The wisdom that saves us - Notes on 1. Cor 2:6-16

Verse 6-8:

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

Yet we do speak wisdom

We have talked so much about wisdom over the last few sessions, that by now you'd almost think that being a good Christian is a matter of being as unwise as possible. Not by any means. What Paul has been saying is that what the world calls wisdom isn't very wise at all. Today, Paul will drop that human definition of wisdom, and show us what wisdom really is.

When Paul is talking about wisdom, he is talking about something quite different than the carefully crafted speeches of the orators and wise men that were so highly esteemed in that culture. The ancient Greeks took great pride in the development of great philosophy and advanced culture in their age. No different really from our modern times. This is not a wisdom of the current age though. It's not a modern development, but a wisdom that is older than time itself. And the rulers, the great sages and wise men of this age, those who are looked to for guidance and leadership, are more often than not completely ignorant that such a wisdom even exists.

Predestined, for our glory

We attain this wisdom not by study, but by Gods election. He has predestined for us to have it, and the purpose for us having it is for our glory.

I don't know if that term “for our glory” is shocking to you. It was too me. Because most of the time when we see the word “glory” in the Bible it is an attribute of God. We are commanded to do all we do for His glory (1Cor 6:20: “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”;1Cor 10:32: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.“). Glory is something that only rightfully belongs to God, and he is very particular about sharing it.

Yet by grace, he shares it with us. When we seek to glorify him, he glorifies us. Not in this present age, but in the age to come. Here is the promise from 1Cor 15:42-43:

So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

 

The Lord of glory

We will be raised in glory, by means of freely receiving this wisdom as a gift from God. He however is described as the Lord of Glory. The rightful owner of it, the source of it, the master of it. When we are raised in glory, that glory doesn't flow from us. It flows from Christ in us.

Here is the contrast between those whom God have predestined for eternal glory by eternal wisdom, and those who have attained for themselves temporal glory by temporal wisdom. The rulers of this age in all of their temporal wisdom, not only missed the wisdom that could have brought them to true glory. But they hated the Lord of this glory so much that they crucified him.

Verse 9-10

but just as it is written,

"THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

Here is the contents of this wisdom. The depths of God. Those things that godly men of all ages have longed to look into. Verse 9 is actually a quote from one such man, the prophet Isaiah, expressing this longing. We'll read the lengthier quote from Isaiah. We'll read Chapter 64 in it's entirety to gain context for what Paul is saying by that quote. That may seem long, but I would actually have wished to continue on to chapter 65 as well. We see in those two chapters a plead for Gods intervention, to redeem and save the sinful people of Israel, ending in chapter 65 with God's answer. A promise of a new heaven and a new Earth.

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence--As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil--To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved? 
 

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. 
 

But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin. Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O LORD? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Does it strike anyone else that Isaiah's longing is exactly what was fulfilled in the Coming of Christ? What no eye has seen and no ear has heard. A God who Acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Furthermore, we see the description of Israel's sin, and recognize our own sin in it. Even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God. And while we were in this condition, he tore the heavens apart, that thick veil of God's silence in judgment of our sins. And he sent his son down to this earth to take our place and atone for our sins.

Love and righteousness in harmony

And no greater picture of the depths of God could ever have been given to us. In the Gospel we see Gods nature more than in anything else. God's judgment on those who hate him is a great and glorious expression of his righteousness, but the knowledge of it doesn't penetrate very deep into his divine nature. You can see it and know God a little, but you have only scratched the surface. Likewise, God's great rewards to those who love him and obey his commands is a great and glorious expression of his love and grace. But it's not deep knowledge. If that's all you know you know God a little. But he has not yet revealed the depths of his nature with you.

The depths of God is where his righteousness meets his love, without either of them being compromised or diminished in any way. The depths of God is where the impossible happens. That God, as Paul puts it in Romans 3:26, can be just andthe justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. You see, letting a guilty man go unpunished might be loving, but it wouldn't be righteous. Giving us what we deserve would be righteous, but he loved us so much that he wouldn't. So he took all the suffering that we deserve on himself in stead, and in so doing remained both completely just and completely loving.

The depths of God is love and righteousness in harmony. The Gospel is where we see it. And it is the wisdom by which he will glorify us. The Gospel is the wisdom that brings us to salvation. And having not only understood it, but taken part of it, we know the depths of God.

Yet the question remains of exactly how we have cometo take part of it. How have we received this knowledge? In verse 10 Paul says that it God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. Then he goes on to explain to us how that exchange works.

 

Verse 11:

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

 

What the spirit knows

A very common conversation I'll have with my wife goes something like this. One of us will ask “What are you thinking about”, to which the other will invariably reply “nothing”. I sometimes wonder what will happen first. That we'll finally learn give up on trying to have that conversation, or that we'll grow in unity to a point where one of us will finally be able to answer the question?

There are some thoughts that can be put into words, and then there are some thoughts that are rooted so deep in your being that when you try to share them they come out the wrong way no matter how you say it. You have to be you to understand what you mean. That's what Paul means when he asks the question “Who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?”

If you, being a human, sometimes experience this inability to communicate with another human who has a very similar nature to you, then imagine being God. By definition he is something completely different from anything we have ever known. So how can such a being communicate his thoughts to us? Nobody knows our thoughts except our own spirit. All the more, no one knows God's thoughts except for His own Spirit.

 

Verse 12-13:

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words

 

What we can know

Nobody can know God except for the Spirit of God. However, the way God saves us is by bringing us into a union with Christ. And this union is a spiritual union. That means that the Spirit, who is from God, is now also in us. That means that in the same way that you in your natural state have knowledge about yourself that you can't communicate to others, you now have knowledge about God that you find yourself unable to explain to anyone who doesn't have the same Spirit. Paul goes so far as to say in verse 16 “we have the mind of Christ”.

Note however, that we don't know everything there is to know about God, but only the things God has freely given to us. God has chosen to reveal some things, and to keep other things a secret. He says in Deut 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.“

 

What we can share

He says in verse 13 that not only do we know certain things, but we speak of them. That is, we who have the Spirit can share in this knowledge with each other, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

However, when we talk about what we know by the Spirit, a word of caution would be in place. Because human nature is so susceptible to pride. Many have fallen into the temptation of making themselves seem more spiritual than the rest, by making up new doctrines about God that are not supported anywhere in the Bible. They will claim that their own spiritual connection with God is the source of this knowledge, and if you disagree they will say you just aren't spiritual enough to see it. Even if you show them Bible verses that contradict their claims, straightforward, black on white, they will say that they have a “spiritual” understanding of the verse, and say you are wrong to read it literally, and think it means what it actually says.

You are almost certain to meet such people. Notice who they are, and don't listen to them. Pray for them, correct them when you can, and keep an eye on who they talk to, because they will go around spreading their venom to anyone who will listen, and they will do much damage. Especially to newer and immature believers, who might fall for their lies.

 

Verse 14-16:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

The natural man

The experience of those who are united with Christ stands in stark contrast to the experience of the natural man. Explaining to them the deep thoughts of God, would be like if a random stranger on the street asked me what I was thinking of, and in stead of having the common sense to say “nothing” I would start to pour out my inmost thoughts to someone who didn't even know my name. My thoughts would be foolishness to them. Gods thoughts, being so entirely different from anything human, would be even more foolish to them, until they come to know Him by His Spirit.

 

Appraised by no one

The word Appraised means discerned, evaluated or judged. The Spiritual man has received wisdom from God to know and discern between truth and falsehood. And at the same time he knows who he is in Christ, and doesn't need anyone else to affirm ore evaluate that connection. He is appraised by no one. He stands before God, and even if many might have differing opinions about his performance or spirituality or godliness, he is only worried about the opinion of one. The one who called him. And while he is humble toward rebuke from those who are spiritual, he does not take too much note of unfounded criticism.

 

The mind of Christ

The chapter ends with a Bold statement, and I've mentioned it briefly already. He quotes Isaiah again, this time chapter 40, verse 13, and asks the question “Who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him”. It was unthinkable to the old testament believers to know God in the same intimate way that we know ourselves. And we may have heard it so many times that we're starting to take it for granted, but I want to finish with Paul's shocking claim: But we have the mind of Christ!