Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
You’ve likely had the experience that when telling someone something they are hearing for the first time, suddenly their eyes open wide, a smile crosses their face, and you know they have just understood what you are saying to them. I’ve often heard it explained this way: ‘It’s like the light was just turned on.’ It happens when someone hears exciting news for the first time, or someone hears a full enough explanation that they finally understand what they had heard before but never really understood. This is especially powerful when someone understands SPIRITUAL truth for the first time, right?
We’re with the apostle Paul in Ephesus, in late 54ad, and he’s writing his first letter to his Christian friends in the Greek city of Corinth. Today I hope ‘the light comes on’ for many of us in a special way as we listen to Paul dictate his second chapter which is very powerful. “We 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. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and 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.” (1 Cor. 2:6-8) Oh my that’s powerful!
Everyday millions of sound bites of information are disseminated around the world by every means of communication possible. The average person receives thousands of words of information every day. But we live at a time in history when the vast majority, in fact almost ALL that information is not totally true, not fully factual, and much of it is intentionally deceptive, manipulative and destructive. That’s why Paul here draws a strong contrast between the truth wisdom he is sharing in this letter, and of course the true Gospel of Jesus Christ which Paul has preached… with what Paul calls ‘the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.’
Then as now, most everyone who was a person of influence was speaking their wisdom, but their wisdom was not truly wise, it was not fully truthful, it was not helpful in building a God honoring society. In fact, it was too often confusing the people or leading the people astray from God’s truth and God’s ways. That’s why Paul declared it was wisdom and rulers coming to nothing!
Look around your world today my friends, do you see the same as what was happening in Corinth and Ephesus in 54ad? Did you notice Paul made this profound declaration: “we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” Wow! What does it mean?
God’s wisdom, of course, is the Logos that John began his Gospel within John 1 explaining that God’s wisdom preceded everything and that from that living wisdom, Jesus, everything was created by Him and for His glory! The ‘mystery‘ Paul speaks of is, of course, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The mystery that God Himself came to earth to pay the full sin death atonement price, so any and all sinful human beings could be ransomed, redeemed, rescued from their sin condemnation through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and then born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and drawn into a vibrant, living relationship with God, both now and for all eternity!
Do you see Paul declaring that this great Gospel mystery of God was unknown for thousands of years until in Paul’s lifetime, God came to earth in the person of Jesus and the Gospel became reality! That’s why Paul says that even though it was God’s mystery from before time began, it became reality in the lifetime of Paul and those to whom he is writing!
Have you ever given much thought to what an incredible privilege it was for those disciples to actually ‘walk with Jesus’ every day? And what about those people who experienced the miraculous touch of Jesus, and they were healed instantly, or demons cast out of them? Or what about the thousands of people who had the privilege of listening to Jesus speak or watch Him do miracles?
Do you see Paul declaring that those who crucified Jesus did not understand this great mystery of God? “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” And right there Paul did what he loved to do, he quoted another powerful Old Testament truth, Isaiah 64:4, for Paul had hundreds of them memorized: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Now the more you and I ponder the deep truth of that, our eyes should widen in amazement, they should fill with tears in adoration and gratitude to God for this ‘mysterious’ Gospel! While you and I were not living at the time Jesus lived, we are living at the time in history now, when more people around the world are experiencing the power of Jesus than perhaps any time in history. Are there now nearly 1 billion of us Jesus trusting Christians around the world?
One last statement Paul makes that I’d like us to grasp today: “These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10) Oh my friends, this is one of the most powerful statements in the Bible. Jesus promised He would send the Holy Spirit who would LIVE within those who have trusted Jesus for their salvation, and whom God has redeemed, delivered from their sin. (John 14:16,26) The Holy Spirit would then teach us God’s truth (John 16:13) and lead us in understanding both the things Jesus said and did, but also the Holy Spirit would help us understand God’s perspective on all that is happening around us no matter where we live, or what generation we are! (John 16:8-11)
Are you experiencing that my friends? Is the Holy Spirit helping you understand God’s truth and teaching you how to see God’s perspective on all that is happening in your world? If not, I urge you to pray asking God to do in your life, through His Holy Spirit, what Jesus promised He would do. Let’s pause and ponder and pray, and we’ll come right back here tomorrow, for Paul has much more to say about this.
And yes, here’s a reflective song to help you worship and consider these great truths of God…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Cor. 2:6-10.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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