Introduction
Are you wise? Do you possess profound wisdom? Do you have such wisdom that it would be worth the while of a truth seeker to climb a high mountain and ask you for such words that would change his life, indeed, that would be the most important he could ever know?
Paul thought he had that kind of wisdom, as we shall see. He even thought that such people as you and I have that wisdom as well.
The Text
Up to this time, Paul has mostly been bashing wisdom. He glories in the “foolishness” of the cross, and he belabors the point that the Corinth believers were not considered wise nor was he considered a wise teacher. But Paul is not a wisdom-basher per se. He disparages not wisdom itself, but the type of wisdom that the world values and with which the Corinth believers had become enamored.
There is division in the church that Paul identifies as rising out of pride. But though there may be division, the real tension, as will become better seen later on, is between the Corinth Church and Paul. We’ve talked about this before. Though Paul is their spiritual father, having started the church and leading many of them to Christ, they are not so impressed with him now. Like a child entering the teen years, they no longer think their spiritual father is the wisest man they know, and, indeed, may not even be a wise as they have become to be. Wisdom is where it’s at, and poor Paul no longer is there. He has just about admitted it himself.
Wait a minute, Corinthians. Don’t push Paul into the barrel of has-beens yet. All is not as it seems. The truth is that Paul really does impart wisdom. It is a matter of perception. No, he does not teach a message that the world considers wise, nor in a manner that impresses the world; nevertheless, his message concerns deep wisdom. He explains three things: to whom the wisdom is imparted, what the wisdom is not, and what the wisdom is. Consider to whom the wisdom is given.
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom… Who are the “mature”? They are Christian believers. Paul continues his contrast between those who believe and those who do not.
1:18: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:23-4: …we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Those who are mature are those who are mature in Christ. Paul has noted already how rich the Corinthians are in Christ (1:4-9). As the above verses contend, those being saved do see the wisdom and power of the cross, which Paul preaches.
The problem with the Corinth believers is that they are reverting to their old ways. This is a problem with us Christians. Even after coming into the truth of the gospel, we often ease back into the old ways of thinking. For the Galatians, the error was taking on Jewish ways of treating the gospel – i.e. adding law to the gospel. For the Corinthians, the mistake is taking back on the pagan and secular ways of handling the gospel. In both cases, the believers had the delusion that they were maturing in their faith; after all, isn’t it a sign of maturity to become more disciplined or more knowledgeable? No, not this kind of discipline and knowledge. Real Christian maturity is growing in the wisdom of the gospel.
What is not this wisdom according to Paul? [I]t is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. What does Paul mean by a wisdom “of this age”? For one thing, it is the worldly and pagan wisdom of that time – the wisdom of reason and of mysticism, interestingly enough, the same two types that our age prizes. Philosophy was highly regarded in the Greek-Roman world. Athens may have been the center of philosophy, but schools of philosophy existed throughout the empire. The Greek love of knowledge and reason was admired by the Romans in much the same way Americans still admire the academic culture of the British universities.
But however accomplished such wisdom may be, its downfall is that it is limited to man’s reasoning ability. Man’s problem is that he is finite. He only has so much ability. Certain people seem to be geniuses to us, but they seem that way only because we are the standards. Yes, there are those who are more brilliant than others. But in comparison to God, everyone is dimwitted. As Isaiah 40:12-15 says,
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
What the wisdom of man has attained is impressive considering who man is. But, after all, man is mortal with a short life-span and only so much mental ability.
The other problem with man – and the main problem – is that he is rebellious against God. This has to be understood. Man refuses to know God and in truth hates him. Most people don’t believe that. If Paul had taken a poll of the Corinthian intellectuals, the overwhelming majority would have claimed that they love God or the gods. They are seekers after truth; they want to know God as he really is. But the Bible is firm about this point – as sinners, we are in rebellion against God, and left to ourselves, we are wicked. Such a view is repugnant to man’s wisdom, and therefore, whatever heights he may scale in rational wisdom, he is only led astray. His reasoning is his own enemy.
But there is another wisdom prized by many in Paul’s day. There were those who agreed with Paul that man cannot find God through his own reason. He did need special enlightenment which was to be found through the mystery cults. The way to knowing God was to be initiated into societies that had received secret revelation about God and the mysteries of the universe. But one had to prove himself by going through rituals. He had to purge himself of his pollutions. He had to prepare his soul for the rigorous path to true knowledge. But that means, though it does give somewhat more credit to God, is but another attempt by man to get to God through his own efforts. He might need help from God, but he must first prove himself worthy of the help.
No, neither the reason nor the mysticism of that age corresponded with the wisdom that Paul was imparting. But they were incapable of doing so, not because of their time period but because this special wisdom belongs to a different age altogether. The age of the world itself is passing, and the new age of God’s kingdom is at hand. A new era has arrived, ushered in by Christ’s coming; the old is passing away and the new is taking over. Whatever man comes up with in any century, it will not attain the wisdom of God.
To enforce this point, Paul adds the wisdom of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. Some interpret “rulers” to mean spiritual forces, and that is a possibility, but it seems in this context that Paul means human rulers. The leaders and officials of this world may seem impressive. They may seem to possess great wisdom and knowledge. But they also are passing away. They also are mortal, and their wisdom is limited to that of a passing age. No, this is not the wisdom that Paul offers.
What then is the wisdom he speaks of? 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. This seems a mysterious statement, one that ought to catch the ears of the Corinth believers and unbelievers. Paul and his fellow apostles and ministers impart a wisdom that is secret and hidden. The actual word for “secret” is “mystery.” What does he mean by his wisdom being a mystery? He explains it by the second word, “hidden.” Paul uses the term, mystery, in other letters as well, and each time he means something hidden by God to be revealed at God’s timing (Colossians 1:26-7; Ephesians 1:9; 3:3,4). It is not the kind of mystery to be solved through hard study, meticulous detective work, or passing through religious initiation rites. It is hidden beyond man’s efforts to find it.
God has hidden this full wisdom that he might deliver it at the time he has ordained before all the ages of man. Again, Paul is upholding the sovereignty of God to control the process of salvation. God chose the means to save, he chose those whom he would save, and he chose the time for salvation to be fulfilled and revealed.
Furthermore, this wisdom is for our glory. What an incredible statement. This wondrous, mysterious wisdom decreed before the beginning of the world has as its goal our glory. It is to be fulfilled when we are glorified. Wow! God is choosing the foolish and weak of the world to be glorified. How does that make you feel? You are being prepared for glory!
The wise rulers of the age have missed perceiving this wisdom. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. They are so off the mark, they crucified the “Lord of glory.” God’s Son walked upon this earth and the rulers of the earth not only did not perceive who he was, they took him for their enemy. The very ones who would protest that they honor God and want to know him better kill him when he shows up! That is the world’s wisdom; that is what it amounts up to no matter what form it takes.
Paul sums up the wisdom of God which he imparts with what appears to be a paraphrase of Isaiah 64:4:
9 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”—
No one could have figured this wisdom out. No one has ever seen it nor heard it; nor has anyone even been able to imagine it. No one could anticipate the plans that God has prepared for his people.
Note how his people are described – those who love him. How is it determined who loves God and who doesn’t? By how they respond to the wisdom presented. Those who love God receive with gladness the good news of Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. They find in it wondrous wisdom and power. Those who love believe, and they are not offended by the idea that they are too small and too sinful to be acceptable to God on their own.
This wisdom, of course, is the gospel of Christ. It is the message of the cross. What the world rejects as foolishness is the most profound wisdom in the universe. God has given clues to it, to be sure, especially laying out the foundation of it in the Old Testament scriptures. But it was only when Christ came, when he completed his work, and then opened the minds of his followers to understand, that this wisdom became clear.
Lessons
There is so much that could be discussed through this text. Let’s start with considering the key needed to comprehend the wisdom of the gospel. One might say “love,” but that still leaves the question of what love involves. The issue is this: Why do those who claim to love truth and would love God if they could know him fail to grasp or to believe the gospel? What is really being called for from them that they cannot give?
All the biblical writers could quickly raise their hands for the right answer. The answer is humility. Unbelievers would immediately scoff at this notion, but that’s just the point. Their first reaction is to be offended. They don’t seriously consider the possibility. They take such an answer personally. How dare we accuse them of pride! Well, are they willing to seriously consider what Scripture teaches about the human heart and then honestly examine themselves by it? Such work takes humility. This is the kind of wisdom that can only be comprehended through first being humble.
Consider the prideful positions taken by critics of the gospel. One is that anybody can understand and receive it. An intellectual may present himself as being open-minded and accepting, but it galls him to no end for his cleaning lady to tell him he needs Jesus. Who does she think she is? She’s never read a serious book in her life! It grates the nerves of the highly cultured woman to hear the uncouth preacher on the radio preach about repentance, as if he knew anything about enlightened ethics.
The scandal of the gospel is that dumb people, and uncultivated people, and messed-up people, and even scandalous people can claim it. No one has to take a religion class or even learn how to read and write. No one has to memorize anything, achieve anything, or prove themselves in any way. And even after acquiring this wisdom they often remain as uneducated as ever and unreformed in their manners. What kind of wisdom is available to everyone and requires no payment from anyone?
Here is a tougher, harsher question. What kind of wisdom lets murderers in and shuts nice neighbors out? The murderer believes and is saved; the nice neighbor doesn’t and is condemned. Is that wisdom? It doesn’t occur to the prideful to ask why the nice neighbor doesn’t believe. He or she doesn’t believe for the same reason the questioner doesn’t: he doesn’t want to, and he doesn’t want to because of pride. He doesn’t want to change; he doesn’t want God to be the way he is.
It keeps going back to pride.
