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have crucified the Lord of glory. This majestic title ascribed to Christ, is an outstanding
witness to His Deity. No Jew would ever address such a title to anyone but God in the
fullest sense.
Needless to say, the wisdom of God in a mystery does not refer to the later mystery of
Eph. 3: concerning the Body of Christ. It is not THE mystery but en musterio "in
mystery" literally. It was the wisdom of God that had been hidden. Paul was making
known God's secret hidden wisdom which He had determined before the ages began for
our glory and ultimately His.
No.4.
pp. 67 - 71
Before we proceed to consider the next section, we will give its structural outline, and
for this we are indebted to Charles H. Welch:
A | 2: 6, 7. What Paul spoke. Wisdom among perfect (mature).
B | 2: 8. Knowledge. None knew. Had they known.
C | 2: 9, 10-. Revelation. Eye, ear, heart. But God revealed.
D | 2: -10-13. The Spirit. |
a | Things of God revealed by the Spirit.
b | Not spirit of the world.
c | But of God.
b | Not man's wisdom.
c | But Holy Spirit.
a | Things of the Spirit explained by spiritual means.
C | 2: 14, 15. Discernment. Spiritually discerned.
B | 2: 16. Knowledge. Known mind of the Lord. The mind of Christ.
A | 3: 1, 2. Why Paul could not speak. Carnal, babes, milk.
The structure clearly shows the sharp distinction between the hidden wisdom of God
which could be revealed to the mature, and the carnality of the Corinthian believers
which for the most part made this impossible, keeping them in the state of spiritual
infancy with the ability to receive only the `milk' of the Word, the simplest possible
truths. In 2: 9 the Apostle makes a Scriptural quotation:
"But as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered
not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love Him"
(R.V.).
The difficulty here is that this is not an exact quotation, but seems to be a blending of
Isa. 64: 4 and 65: 16. The former passage in the LXX reads: "From the beginning
we did not hear nor did our eyes see any God but Thee, and Thy works, which Thou shalt
do for those who wait (Thy) mercy", and the second passage thus: "They shall forget
their former affliction, and it shall not enter into their mind". Origen believed that Paul