The wisdom of God

If the close of chapter 1 deals with the message of the gospel, in the opening of chapter 2 Paul looks at his own preaching when in Corinth. It is very personal: four times he mentions ‘I’ and twice ‘my’, in the first four verses. He wishes to emphasize that his preaching of the gospel fitted with the nature of the message. He used simplicity of speech, v. 1. Natural eloquence has no place in conveying a divine message. His subject? ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’, v. 2. He conveyed the solemnity of the message, v. 3. He came to them ‘in fear, and in much trembling’, conscious of his responsibility. He preached with sincerity, v. 4. He did not rely upon natural wisdom or persuasive techniques, but wholly upon the Spirit of God. What a challenge to every gospel preacher!

There is a strange paradox in the gospel. Those who might be expected to know, by their own knowledge or that of their advisers, actually know nothing. In reality, it was the ‘princes of this world’ that ‘crucified the Lord of glory’, v. 8. It is the despised believer, part of the foolish things of this world, who speaks ‘the wisdom of God in a mystery’!

Having started with the gospel Paul desires the progress and growth of believers. The last section of this chapter deals with this theme. The principle is established, vv. 9, 10. Revelation is by the Spirit of God and this holds true from Old Testament times through to the present. ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God’, v. 14. The principle is exemplified, v. 11. If we are in any doubt then nature furnishes us with an example. We can only really get to know someone in the measure they allow us. Equally, our knowledge of God is divinely revealed through the operation of the Spirit of God. The principle is experienced, v. 12. Throughout this section it is worth underlining the use of the emphatic ‘we’. ‘We have received . . . the Spirit which is of God’, v. 12. ‘We have the mind of Christ’, v. 16. In closing this meditation perhaps we ought to pause and consider the enormity of the blessings bestowed upon us. God wants us to know ‘the things which God hath prepared for them that love him’, and He has given us the means! Amazing!