1 Corinthians 1:28

My Notes

What Does 1 Corinthians 1:28 Mean?

"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." God's selection method is systematically INVERTED: He chooses the BASE (agennē — low-born, ignoble, without pedigree), the DESPISED (exouthenemena — treated as nothing, counted as zero), and the THINGS WHICH ARE NOT (ta mē onta — the non-existent, the things with no being) — to destroy the things that ARE. The selection is designed to NULLIFY the existing power structures by using the people those structures consider worthless.

The phrase "base things of the world, and things which are despised" (ta agennē tou kosmou kai ta exouthenemena — the ignoble of the world and the things counted as nothing) describes God's CHOSEN instruments: the low-born. The zero-valued. The people the world's systems classify as NOTHING. God specifically CHOOSES these — not as an afterthought or as a last resort but as a DELIBERATE SELECTION. The choosing of the despised is the strategy, not the default.

The "things which are not, to bring to nought things that are" (ta mē onta, hina ta onta katargēsē — the not-being-things, in order that the being-things He might abolish/nullify) is the MOST EXTREME selection: God uses what DOESN'T EXIST to destroy what DOES. The non-existent nullifies the existent. The nothing defeats the something. The power structures that seem real and permanent are brought to nothing by the things that seem to have no existence at all.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Are you the 'base thing' God is choosing — and is the world's zero-assessment your qualification?
• 2.What does God using things that ARE NOT to defeat things that ARE teach about divine strategy?
• 3.How does the despised being CHOSEN (not accepted as a fallback) change your view of your own status?
• 4.What 'things that are' — what existing power structures — is God bringing to nothing through unlikely instruments?

Devotional

God chose the base. The despised. The THINGS THAT ARE NOT. To bring to nothing the things that ARE. The selection is deliberately inverted: the world's zeros are God's chosen instruments. The non-existent nullifies the existent. The nothing defeats the something. The strategy is the inversion.

The 'base things' and 'things despised' describe God's chosen instruments: the ignoble — people without pedigree, without status, without the credentials the world values. The despised — people treated as NOTHING, counted as ZERO, classified as worthless by every system that evaluates human worth. God CHOOSES these. Not accidentally. DELIBERATELY. The choosing of the despised is the divine strategy, not the divine afterthought.

The 'things which are not' is the MOST radical selection: God uses what DOESN'T EXIST — what has no being, no presence, no reality in the world's assessment — to defeat what DOES exist. The non-existent defeats the existent. The nothing nullifies the something. The power structures that seem permanent, solid, and real are brought to NOTHING by instruments that seem to have no existence at all.

The PURPOSE — 'to bring to nought things that are' — reveals the STRATEGY: God uses the inverted selection to DEMOLISH existing power structures. The things that ARE — the established, the powerful, the impressive, the systems that seem permanent — are brought to NOTHING by God's use of the base, the despised, and the non-existent. The demolition uses the despised as the wrecking ball. The destruction of the powerful uses the powerless as the instrument.

Are you the 'base thing' God is choosing — and is the world's assessment of you precisely what qualifies you?

Commentary

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Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture