The Wisdom of God
Notes
Transcript
Our Scripture lesson this morning is taken from 1 Corinthians 2:6-16:
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Up until this point in 1 Corinthians, it might be possible to conclude that Paul is anti-wisdom, but this is not the case at all. Paul’s ministry was all about imparting wisdom—the wisdom of God. He says quite clearly in vs. 6 that “we DO impart wisdom”, but he is quick to add, “although it is not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age”. There are three questions this passage addresses:
What is the Wisdom of God?
Why Do the Wise and Powerful of this World Reject God’s Wisdom?
How Can a Person Obtain This Wisdom?
Let us begin with the first question:
What is the Wisdom of God?
What is the Wisdom of God?
In vs. 7, Paul defines this wisdom from God:
On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.
I just used the Christian Standard Bible translation, because it does a better job at translating this verse than the ESV. The CSB uses the more literal mystery. Why is this important? It is important because it helps us make connections to other portions of Scripture which use the word mystery and by doing so we are able to better understand what Paul is teaching us.
When Paul writes of a mystery, what he has in mind is Daniel 2 and Daniel 4. In the book of Daniel, a mystery is a hidden truth that can only be known via divine revelation. Speaking to King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel says:
But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.
Daniel was able to unravel this mystery, not because he had superior intelligence like Sherlock Holmes, but because God revealed it to him. I want to use the analogy of a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle to help you understand what the bible means when it speaks of a mystery. When you dump out a jigsaw puzzle what is hidden from you is not the pieces, but how to put the piece together to make a picture. Nebuchadnezzar and his wisemen had all the pieces before them; God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream and Nebuchadnezzar gave the details of that dream to his wisemen, but they were puzzled, they did not know how to put the pieces together. In the same way, God has given to us in Scripture all the pieces concerning the Gospel. There is nothing missing in Scripture that is necessary for life and godliness. If you could go back in time and speak with Peter or Paul, you would learn nothing new that is necessary for your salvation. There is not one piece of the puzzle missing! It is a mystery, because natural man lacks the ability to put the pieces together, it must be given to us by divine revelation.
In a moment, we will learn why this in necessary, but for now I want to move to the content of this mystery. Let us look again at verse seven.
On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.
Notice the last phrase of this verse, “a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.” What Paul is referring to is God’s plan of redemption through Christ. In other words, the message of “Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 1:23). As proof of this, consider Ephesians 1:3-6:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Notice the phrases, “in Christ”, “in him”, “before him”, “through Jesus Christ”, and “in the Beloved”. Every blessing of God is dependent upon “Christ and Him crucified”! This is the message Paul preached and it is called gospel, because it is “good news”!
This brings us to the next question Paul addresses:
Why Do the Wise and Powerful of this World Reject God’s Wisdom?
Why Do the Wise and Powerful of this World Reject God’s Wisdom?
Paul refers to the wise, powerful and privileged people of this world as “the rulers of this age” (1 Cor 1:6). Paul is focusing upon “the rulers of this age”, not because he is a primitive Marxist, but because if there is any category of people in this world who should be able to figure out how to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, it should be those who are most highly educated and skilled. People like the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman political authorities, but what do we see these people doing?
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Now think about what this verse means. I have been using the analogy of a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Imagine trying to put together a 1,000-piece piece puzzle without the picture on the box. That is the situation humanity was in up until the time Christ came, but when Christ came we had the box top! Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God”. You would have thought the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman political authorities would have been overjoyed to see Jesus, but they were not, they killed Him! Why did they kill Him? They killed Him because they hated Him (John 15:18) and because they “loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
Now it is not just “the rulers of this age” that hate Christ, every person in there natural, unregulated state does.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
This is why Jesus answered Nicodemus this way:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
This brings us to the third question Paul addresses:.
How Can a Person Obtain This Wisdom?
How Can a Person Obtain This Wisdom?
Let us look again at vs. 10:
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
Paul is saying the same thing Jesus told Nicodemus, in order to put the pieces of the puzzle together, a person must be “born again”. Only by the illumining power of the Holy Spirit is a person able to understand the things of God. As proof of this, Paul cites the Old Testament:
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Now these Old Testament passages that Paul is citing are not speaking of Heaven, but the Gospel. By reading a Bible or hearing a sermon, an unbeliever can see all the pieces of the puzzle, but they cannot even imagine what it should look like apart from the Holy Spirit. The Gospel does not make sense to them, it is folly to them (1 Cor 1:18; 21; 23 and 1 Cor 2:14). Now, this is no fault in the clarity of God’s revelation, neither in the Book of Creation or in the Book of Scripture (Psalm 19). Paul writes this to the Romans:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
It is our sinful hearts that suppress the truth (Rom 1:18) and distort it into idols (Rom 1:21).
However, for those whom God chooses to give the Spirit, things are different:
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Do you now see why Paul has been insisting that we must preach the Gospel by the power of the Spirit, rather than by the power of human persuasion? This is why prayer is the key to successful bible study, worship, missions and evangelism. Everything the church does is dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit! If there is any take away application from this sermon today, this is it. There is however, one more take away I want to leave you with:
How to Apply God’s Wisdom
How to Apply God’s Wisdom
For this final application, I want us to look at 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 again:
But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone.
Notice how Paul uses the word “evaluate” three times in these two verses; this is the same Greek word each of these times. The spiritual person can correctly evaluate both the Book of Creation and the Book of Scripture (Psalm 19), the person without the Spirit is unable to correctly evaluate either.
I recently read someone who suggested that Christians can study Critical Race Theory by “picking out the meat and discard the bones”. I say in response, why bother? Scripture is all meat, and it has no bones! Moreover, any meat the world offers can be found in the Word of God; and if the world offers something it is not in the Word of God, it is a bone! Too many Christians are turning to the wisdom of this world rather than the wisdom of God. Paul closes with this word of warning and encouragement:
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Who are those who stand in judgement of God’s Word? They are nobodies! They are nothing! Stop listening to them! We have the Holy Spirit! We have the mind of Christ! Let us live by that wisdom, rather than the wisdom of man. Our closing song is Hymn #390, May the Mind of Christ, My Savior. This song is going to be both our prayer of application and our closing hymn. Let us now stand and sing it.