1 Corinthians 2:7 Commentary and Bible Study

We speak a secret wisdom, says Paul, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. The English word mystery comes from a Greek word, which is almost the same word. It means secret, something hidden. Why is the wisdom of God hidden? Well it is hidden because of the fall of man, and the sin of man. God has pronounced a curse upon man, a judgement upon him, and he has limited man so that man, however brilliant, he cannot grasp God's way of salvation. Of course, it is also true that he will not grasp it: this has two sides. He does not want it; he is prejudiced against God; he wants himself and the things of this world. But nevertheless, he cannot find it out, because of his sin; sin blocks him. So the wisdom of God is a mystery to him, until God works by the Spirit.But there are other reasons why the wisdom of God, of the gospel, the way of salvation, is called a mystery, why it is a mystery today to unconverted people. It is a mystery because it is not seen as a reality; it is not real to people. It is not substantial; you cannot touch it. You cannot possess it. You cannot see it. It is not like a study of material things: plants or animals; it is not like botany, zoology, physics, or chemistry, a study of substantial things. It is not like the study of events or human lives. How people love biography, to hear cases of people. The gospel is something invisible. It is about forgiveness, about the unseen God and his holiness. It is about spiritual relationships with God, and the need for inner change and eternal life. It is not what this world would ever think of. All the learning in the world would not have thought of the gospel: that we are saved by the atoning death of Christ, by a substitutionary atonement. That we are saved as a free gift from God, and it cannot be earned and deserved. Human beings would never think of that; human pride will not let them. ‘If there is a God and I am estranged from him and alienated, there must be something I can do to earn his favour’: that is the way human beings think. The gospel is a secret from the proud mind of man, who thinks he must be able to attain to everything by his own effort. But it is a secret also in quite another way, because it was not explicitly taught in the Old Testament. The gospel is in the Old Testament, but it is nothing like as plain as in the New Testament. It is concealed until Christ came. Only when Christ came was the full glory of substitutionary atonement revealed. It is spoken of in Isaiah 53, but not the how, not who the person is, not how it will take place. The full disclosure is going to wait for Christ in order to honour him, and then the full blaze of gospel light shines. It is a secret until then.It is another secret that the whole world, the Gentiles also, will be included in the church. The apostle says that so many times. The whole church will include saved Jews and save Gentiles. The apostle Paul is very conscious that he has a mighty privilege. He feels as though is one of the first preachers to introduce this to the world. ‘We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.’