These verses are a continuation of the argument Paul began in 1:18: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul is still talking about the cross in chapter 2. This fact is essential to a proper understanding of this passage.
Paul states that he didn’t use “wide and persuasive words” when he preached. In other words, he didn’t try to impress people with his knowledge and ability like the popular philosophers of his day. However, he did “speak a message of wisdom.” This message was all about “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Whenever Paul proclaimed this message, most of his listeners saw it as complete nonsense. Today, the world’s reaction to the message of the cross is no different. So how do Christians come to understand the wisdom of the cross? How do Christians come to see that the Christ of the cross is the only source of eternal life? You might say, “Well, I just believed it.” But the Bible says it’s not quite as simple as that.
Paul explains in these verses how some have come to reject the world’s opinion of the cross and see in it the wisdom of God.
I. THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS IS ETERNALLY SIGNIFICANT (v. 6).
“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.”
Though the message of the cross is foolishness to the world, it is “a message of wisdom among the mature.” Many people think that Paul is diving Christians into two classes: the mature and the immature. This argument is strengthened by the fact that Paul describes the Corinthians as “mere infants” in 3:1. And he also writes in 14:20, “Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.” Since the Corinthians are called “infants” and “children” later in this letter, it is said that Paul could not teach the Corinthians the “deeper truths” of the cross because they were immature. According to this interpretation, Paul is saying, “I usually speak a message of wisdom when I am preaching to the mature, but, because you are immature Christians, I could only give you the basics.”
However, I believe that the “mature” in v. 6 refers to all Christians. In 3:1 “infants” is the opposite of “spiritual”: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ.” When you examine chapter 2, it is evident that the “mature” are those who have received the Spirit: “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (v. 12). Because the “mature” have received the Spirit, they are therefore the “spiritual man” of v. 15. To be “mature” in this context means to been in Christ and possess the Holy Spirit. It’s possible, though, to be mature and act immature (just like it’s possible to be a Christian and act like a sinner).
The “mature” (Christians) cherish the message of the cross; we see it as the wisdom of God. But most do not see it as we do. Why? Because the message of the cross does not agree with “the wisdom of this age.” Therefore “the rulers of this age” reject it.
“The rulers of this age” are those who rule the outlook and values of our world. They are the “wise,” the “influential,” and those “of noble birth” of 1:26. Today we would say that they are the world leaders, the movie and music stars, the billionaires, the leading professors and scientists. They are the best the world can offer, yet they oppose the message of the cross.
Application: “The rulers of this age” tell us what to think, what to wear, what to buy, and so on. But why should we listen to them? Why should we do what they say? Their wisdom is “coming to nothing.” It is passing away. It is without ultimate value.
The latest theory or fad of man might be popular today, but it will one day become totally insignificant. In contrast to the fleeting wisdom of the world is the wisdom of the cross. THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS IS ETERNALLY SIGNIFICANT.
II. THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS WAS ONCE HIDDEN FROM THE MIND OF MAN (v. 7a).
Paul didn’t preach a message of worldly wisdom. “No,” he says, “we speak God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden. . . .” The wisdom of the cross is “God’s secret wisdom.” The New King James Version says, “the wisdom of God in a mystery.” The term “mystery” refers to something that was once hidden by God but now revealed. But isn’t it true that the Bible often claims that the cross was predicted in the Old Testament? How could it have been both predicted and hidden?
In Romans 16 Paul makes the unusual statement that in the days before the cross the gospel of Jesus Christ was both revealed and hidden:
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him --- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (vv. 16:25-27).
Most of the Old Testament prophecies of the cross were difficult to understand. Man should have understood these prophecies, but they did not. For this failure Jesus once scolded his followers: “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). No one anticipated the cross --- not even the Christ’s disciples. Though it was clearly predicted by the Old Testament prophets, no one saw it coming. THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS WAS ONCE HIDDEN FROM THE MIND OF MAN.
III. THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS WAS DESTINED FOR OUR GLORY BEFORE TIME BEGAN (vv. 7b-8).
Paul writes that the wisdom of the cross is a wisdom “that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
There is a clear contrast between the saved and “the rulers of this age.” We, the saved, are “destined . . . for glory”, but the rulers of this age are “coming to nothing.” “Glory” refers to the final goal of salvation --- that God’s people should share in God’s own glory. This is why the crucified One is here called “the Lord of glory.”
· “Encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).
· “Now if we are children, then we are heirs --- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom. 8:17).
· “Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30).
God planned our glorification “before time began.” The apostle Peter writes that Christ “was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:20).
The irony of the cross is that the authorities who crucified Jesus were unknowingly carrying out God’s purpose. Paul says, “None of the rulers of this age understood [the wisdom of the cross], for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” The crucifixion was God’s plan, and He used man’s misunderstanding of Jesus to bring it about.
As the praying Christians put it in Acts 4, “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” (vv. 4:27-28). They thought they were doing away with a messianic pretender; in fact, they were illegally and immorally executing “the Lord of glory.” 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.
IV. THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS IS REVEALED ONLY BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (vv. 9-10a).
Paul quotes the Old Testament in verse 9: “However, as it is written, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’.” When those words were originally written, that statement was true: No human mind had conceived what God had prepared for those who love Him. They didn’t know anything about the cross. (I know that this verse is often quoted at funerals to refer to heaven, but you can see that Paul is not talking about heaven here; he’s talking about the cross.) God had prepared the cross --- and all of its blessings (which, of course, include heaven) --- for those who love Him.
However, the wisdom of the cross has not been revealed to everyone. Most still see the cross as stupidity. “But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” Therefore, if we “see” the wisdom of the gospel, it has nothing to do with our brilliance or insight; it has everything to do with the Spirit of God.
Application: You can never argue a person into the kingdom of God. If your friend says, “I just don’t see what you’re talking about,” that’s not an excuse; its reality. Paul writes in verse 14, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” It’s not that he simply doesn’t want to accept the message of the cross; it’s that he can’t accept it. He is unable to understand it.
For an individual to be saved, the public work of the Son of God on the cross must be combined with the private work of the Spirit of God in one’s heart and mind.
Application: If we should express gratitude to God for the gift of His Son, we should express no less gratitude to God for the gift of the Spirit who enables us to grasp the wisdom of the cross.
CLOSING APPLICATION & INVITATION
Raymond Lull was born in 1232 into a wealthy family on an island just off the coast of Spain. His early life was spent in sin and, as he later put it, “utter immorality.” Yet he was recognized by his peers in Spain as a young man of brilliance and promise. During his early thirties, Lull was born again as a result of a dream he experienced. He saw “the Savior hanging on His cross, the blood trickling from His hands and feet and brow, look reproachfully at him.” As a result, Lull soon gave his life to Christ and devoted himself to the ministry, becoming a missionary to Muslims and eventually dying a martyr’s death at age eighty by their hands (Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, p. 168).
John Newton wrote,
In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career.
I saw One hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood,
Who fixed his languid eyes on me,
As near His cross I stood.
· If you’re not yet Christian, you don’t understand the wisdom of the cross. But I urge you to ask God to reveal it to you by His Spirit. The wisdom of the cross has eternal significance.
· If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit has given you the ability to see, with the eye of faith, the wisdom of the cross. I ask you this morning to take another look at that cross and the One who hangs upon it.
Nicholaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born into one of Europe’s leading families in the years 1700, and he grew up in an atmosphere of prayer, Bible-reading, and hymn-singing. He excelled in school, and seemed to possess all the qualities for national leadership. After finishing his university studies at Wittenberg, Germany, Zinzendorf embarked on a grand tour of Europe, attending lectures and visiting museums, palaces, and universities.
It was while visiting the art museum at Dusseldorf that the young count had a deeply moving experience that stayed with him the rest of his life. Seeing a famous painting of the thorn-crowned Jesus, and reading the inscription below it --- “I Did This For Thee! What Has Thou Done For Me?” Zinzendorf said to himself, “I have loved Him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for Him. From now on, I will do whatever He leads me to do.” His life was never again the same, and he went on to become a great influence in the modern missionary movement (ibid., pp. 168-169).
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed: See the thorn-crown; mark His scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills. . . . And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it” (ibid., p. 170). And I would add, “If you do not seek to give Him your complete devotion, you have never seen the cross.”
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
