Remembered Grace - Pt 2

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. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 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? 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. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 ESV). We continue with our Remembered Grace today. As Paul continues to explain his reference to the cross being folly to those who are perishing and the power of God to those who are saved, he opens the topic of wisdom. A. W. Tozer said, “Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision.” There have been many times when I wanted to know how to best accomplish a goal. At best I could only know a potential means of success. There are no such restrictions with our God. Not only does he know how to achieve the goal, he knows the best way to achieve it! I have often used the philosophy that “there is more than one way to skin a cat.” Such a saying is not meant to be literal; however, it points to our ever searching for another way that might be better. God has no need to search for a better way. He has no need of developing an alternate strategy. In his wisdom he has concluded the best means of our redemption and has carried it to completion in the cross of Jesus. This “confounds” the wisdom of the world since we are always searching for the next best thing. We search for it in our personal lives by continuing to look for a short cut to avoid the work of perseverance. We search for it in our family life by substituting temporary peace at the cost of long term growth and development through discipline and discipleship. We do it in our churches and careers by running after the next-best-practice. And, every time we find failure and disappointment. All the while God simply declares to us that his wisdom will not fail us and it is ours for the asking. You see, wisdom does not merely know good and evil. That was the temptation Adam and Eve succumbed to in the garden. Satan’s “wisdom” was knowledge of “good” and “evil.” And in the knowing of evil, Adam and Eve became alienated from the enjoyment of “good.” Adam and Eve were given every opportunity and encouragement by God to know Him, to be like Him, and to be wise with respect to all that is good. That’s the wisdom given to us in his grace!