1 Timothy 1:17

"To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

Breaking from his personal testimony and his explanation of God's perfect grace, Paul erupts in sudden praise. Knowing God's work in his life, Paul cannot keep himself from praising this great God. After all He is worthy.

• God is the king of ages - He isn't God for us alone. He has ruled for all time. His authority is boundless.
  
• God is immortal - Not only has He always been. He will always be. He has no end and no beginning, and nothing can kill Him.
• God is invisible - God can not be put into a box or an idol. Man's attempts at limiting God are insulting! He is far more than we can understand.
  
• God is the only God - There is none like Him. Nor is there any who are almost like Him but just a little below. He far exceeds all that we can understand, and any attempt to make a God of our own choosing is setting up a god who is a no-God. Yahweh is the only God.
  

These things alone are reason enough to forever give God honor and glory. But He has given us further cause to praise Him. This transcendent, mind-numbingly big God has chosen to be intimately involved in our lives. Is He not involved in your life? Perhaps He is working in ways that you don't yet recognize. Rise up and praise Him now.

My prayer: Father, You defy my understanding. You are far beyond me. And yet you love me. Occupy my affections, my thoughts, my praise.

1 Corinthians 15:5-7

"And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles."

Jesus’ literal, physical resurrection is an indisputable reality. And his physical victory over death reflects his equally commanding victory over spiritual death. The two victories were won in one sweeping act of power—the resurrection.

Jesus appeared physically to hundreds of people. And making an open show of his triumph over the grave, he demonstrated that he was not a spirit or some afterthought that empowers his followers. He is alive. The payment for sin was accepted. The wrath of God has been satisfied.

How then should I live? I should live knowing that I am following someone who is alive. I am not simply following someone’s teachings. I am not simply modeling my life after a good pattern. I am following someone with whom I have a relationship. I am following someone who sees me—who walks with me. How important it is that I live with this reality before me. It is empowering, and it is delightful.

1 Corinthians 8:4-6

"Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that 'an idol has no real existence,' and that 'there is no God but one.' For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many 'gods' and many 'lords'—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."

There is only one God. He is the true God, and He actually exists. The rest are not really gods. They are fakes. They have no real existence. The true God is the creator of all things. We all owe Him our beginning and our continued existence. Without Him we would not be. An idol (and other false gods) does nothing. It creates nothing. It sustains nothing. You owe nothing to an idol. False gods are man's creation. Man makes them and without man they would cease to exist.

When someone worships an idol, he is praising something that has no real existence. We look upon such actions as worthless and ridiculous. But what of eating food offered to idols? I suppose the next verses will deal with that.

1 Corinthians 4:18-21

"Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?"

Some people are all talk. They make a big show and act very strong, but they are afraid and weak. They may appear to be one thing, but when further examined, they are revealed for what they really are--nothing. Some people, like those in Corinth, stir up strife and contention. They puff themselves up by attacking others. But they have no real authority, nor do they have any real backbone.

When Paul dealt with this problem, he stated that he had no interest in knowing all of their arrogant and worthless talk. Instead, he wanted to see them back up their claims. God is not impressed by talk, and we should be fooled by it either.

God uses words to communicate with us, and we use words to share what He has shown us. But there is a difference between people’s words and God’s words. The claims that a person makes are only as good as his ability to back them up. It’s not his word alone but the power behind his word that matters.

The truth of God is communicated in words, but they are not mere words. They are the words of the all-powerful One. He can back it up. That is why the Christian should be utterly committed to communicating the truth of God’s word.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

There are times that God chooses to select gifted people to accomplish wonderful things for Him. But we need to realize that God does not ever need man’s talents to work in people’s hearts. And even the gifted man should not rely on his giftedness to accomplish God’s work.

Paul was very gifted. He was well advanced religiously, privileged socially, and accomplished academically. But when he sets off to proclaim the gospel, he doesn’t rely on any of his own abilities or privileges. He proclaimed the truth of what Jesus Christ accomplished, and he proclaimed it knowing his own weakness.

I should never seek to convince people with my own abilities. I must always rely on the Spirit’s working in the lives of people. The simple proclamation of the gospel is an opportunity for God to display his power, and true salvation comes from the work of the Spirit. The kind of faith that rests in the wisdom of men does not have the power of God behind it.

1 Corinthians 1:29-31

“So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

God often chooses someone who is average or below average and accomplishes extraordinary things through him. God does this to display His marvelous power and to keep the person from boasting. If the person knows that he is insignificant, when God accomplishes amazing things through him, he is not as prone to claim the credit for himself. But when someone is well above average, he might find it easier to take the credit for the wonderful things that God does through him. Therefore, God usually chooses the lesser man (by worldly standards) to display His power and wisdom.

This fact should keep both the regular and the gifted person from boasting. It should lead me to glory in what Christ can do. I get to play a part in it, but I am not responsible for it. And if God chooses to use me, it is not because I am worthy. It is God’s work and God’s power, and He can display His wonders in whomever He chooses. I must boast in Him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-28

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,”

Of those trusting Christ, few meet the world’s standards for wisdom, few are in positions of power and influence, few are wealthy, and few are highly esteemed in the world’s eyes. The world often makes the mistake of assuming then that Christianity is in itself week and powerless and that becoming a Christian shows that you are stupid or emotionally needy.

Christians, on the other hand, make the mistake of putting other Christians who are worldly wise or influential in positions of special honor simply because the world respects them. We become respecters of persons, just like the world. But God has chosen that which is foolish, low, and weak to show is wisdom, power and glory.

This does not mean that we should strive for foolishness, weakness, or poverty. God's word directs us towards rather different goals. But it does mean that we need to recognize the superiority of God over all that the world has to offer. He delights in using those whom world places little value on to show that the world system has no value. The lowly believer can be wiser than the most brilliant of unbelieving scholars. And the commoner who is trusting Christ has greater authority than the most influential of world leaders.

1 Corinthians 1:24-25

“But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

No matter who you are, what your background, or what you emphasis in life, if you are a believer, Christ is the axis upon which you life spins. The believer knows that Christ is the center, because the believer knows who Christ is. Christ is all powerful and all wise God. The wisdom and power of Christ is so far beyond our own that our meager attempts at wisdom and strength are utterly impotent in spiritual matters. They cannot bring us to God. God must come to us, and He has, and He does.

And though even unbelievers can manifest the virtues of wisdom or strength, all of us have limits, and we often fall short of even our own expectations. Sometimes wise people do foolish things, and sometimes very strong people are just worn out. It is disappointing to see people in these sad states. I remember being so surprised when I once saw someone who had always seemed very strong to me several days after he came out of major surgery. He was so weak. But we will never see God like that. God is never weak or foolish; He is always wise and strong.

If there was something that could be likened unto foolishness or weakness with God (when compared to what seem to be wiser and stronger acts), this so-called foolishness or weakness would still be infinitely wiser and stronger than anything that man could potentially muster up even when man is at his best. But, in reality, if we ever perceive God to be weak or foolish, our assessment is erroneous. He is never that way.

1 Corinthians 1:18

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

In America, people often talk about how the country is becoming more and more polarized. There are huge ideological gaps between people. If God moves a person to accept the gospel, those barriers ought to be overcome. But at the same time that it breaks some barriers down, it can also put new barriers up.

When I think about what Christ has done for me, I am overwhelmed. His sacrificial life and death were acts of great love and grace. This good news (the gospel) drives me forward with vigor. I live for the gospel and for the glory of my Savior. I am willing to spend, be spent, or even to die in the work of the Lord, spreading His glory. I am willing to do this because of the gospel’s tremendous value. It is the power of God.

But not all people feel as I do. There are many in the world who have not embraced the truth. They are perishing. They view the gospel not as a powerful and glorious truth worth living or dying for but as a story. They may admit that it has truths that one can profit from, but to live your life for it or to give up your life for it, this is inconceivable to them. It is foolishness to them.