First Corinthians Chapter 2
Originally posted Wednesday July 9
First Corinthians Chapter
2:1-5 Proclaiming Christ Crucified
Paul
has introduced the topic of the wisdom of God expressed in the foolishness
of Paul's proclamation of a crucified and risen Messiah. Such
content cannot be understood by applying the wisdom of the world. Thus, the
Gospel becomes a stumbling block to the Jews who reject the notion of the
offspring of David being killed instead of being the conquering deliverer. The
Gospel is foolishness to the Gentiles because the hero of the story, Jesus, is
an unknown Jewish peasant of no importance who has been crucified as an
insurrectionist. It is all just too unreasonable to accept - "reason"
being the operative word. The world's wisdom simply cannot "see" any
value or truth in such a message. Of course, this is precisely Paul's
point. He came to Corinth to proclaim the mystery of God (Christ crucified) but
not "according to excellence of speech or the persuasiveness of
wisdom." Rather, in fear, trembling and weakness. By centering his
message only on "Christ and him crucified" without great
rhetorical style, he assured that those who believed would believe because of
faith not logic or reason or any other human wisdom. Therefore he can say
"God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom," Faith sees through
the transparency of mystery. Human wisdom sees only an opaque glass.
First Corinthians Chapter
2:6-16 The True Wisdom of God
Paul
now unfolds the mystery of God at work in the church. Paul does speak God's
wisdom to those of mature faith. He adds to the differentiation between God's
wisdom and that of the "rulers of this age" (Rome). The wisdom of God
that Paul speaks of is hidden and secret, eternal but now made
available in Christ. The rulers cannot understand it and so they killed
the "Lord of glory." Citing Isa.
64:4 Paul writes that the rulers did not understand "your works
that you (God) shall do for the ones waiting for mercy." This
has been revealed to the believer through the Spirit of God which
knows even the depths of God. As the human spirit within knows what is
truly within the human, the Spirit of God knows what is truly within God. We
have received that Spirit of God which teaches what is
within God. That which was a mystery has now been revealed by the
Spirit. Paul writes that we can understand what God has done for
us through God's grace. The Spirit that knows what is within God has
taught us, "interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual."
The unspiritual cannot receive the spiritual and
so cannot understand or refute the teaching of the
Spirit. Only the spiritual can discern the spiritual.
Paul
summarizes his theology of spiritual discernment of the
spiritual citing Isa. 40:13,
a popular text used by early Christian writers to express the hidden and secret
wisdom of God which has now been revealed through the cross and proclaimed by
Paul. "Who has known the mind of the Lord and who has
become [the Lord's] counselor? Who shall instruct [the Lord]?"
Paul's answer to the prophet's questions is brief. It will not be the rulers of
this age who depend upon human wisdom who will know the mind of God, but those
who "have the mind of Christ" will. For Paul the mind of Christ
for all intents and purposes is the mind of God.
Paul is
consistent in his emphasis on discernment as a gift of God's Spirit by which we
know God's will. This is not an easy concept for the modern mind to grasp. We
might have an image of Paul wearing an earpiece for listening to the messages
of spiritual guidance in all of his decisions. Of course, that isn't the way it
is. There is no earpiece. There is his openness to God in prayer and his
willingness to leave the results up to God. There is an old adage which says we
should pray as if everything depends upon God and work as if everything
depends upon us. Somewhere in these words there is a solid truth. When we
team up with God, things get done.
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