1 CORINTHIANS 2
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
In this chapter Paul continues with his discourse on wisdom and the distinction between worldly wisdom and God’s wisdom. His emphasis is on the Holy Spirit and the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the cross. God’s wisdom is revealed in Jesus Christ and him crucified, which, as we saw in Chapter 1, runs counter intuitively to the wisdom of mankind.
Paul starts off by saying that he did not come preaching eloquently. In that culture, the ability to speak well was highly prized, and there was even a sort of Olympics for public speakers. It wasn’t what you said that mattered, but the skill that you had in saying it. Paul, as he and Jesus so often did, turned human expectations and human standards on their heads. He didn’t speak well or with great skill, but he did speak about Christ crucified, and that us what was important. The Canadian marketing guru Marshall McLuhan famously said, “the medium is the message” and like the ancient Greeks argued that it is the medium, how a message is delivered, that is more important than the message. Paul begged to differ; the message is the most important because the message is that Christ was crucified for our sins so that we who believe may have everlasting life.
There is good advice for preachers here. Are we clear in proclaiming Jesus? Or do we obscure that message with clever language and pretty power point projections? Does our preaching come in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than our own desire to look good and be popular?
From Verse 6 Paul speaks of God’s wisdom again. It is not from this world, in fact it is eternal, it is from before time began (v7) and has been kept hidden. But now God is revealing his wisdom for all to see. And the result is that God has disclosed that his plan of salvation, Jesus Christ crucified, was conceived before time and space began. The crucifixion wasn’t an afterthought, it wasn’t Plan B; it was God’s plan all along.
Paul now calls for the Corinthian church to have a mature attitude, to recognise that God’s wisdom is not the same as that of the world and that it is through the Holy Spirit that they (and we) can understand what God has freely given us (v12). Those people who have not received the Holy Spirit will not be able to discern what comes from God. Such a person is limited to human wisdom and will think that things from God, such as Jesus being crucified, are foolishness. And that is the view of most people these days.
The encouragement for them and for us to change our mind set, to accept the Holy Spirit. If we do that then we will not be limited to the worldly way of thinking, but, as Paul says in the very last sentence, ‘we have the mind of Christ’ (v16).