The Wisdom of God
By Cornelis Pronk
THE CHURCH at Corinth had many problems, the same kinds of problems that have confronted the Christian world throughout the past two thousand years. One of the problems was the fascination the people had with preachers that sounded sophisticated and eloquent, but nevertheless did not teach the word of God faithfully. And that is something very prevalent in today's Christendom.I Corinthians 2 Indeed, churches after churches nowadays are seeking preachers that have the knack of delivering entertaining messages; they don't want their congregations to get bored. Others look for pastors that are capable of helping people meet their so-called "felt needs". Still others favor ministers that can stir the people up to an emotional frenzy, thinking that they are being specially moved by the Holy Spirit.
But when the message is over and emotions subside, the congregation is no better off in terms of spiritual knowledge or wisdom. There is no conversion; there is no repentance; there is no evidence of any transformation of character and conduct.
Misguided. Back in the First Century, the Corinthians, mesmerized as they were by preachers with great charisma, began to belittle Paul, saying that his gospel message was foolishness. Some challenged his method of delivery, and others even questioned his authority as an apostle of God. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle then wrote his first epistle to that church to reproof and correct their mistakes. Chapter Two, in particular, explains what's really at stake.
God's power
He begins by saying, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God." What testimony is that? In a nutshell: "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (v. 2). This is the core of the gospel of the Bible from which no preacher of the word should ever be sidetracked.A preacher's power is not in human persuasion or eloquence. To underscore that truth, Paul points out in verse 3: "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." Acts 18 gives us a glimpse of what went on in Paul's mind upon his arrival in Corinth. He was faced with a seemingly impossible task.
But he knows only too well that the effectiveness of his preaching does not depend on his own strength and ability. He says in verses 4 and 5:
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.The power to save is in the content of the message. It is the word of God that the Holy Spirit uses to convict people. He thus writes in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."God's wisdom
The gospel of the Bible reflects the wisdom of God. Verse 6 says, "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought." Those that are perfect means those that are mature in the faith. They are people who realize that even "the foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1:25).The wisdom espoused by the princes of this world passes away. The ideas of political and cultural leaders of this age, the theories of philosophers, and the styles of trend-setters they all last only for a while and then vanish. Only the wisdom of the Bible has substance and lasts forever because it is God's wisdom.
Mystery. It is a hidden wisdom, however. "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory (2:7).
The word "mystery" in the Bible refers to something that God has kept hidden for some time and now reveals, or something that He hides from some people and reveals to others. The emphasis here is on the latter. God has been hiding His wisdom concerning Christ and His saving work from the natural man, but has graciously revealed it to His people.
In fact, even before God created the world, He had already ordained that we the elect should be the recipients of this wisdom. What a gracious God we have!
That this divine wisdom has been hidden from unbelievers explains why even the princes of this world are ignorant of it, "for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (v. 8). Put another way, the crucifixion of Christ proves that the then rulers of the world did not possess divine wisdom. They did not understand the meaning of Christ and His saving work. They saw no wisdom in it. On the contrary, it was a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. In the eyes of the world, Jesus is anything but glorious; but in God's eyes and also in the eyes of believers, He is the Lord of glory.
God's word
This is not something new. Verse 9 explains, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."Usually, when people cite this well-known verse, they suggest that the reference is to heaven and to the wonderful things God has prepared there for His people. The context here, though, indicates that it is speaking of something else. The things that God has prepared for those who love Him certainly include heaven, but the focus in this discussion is on God's salvation plan and on the wisdom of that plan that called for the death of His Son Jesus.
The eyes, ears and hearts of the natural man cannot know or comprehend such mercy and love from God. Salvation by grace through faith in a crucified Redeemer is an idea that does not square with our reasoning, our way of thinking.
In fact, when it is explained to us, we ridicule it because it seems so foolish. Why would God save sinners by grace alone through faith in His crucified and risen Son? How can God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son? How can there be a salvation plan that does not require our doing something to earn it?
By the Spirit. But in His mercy, God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (v.10).
As the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit knows the mind of God perfectly. Even before the creation of the world, He knew all about the eternal plan of salvation. He knew what the First and the Second Persons of the Trinity agreed upon in connection with the redemption of sinners, that the Son was willing to leave heaven's glory and come down to this sin-cursed world to live among sinners, and that by His sacrifice on the cross He would earn eternal life and glory for those whom the Father had given Him.
These things the Spirit reveals to those who love God and in whose hearts the Spirit has shed abroad God's love in Jesus Christ, so that they respond to this love by loving God in return.
To illustrate the Spirit's unique qualification for revealing God's wisdom, Paul compares the Spirit's knowledge of God's mind to a human being's knowledge of his own mind. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (v. 11).
No person can know another person as well as he knows himself. Likewise, only God's own Spirit can know Him intimately. The amazing thing is that this Spirit also reveals these divine truths to those who love God.
God's dictionary
There's another reason we are given the Spirit of God. He helps us to learn spiritual words, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (v. 13).The Holy Spirit shows us how to use the Bible as its own dictionary. Typically, the meaning of many words God uses in the scripture are altogether different from the definitions that human wisdom has for those words. We need to search the Bible and see how they are used elsewhere in the scripture to discover what God has in view.
Let's take, for example, the word "leaven". Our human dictionary typically defines it as yeast that causes batter or dough to rise, or some other lightening agent. But in Matthew 16:6, Jesus said to the disciples, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Later, in verses 11 and 12, the Bible itself explains what Jesus was alluding to:
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.Comparing scripture. Comparing scripture with the scripture is the only way by which we can understand the spiritual meaning of many words and phrases that God uses in the Bible. That's why verse 14 says, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."It's not that an unregenerate person cannot intellectually know anything about the Bible or even about God's way of salvation. But he cannot understand it in a saving way to agree and welcome the gospel message and cherish it. He cannot understand these things because he lacks spiritual discernment; he is spiritually dead.
This chapter closes by asking rhetorically in verse 16, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?" The answer of course is: No one. Unbelievers love to argue about the things in the Bible. They try to find fault with God and instruct Him! How foolish! They don't know that they are contending with the holy God that will judge them.
God's mind
Verse 16 concludes, "But we have the mind of Christ." Because of that, we believers are able to understand the things necessary for our salvation. Since Christ thinks God's thoughts and understands God's wisdom, we do too, because we have His mind. What God has hidden from the wise and prudent He has revealed to babes.Are you such a babe? Do you know God's wisdom, so that you love it and relish it? What counts is not just what or how much we know, but how it affects us. Do we love God and Christ and the wonderful way of salvation through Him? If not, ask the Holy Spirit to open your sin-darkened mind and enlighten it with the truth of God. Ask Him to show you not only your sin, but the Savior from sinJesus Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God to everyone who believes.
It is said of Jonathan Edwards that during the great revival that took place under his ministry, he often read his sermons so that he would not be guilty of using persuasive techniques to gain a response, he wanted to be sure that such changes as occurred in lives would be caused by the message rather than the messenger. That does not mean, of course, that sermons should only be read. The point is that, like Paul, Edwards and other great servants of God have been keenly aware that lives are changed only by the power of the Holy Spirit. o
Rev. Cornelis Pronk is radio pastor of The Banner of Truth Radio Broadcast, radio ministry of the Free Reformed Church of North America, 950 Ball Ave. N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503.