2:6 ¶ 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: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this
world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the
Lord of glory. 9 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. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 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. 12 Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 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. 14 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. 15 But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
When you are a
bookworm and you read the opinions of philosophers, theoretical scientists,
experts in all fields of academia, politics, and religion you get the
impression that ideas and concepts, conventional wisdom on all fronts, are as
changeable as last year’s New York fashions. Mankind, particularly those of a
European heritage, have changed through time in not just technology and
practical science, but in manners and cultural practices, and how they have
looked at existence itself over the
years.
To many ancient
and medieval minds life was a continuous miracle, and God and other
supernatural forces were involved in every moment of life. Men were thought to
be influenced by conscious forces they could not see, even at times controlled
by those forces. Now, there were a great many errors in their thinking, but no
fewer or less obnoxious than in modern thinking. Modern thinkers first reduced
God to simply a first cause who wound things up and perhaps walked away or
stood by in case something broke. Then, it was a short step to eliminating Him
completely. “Natural” processes became the cause of everything. There became no
will outside of a human’s and no purpose other than what a human being gave
their life. But, the Bible teaches differently.
The powerful of
the world, the princes, understand only their own glory. For a long time they
even made themselves God’s agents on earth, acting in His place, as having a
divine right to their office and power. This led to the devastation of a
half-century of war in the 1900s that led to the butchery or displacement of
tens of millions of people. Even today we totter on the verge of nuclear war,
mass starvations and extinctions, and the destruction of our earth, the only
place in the universe that we can be sure is habitable for our kind of life.
Mankind is an ass who fancies himself a lion. He brays and kicks and has no
realistic image of himself, considering himself the crown of creation, a
magnificent beast.
But God’s wisdom, a mystery invisible to the great and
powerful, was ordained before the events of Genesis, chapter 1. Christ, the
Lord of glory, the Word by which all things were created, walking in human
flesh, was crucified by the princes of this world. It was not just the Romans
but the entire power structure created by man that did the act. Remember what
God said to Samuel when the Israelites demanded that a king should rule over
them like other nations.
1Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto
the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over
them.
The God who created all
things…
Genesis 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.
…is one God composed of three
parts as we are…
Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, O
Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
1Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:
2Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
…and in His bodily form that
we could see and touch came to earth to live as one of us with the Son of God
referring to Christ as coming in the power and authority as a king’s son would
come in the name of a king…
Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
…and although we rejected
God’s rule over us, God offered us amnesty through His own work of paying the
price we ought to pay for our rebellion against Him, and providing us with a way
out of the punishment due us by taking it on Himself…
1Corinthians 15:1 ¶
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; 4 And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the
twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of
above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this
present, but some are fallen asleep. 7
After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of
one born out of due time.
…that all who believe should
be saved from the punishment due them, God’s very wrath, and have eternal life
with Him…
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and
thy house.
[see John 3:36 for the definition of believe on as in believing what Christ said about Himself]
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the
heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
This brilliant plan is only
revealed by God to those who would believe and to the rest of them it is pure
foolishness. They are their own God. In their minds there is no greater will in
the universe than their own, or at least that matters to them.
God required only one act to
be saved from the destruction that awaits those who continue to reject His
authority over them.
John 6:28 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do,
that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
God’s grace, His unmerited favor
bestowed on those who would believe is an amazing mystery hidden from the world,
although it is plain as day.
The natural man who does not believe
cannot understand the truth of the gospel because that truth is spiritually
discerned and that faith was given to them that would believe by God.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest
any man should boast.
It is truly astounding that
God dwells within those that believe on and trust in Christ.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man
love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The power that raised Christ
from the dead lives inside of the believer and we have the mind of Christ even
though our sin nature still demands of us and like Esau and Jacob there are two
people in our hearts that will always contend in this life, the carnal man and
the man of God.
Paul remarks here about how
none of these truths can be understood by those who do not believe, who reject
Christ. These truths are not of this world.
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