Devotion: 1 Corinthians 1:25

1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Today’s verse can easily be misinterpreted when taken out of context, so let’s clarify something before we go any further. Paul was not calling God foolish or saying He is weak in any way. His point is that God’s ways are so much bigger and better than our own that we cannot even imagine them. We cannot understand exactly how wise our God is or how strong. It is beyond our human comprehension.

In context, this verse was actually a response to those people who claimed Christ was weak and foolish for being crucified, therefore they reject Him outright. Their logic is that if He was truly God and all powerful then He could have saved Himself. And they are right. He COULD have. But He chose not to. He knew that a sacrifice was needed once and for all and He chose to give His life for us. That is not foolish or weak. That is true strength and love.

Rather than God being considered weak or foolish, it is actually humans who are the weak and foolish ones if they cannot recognize God’s ultimate power and love. At the time that Jesus lived and died, the Jewish people were looking for a king who would come and save them from the tyranny of Roman rule.  They forgot all of the Old Testament prophecies that spoke of the Messiah suffering and facing death (Psalms 22, Isaiah 53).

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21 NLT).

For those of us who believe, we are saved. There is power in the Cross. There is wisdom in believing in the power of our amazing Savior who died for our sins. It may be foolishness to the world, but it is life to the believer! (1 Corinthians 1:18)

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