In his ministry, the Apostle Paul courageously proclaimed Christ and crucified him; as followers of Christ, we are called to do the same, even if we do so knowing that the message of the gospel is madness to the world and, as such, has always been the object of contempt for non-believers. this in an ancient script that was unearthed in Rome in 1857. La image shows a human figure with the head of a donkey nailed to a cross. Next to the figure of the cross is a young man. A Greek inscription reads: “Alexamenos worships his God. “Those who believe that the image is destined to represent Christ on the cross understand that it is an intentional mockery of the Christian worship of Jesus Christ.
At this moment, the contempt and ridicule of Christ and Christians continue. There are many pieces of anti-Christian comedy, online videos and memes that claim, for example, that if Jesus rose from the dead, Christians worship a Jewish zombie. Should Christians be surprised by such blasphemy and, frankly, such senseless attacks?How are we going to defend Christ’s person and work against such slander?
- To proclaim and defend the message of Jesus Christ and the crucified.
- Certain principles found in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians must be understood: the Christians of Corinth had behaved according to the standards of wisdom of the world (vv.
- 17).
- To address this problem.
- Paul introduces a long section in which he first criticizes the so-called wisdom of the world (1.
- 18-2.
- 5) and then proposes the true wisdom of God (2.
- 6-3.
- 4).
In 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31, in the section criticizing the wisdom of the world, Paul first looks at those who reject the gospel (vv. 18-25), then those who accept it (vv. 26-31). In doing so, you can expose the strong differences between true wisdom and falsehood. Three times in verses 18 through 25, Paul speaks of the gospel message for those who do not believe (verses 18, 21, 23). Conclude this section by stating that “Is God’s madness wiser than men?”(V. 25). According to what the world considers wisdom, the message of Jesus Christ and this crucified one is crazy, that is crazy. Therefore, we should not be too surprised when non-believers treat our Lord and His gospel with disdain.
How do we react to this contempt? Well, we won’t do that by changing the gospel message to something that nonbelievers will consider wise. In other words, we do not adapt the gospel message to the standards of the wisdom of the world. Other scriptures emphasize the need and importance of providing evidence (1 John 1:1-4, for example), but here Paul warns us about our expectations. We proclaim something that non-believers consider crazy, and only the Spirit of God can open their eyes to them. will continue to proclaim the truth. We will continue to preach Christ and the crucified. While this message is crazy for those who are lost, is it God’s power?For those who are saved (1 Corinthians 1,18, 24).
Paul’s warning means that we cannot provide objective evidence to show that this in the world is a real nonsense. No, the fact that the unbelievers suppress the truth doesn’t mean we stop declaring it. There is extensive evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. The tomb is empty because it is resurrected. The crowds saw him alive because he was resurrected; Moreover, it can be historically demonstrated that the biblical doctrine of the Resurrection does not mean what some (old and contemporary) believe means, that is, the mere resuscitation of a corpse.
If Jesus rose from the dead, then the things He did and said, explicit or implicit, require that the deity be taken seriously, if he is the one who said he was the Eternal Son of God, and if He offers the total forgiveness of sins to all who have faith in him, then the absolute height of true madness is to reject him.
This article is part of the January 2016 edition of Tabletalk magazine.
Translation: Joel Pedro Cavani Review: Yago Martins © 2016 Faithful Ministério All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: Facing slander about the person and work of Christ
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