Thursday, 10 April 2014
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 1 Corinthians 2:6
Verse 6 begins with “However.” This is given to contrast his preceding argument which encompassed verses 1-5. Without words that were persuasive or which contain merely human wisdom, he notes that “we speak wisdom among those who are mature.” The “we” is specifically speaking of the apostles, but it is inclusive of the body of believers. This is certain because in verse 10, he will use the term “us” when speaking about spiritual matters revealed to the body. He will continue with the use of “we” and “us” throughout the chapter. What is available to Paul, is also available to all in the body – it is the knowledge of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
This wisdom is “among those who are mature.” What he is implying is that what we know as believers is more mature than all of the other heady knowledge of the world which he has been speaking about. He has relayed to us the various wisdoms which people hold to. The first was the wisdom of the Greeks which relied on the philosophic disciplines, mentioned in 1:22. Next in 2:7, he mentioned the “wisdom of God” which is the message he preached. And now, in this verse he speaks of the “wisdom of this age.”
There are intellectual wisdoms, of which there is nothing wrong in knowing, but they are wisdoms which are futile when devoid of the truth of God. Only when those wisdoms are combined with a knowledge of our Creator do they become true wisdom. As the Bible states on several occasions, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). This is why Paul says that the message of the gospel is for those “who are mature.” It is the highest type of knowledge because it gives the highest form of understanding to all things. The reason for every “what” or “why” is ultimately found in God. Apart from Him, there is always going to be a disconnect to the final resolution of any intellectual matter.
Therefore, the gospel is “not the wisdom of this age.” It is a wisdom which transcends time and goes directly to the mind of God. It is something which cannot be found in the thoughts “of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.” These people, the “rulers of this age,” implies anyone who bears a high degree of intellectual knowledge, but which is devoid of God. If we were to equate them to people of today, we would call them the “evolutionists,” the “global warming scientists,” the “big-bang theorists,” and etc.
These are people who are working on agendas which have removed God from the picture. They are pursuing knowledge, but doing so without including the ultimate reason for all that has or will happen. And therefore, there findings will always “come to nothing.” In the end, without considering God as the “first Cause” there can be no foundation for how things started or where they will end.
Life application: The universe didn’t create itself. If it did, it would have had to exist before it existed; a logical contradiction. This is the type of stupidity which the “rulers of this age” must rely on in order to deny God. Have a little faith, use a little common sense, and be assured that God created, God sustains, and God will keep His promises to those whom He has called.
Lord God, I see Your hand in everything around me. The beauty of the flower from bud to bloom; the intelligence of the bee as it gathers its nectar; the marvel of the rain cycle which nourishes the earth; the intricately balanced spin of the universe and all it contains… wisdom! This is what I see as I behold Your creation – wisdom. I stand in awe of Your greatness. Amen.