Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 

1 Corinthians 1:22-25 "Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles; but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

The Jews conceive of God appearing through signs. The wisdom sought by the Greeks is a humanistic ideology. However, the core of Christianity is the preaching of the Gospel about Jesus Christ. The Gospel is that Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, resurrected, and enters into the hearts of believers to dwell as the Logos.

The resurrected Jesus Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Resurrection cannot be achieved, understood, or known by human ability and wisdom. Resurrection is the rising of the spirit that was confined within the body. The flesh and the spirit appear contradictory. If the physical body is alive, the spirit is dead, and if the spirit is alive, the physical body appears dead.

Romans 8:10, "And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness." And Luke 8:54-55, "Jesus took the child by the hand and called him, 'Child, arise!' And the spirit returned, and the child arose immediately. Jesus commanded that he be given something to eat." As the physical body comes to life, the spirit becomes trapped within the physical body.

Resurrection is the revival of the spirit that was confined in the physical body, and the death of the physical body (the body of sin). In Romans 6:6, it says, "And we know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be slaves to sin."

Resurrection is an event that takes place during one's lifetime. Therefore, Luke 20:36 states, "They can no longer die, for they are equal with the angels, and as children of the resurrection, they are children of God." Resurrection signifies a return to one's original place. Originally, they were angels, but due to sin, they became human, and their spirits became imprisoned in the flesh. However, by repenting and believing that they have died with Jesus Christ, they return to their original place. Ephesians 2:6 states, "And raised them up with them and seated them with them in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Such things cannot be known by human ability or wisdom. However, those who have entered into Christ believe that these things occur through faith in Christ. For the saints who believe in the resurrection, a new temple is built within their hearts, Christ dwells there, and the saint meets Christ as a priest. At this time, Christ is called Ho Logos. Ho Logos means Christ who works within the Word.

Christ signifies the Logos. When the Logos dwells within the heart of a saint, God's power and wisdom flow from that saint. This means that God's power is not to the extent that humans imagine.

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 “Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many of you were wise according to flesh (sarka), not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 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.”

Faith comes from the calling. The calling is the English word "call," where the Ho Logos calls the saints by voice. The Ho Logos suddenly came to Paul and called out, "Saul, Saul!" Paul heard this voice in Damascus. Paul is saying that the saints should also hear this voice. Sarka (σάρκα) corresponds to the English word "fresh" and is also referred to as the physical body. The Revised Korean Translation renders it as "flesh," but it is different from the body referred to as "body."

The physical body is also called the body of sin. While some believers consider this to be a sinful nature inherited by the flesh, it is actually a vessel that contains sin, distinct from that sinful nature. A sinner possesses a body of sin, and because sin resides within that body, a carnal mind arises, causing the body to think and act in the direction desired by the flesh. However, those who believe that the body of sin has died with Jesus believe that because all sins are forgiven, the spirit is revived, allowing them to live with a spiritual mind. This is a battle of identity; two minds coexist within the saint's heart, and they become those who place their identity in the spirit. Thus, they commune with the Logos and become preachers of the Gospel.

Ho Logos does not come upon those who live according to the flesh and pretend to be religious, those who trust in their own wisdom and ability, or those who base their lives on the pride of the world. God calls the humble and the poor in spirit. Power and wisdom come upon those who live according to the spirit through Ho Logos.

Most of the disciples of the early church conversed with the Logos in the temple within their hearts. He directly spoke to and guided the disciple on what to do in any given situation. Furthermore, He granted the authority to forgive sins and cast out demons, as well as the power to heal diseases. Apostles Paul and Peter raised the dead and healed countless sick people.

Therefore, people tried to elevate them to divine beings. Even if God's power and wisdom were bestowed upon Jesus, He cannot become God. This is because everything comes from God, so the one who exercises that power acts as God commands.

Jesus also said that He does only as the Father commands. John 8:28: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of my own accord, but speak these things as the Father has taught me.’”

In John 5:30 as well, it says, "I can do nothing on my own. I judge as I hear, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me." Jesus is faithfully fulfilling his duty as the Son of God.

However, believers believe that through Jesus' power and wisdom, He is God, one of the persons of the Trinity. If Jesus is God, one of the persons of the Trinity, then the Father and the Son become the same God. As the Son of God, Jesus does everything exactly as the Father commands, yet believers attempt to place the Son in the same rank as the Father. This is no different from the Athenians attempting to worship Paul as a god. Acts 14:11-12 states: "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian tongue, saying, 'The gods have come down among us in human form.' So they called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the one speaking."

Even now, Jesus sits at the right hand of God as the Son of God, interceding for sinners, yet believers attempt to revere and worship Him as God. They are idolizing Jesus by putting forward the theory of the Trinity.