A Strange Way To Save The World

A Strange Way to Save the World

Scripture: I Corinthians 1:27-31

Theme: God’s ways are not our ways. He chose to save the world in a way that would bring glory to

himself and not to us.

Seed: Song “A Strange Way to Save the World”

Purpose: To help people understand that God’s view of strength is vastly different than ours. It will require

genuine faith to believe in God’s plan to save the world.

INTRODUCTION: When the world needs to be saved, who do you call on? You call on a superhero. Superheroes are in the business of saving the world. When we think of superheroes we think those characters that are larger than life. They leap tall buildings in a single bound. They can be invisible. They can fly. Criminals are terrorized by their presence. They seem to be indestructible. When we think of superheroes, words like humble, gentle, and loving don’t come to mind. We want someone who is powerful and dynamic to save the world.

Well, make no mistake the world is certainly in need of saving. The world that was created by God was beautiful. It was a perfect paradise. But God, in his infinite wisdom and incredible love for us gave us the gift of free will. Man could chose to obey God and live in paradise, or he could chose to rebel against God, rejecting him and cursing the world God had lovingly created for him. And man, through Adam and Eve, chose to rebel. The result is that the world we live in is cursed. Sin dominates our world and with it come disease, hatred, war, pain, suffering and selfishness. The world is broken and is need of a savior

With the world in such desperate shape, you would think that God would send a superhero to save it. Okay, maybe God wouldn’t send a superhero in the sense of tights, capes and the ability to leap over a tall building in a single bound, but you would think that God would choose to save the world through a powerful, charismatic leader who could wield power wisely and crush God’s enemies.

But God doesn’t work the way we do. God’s ways are not the same as our ways and we don’t always understand his methods. Rather than send a powerful hero into the world, he sent a defenseless baby. But God always has done things a little be backwards from how we would do them. We read in 1 Corinthians

God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom. As the Scriptures say, "The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done."

I Corinthians 1:27-31 (NLT)

A baby; a baby that would grow up and be executed for crimes he didn’t commit. Jesus, born of a poor virgin for the purpose of dying for a world that would reject him; that was God’s plan for saving the world. That’s a strange way to save the world. As we begin the Christmas season, let’s explore God’s plan for saving the world. It’s a strange way to save the world, but it’s the only way that would work.

Let’s consider why God chose to send Jesus as a baby rather than a superhero to save the world.

• Superheroes are larger than life…Jesus is HUMBLE

When we think of a superhero we think of someone who is larger than life. They fill the room with their presence. When Batman shows up, you know he’s there. The cool suit with the cape, the Bat-mobile roaring down the street, windows breaking, bad guys getting tossed all over the place, and then there’s the Bat Signal; let’s face it, Batman is larger than life. You can’t miss him.

You’d think that if the world needed saving, God would have sent someone who was larger than life. Someone you couldn’t ignore when they walked into the room or when they made their way through the middle of town. If the world needs saving, you want someone who is larger than life to handle the job.

But God chose not to send a hero who was larger than life. God doesn’t operate the way we would. God knew a larger than life hero couldn’t get the job done. So, instead, he sent a baby. That’s right. God sent a baby, not a superhero to save the world. And not only did he send a baby, but he sent a baby to a family so poor, so unassuming, a family in such humble circumstances that they couldn’t even find a room in a local motel for the baby to be born.