1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Called to Wisdom

Theological Proposition/Focus: God's wisdom transcends the wisdom of the world

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We need to seek wisdom not through much learning but through the guiding work of the Holy Spirit.

Introduction:

Image: Unimaginable knowledge, calculus is not the end of the road.

One of my younger brother's friends, after finishing High School Calculus once made a statement. Wow! I don't really think there is any more math to be learned. I feel like I have now learned everything there is to know! My response, wow, you have a serious lack of imagination. Okay, I didn't actually say that but it is the truth. In every subject I have ever studied the more I learn the smaller percentage of the subject I think I know. There is so much knowledge, so much that can be learned. Ecclesiastes 12:12 states Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. There is so much to know!

Setting the Stage:

Today we see that we are called to wisdom.

Human wisdom is limited and fails us in so many ways but God's wisdom is different and here in his letter Paul begins to present God's wisdom.

In the beginning of chapter 2 the Apostle Paul had emphasized that he did not come to the Corinthians in displays of brilliance. The problem was that the people in Corinth had placed a high value on the world's wisdom. The worlds wisdom sometimes involves facts, often misses the truth, and almost always focusses on the self. So many value the worlds wisdom but Paul emphasized that the world's wisdom was not to be valued. Here, Paul explains that it is not that God values ignorance but rather that God values knowledge that is beyond the knowledge of the world.

Body

Christians need to realize that there is a wisdom which transcends the wisdom of the world (6-8).

Image: Have you ever explained something complicated about your job and other experts recognize the details but non-experts don't appreciate the details?

As people grow in maturity in an area they begin to recognize important key details that might be otherwise missed. Here the mature refers to those who have come to know Christ as their personal savior. Christians recognize the wisdom of what God has.

So what is this transcendent wisdom?

This wisdom is the message of the Gospel.

We are going to begin to dig into this but we must recognize that the transcendent wisdom is not some hidden wisdom only available to a few. Transcendent wisdom is the wisdom that was previously unknown but in Christ is known. The Gospel, the message of Salvation. The truth that no man can meet God's standards, that Christ, the God-man did satisfy these standards living a perfect life, that Christ died as the payment for the sins of man, that Christ was raised again three days later, ascended to heaven, and all those who accept his offer of salvation can be guaranteed eternal life. This is the wisdom about which we are talking.

The wisdom of the world and those who prize that wisdom have an expiration date (6).

The wisdom that Paul has in mind is first not the wisdom of this age!

As in 1 Cor 1:18 this age has an expiration!

We must realize that so much of what we know, experience, has an expiration date. I personally find there to be a lot of irony in the number of movies depicting the end of the world. It is almost like we innately know that this age will eventually come to an end!

The wisdom of God is eternal (7).

In contrast to the present age, God's wisdom is eternal!

The wisdom of God has not been understood by the rulers of the world (8).

Ultimately, we see that the rulers of this world have not understood the wisdom of God. How do we know this? Because they fought against God himself in the crucifixion of Christ.

Christians need to realize that the wisdom of God can, at least in part, be known (9-11).

God's plan is revealed through the Holy Spirit (10).

I know people who have read the Bible and rejected the message. How can this be?

The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals God's wisdom! The Holy Spirit works within a person to bring them from head knowledge to heart knowledge from a surface level understanding to saving faith.

2 Cor. 3:15-17 tells us that without the Spirit working a veil covers the heart of the one who reads the Old Testament.

 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

God is known by the Holy Spirit (who is Himself God) (11).

Image: You don't actually know someone by reading their biography.

Have you ever read someone's biography? If so then you might know about them, but you don't know them. I once took a graduate level course on C.S. Lewis. We read his biography and many many other works. I knew a lot about C.S. Lewis, but I didn't know him. In fact, there really is no substitute for actually meeting someone. The Holy Spirit gives us the opportunity to actually know God! Please understand I am not denigrating the reading of Scripture. We need to read Scripture and I read a ton of Scripture. However, we need to realize that just reading Scripture will not get us to know God! If we are to know God we must meet God and that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Christians need to realize that God's wisdom should should permeate our view of the world (12-16).

Something we need to understand is that the truth we know are sourced in God.

God's wisdom is taught by the Holy Spirit (12-13).

and as suggested here we know that.

The source of this wisdom of God is the Holy Spirit!

In fact, Jesus spoke about this.

In John 16:13 we see that one of the primary reasons we are given the Holy Spirit is so that we might be guided into the truth that comes from the wisdom of God.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

The teaching of the Holy Spirit appears foolish to the world (14).

Without the right tools to evaluate the world the unregenerate see Christian truth as foolishness.

The teaching go the Holy Spirits allows the Christian to view the world through the eyes of Christ (15-16).

This is an important idea.

The Christian is able to use Christian truths (the wisdom of God) to evaluate and is hence qualified to judge the validity of everything.

Let me be more explicit, you are equipped to judge using the tools of grace, Christ crucified, and forgiveness.

This means that we look at the world and we see a need for grace to be applied and a place where grace has been applied. We see a need for Christ. We don't look at the world and see a low status individual or anything like that.

Significantly, this type of perspective is available to any who are saved by grace.

Hence, we are all called to the wisdom of God. The result is that we do not have factions or tribes, rich or poor, but rather redeemed and unredeemed. We begin to see the world as a mission.