There are in this scripture, and throughout the Word of God, various kinds of paradoxes. “Paradox” comes from Greek and means “contrary to expectation, belief, or perceived opinion.” As the word melded into English and evolved, it came to refer to a statement which is self-contradictory – because it contains two statements which are both true, but they cannot – or should not – be true at the same time. The restaurant advertises a special on “jumbo shrimp.” “Shrimp” means small, but “jumbo” means large. The statement is not hard to understand, because of secondary definitions, and it takes on a meaning of its own, but the two component parts are somewhat contradictory. And do you remember this famous statement from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm?” “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” If two things are equal or the same, then neither of them can be more or less than any other. The sentence contains a paradox, because it contracts itself.
Despite the fact that something is paradoxical – sometimes it is still true. The poet Wordsworth once wrote – “The child is the father of the man.” Internally or grammatically, that statement is filled with contradiction, and yet we know it to be true. “Train up a child in the way that he should go,” and in time he will become a man of good character. Leave a child to his own devices, and that somewhat innocent toddler will “father” a wicked adult. And what about the statement, “The rich man is no richer than the poor man”? Here is something which is true in one sense, but contradictory in another. A similar thought might be – “less is more.” And how about the criticism – “Deep down – that person is really shallow”?
The Greek word “paradoxos” is found one time in the Word of God – in the scripture which we read earlier. Luke 5:26 – “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.” The “strange things” began that day with the illogical healing of a palsied man. But even more contrary to reason was that an apparently ordinary man forgave the other man of his sin. Then the man in whose body there was no strength, picked up his bed and carried it home. What becomes obvious in Luke 5 is that with God human paradoxes evaporate away. Jehovah is so far above His creation – above us, that what might appear to be rules of science, rules of logic and rules of grammar do not exist in His realm. The Bible is supernatural – by nature it contains paradoxes to the human mind. But God’s ways are not man’s ways. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
As I say, the Bible is filled with paradoxical statements – and yet everyone of them is true. It is natural for the Christian to expect the unnatural, provided that he has a mustard seed of faith. And his faith grows because the Bible is filled with the unnatural and paradoxical. “Whosoever shall save life shall loose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for Christ shall find it.” II Corinthians 4:18 talks about looking at things not seen. In II Corinthians 12:10 Paul says, “When I am weak then am I strong.” Later he says, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.” Ephesians 3:19 talks about knowing “the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.” A miracle can be a living paradox, because it falls into realm of the unnatural. Salvation by grace is a paradox, because the ordinary mind of man refuses to see the truth.
And here in this text is a series of three paradoxes. God is by-passing the foremost to bless the least. And in that blessing, He exalts the inferior to superiority. Proving once again that one plus God is a majority. The least plus God becomes the greatest. Poverty may actually be riches; and sinners may actually be saints.
Paradox number one begins with MAN’S ETERNAL PROBLEM – verse 26.
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” I was talking to Bro. Chris Martinson on Thursday, and the discussion turned to a natural history museum in Glendive, Montana – a museum founded on the reality of divine creation. Almost at the same time, we both said that one of the major religions in our world today is evolution. It is honored and promulgated in the great temples of higher education. Its god is constantly growing and improving – and right now that god is called “mankind.” And it certainly takes faith – a great deal of faith – to be a worshiper in this heathen religion. One of the key doctrines of evolution is called “the survival of the fittest.” The only elk good enough to have an hareem has to be the biggest, strongest and best in the forest. The only salmon to lay eggs up in the mountain lake must be strong and lucky. This idea has infiltrated every part of society like a terrible flu virus. We find it politics, many jobs, the big fight for scholarships and so on. But here is the paradox – God doesn’t work that way.
For example, many people have idea that the doorway to heaven is the mind; the fittest mind reaches Glory. In the days of the Bible it was a philosophy called “Gnosticism” – from the Greek word “to know.” It didn’t needed reviving, but it has become a major part of modern society. The false prophets of this religion are telling people that with their education of young minds, we will eventually find the fountain of life. If you use your mind properly you can create own reality – whatever you’d like it to be. Branches of the New Age religion declare that anyone can do miracles by simply visualizing them.
Even among the secular humanists, the mind is route to whatever Nirvana you might want. So education is a religion to millions of people today. The high priest is the man with the PhD. If your son or daughter drops out school, or you home school you an hedonistic – amoral hottentot. But here is the paradox, God has not called the worldly wise. The mind is not the road to divine blessings. The power to think of new theories in Quantum Mechanics doesn’t impress the Creator of all things. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Because the mind of man, can never be more than a faculty of the fallen creature in which it dwells, it will it will never get any higher than sinners that we are. Water can never rise higher than its source. Jesus said in John 8 – “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” God tells us that His rule is not to call the so-called, and self-called “wise men” to Eternal Life. So-called “higher education” often chokes away the truth of the Lord, not because the facts oppose the truth, but because of anti-truth brainwashing.
Still thinking of survival of fittest: The strong man always wins the race. The strongest horse takes the prize; the toughest boxer, the hardiest weed wins the garden. But God has not called to Heaven the mighty either. The Kingdom of Heaven is not of flesh and bone, power and ability, muscles and sinew. Sunday used to be “the Lord’s day,” but now it is owned by the National Football League. Its gods are quarterbacks and its prophets are the broadcasters. But of the thousands of worshipers and disciples, only a small handful make it to their heaven in the Hall of Fame. Jehovah’s glory is not measured in the number of home runs or game-saving passes and catches. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, (BUT) that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” “Except a man be born again” – from God, from above – he will have no part in Kingdom of Heaven. The true saint of the true God is always wholly helpless and dependent upon the Lord. But that is a paradox. “Whosoever shall humble himself as little child is greatest in kingdom of Heaven.”
This scripture goes on to point out that not many noble are called to eternal life either. Eternal life isn’t attained by wisdom or power or by self-righteousness and social position. Life eternal is an attribute of God, and we never have a part of that unless we become god or one of His beneficiaries. Praise the Lord for such verses as I Jn. 2:25 – “And this is the promise that (God) hath promised us, even eternal life.”
This means that where we might expect an honest, upright, church-goer to be bound for Heaven, such is not necessarily the case. Should we be surprised? We should not be surprised, but we are. The Bible is replete with declarations like Isaiah 64:6 – “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” God has told us that in His sight “there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” That which the world sees as a paradox is stripped away when we understand that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” and that “we are dead in trespasses and sins.” The first paradox in the text deals with man’s problem – “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”
Paradox number two touches on GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE – 1:27-29.
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
It is God’s delight to love the unlovely and to bless the unblessed. It is Jehovah’s delight to reach into depths of ungodly Ur to elect, call and deliver sinful Abram. It is His joy to by-pass the seven sons of Jesse to choose the eighth – the least significant. It was His choice to call a couple of Galilean peasants to raise the Son of God. Strange behavior, Lord. God’s purpose and choice is always wise and supreme, but they are often beyond what we human beings think is reasonable and rational. James 2:5 – “Harken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of his world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”
But if God’s ways are not man’s ways, how can we then fit in? Thankfully He’s told us – simply submit to Him. In order to receive and enjoy God’s blessings, we must cast aside our pride and the ideas which we think characterize greatness. Arnold Toynbee, was not speaking as a Christian, but rather as an historian and astute student of humanity when he said, “Self-worship is the number one religion of mankind.” But self-worship cannot stand in the presence of Jehovah.
It is a great paradox – at least in the average human mind – but God delights to honour the dishonorable. In fact, the only people whom the Lord ever honors are those who honestly admit that there is no reason for them to be honored at all. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
With this we come to paradox number three – GOD’S ETERNAL PROVISION – verse 30.
“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” God hath chosen the foolish to receive wisdom and therefore to become wise. But the wise of the earth are too full of their own wisdom to become truly wise. What a paradox. God hath chosen the sinful to become recipients of righteousness. God hath chosen many unholy sinners to receive sanctification and many who are sinfully bound to be redeemed. All this through Jesus Christ, God’s son, who gave His life, accomplishing the will of the Father.
What a wealth of instruction is contained here in a mere twenty-two words. Christ is made “our wisdom.” Down just a few verses Paul makes an observation – “The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The glories, attributes and blessings of God are not recognized by common men, because these things can be seen only through the Lord Himself – they are spiritually discerned. Our computer-like minds have been so damaged by sin to be unable to receive Heavenly data. The only IT man capable fixing the virus-laden software is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And He will do the task only when we are born again. It is at that time that Christ becomes our wisdom.
Listen to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians – “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ.” This reminds us that spiritual perception is not natural or automatic, but through Christ there is access to things unimaginable. “In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” – Colossians 2:3. Some day we may know this book as we should. Some day we may know the “why” of things which befall us today. In the mean time, our Saviour has been made our wisdom, and we must rejoice in that.
And He is our righteousness and sanctification too. We who are sinful and unholy, at our very best are filthy creatures, can be made righteous and sanctified. We who deserve Hell – as gracious recipients of Christ – who is righteousness and sanctification – can be made righteous in the sight of God. Christ “was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him.” There is no self-induced perfection before God. There is no incarnation or reincarnation into higher life forms; no evolution into spirit beings. There is no mind-enhancing technique which can pole-vault us into acceptability with God. Only Christ is righteous and has righteous to give away – only He can make us fit for God’s kingdom. He is “the way, the truth and the life” – no man approaches God except through Him. If we haven’t received true righteous from Christ, there will never be any.
In other words, only Christ can redeem us from our sins. We are so hopelessly in debt through sin, that it is impossible to buy ourselves out. But even here – salvation is possible because Christ is made redemption unto us. “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” What great things in which to glory – what blessed promises from God. What paradoxical thoughts to our fallen, corrupted hearts and minds.
Salvation and forgiveness of sin are not logical when analyzed by human minds and thought. But with the help of the scripture and the blessing of the Holy Spirit, this is not only true but makes sense. But ye must be born again. Repent before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.