Sunday School Lesson: Finding Wisdom

Purpose: To distinguish between the wisdom of the world and the eternal wisdom revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16

Background: Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians was written during his third missionary journey probably during the years AD 55, 56. Paul first ministered in Corinth during his second trip. This is told of in Acts chapter 18. Paul remained with the Corinthians for approximately 18 months. Before coming to Corinth Paul had suffered repeated rejection at Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. He probably arrived in Corinth somewhat despondent and questioning his mission. Should he change his message to make it less offensive? Should he use more eloquent speech? Should he use tricks or gimmicks to get the people’s attention? Should he embrace the philosophy of the Greeks and preach a message that mixed the wisdom of man with the wisdom of God? Paul stood firm to the Good News of the cross.

Many today do not stand so firm. The mixing of worldly philosophy with God’s revealed wisdom is more prevalent than ever before. Different preachers have different “interpretations” of God’s word. Some even invent their own. We’ve all seen the press that The DaVinci Code and The Gospel of Judas has received. People go to great lengths to make the Gospel fit their idea of God.

A plurality of adults (44%) contends that, "the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths.” (The Barna Group)

More people get their spiritual guidance from The Purpose Driven Life, the Left Behind series, and The Prayer of Jabez than from the Bible. (Statistic given at South Georgia UMC Annual Conference.)

The feel-good, gnostic, all-about-me, prosperity gospel type messages would have probably met with much greater support than the message of crucifiction and resurrection, especially in Athens, the home of such great philosophers as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Paul even pointed out to them that they had in their city an alter with the inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. He told them that God is knowable and known. But they did not want a knowable God. They wanted god in their own image. It is interesting to note that of all the cities that Paul preached in, Athens is the only one where he did not start a church. No wonder he entered Corinth discouraged. Although Corinth was a less sophisticated city than Athens, the Corinthians still embraced Greek philosophy. The Greeks believed that their wisdom was “true” wisdom and could not be improved upon.

When the Jews of Corinth rejected Paul’s message, he determined to carry his message to the Gentiles. Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching and teaching that Jesus was the Christ. His determination was reinforced by a vision of the Lord coming to Paul and telling him to not be afraid, and do not cease form preaching the Message.

The First Letter to the Corinthians was written to identify problems in the Corinthian church and to offer solutions to those problems. One of those problems was the distortion of the Gospel by mixing in Greek and gnostic philosophy. This weeks scripture lesson is Paul’s response to those whose faith was being based on men’s wisdom and philosophy.

In what way does the Christian Message and lifestyle seem foolish to the world?

To whom does the Message seem foolish?

How would you feel to be called foolish?

How does the Message of the cross contrast with what most people consider wise?

1Co 1:18-31 MSG
(18) The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out.
(19) It's written, I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots.
(20) So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense?
(21) Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb--preaching, of all things!--to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.
(22) While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom,
(23) we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle--and Greeks pass it off as absurd.
(24) But to us who are personally called by God himself--both Jews and Greeks--Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one.
(25) Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's "weakness."
(26) Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families.
(27) Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses,
(28) chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"?
(29) That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God.
(30) Everything that we have--right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start--comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.
(31) That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

What are some examples of the world’s wisdom?

What are some doctrines of the Christian faith that are difficult for non-Christians to understand?

Have you ever known any unbelievers who wanted miraculous signs or superb philosophical arguments before believing in Christ?

Why do you think that people desire signs or proofs?

How can we share our faith with those who demand signs or philosophical or historical proof?

It’s certainly seems foolish to the unbeliever when we tell them that the signs come subsequent to faith, not necessarily prior to faith.

Paul begins the second chapter of 1 Corinthians with an explanation of three fundamentals of the Gospel Message and urges his readers (and us) to return to these fundamentals.


1Co 2:1-2 MSG
(1) You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy.
(2) I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did--Jesus crucified.

Fundamental #1: Keep it plain and simple. Paul’s mission and ours is to glorify God , not to glorify ourselves. Eloquent speech and spellbinding arguments are not what is called for. We are ambassadors for Christ, not street vendors or carnival hawkers pushing a product. Just picture in your mind an ambassador on one side and a used-car salesman on the other. Which one of those two pictures in your mind do you see as more trustworthy and which one would more likely to believe. Spectacular speech, flamboyant visual aides, and the blending of worldly philosophy with the Message of Christ will in many cases exalt the preacher and hide Christ. Paul gloried in the cross and made it the center of his message. Too many Christians so magnify themselves that they fail to reveal the glory of Jesus.


1Co 2:3-4 MSG
(3) I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate--I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it--
(4) and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it,

Fundamental #2: Paul was an apostle, commissioned by Jesus himself, yet he came to the Corinthians a humble servant. Paul did not depend on himself or on his own strengths; he depended on the strength of God. Paul had learned in Athens and Philippi and Berea that when he was weak, God made him strong. Paul’s message was a demonstration of the power of God, not a performance designed to impress the worldly wisdom of Corinth. The only proof that Paul needed (and that we need) is lives changed and transformed by the Holy Spirit.

1 CO 2:5 MSG
(5) which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.

Fundamental #3: Paul insisted that the Corinthians trust in the Message, not in the messenger. A message that depends on human wisdom or philosophical ideas to convince only causes the listeners to trust in an explanation. Our Message is the Word of God and the power of God and can only be transmitted by demonstration. The Message is only known as we experience God at work in our lives and in the lives of others. The Gospel is God’s power to change lives. Effective evangelism does not depend on arguments or gimmicks, but on the power of the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us and through the Word.

In our world what are the sources that most folks look to for wisdom?

In what ways does the world’s wisdom fall short?

Where does the wisdom of the world lead?

How does God’s wisdom differ from the wisdom of the world?

1Co 2:6-9 MSG
(6) We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so.
(7) God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest--what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.
(8) The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross.
(9) That's why we have this Scripture text: No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it-- What God has arranged for those who love him.

Would you call the wisdom of the gospel simple?

Well it is and it isn’t. It is simple enough that even an illiterate peasant in the most remote place on Earth can understand and have faith. The Message is also so profound that theologians have for centuries debated and studied and even the most brilliant and enlightened of them cannot fathom the Message in all its depths.

This wisdom challenges the best and the brightest. Who is this wisdom for?

According to this passage, the wisdom of God is not for the masses. The wisdom of the Gospel is for “those who love him”, for those “with their feet on firm spiritual ground” or as in some translations: “the mature.” So it would seem that this wisdom is something that comes only with spiritual maturity. It is not something that can be conveyed to spiritually immature persons through philosophical arguments or fancy preaching techniques.

This wisdom has several characteristics:

1. This wisdom comes only from God, not from man. This wisdom can not be discovered or learned from any other source.

2. This wisdom is mysterious, hidden, and ancient. Any new message claiming to be the wisdom of God is not. The true wisdom is hidden until revealed to the people of God first through Jesus Christ and now through the Holy Spirit. This wisdom existed before creation.

3. The wisdom results in the glory of God and God’s people. As I said earlier, the wisdom is shown by demonstration.

4. The wisdom of God is hidden from the non-believing world. If the world could understand, the world would demonstrate. This “experts of our day” or “the rulers of this world” if not servants of God are servants of the “prince of this world”, Satan. The forces of Satan, including the prince himself do not understand God’s plan. Satan and his forces thought that at Calvary they had defeated God. Hidden from their understanding was that Calvary actually represented Satan’s defeat.

5.
1Co 2:9 ESV
(9) ... "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"--

Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it?

but-

1Co 2:10 MSG
(10) But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along.

This verse indicates that this wisdom is not just a characteristic of heaven but applies to all believers lives here and now. The message of wisdom is for us.

1Co 2:11-16 MSG
(11) Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God--except that he not only knows what he's thinking,
(12) but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us.
(13) We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
(14) The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit--God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion.
(15) Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics.
(16) Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit.

The wisdom of God is revealed to all believers by the Spirit, through the Word. He let’s us in on it. We don’t have to rely on the wisdom of the world. We have not received the wisdom of the world, because we have been called out of the world. The non-believing world cannot receive this wisdom. We have Christ’s spirit. We have the wisdom. What is going to be our response to the revelation of the Holy Spirit? How are we going to demonstrate the message?