The Wisdom of God
In chapter 2, Paul starts off by reminding the church that he came only to lift up the name of Christ. He says in verses 1-2, “When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” The Greek word for “to know” is eidó which means to be aware, to behold, and to consider. Paul didn’t want them to focus on himself. He only wanted them to behold and consider Christ crucified. Further he says, “I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power,” (vs. 3-5). To understand why Paul emphasizes the lack of proclamation and persuasive words, we have to go back to what we know about the Corinthian culture. It was a culture used to philosophical wisdom and flowery speech. In fact, they were prized in this culture. Debate and persuasiveness was often used. The party with the best speech would win the debate no matter the content. Paul wanted to let them know he did not incorporate these techniques. He only wanted to uplift the name of Jesus. He wanted them to see that the wisdom of men and the high speech of the world was empty and without real power. God’s power was not based on the words that were used. No, God’s power was demonstrated in the crucifixion of Christ and through the work of the Holy Spirit.
We currently live in an age where persuasive speech is a tactic often used in politics, in the corporate world, in our schools and even in some churches. People tend to flock to hear someone give a fantastic speech or they get stirred up with an impassioned argument. While there is nothing wrong with great words, or well written phrases, we need to be people who listen to the content. Focus on what, not how it is being said. If the message is not clear and the focus is not on the power of God, the power of the cross, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to ask for God’s wisdom to discern the message. We need to dissect and test the words coming out of the mouths of those who are speaking.
Paul goes on in verses 6-7, ”However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.” So Paul differentiates the wisdom of this world from the wisdom of God. In fact he states in verses 8-9 that “None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind God prepared this for those who love Him.”
When we see “it is written” we have to find out where. It was a tactic often used from a rabbi. They would quote a scripture and the listening, or reading, audience would be able to have a greater understanding of what was being said. The quote actually comes from two passages in Isaiah. The first is Isaiah 52:13-15, “See, My Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were appalled at You His appearance was so disfigured that He did not look like a man, and His form did not resemble a human being so He will sprinkle[many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him, For they will see what had not been told them, and they will understand what they had not heard.” Here we see the suffering servant who acted wisely. Not with any wisdom that was of man, but from wisdom that was of God. What looked like weakness to us was strength. What looked like foolishness, was wise. What looked like death was life. From this we understand that God’s wisdom is not anything like our wisdom.
The second is Isaiah 64:1-4, “If only You would tear the heavens open and come down so that mountains would quake at Your presence as fire kindles the brushwood, and fire causes water to boil to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that nations will tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains quaked at Your presence. From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened, no eye has seen any God except You, who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him.” Again, God’s wisdom is beyond our wisdom. Only those who know God can comprehend it. And how can we even begin to comprehend the wisdom of God? Paul answers that for us in verses 10-12: “Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.” It is through the Holy Spirit that we can know God’s wisdom. It is a mystery to those who do not know God, but revealed to those who know Him. Yesterday my pastor preached on John 15 – I am the vine, you are the branches – remain in me. In order to truly know God, we must remain in Him. If the branch is severed from the tree it will die. It has to be connected to the tree to have life just as we must be connected to God in order to not only have life, but to gain His wisdom and to bear fruit for His kingdom.
Paul is so right in verses 13-16, “We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. But the unbeliever does not welcome 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, yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” As believers, we have the mind of Christ. As stated before, the wisdom of God seems like foolishness to the world. The world wants to see strength and power, flowery speech and great philosophical ideas. So what does the world’s strong, successful men and women look like? They probably look like some of our movie heroes – Wonder Woman, John Wayne, Rambo, Superman, Iron Man… These are the winners, the men and women who can face down 200 guys with their wits and, in the case of Rambo, a machine gun and take them all out. We see success calculated by the dollars in someone’s pocket. We see winning a super bowl or the world cup as a heroic endeavor. But this is not the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God played out in the human experience is Mother Teresa who gave up everything to go to India and care for the untouchables. It is Corrie Ten Boone and her family who defied evil, hid Jews during WWII and all, except for Corrie, died in concentration camps. It is the servants of God who every day speak truth in this world no matter the personal cost. The wisdom of God says that weakness is strength and death is life. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst, those who are persecuted, those who are humble… It is about what is in the heart.
Now, I have to admit something here – I do love a good superhero movies – especially Marvel (sorry all you DC fans). Now of course they are all strong and mighty and they do end up winning the day – yes one man against 200 aliens… The reason I bring this up though is two particular scenes in a couple of Marvel movies that have nothing to do with outer strength. They have to do with humility and standing up for truth. The first scene is in Captain America. Steve Rogers is really a pretty weak guy. He has asthma, he can’t run fast, he can’t climb, he get’s beat up constantly, yet he won’t back down. He wants to serve his country. He gets his opportunity as the powers that be are looking for the right guy to give this super drug to. Everyone has already picked out the strong guy – the one who runs the fastest, climbs the highest and lifts the most (and has an attitude to go with all that). But they do one last test. But one person sees something else. He sees this weak guy that comes in last in everything as the one. Why? because he sees the bravery, and humility others don’t. So one last test is given. A grenade is thrown in the middle of the men and everyone except Steve Rogers runs away. His first instinct is to sacrifice himself to save everyone else. What the world saw as weak, actually was strong where it counted. The second scene is one from the first Avengers movie. Loki has crowded everyone into a square and tells them to kneel before him. In fear, everyone kneels But then one man rises. He faces the evil that is Loki and says I will not kneel to men like you. He stands there facing evil knowing he will die, but still he refuses to to give in.
Those who have the mind of Christ will look at this world differently. We will not listen to it’s wisdom or philosophy. We know God’s “power is perfected in weakness.” We know Christ death has led to eternal life in Him. We understand that money and power have no eternal significance. We will stand when we are told to kneel. And, we will sacrifice when earthly wisdom says to run and hide. In Ephesians 6:1-17 Paul outlines the armor of God. Unlike armor that we may wear for war, it is armor that will help us to walk in this world as a child of God. And he says in verse 13, “This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”
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