1 Corinthians 2:6-13

“God’s Wisdom Is Revealed”

The Holy Spirit has given us the eyes of faith. To you and to me, God’s wisdom is no longer a secret. To you and to me, God’s wisdom is no longer hidden. To you and to me, God’s wisdom is no longer a mystery. The words, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,” no longer apply to you and to me. Our eyes have seen. Our ears have heard. Our minds do know what God has prepared for us. Our eyes of faith see Jesus as our Substitute in life. Our ears of faith hear Jesus saying, “It is finished. Your sin is paid for.” Our faith-filled minds know that because Jesus lives we also shall live.

So maybe Christians like you and me take a text like this one in 1 Corinthians which we heard a few moments ago for granted. Maybe Christians like you and me, because we can’t think back to that day or remember that time in our lives prior to our conversion, have a tendency to read right over a text like that one. We can’t remember what it was like to be spiritually blind. We can’t remember what it was like to be spiritually dead. We can’t remember what it was like to have only hostile, hate-filled feelings toward God.

And so, to talk about the “wisdom of this age” or to talk about the “spirit of this world” or to talk about “words taught by human wisdom” or to talk about the “man without the Spirit” or to say that no eye has seen or that no ear has heard may all seem pointless. “That’s not me. That doesn’t apply to me. Not anymore, anyway. God has revealed his wisdom to me. God has given me his Word. God has given me his Spirit. God has given me the eyes of faith.”

Not so fast. The wisdom of this age still threatens to cloud our spiritual vision. The spirit of this world still lives in our sinful nature. The words taught by human wisdom are constantly trying to trump the Word taught by God in Scripture. The man without the Spirit tries to intimidate us who have the Spirit. Like salt and ice and snow caking up on our windshields, doubt and pride and apathy blur our spiritual vision. The wisdom of this world, right? Pessimism. Pietism. Fatalism. Doubt. Pride. Apathy. Call it what you want. Rationalism. Humanism. Universalism. Satan will use whatever he can to blur our spiritual vision and, ultimately, to get us to close our eyes of faith altogether.

Doubt can fog up our spiritual windshields. Doubt prevents us from seeing Jesus clearly. Did he really die? Did he really rise? Did Jesus really die for me? Did his death really pay for all of my sins? Could the Jesus who suffered, who endured so much on my account ever forgive someone like me?

Pride can ice up our spiritual windshields. Pride prevents us from seeing Jesus at all. Do I need a Substitute? Do I need a Savior? Not as much that guy or those two. Pride concerns itself only with outward obedience; it fails to focus on the obedience of the heart that Jesus spoke about in the Gospel this morning (hate is murder, lust is adultery).

Apathy is the iced up windshield wiper and the wiper fluid that ran dry a month ago. Apathy doesn’t care that we can’t see Jesus out our spiritual windshields. Apathy doesn’t want to do what it takes to be able to see Jesus out our spiritual windshields. Apathy relegates time in the Word of God, and, in reality God himself, to the back burner if not taking him off the stove all together.

So, maybe, for Christians like you and me this text is exactly what we needed. We needed to get out the ice scrapers of God’s law and the washer fluid of God’s Gospel and the windshield wipers of God’s grace to remove our doubt and to cut through our pride and to give our apathy a kick in the pants. We need to be reminded what our eyes have seen. We need to be reminded what our ears have heard. We need to be reminded what our minds know that God has prepared for us. Our eyes of faith need to clearly see Jesus as our Substitute in life. Our ears of faith need to clearly hear Jesus saying, “It is finished. Your sin is paid for.” Our faith-filled minds need to know beyond a doubt that because Jesus lives we also shall live. We don’t want God’s wisdom to become a secret all over again. We don’t want God’s wisdom to become hidden all over again. We don’t want God’s wisdom to become a mystery that we can no longer understand.

How important God’s gift of faith is! Faith sees. Faith believes. Faith receives. Faith sees a just and holy God who demands that we be holy. Faith sees a loving and gracious God who wants all to be saved. Faith sees the Son of God taking on human flesh to take our place. Faith sees the perfect obedience of Jesus in every one of his thoughts, words and actions. Faith sees one dying for all. Faith sees God punishing his Son with the fires of hell under the cover of a three hour darkness. Faith sees a lifeless body being taken down from the cross. Faith sees the stone rolled in front of the tomb. Faith sees that same tomb empty. Faith sees Jesus alive.

Faith believes. Faith believes that the wages of sin is death but faith also believes that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Faith believes that the child in the manger is God himself. Faith believes that Jesus lived in our place. Faith believes that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Faith believes that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness. Faith believes that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. Faith believes that Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and that he was raised to live for our justification. Faith believes that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father and that he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Faith receives. Faith receives what God has freely given us. Faith receives membership into the family of God. Faith receives the forgiveness of sins – free of charge. Faith receives the righteousness of Jesus – obedient thoughts, words and actions credited to us. Faith receives peace and hope and joy and love. Faith receives the crown of eternal life. Faith receives what God has prepared for us – eternal glory, rooms in his heavenly mansion. Faith sees. Faith believes. Faith receives. Without faith God’s wisdom would still be a secret. It would still be hidden. It would still be a mystery. Without faith God’s wisdom would be foolishness to us and we would be lost – forever.

Dear Christian, thank God that he has revealed his wisdom! He reveals his wisdom in his Word and in his Word he reveals his wisdom by his Spirit. “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” What a gift of God’s grace that we know the Holy Scriptures which have made us wise for salvation through faith in Christ. Without a scraper and without washer fluid it becomes very difficult if not impossible to see out our windshields. That’s dangerous enough on its own. But to think that we could stay on the narrow road to heaven without the scraper of God’s Law or the washer fluid of his Gospel, to think that we don’t need a regular and steady dose of God’s Word every day, well, now that . . . that would be foolish.

The sermon text this morning is a portion of the Second Lesson appointed for today – 1 Corinthians 2:6-10. 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. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” – but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

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