The Zero Man and the Hero God

Key Text

Paul writes to a church that had begun to admire human wisdom, status, education, and giftedness. The Corinthians were measuring people the way the world measures people. Paul corrects their thinking by showing that God’s kingdom operates by an entirely different standard.

Verse 25 tells us that what the world calls the “foolishness” of God is wiser than all human wisdom, and what the world calls the “weakness” of God is stronger than all human strength. This is not because God is ever foolish or weak, but because human beings often misjudge the ways of God. His wisdom cannot be measured by human standards.

In verses 26 to 28, Paul asks believers to remember who they were when God called them. Not many were wise by the world’s standards, not many were powerful, not many were noble, yet God chose them.

Notice that Paul does not say God chose them because they had great ability. And read the reasons Paul does give, because he gives four. To confound the wise. To confound the mighty. To bring to nought the things that are. And that no flesh should glory in his presence.

God often takes what the world calls a “zero” and makes that person a testimony of His grace. And Paul does not say here what God was looking at when He chose them. He says what they were not, not wise, not mighty, not noble. Heaven’s values are different from earth’s values.

Then Paul reveals God’s purpose in verse 29. The word for “glory” here is the Greek kauchaomai, to boast or to glory. And lifting yourself up is my way of saying it. Paul says no flesh should do that in God’s presence.

This is the heart of the passage.

God works in such a way that no one can stand before Him claiming personal greatness. And read what Paul puts next, because he does not leave me to fill it in. Verse 30 explains why.

Everything we truly need is found in Christ, our wisdom comes from Him. Our righteousness comes from Him, our sanctification comes from Him, our redemption comes from Him.

Not one of those four begins with us. Paul says of him are ye in Christ Jesus, and he says Christ is made unto us those things.

Therefore, verse 31 reaches the only proper conclusion, and here that same word kauchaomai returns, now pointed the right way.

So the boasting is not cancelled, it is turned. Paul does not say do not glory. He says let him glory in the Lord.

And I take this back to Genesis myself, where man was made in the image of God. That the image is there to reflect Him is my reading of it, and Genesis does not use that word. And here is my picture. A mirror has no light of its own, and what you see in it came from somewhere else. So the zero was never meant to become the hero, for the zero is the mirror and God is the Hero, and the light was always His.

Reflection

Ask yourself this. When somebody praises something you did well, where does it go next?

• Am I trusting my ability more than God’s grace?
• Do I seek recognition for what God has done through me?
• When people see my life, do they admire me, or are they drawn to glorify God?

What I look for is not how much attention a person receives, but where they send it.

Prayer

Father, thank You for choosing ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary purposes. Keep me humble. Remind me that what I have, I received. Let my life never compete with Your glory but continually reflect it. May my only boast be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.