intelligent) write "This is why I do not believe in God."...This seems quite a logical thing (to do) for a wise and intelligent person, when evaluating whether there is a God or not a God...But, for us to believe in this story, we also believe God has given us a Holy Spirit of LOVE, which guides us to Spiritual Truth...A Holy Spirit that somehow helps us and guides us...Helping and guidance are things we do need in life...So things like the need for love, the need for faith, the need for hope in our lives, needs to go on one of the sides of the ledger...In retrospect, after looking at this odd story, it seems like a logical thing (for God) to do...To have this need for love, this need for faith, and the need for hope is a large part of one's life and is a part of one's personal belief system...For what is life without these love, hope, and faith...
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength...It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, our holiness and our redemption...Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”...