In 1 Corinthians 2:4 Paul says, “My speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Persuasive words of wisdom issue from the human mind; demonstration of the Spirit comes from our spirit. The apostle’s speech and preaching were not from his mind with words of speculation, but from his spirit with the release and exhibition of the Spirit, hence of power.
In verse 5 Paul goes on to say, “In order that your faith would not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Men’s wisdom is the elementary philosophy; God’s power is the all-inclusive Christ (1:24).
First Corinthians 2:4 and 5 indicate that Paul did not exercise words of wisdom but the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The power demonstrated by Paul was the crucified Christ. The issue of such a demonstration was that the believers’ faith would not be the result of Paul’s wisdom overcoming their wisdom but would be in God’s power, the crucified Christ (v. 5).
In 1 Corinthians 2:7-12 Paul reveals Christ as the depths of God. Christ being the depths of God means that He is the deep things of God, the things that are not superficial. To know the depths of God is to know Christ in many aspects as our eternal portion. Christ, the all-inclusive and extensive One, is truly the depths of God.
As we enjoy Christ continually, we eventually enter into Christ as the depths of God’s being. Then we realize that we are in the heart, the depths, of the almighty God and that He becomes our inner element. When we enjoy Christ, we touch the depths of God, and God becomes the element within us. As we advance in our experience of Christ, one day we will truly know Him as God’s depths.
Moreover, we need to remember that Paul spoke God’s wisdom in a mystery to the Jews and the Greeks, both of whom were wisdom-seeking people. The Jews were highly intelligent, and the Greeks were very philosophical. To these people who regarded themselves as wise, Paul did not preach superficial matters but the depths of God. Likewise, we also must preach the depths of God, the deep things of God.
In 1 Corinthians 2:7 Paul says, “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory,” God’s wisdom in a hidden mystery, which God predestined before the ages for our glory, is actually the all-inclusive Christ as the deep things of God. God’s wisdom is Christ (1:24), who is the hidden mystery (Col. 1:26-27), predestined, predesignated, and foreordained before the ages for our glory.
According to 1 Corinthians 2:7, God’s wisdom, Christ, is in a mystery; it is a mysterious wisdom. Furthermore, God’s wisdom is the wisdom which has been hidden and which God predestined before the ages for our glory. God’s wisdom is our destiny, and this destiny was determined by God, decided by Him, in eternity past. He predestined Christ, His wisdom, to be for our glory. This means that in eternity past He decided that His mysterious wisdom would be our destiny and glory. God has predestined His mysterious wisdom to be our glory.
A destiny is a person’s final, ultimate portion. As Christians we have a destiny, and this destiny is the ultimate and consummate portion of our enjoyment. God’s wisdom in a mystery has not only been hidden but also predestined by God to become our destiny for our glory. Glory is our destiny, our destination. In eternity we will all be in glory.
Glory in verse 7 refers to Christ who is the Lord of glory (v. 8). Christ is our life today (Col. 3:4) and our glory in the future (1:27). To this glory God has called us (1 Pet. 5:10), and into it He will bring us (Heb. 2:10). This is the goal of God’s salvation.
Since glory is God expressed, to say that glory is Christ actually means that Christ is God expressed. The expression of God, Christ, is our destiny. This destiny will bring us into glory, a glory which is the expression of God.
In eternity past God predestined Christ, God’s wisdom in a mystery, for our glory. Within God there is a mystery, Christ, and this mystery was predestined by God before the ages so that we may have glory. In eternity past God predestined Christ, God’s wisdom, for our glory, and in eternity future, we will have glory.
We then need to consider how we can have the divine glory. God has a mystery, an economy, planned according to His wisdom. This plan is to put God’s chosen people into Christ, the Son of God, in order that in Christ they may be saturated with the divine glory and be brought into the divine glory to enjoy the Triune God in His glorious expression. There is such a mystery, an economy, planned according to God’s wisdom to put us, His chosen people, into Christ that we may be glorified (1 Cor. 2:9). This plan had been completely hidden, kept secret, within God’s heart until it was revealed to the apostles (Eph. 3:5, 9-10). According to this plan, our entire being will ultimately be saturated with the divine glory and will be brought into the reality of the divine glory to enjoy the Triune God in His divine glory. One day we will all be in the divine glory; only then will we fully know what is God’s wisdom in a mystery. This is our enjoyment of Christ as God’s wisdom in a mystery, Christ as the deep things of God.
Again, deep within God is a plan, a plan made according to His wisdom to put His chosen people into Christ, His embodiment, in order that they may be saturated, and even soaked, with the divine glory and may enjoy the Triune God in His glory for eternity. This plan had been kept in God’s heart as a secret; it had never been known by any creature including Satan and man. This plan is the goal of God’s salvation.
Although today we have not yet thoroughly entered into the “soaking” glory of God, day by day we are in the process of being saturated with the divine glory. In fact, both sanctification and transformation are the process of saturating us with God’s glory. Just as a cotton ball is put into ink and becomes soaked with ink, we believers have all been put into the Triune God to be soaked with Him in His glory.
Today we enjoy the foretaste of our destiny to enjoy God in His divine glory. Day by day we are being saturated with the divine glory. What matters to God is not our doing deeds that are right or wrong, good or evil. Rather, the central thought of God is that He intends to saturate us with Himself as the divine glory. This economy is altogether a procedure that takes place in the all-inclusive Christ, who as the Lord of glory is our life today and our glory in the future in order to bring us into glory. What will bring the Lord back is a group of His believers thoroughly saturated with God in His divine glory. The Lord will not come back until He has gained a group of His believers fully matured in the divine soaking. We must prepare ourselves for His coming by being daily saturated with God as the divine glory.