In the previous message we saw that according to 1 Corinthians 1:9, God has called the believers into the fellowship of His Son, that is, into the participation in Him, and that to be called into the fellowship of Christ means to be called into the co-enjoyment of Christ as our unique portion. Now we must go on to see various aspects of this portion for our enjoyment. In particular, verses 23, 24, and 30 reveal that we may enjoy Christ as God’s wisdom and God’s power.
Before mentioning Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God in verse 24, Paul in the previous verse declares, “We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness ” (v. 23). This indicates that the Christ who is the power of God and the wisdom of God for the carrying out of God’s economy is the crucified Christ, a Christ who did not do anything to save Himself. In man’s eyes, if a person is crucified, he is deemed powerless, because a powerful person would not allow himself to be crucified, yet the Christ who is the power of God was crucified. Furthermore, from man’s perspective, a wise person would find ways to avoid crucifixion, yet the Christ who is the wisdom of God was crucified.
The crucified Christ is the power of God. In the cross of Christ we see God’s power. It takes the power of God to defeat Satan, the world, sin, fallen man, the flesh, the natural life, the old creation, and the ordinances. What other power is greater than Christ crucified as God’s power? What other power can destroy Satan or overcome the world? Only God has the power to accomplish these things. This power is not that of doing things by speaking, such as the power God exercised in creation. Rather, it is the power of crucifixion, the power of the wonderful death of Christ. This means that the crucifixion has become the power of God. The death of Christ has become God’s power to destroy Satan, to solve the problem of the world, to eliminate sin, and to terminate fallen man, the flesh, the natural life, and the old creation (Heb. 2:14; Gal. 6:14; John 1:29; Heb. 9:26; Rom. 6:6; 1 Cor. 15:45a; Col. 1:14; Matt. 27:50-51). By this power God is able to solve the problem of the ordinances (Eph. 2:14-16). By one death, the death of Christ, all the problems in the universe have been cleared. Thus, Christ crucified is God’s power to abolish all negative things and carry out His plan.
This crucified Christ is the wisdom of God. In order to accomplish anything, we need both power and wisdom. Wisdom is for planning and purposing, whereas power is for carrying out and accomplishing what is planned and purposed. In God’s economy, Christ crucified is both God’s power and His wisdom. It is possible for us to have power or strength without having wisdom or the way. If we have power without wisdom, we may use our strength in a foolish way. Therefore, we need Christ as both power and wisdom.
When we experience the crucified Christ, He becomes to us not only the power of God but also the wisdom of God. The crucified Christ as God’s wisdom is related to God’s deep and profound plan according to His good pleasure and also according to God’s way to fulfill His will (1:9, 11; 3:11). Since we have the crucified Christ as God’s wisdom, there is no need for us to seek a way to carry out God’s will. Simply by experiencing the crucified Christ, we spontaneously have a way to do God’s will. We become very wise in doing the will of God. As long as we experience the crucified Christ, Christ will become to us God’s wisdom to fulfill His plan. We will have the wisdom of God to do His will.
When we experience the crucified Christ, we are terminated. All that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do—all is completely terminated. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, as we are enjoying Him and experiencing Him, His crucifixion will terminate us. Christ crucified is not only the power but also the way for us to be delivered from the flesh, the natural life, and the old creation.