Text: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NIV) 26 Brothers, 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 He 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 him who boasts boast in the Lord.
Message Version
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (MSG) 26 Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. 27 Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, 28 chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? 29 That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. 30 Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. 31 That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”
I. Verse 26 – Think of what you were…
For much of my life, I felt like an underdog…When Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the cries of “Hosanna,” He was coming for the underdogs. He came for the sick, not the healthy; for the weak, not the strong; for sinners, not the pious. He came for those whose souls were hungry and thirsty. He came for the underdogs….
This is a good thing to do from time to time: Think of who you were.
II. Verse 27 – But God chose…
Praise be to the Lord that God chose.
- Not an interviewer for a business, seeking to maximize their profits. Not a sports coach, looking for the strongest and the fastest and the biggest. Not a model agency looking for the most striking and attractive. Not the general electorate by casting ballots.
- I’m glad God chose and wasn’t influenced by public opinion. He chose with he full knowledge of everything you were and everything you were not.
- He chose you to be a showcase of His glory like a diamond in its setting, a picture in its frame, or a fancy dinner with the finest china.
III. Verse 30 – He has become our righteousness, holiness and
He has become our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Righteousness is my status; right standing.
Holiness is the state of being set apart for God’s use.
Redemption is salvation from sin and death.
- Redemption is the theme of so many of the worship songs and hymns we sing.
Redemption also has to do with God’s purposes for me going forward. He saved me from something for something. That “something” is His purposes. Good works that He has prepared before the foundation of the world for me to walk in.
When you love something, you give that something value. When God set His love upon us; It gave us value. When He says nothing can separate us from His love; nothing can take away our value. And in the end, His value is all that will matter.
All of this is because of Jesus and through Jesus. And that brings us to point number 4, the final verse in the chapter.
IV. Verse 31 – Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Communion gives us the opportunity to boast in the Lord.
The cross is God’s ultimate demonstration of love for us.
LaVern said her friends thought her dad was mean because of his sometimes gruff tone. They asked her how she could stand it. She said, “I don’t hear what you hear. Somehow I translated how he spoke to me as love.” In the same way, Lord, when it comes to my relationship with You, we don’t want to hear what the world hears – particularly when things are not the way we would want them to be. We want to translate all the events of our lives through the lens of God’s love for us. Communion helps us to do that; it focuses us on the cross.
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