Only know Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

The Life Church and Missions

🤔 Evaluating a Preacher's Effectiveness

Common criteria for evaluating a preacher include their knowledge, eloquence, charisma, and character, as well as the results they yield in bringing people to Christ and shepherding them. However, Paul diverts attention from these usual metrics, using his own example to emphasize a different approach. **Paul is diverting people away from the usual things we are looking at** when we are thinking about a faithful preacher or a powerful preaching of God's word.

✝️ The Centrality of Christ and Him Crucified

Paul resolved to **only know Christ and him crucified**, instead of exalting his own human wisdom. He understood that focusing on the crucifixion is essential for a complete gospel message. The cross is where God's mercy and righteousness meet, teaching us to love others and reject sin.

The message of **Christ and him crucified is a message that can unite all Christians together**, even across different denominations. It serves as a fundamental subject understandable to all, regardless of their understanding of profound doctrines.

⚠️ Resisting the Temptation to Exalt Human Wisdom

There's a temptation to flaunt our own wisdom, even when it's not for personal glory. It's tempting to show off human wisdom because people are generally fascinated by it. **We must be very careful if we happen to have certain qualifications not to flaunt our own wisdom**.

We must also beware of putting our trust in human wisdom. Because God is invisible, we tend to look for outstanding humans to guide and motivate us. **Sometimes unknowingly, we will also trust in humans more than we trust God**.

We should be assured because God's power never fails, even though human strength is unreliable and often limited. God's power is made perfect in human weakness, giving us courage despite our limitations. **Our weakness and our fear can never be an excuse for us not to serve God**.

The power of the gospel itself is powerful because it can save souls, even if it's being shared ineloquently. **The lack of eloquence, or in other words, the weakness of the Gospel Messenger, will not make the gospel truth any less powerful**.

Even mature Christians can be distracted by many other topics, even meaningful and spiritual ones. Satan will surely try his very best to distract Christians from the focus of Christ and him crucified. **Satan will not mind if preachers keep preaching about many things under the sun, but just not talk about Christ**.

⚖️ The Consequences of Sin and Assurance of Salvation

Without the Cross of Christ, we may not fully realize how heavy the consequences of sin are. The price of sin is so heavy that God did not even spare his own son. **The Cross of Christ will make sinners realize how heavy the consequences and how heavy the price of sin is**.

The cross brings us assurance of salvation. If the full price for sin has been paid, we can be assured that every time we turn to Christ, we have the hope that God will forgive us again. **The cross gave us that assurance of forgiveness of sin**.

If we truly understood what Christ has done for us on the cross, we will develop a hatred for sin. We will want to have nothing to do with sin. **If we have seen how terribly our sin has tormented Jesus Christ, and it is because of all our sins that caused Jesus to die so cruelly on the cross, then our natural reaction will be we will hate sin**.

If we identify with the crucifixion of Christ, it means we also profess that we will give up being about what the world can offer us and gratifying our flesh. **Christ's crucifixion has implications on you and I who believe in his crucifixion**.

Without Christ's cross, the only sure thing that awaits us upon death is not justification but judgment. There is an opposing belief of justification by death, which suggests most people automatically go to heaven unless they are very wicked. **Without the cross, there's no atonement, and we have to pay for our own sin**.

Evaluating a preacher's effectiveness and Paul's example.

People usually evaluate preachers based on their knowledge, eloquence, charisma, character, and results in bringing people to Christ.

Paul diverts attention from these usual criteria, using his own example.

Paul relates himself to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, stating he didn't come with eloquence or human wisdom, resolving to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Resisting the temptation to exalt human wisdom.

We need to resist the temptation to flaunt our own wisdom.

Paul, despite his qualifications, resolved to only know Christ and him crucified instead of exalting his own human wisdom.

It can be easier for some to resist flaunting wisdom because they may not possess it, unlike Paul.

Sharing the gospel can bring the temptation to demonstrate knowledge and wisdom.

Paul is careful not to add human wisdom to the pure gospel to avoid distraction from God's good news.

Paul wants to bring people to a real and sincere faith in Jesus Christ, not superficial faith based on persuasive words.

A faithful preacher directs attention to God, not themselves, and tells people what God wants them to hear.

Even ordinary people tend to look up to those with charisma and wit, highlighting the need to be cautious about trusting human wisdom.

We tend to look for outstanding humans to guide and motivate us when we cannot see God.

God doesn't want us to put faith in humans, even those who preach, as God's word is effective and accomplishes His purpose.

Paul resolved to focus on Christ and him crucified, emphasizing the power of the gospel itself to save souls, even if presented ineloquently.

The gospel is powerful because it can save souls, even if shared ineloquently.

Paul resolved to only know Christ and him crucified, emphasizing the importance of the Gospel content, not the delivery.

The difficulty of focusing on Christ and him crucified due to distractions.

It's hard to stick to one topic due to easy distractions and human nature's tendency to get bored.

Instead of focusing on Christ and him crucified, Christians often want to know many things, like spiritual encounters or personal talents.

Even mature Christians can be distracted by meaningful but diverting topics, like creation vs. evolution or social justice issues.

Paul understood the importance of conveying the message of Christ and him crucified despite other issues needing correction.

Paul wrote about many topics in Corinthians, linking them back to Christ's cross, such as unity and spiritual gifts.

Paul can talk about different topics, but he always links it back to Christ and him crucified.

Satan distracts from Christ, focusing on blessings or general Christian teachings but avoiding Christ's work on the cross.

Focusing on Christ and him crucified is difficult because it talks about crucifixion, which some find strange or hard to focus on.

Most people would rather focus on Christ's Resurrection, but crucifixion reminds people of humiliation, weakness, powerlessness.

Christ and him crucified is the most important and fundamental portion of the Christian message, pointing to the atonement of Christ for our sins.

The importance of Christ's crucifixion and opposing beliefs.

Without Christ's crucifixion, there is no salvation or good news, and our eternal destiny rests upon it.

Justification by death is an opposing belief to Christianity, suggesting most people go to heaven automatically unless very wicked.

The belief in justification by death assumes people qualify for heaven upon death, regardless of sins during life.

The belief in justification by death shows a lopsided understanding of God's character, thinking that God loves everyone unconditionally.

Those who believe in justification by death think God is not so holy and closes one eye to evil, ignoring that every sin demands a penalty.

We will be judged by God's standard of holiness, which no human can attain.

Without Christ's cross, the only sure thing that awaits us upon death is not justification but judgment.

There are two ways to die: in faith in Christ or in sin without repentance, affecting one's eternal destiny.

Without the Cross of Christ, people may not realize the heavy consequences and price of sin.

If we never know how serious the consequences of sin are, we will never appreciate how much we need Christ.

We must be wary of Christian messages that don't mention the gravity of human sin or tear down human pride.

The cross gives assurance of forgiveness of sin and develops hatred for sin.

The message of Christ and him crucified is a complete gospel message that God wants us to get.

The cross is where God's mercy and righteousness meet, uniting Christians and teaching them to love others, reject sin, and pursue holiness.

Christ and him crucified is a message that can unite all Christians together.

Christ and him crucified is a single fundamental subject that can unite all Christians, even Christians of different denominations together.

A preacher's faithfulness can be evaluated by whether they get the message of Christ and him crucified correct.

When believers resolve to know only Christ and him crucified, the Holy Spirit's power will fill them, even in weakness.

Paul preached in weakness but with a demonstration of the spirit's power.

Weakness and fear cannot be an excuse not to serve God; God's power is made perfect in human weakness.

Our talents and strength do nothing to add on to the already present power of the Gospel.

There's no reason for us to feel inferior or for us to feel proud.

We should be assured because God's power never fails, even though human strength is unreliable.

We need to ask ourselves if our faith is resting on men's wisdom or on God's power.

If we believe in the crucified Christ, we will know how to lift out our faith in Christ.

If we believe in the crucified Christ, we will also die to worldliness and sin.

Believers should cherish and preach Christ and Him crucified.

Only know Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Only know Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

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