Singular Knowledge

03.17.13

1 Corinthians 2.2 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (ESV)

It wasn’t that Paul was narrow it was that he was singular. Paul understood that there was no purpose in peripheral-ities – the only thing those in Corinth needed to know was that Jesus Christ came and died for the sins of all mankind and opened the way for all mankind to come to know God. What else do we need?

They might’ve been impressed with eloquence – Paul admitted he had none. They might’ve been impressed with wisdom – Paul narrowed it down to this: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is the message; that is the point; everything else is just filler.

Yesterday I read a bit on the internet about the coming financial holocaust that is going to engulf the globe. I admit I was a little unsettled by what I read and during the night I had some uneasy moments of: what if… Well, what if? What if there is a shortage of food and clean water and I die in the midst of that? What if? In Heaven there is no shortage – there is only the abundance of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The Lord has promised to provide and has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13.5 ESV) My response is to, confidently, be:

“The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear;

what can man do to me?”

And it is all because of this one thing: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. No one else in history has stood in the gap for me. No one else in all of history has made a way for me to escape the wrath of God except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

My mission and focus from this moment on is that of Paul: [To decide, to make up my mind, and to live with this message] to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. There is nothing else worth knowing and certainly nothing else worth worrying about save not knowing Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Today, Lord You know my mind has been focused on many things and I have few answers – like none at all. I don’t know what is going to happen to this world, my country, my state, my county, my city or even my neighborhood. I think about my wife and kids and I pray that we know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified – and all that goes with that knowledge.

I thank You that You have promised to provide and I will be content with that. May I be a light and a voice among the many who don’t know and may some of them, by your Holy Spirit come to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified…amen.