"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy Children."(Isaiah 54:11-13).

INTRODUCTION

The magnitude of sin can be seen in its effects upon mankind. Not only did it drive a wedge between God and His "offspring," it brought alienation and enmity between them. There is more than a gulf between God and man; more than distance between the created and the Creator! This is never more evident than in the area of understanding spiritual realities. The climactic revelation of this occurred when Christ came into the world. Here was God incarnate and wisdom personified. The Savior was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), on display before the sons of men. Grace and truth were not displayed in minimal portions in Jesus--He was "full" of them! Real wisdom will discern Him and submit to Him! Valid understanding will comprehend the reality of the matter, "God with us." But this did not occur. Instead, earth's wisdom at its apex rejected the Lord's Christ, putting Him to death. The variance sin inducted was revealed in the world's conflict with Jesus!

The clash of worldly wisdom

Paul refers to this clash in his discourse about the vanity of the world's wisdom. "And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,"THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Cor 2:4-10, NASB). The knowledge of this circumstance determined how the Apostle preached. He did not employ the wisdom of men to carry the precious message, because it had been proven unsuitable as a vehicle of Divine utterance. The wisdom of this world, like its princes, is "passing away." As such, it can never be merged with the wisdom of God! The deficiency of worldly wisdom. Behold the reasoning of the Spirit. When confronted with the enfleshed "wisdom of God," the princes of the world saw nothing of value. He was hidden from them. But there was more to the matter than that. Although the world's most astute could not see the Wisdom, they could sense the enmity of it. It was not merely different, it was in opposition to them. That is why they "crucified the Lord of glory." It was not possible for unregenerate man to decipher the mind of God toward His people. It is something that had to be revealed-- made known by Deity. This refers to more than the reception of the Biblical text, although it surely involves that. It is not only that man lacked information -- he lacked ability, and a text alone cannot resolve that deficiency. There is a strain of theology that teaches man simply did not know enough. When God provided us with Scripture, the position states, He gave us all we need to decipher His Person and purpose. The idea may sound good, but it is not. The Word of God is not primarily a revelation of things in earth, but things in heaven. Because of this, more is required for spiritual understanding than expertise in earthly matters. This is preeminently illustrated in the world's reaction to Jesus. In Him they had sufficient evidence to come to the right conclusion about God; yet they did not. Their minds, like that of all humanity, had been infected with sin, and they were rendered incapable of deciphering truth on their own. If this were not the case, they would have gladly received Christ.