Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory.
1 Corinthians 2:6-7 NET
The word translated here as wisdom is the Greek word “sophia.” According to Mounce’s Expository Dictionary, “it denotes the capacity to not only understand something but also to act accordingly. It is the latter that separates wisdom from knowledge.” Wisdom is not just having knowledge. It includes the ability to do something with that knowledge.
In this letter, Paul contrasts two types of wisdom: the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this age. The wisdom of this age is good, up to a limit. It has produced all the technological advances that humanity has seen over the ages.
While human wisdom has some value, it is unable to solve the biggest problem we face—our own prideful and self-centered nature. Human wisdom led to the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). And it continues to lead us toward putting ourselves in the place of God.
In contrast to human wisdom is the wisdom of God. God, in his wisdom, did what human wisdom could not do or understand—transform our human nature. And he did it in a way that seems foolish to humans—Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:22-24).
God, in his wisdom, determined before the ages (before creation) how he would bring us to glory. And he revealed it to us through the words of the prophets. But, in our human wisdom, it was hidden from us.
But now, in Christ Jesus crucified, God’s hidden wisdom has been revealed. While the world, in its wisdom, sees a crucified Messiah as foolish, it is the power of God to transform and save all those who put their trust in him. And what we could never understand in our own wisdom, God reveals to us, through his Spirit, as we grow and mature in our faith.
