Message Notes

Senior Sunday School 17 August 2025

Text: 1 Corinthians 1

Subject: “We preach Christ crucified” 1 Corinthians 1:23

Lesson #7

23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1 Corinthians 1:23-25

INTRODUCTION

1. This text follows what Paul wrote about

a) 1 Corinthians 1 “The Message of the Cross”

b) 1 Corinthians “The Wisdom of God”

c) 1 Corinthians 1 “We preach Christ crucified”

2. The Content of the Message of the Cross

a) The Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

b) The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ

TO THE JEWISH AUDIENCE

1. Preaching about the Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was not acceptable

2. Their reasons for taking offence

a) The Sanhedrin Council had demanded that the Lord Jesus be crucified

b) They had rejected the Lord Jesus as the Messiah

c) They had consistently stood against the Lord Jesus

TO THE GREEKS

1. They did not understand the significance of the Cross

2. They reject the significance of the Lord’s death on the Cross

TO THOSE WHO ARE CALLED BY GOD

1. The Cross has two special messages

a) It reflects the Power of God

b) It also reflects the Wisdom of God

TWO THINGS HIGHLIGHTED

1. The “foolishness of God”

a) Non-believers cannot comprehend the preaching of the Cross

b) To them, this reflects the foolishness of God

2. “The weakness of God”

a) The message of the Cross appears to be “weakness”

b) The central idea

i) The Message of the Cross is of doubtful wisdom

ii) Paul’s focus on the Cross sounds weak

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CROSS

1. To the Romans

a) It is extreme punishment

b) It is Roman justice meted out against dangerous criminals

2. To the Jews

a) Death to the Lord Jesus

b) The last supreme attack on the Lord Jesus Christ

3. To God

a) The Cross is the paying for the penalty of man’s sins

b) It is the power of God for salvation

c) It is the wisdom of God

i) It humbles the repentant sinner

ii) It moves the sorrowful sinner

iii) It results in salvation

iv) Our sins are carried away by the Lord Jesus on the Cross

d) Significant texts

i) Isaiah 53

ii) Ephesians 2