October 17, 2004

THE MYSTERY OF GOD

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

   "I came to you...not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the mystery of God, for I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor 2:1-2).

Jews demanded signs. Greeks clamored for wisdom. Paul pandered to neither. Preaching "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" is not the simple gospel. It does not focus on how lost ones are saved, but the fulness of the truth of what the cross means to the believer! The strife at Corinth with some preferring one teacher over another stemmed from failing to realize that the message is the issue, not the messenger. Also at issue is the source of the message: is wisdom solely from God or does it come from the cunning of man's wisdom?

   Instead of confidence and eloquence of presentation, such as the Greek might have preferred, Paul was among them "in weakness and fear." Perhaps his manner stemmed from persecutions and occasioned the Lord's promise, "no man shall set on thee to hurt thee" (Acts 18:10). His speech was "not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." He referred to God making "Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders," such that "the signs of an apostle were wrought among you..." (Rom. 15:19 & 2 Cor. 12:12).

   Many are mentioned only to prove ignorance of God's wisdom, His sacred secret foreordained before the ages. God kept it hidden until He revealed it to Paul! The rulers of this world did not know and their putting Christ on the cross proved their ignorance. Even Isaiah declared God had something good in store, "the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard..." They did not know. Then how did any find out?

   "God...revealed them unto us by His Spirit..." (2:10). And who is he referring to by "us"? Many conclude it means all believers be-cause we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is to miss the point of the passage. Do we receive direct revelations from God? Do we pen books of the Bible? Paul's "us" refers to himself, not simply as a believer but as a Bible writer. We receive illumination when we understand Paul's recorded revelation!

Ivan L. Burgener