1 Corinthians 1:27-28 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.
The cross is the ‘table of treaty’ where the divine transaction was consummated. The purpose of the life of Jesus was completed on the cross. The gruesome death on the cross symbolised shame, pain, curse, humiliation, suffering and death during the Roman rule, but we celebrate the cross as it is the plateau of percussion that took our sin, shame and suffering and exchanged it with divine restoration, reconciliation and rejuvenation. Cross is the crossroad where forgiveness was exchanged for sin; wisdom was exchanged for foolishness; healing was exchanged for sickness; redemption for bondage and honour was exchanged for humiliation. The spiritual blessings that we enjoy is only through the ghastly price of death that Jesus paid on the cross. The debacle of cross was the ransom that Christ paid for our salvation, redemption and restitution.
Jesus exchanged our foolishness with His wisdom. Adam and Eve foolishly sold their rulership, authority and intimacy with the Lord God for a pleasant looking perishable piece of fruit. Hence no matter how intellectually smart we are, folly is buried in our heart. Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Through the victory on the cross, our foolishness has been exchanged with divine wisdom. However, Jesus chose the illiterate, impetuous and impulsive fisherman Peter to be entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
We have all made silly, foolish and irrational decisions, choices and conclusions. However, we can exchange our foolishness with the divine wisdom at the foot of the cross.
Three preconditions for the divine transaction are:
1. Respond: Fishing was a thriving business back in the sea of Galilee. When Jesus invited Peter and his brother Andrew, they left the boat and nets to followed Him. They did not negotiate their pay package or perks but just responded. As they marinated three and half years in the presence of Jesus, their folly was turned into wisdom that even the knowledgeable Pharisees of their times did not have. Criteria number 1 – to partake in the divine exchange, respond to the call of Jesus.
2. Rational: Sensibility and divinity might not talk the same language. Many times, the divine direction will be to hold the staff over the sea to split it open or to walk silently around the fortified walls for seven days. Stop relying on the reality and trust in the sovereignty of God. When God says that it is done, it is done, even if the situation looks irrational, impossible and illogical. The will of God will never take you, Where the grace of God cannot keep you. Criteria 2 – stop being rational and logical but trust in His potential.
3. Receive: Peter did not have education, etiquette or eloquence but after he traded his folly with the wisdom of Christ, he not only became an orator but also an ardent writer. He spoke with such power and articulacy that thousands of lives where touched and transformed in one day. Jittery, emotional and impulsive Peter became bold, authoritative and persuasive. Criteria no. 3 – receive the divine wisdom in exchange for your folly.
God chooses the foolish, fearful and failures to make shame the wise. So, trade-in your imprudence with His wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
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