Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Awakening The Desperate!
The Questions
1) How is the phrase, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”, amplified by reading the previous chapter?
2) Where is Paul’s confidence found?
3) What is the “testimony of God”?
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. 2 I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.
Original Intent
1) How is the phrase, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”, amplified by reading the previous chapter?
In chapter 1, Paul emphasized humanity’s wisdom and our perspective on reality compared to God’s infinitely greater wisdom and His completely whole perspective on all of eternity. The difference is so expansive, it’s laughable to even consider comparing the two. He remarks at how utterly foolish it seems for the all-powerful Being to sacrifice Himself for the souls of finite humans, yet that is exactly what God did. Paul says this wisdom of God, deemed foolish by man, is priceless beyond description because it is both the power of God and the wisdom of God combined in one sacrificial act that offered salvation to all of mankind. God’s wisdom vastly out measures our own and He used His wisdom to bring us redemption, drawing us close to Him. God went even farther and chose the weak and lowly of the world to be the mouthpieces declaring this great goodness of salvation. If that isn’t humbling, nothing is! This humble mindset of humility for the task the Lord gave Paul is the deep underscore of Paul’s statement, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Nothing else matters.
2) Where is Paul’s confidence found?
Among Christians, Paul is well known as being the most famous Christ-follower and preacher of all time. He accomplished incredible things with his life and spread the gospel with a passion we still look to for our model today. He boldly defended the faith, constantly took new ground for the Kingdom, and willingly laid himself aside for the betterment of the church at large. With all of his mighty works, it’s easy to forget that Paul was simply another man. He was a man with a past, with blood on his hands, a man who had fears, was lonely, was criticized, and battled against heavy emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual enemies on a constant basis. He was just a man. What made Paul such a significant player in the history of the early church rested in one thing alone, the power of the Holy Spirit. This was for a distinct purpose in the mind of God, that Paul’s hearers would know beyond a doubt that they could not put their faith in a simple human, but only on Jesus Christ.
3) What is the “testimony of God”?
The Greek word here for “testimony” can also be translated as “secret” or “mystery”. It’s not that the story of Jesus was somehow hidden or needed to be decoded, but rather that Paul came to help the Corinthians “unpack” the truth of Christ that they might understand it and take it in as their own. The story of Jesus’ promised coming was foretold centuries before through the prophets, even dating back to the beginning of time with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Until God came as a baby, sacrificed Himself for us, and was raised to life as evidence of His victory over Sin and Death, all of the prophetic “puzzle pieces” were a bit unclear. Paul is declaring that Jesus Christ, His fullness, His work on the cross on our behalf, and His resurrection are the testimony of God, His plan, and the evidence of His love. Jesus testifies to God because He is God and Paul stakes everything about His life on this testimony.
Everyday Application
1) How is the phrase, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”, amplified by reading the previous chapter?
When we read Scripture, it was always intended to be read and understood in a greater context. Looking at only one verse, or even a few verses, can be like looking at a black and white photo or even a dark shadow. But when we seek understanding of the passage as a whole, get to know the author and his culture, then put it in context of the rest of Scripture, we find depth, brilliant colors, and rich treasure that we can correctly apply to life as we understand more of who God is. Consider your Bible study habits or your general approach to reading God’s Word. Perhaps you skim looking for a verse to pop out at you. Maybe you open your Bible and just start reading wherever your eyes land and check out mentally after a few paragraphs. Or maybe the idea of reading the Bible feels heavy, clumsy, and awkward. That’s okay. Truly. I’ve done all of those. God has specific treasure for you, words He wants you to read, messages to impress upon your heart, and it all happens within the context of growing in how you study His Word. It’s a journey every believer is compelled to take as we learn to follow Christ. What if you and I set out to read the Bible with the same mindset that Paul determined to grow churches with? Suppose we read all of the Bible through the filter of simply wanting to know this Christ, who He was, who He is, and why He was crucified.
2) Where is Paul’s confidence found?
If you had to narrow down the epicenter of your life; the one thing that mattered above all others because it was the very source of fuel for everything else in your life, what would it be? Options for this fill-in-the-blank are endless. Passion for money, desire to control, pleasing those around you, or wishing you were enough are just a few examples. I have mine, Paul had his, and you have yours. Unless each of us are willing to look in the mirror and be honest about the reality of our desperation, we have no hope of finding true confidence. There is only one thing that cannot crumble under the intense weight of a human life with emotions, passions, dreams, fears, and failures and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ alone. Everything else will give way, shatter like pottery, and leave us scarred. But the confidence of Christ? There is nothing like it! It will take the broken pieces of us, and transform us into imitators of Christ, clothed in a confidence so beautiful it’s breathtaking. Not because we are wonderful, but because Christ is glorious! Seek this Jesus!
3) What is the “testimony of God”?
Paul’s life was wrapped up in this “testimony of God”. Everything he did, the plans he made, the sacrifices he chose, it all centered around this testimony of God. Paul encountered the risen Christ one day as he went about his business of killing Christians and those moments changes the course of Paul’s entire life. How much are you willing to surrender for the testimony of God? Is the pattern of Christ woven into the fabric of your day, your speech, your relationships, your church habits, and the words that come so quick when you’re angry? For Paul, the testimony of God had arrested the attention of his life, and nothing else mattered more. Did Paul still have a job and relationships, get tired and frustrated, feel lonely and discouraged? Yes! Take heart, sister, the testimony of God, the story of the resurrected Christ, was intended to be lived out by you and me, regular human beings, busy with life. Don’t let this testimony by another checkbox in life, let Christ be your life!
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Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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