Alba 2-16-2025
THE WISDOM OF GOD
I Corinthians 2:6-16
A father and his small son were out walking one day when the boy asked him a question. “Dad, how does electricity could go through the wires stretched between the telephone poles?”
“I don't know,” said his father. “I never knew much about electricity.” A few roads farther on, the boy asked what caused lightning and thunder. “That has puzzled me too,” came the reply.
The youngster continued to inquire about many things, none of which the father could explain. Finally, as they were nearing home, the boy said, “Dad, I hope you didn't mind all those questions.” “Not at all,” replied his father. “If you don't ask, how else are you going to learn?”
Socrates is quoted as saying, “The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing.” I think that father would qualify. There are a lot of things that we don't know. And for years, people did not know the plan God had to make possible our salvation. Throughout the Old Testament, God kept giving hints, but now it has been made known.
To prepare for our look at I Corinthians 2:6-16 lets start with a scripture from Philippians 2:5 which says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” In that context it is telling us to be humble, to consider the needs of others above ourselves, because that is exactly what Jesus did. Philippians 2:8 says, “He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross.” He did that for us because we needed it. Jesus willingly gave up what rightfully belonged to Him! What humility that took! I don’t know about you, but I’ve got enough sin myself without taking on someone else’s sins! But even though Jesus never sinned one time, He was willing to take our sins upon Himself and pay the penalty of the second death for us!
That is good news. That is the Gospel. But many people hear that and they stumble over it and consider it foolishness, missing the wisdom of God. That's why the apostle Paul thought it was important to be sure to proclaim the message, “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Yet to many...
1. God's Wisdom was Hidden
The apostle Paul, after stating that his preaching was not with “ persuasive words of human wisdom,” (vs. 4), follows that here in I Corinthians 2:6-9. “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'”
God created a plan which was foreordained before the world was created, and kept it a mystery. Depending on which Bible version you are reading, you may see the word “mystery” or “secret.” The Lord kept it a secret for thousands of years until Jesus went to the cross. Indeed, God had a plan, a wonderful plan, that people often don't understand. Even though seen as foolish by some, in reality, it is a demonstration of God's great wisdom.
In the Levitical Law of the Old Testament, the Lord was very clear about the different types and reasons for animal sacrifices. There were burnt offerings, meal offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings. When Jesus Christ offered Himself as our offering on the Cross at Calvary, He fulfilled all of the righteous requirements of the Law on our behalf. So, there is no longer a need for animal sacrifices. Jesus covered our sins, made peace between God and us, and paid for all our trespasses. This is how we become “Holy, acceptable” to the Lord.
The secret wisdom, this mystery, is that God would send His own Son, Jesus, as the Messiah and that Jesus would bring salvation through His death on the cross. He was our sacrifice for our sins. If the Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers would have understood who Jesus was, they would have never crucified Him. Yet, by killing Him, they carried out God's plan. This is really the ultimate irony.
It is possible that if God had not kept it a secret, the human rulers (and Satan) would have tried to spoil God’s plan by not crucifying Jesus. They thought they were so wise, yet by their folly they brought to pass, in God’s perfect providence, His own wise plan --- the very plan they dismissed as foolishness. Because of the foreknowledge of God, He knew of the evil activities of Satan and his kind and put a plan in place to defeat them.
In Acts 4:27-28 the Christians were praying, “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (NIV).
Though it was predicted by the Old Testament prophets, no one saw it coming. In fact no one really understood it, not even the disciples themselves. It was not until AFTER the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit that the disciples were finally able to really understand God’s plan of salvation which had been hidden since the time of creation.
Verse nine is a quote from Isaiah 64:4. Certainly we can't imagine “the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” This verse is often quoted at funerals to refer to the glories that await us in heaven. And it is true that we have no concept of what awaits us as children of God. But in the context, it could also be referring to the cross, and how no one knew the amazing way God would bring our salvation.
So, while God's wisdom was hidden for years, now...
2. God's Wisdom is Revealed.
I Corinthians 2:10-12 tell us, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things 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 know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
Mary Williamson, a pediatric nurse in Kirbyville, Texas, once neglected to tell her new patient, a little boy, how his hospital room intercom worked. Soon his light flashed. She responded over the intercom and called his name and asked what he wanted. There was complete silence. She repeated herself. After a long pause he said, “Jesus, I hear you, but I don't see you. Where are you?” Mary says she couldn't wait to get to his room and give him a hug.
(Mary Williamson, Kirbyville, TX, Today's Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart”)
How often does our Lord long to get to the people of the world and give them a hug? But they don’t even hear Him, much less see Him. God loves to reveal Himself, and He is constantly sharing His secrets. Still many people are oblivious. But it is wonderful when the fullness of His love is understood and accepted. And that is also God's plan.
God’s wisdom was a secret meant to be told. The apostle Paul was concerned about one thing and one thing only – the gospel of Christ portrayed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That’s God’s secret! In the wisdom of God, our salvation came through Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Verse 10 says that the wisdom of God is revealed through the Holy Spirit. So if you want to know God’s secret, you must listen to God’s Spirit. Verse 11 is saying it is difficult to know the thoughts of another, and that no one really knows what is in your mind except you yourself. In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except God Himself. Who could know what is going on in God's mind other than the Spirit of God? Just like you know your own thoughts, so God’s Spirit knows God’s thoughts. We cannot penetrate the spiritual world without help. God’s message is communicated by the Holy Spirit.
In John 16:14-15 Jesus said concerning the Spirit, “He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (NIV)
II Timothy 3:16 says that the Holy Spirit did just that by giving us the Bible. It says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
We who have the Spirit of God have access to God’s thoughts and therefore can understand the wisdom of God. But only if we learn how to listen to the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit speaks to us when we are searching the Scriptures. Luke wrote in Acts 17:11 about the fine people of Berea saying, “they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” In this way they came to know the wisdom of God and believed in Jesus: Christ crucified.
God through the Holy Spirit calls an individual to Himself, then that person responds with obedient faith in Christ, and then God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 tells us to, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
As Christians, we have been given life by the Spirit and He dwells in us, changing our perspective, giving us understanding into God's purposes and plans, helping us to see that the cross of Jesus Christ is not foolishness, but the most magnificent wisdom one could ever imagine.
So we see the contrast between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. The world's wisdom is focused on the the physical, but God's wisdom goes beyond what we see with our eyes and feel with our hands. While for many years God hid His plan for our salvation, it is now revealed.
3. God's Wisdom is Spiritual
I Corinthians 2:13-16 say this: “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
These verses explain why the Christian message just doesn't connect with some folks. There are two kinds of people. There is a natural man (we can call him worldly), and there is a spiritual man. So sometimes the words we speak about Jesus and God's wisdom just don't connect with the person with whom we are speaking. That connection seems broken.
For example, during the first week of basic training, an army drill sergeant was explaining what was in store for his squad during the next two months. One young private raised his hand and asked, "Sergeant, when do we get our guns?" The drill sergeant quickly corrected him. "Private, we don't have 'guns' in the army. We use the M-16, A-1 Military Assault Rifle. If I catch any one of you calling the M-16 a 'gun', I'll have you drop and give me 50 pushups. Now then, Private, repeat your question." The young man nodded and then said, "Yes Sir, Sergeant. When do we get our guns?"
Parents often have had similar experiences with their children. They tell them something and think they heard and understood, but their actions soon show they really did not get it. Anyone who thinks they are better off doing things their own way; anyone who would choose to trust in them self rather than in Jesus Christ, really doesn't understand the gospel. That person may seem to agree with what we say, but then all of a sudden he or she says something which makes us realize that what we have said has not connected at all.
When Paul refers to the man without the Spirit in verse 14, he is talking about real people. Because there are many, maybe one of your friends or family members, who at this time can't understand the gospel message. No matter how hard we try to explain it to them, they do not get it. We wonder why they are not attracted to something we believe is so important. The reason they are not interested, as we can see today, is because the Holy Spirit is not being allowed to open their eyes to the truth and beauty of the gospel. What can we do to help change that? A one word answer: Pray. Pray that God would open their eyes. Pray that God's Spirit would work in their hearts giving them a desire for the truth.
But for those of us who are in Christ, verse 16 says that we have the mind of Christ. We have that spiritual mind within us. Now, don’t get me wrong. That doesn't mean that everything we think in our brains comes from the mind of Christ. In fact, much of what originates in our minds is quite different than what might proceed from the mind of Christ. Still, the mind of Christ is available if we choose to access it. But have you noticed that this access isn’t demonstrated equally in every Christian. Why is that? It is because some are not reading and studying God's Spirit-revealed Word. And others are still practicing a lifestyle that doesn’t represent the priorities of God. The more entangled we are in habitual sin, the less we will understand the Bible.
If we do not spend at least some time in the Word, how are we going to have any clue as to what God's will is? If we do not know His Word, we will not know His will. The Spirit will not be able to guide us in what we do not know! That is the problem with many Christians and many churches. They are still filtering their thoughts through the world’s wisdom and not the mind of Christ.
Let me say this as simply as I can: if you’re a Spirit-filled follower of Jesus Christ and you align your life with His priorities, and the more Scripture you consume: the more potential you have to access the thoughts of God. Obedience to God’s commands results in God’s will being revealed.
Yes, as Christians, we have "the mind of Christ." This doesn’t mean that we know everything. It means we look at life through the teachings of Jesus. We do have a filter, but it is not the filter of the wisdom of this world. Our filter is the teachings of Jesus Christ. The mind of Christ stands in sharp contrast to the wisdom of man. The mind of Christ is given to believers through the Spirit of God. The mind of Christ involves wisdom from God, once hidden but now revealed.
CLOSE:
Jimmy Moore was a dying man. There just wasn’t any future for him. Then he got his chance at life again in the form of a heart transplant at Vanderbilt University. Less than two years later, he completed the grueling Music City Triathlon in Nashville, Tennessee which consisted of a 1k swim, 40k bike ride (24.8 miles) and 10k (6.2 mile) run.
Jay Groves, coordinator of Vanderbilt’s cardiac rehab program, ran and bicycled with Jimmy Moore. The man who had a heart transplant 18 months earlier crossed the finish line with tears in his eyes and these words across the front of his T-shirt, “I’VE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART.”
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone who needed a heart transplant could have one? More importantly, wouldn’t it be great if everyone who needed “a change of heart,” could get that?
I would say that more people need “a change of heart” than a heart transplant. Why do I say that? Because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Perhaps what we really need is a “mind transplant.” A true “change of minds.” God in His wisdom has made that available to you in Jesus Christ.
