September 7th.
2008
Text: “We..speak a message of wisdom.., but not the wisdom of this age.” 1 Corinthians 2.6 (NIV)
It has always been of interest, not simply because of the ancient carvings and rock drawings found on its lower slopes, but because of the astonishing range of trees and plants found there, as the mountain climbs upwards. It is a botanist’s dream.
At the base of the mountain there is a great area of barren desert, as the mountain slopes gradually upwards........... there is a huge zone of open forest and grassland.........up at the two thousand, three thousand feet level, there are rich and beautiful pine forests and finally, above those, high above those,
alpine meadows with stunningly
beautiful flowering shrubs and alpine flowers which bring the higher slopes of
beyond us, far above....dazzling.......high above,
this is the way the Scripture speaks of the wisdom of God........
the things of God.......
And a great contrast is made between the wisdom of God and human knowledge in the Bible......... particularly by Paul in the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians.........a great contrast between the wisdom of God, far above us, high above and the limited range of human knowledge, of what men and women can know for themselves
We have, in fact, already come across that contrast in Matthew’s gospel over the last two weeks.............
At Caesarea Philippi, a
village well to the north of
Peter said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God……….”
and
Jesus answered: “Blessed are you, Simon
Peter for this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given
to you directly by my Father in heaven”
So, we learn something important about the gospel here.
We know from Jesus, that Peter has not worked out for himself his own answer, has not worked out for himself who Jesus is, this is not a realisation by Peter, an irrestible conclusion …. a discovery............
This is not the result of Peter’s long wondering, questioning, delving.
In this intense and holy moment the Father opens Peter’s eyes to see who Jesus is, the Father fills Peter’s mind and understanding with the light of the truth about Jesus, Or, to put it another way, the wisdom of God is here at work, revealing to Peter who Jesus is.
The wisdom of God, here at work, revealing to Peter who Jesus is, in that intensely holy moment. As our guest preacher Alice Lorber explained to us last week, what we see next in Matthew’s gospel, is how Peter falls away from that wonderful moment, and is to be found arguing with Jesus about
going
to
What does Paul say concerning these deep matters ?
the wisdom of God and human knowledge ?
Well briefly this morning, we might look at what the apostle Paul says in three ways:
1. That God’s wisdom is quite different from the normal day to day
knowledge of the world.........
and 2. everyday knowledge, even human searching
and calculation, fail to find God...........
3. the heart of God’s wisdom............
1. God’s wisdom is quite
different from the normal day to day knowledge of the world.........
We find this expressed at its clearest in what the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 55. The Lord says:
My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways
declares the Lord, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts...
The opening chapters of John’s gospel, proclaims that the wisdom of God,
comes to the world from outside, from beyond, breaks in to our world
in Jesus. And it is just because His ways are higher than our ways,
His thoughts higher than our thoughts............ that:
2. everyday knowledge, even human searching and calculation, fail to find God...........
Now, of course we are surrounded by the marvellous achievements and discoveries of the wonders of this universe by the great minds of the human race, in medicine, science, physics, astrophysics, quantum physics, computing, technology and so on...........
but the Word of God declares that
everyday knowledge, even human searching and calculation, fail to find
God...........
We have already seen in Matthew’s gospel, how Peter
is to
be found arguing with Jesus about going to
everyday knowledge, even human searching and calculation fail to find God,
In the last sentence of his best selling book A Brief history of time, the great scientific thinker Stephen Hawking wrote this of a great day he hopes will come:
Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people,
be able to take part in the discussion... of why it is that we and the universe
exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph -- for
then we should know the mind of God.
Paul has an answer to that in 1 Corinthians. The scholars and philosophers have not found the living God - in fact, for them this is all foolishness.
None of the rulers of this age understood then, or understand now
the mind of God, the wisdom of God, says Paul, if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. If they had had the wisdom of God, they would not have crucified the Lord Jesus, says Paul. In fact, in the brutal stupidity, the awful criminality of political and imperial power, they crucified the Lord of Glory. The incarnate Lord of glory, in His lowliness, stood before them, was tried by them, and condemned to death.
What is at
the heart of God’s wisdom ?
So what then, if we cannot work out, discover, calculate, for ourselves -
what is, in fact, at the heart of God’s wisdom ?
In 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 Paul declares that
at the heart of God’s wisdom, is the cross of Jesus Christ,
the cross and its power.............
This is why, Paul says, when I
came to visit you, I did not speak in words that swept you along, made you weep
and laugh in turn, I did not speak in words that lifted you up, then set you down... I know I did not impress you deeply by
my use of words, or wonderful turns of phrase... Instead, says Paul, I remember
this, I stumbled over words, I stammered, but I know this: I spoke in plain
language, and told you about Jesus Christ and His cross - I told you of God’s
wisdom, and I know that your lives were transformed by its power. Scholars call
it foolishness, but here, says, Paul, here are the inexpressible riches, the
indescribable treasures of the gospel... where “No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love Him”.
And the Spirit, writes Paul, who seeks and searches the deep things of God works just as deeply within our own inner being, in those deep and secret places known only to ourselves, where our deepest thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, sorrows and joys are. The Spirit works there. God, declares the New Testament, shares His Spirit with us, and as He blesses us with His Spirit so we come to understand.
What do we come to understand, what lies at the heart of what we come to understand ? The cross of Jesus Christ, is Paul’s answer.
The message of the cross is foolishness to many....
but to us...who are being saved it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
AMEN