1 Corinthians 2 ~ a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age

Papyrus 46, 1st or 2nd A.D., 1 Corinthians 2 - 2nd or 3rd generation after Jesus lived and ascended

1 Corinthians 2

2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

6 We do, however, 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. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

I have to say, as a child, I wasn’t fond of Vacation Bible School, it interfered with my summer vacation. In the 70’s almost everyone was Christian. Just as it is polite to say “fine” when someone asks you how you are, it was polite to reply “yes” and tell your denomination when asked if you believed as a Christian. I think if I’d met someone in the 70’s who said they were atheist, I probably would have thought they were communist. Hey, I was a child in the part of the city that was a lot like the suburbs.

That sound's like it is a put down, but history should be considered for its era. And society was still holding a lot of the media, news and behavior of the Christian Church.

As child and early teen, I prayed, I wondered, but mostly I felt like God wasn’t overly interested in me. One night, I was asked by a priest to really make a commitment in my belief, was I a believer in Jesus Christ or an agnostic? I realized I was a believer. It was a moment in my life, unforgettable moment, of great and overwhelming joy.

Many years after that night, I have been privileged to have seen, heard or taken part in amazing demonstrations of the Spirit’s power. I have had occasions in my life to discuss, matter–of-factly, some of the amazing things I’ve seen God do for people asking Him for mercy and watch the other person’s mouth drop open. As I write Scriptures for Today, or tell someone something of the Lord, I realize, we have to see the Lord and His deeds with faith. Because without faith, it is seems like a tall tale or myth.

Father God, please increase our wisdom not to have the appearance of goodness, instead to look to You, Jesus Christ, in faith to complete us to live in righteousness. We invite You again to dwell in us and know our shadows and variations that Your Light, Mercy and Love will hold us to You.

We will trust in You, Father, to carry our anxieties. You love and care for us. We will remain sober in our expectation of Your Goodness. We will hold firm to our Faith just even resting in the Name of Jesus.

We know that all suffer and we are assured in 1 Peter 5, You will rush to help us. You are a God of grace and dwell in eternal glory in Heaven. We look to you to restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us as Your children as believers of Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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