The more we consider 2:6-10, the more we realize that these verses are deep, profound, and difficult to understand. To understand them we need to consider the context of chapters one and two, chapters which give us a clear view of Christ as God’s center and our portion. In these chapters Paul emphasizes the fact that Christ is God’s center and our portion. God has an economy which He desires to fulfill. This economy is His will, His purpose. The focal point of God’s economy is Christ. As the One who is the power of God and the wisdom of God in His economy, Christ is God’s unique center. God has called us into the fellowship, the participation, the mutuality, of this center. As a result, Christ as the unique center becomes the portion for our enjoyment. This is indicated by the phrase “theirs and ours” in 1:2.
The central thought of 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 is expressed by the words center and portion. According to these chapters, Paul regards Christ as God’s center and our portion. This means that God’s center has been given to us as our portion for our enjoyment.
First Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, Who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Here we see that Christ has become wisdom to us from God. As such, He is our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. These terms are a further definition of what Christ is to us as our portion. Not only is Christ our righteousness for the past, our sanctification for the present, and our redemption for the future, but even in our daily life He is righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to us. This is what Christ is as our portion for our enjoyment.
If we have this understanding of the central thought of chapters one and two, we are prepared to consider 2:6-10. As God’s center and our portion for our enjoyment, Christ is God’s wisdom in a mystery. The wisdom in 2:7 is deep and profound. It is a wisdom beyond human understanding, for it is a mysterious wisdom, wisdom in a mystery. Within God there is something which Paul describes as wisdom in a mystery. This is Christ, the center of God’s economy and the portion for our enjoyment. Few ministers today preach Christ as God’s wisdom in a mystery. The majority of today’s Christians do not know Him as this mysterious wisdom. By the Lord’s mercy we are endeavoring to minister Christ and testify Him as such a wisdom in a mystery. It is helpful even to have the expression “wisdom in a mystery” in our Christian vocabulary. Praise the Lord that we see that this Christ is God’s center and our portion!
In verse 7 Paul says that this wisdom has been hidden and predestined before the ages for 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 all shall be in glory.
The believers at Corinth, being Greeks, regarded themselves as philosophical and full of wisdom. But to God their wisdom was not wisdom at all; it was foolishness. Real wisdom is the wisdom which has been hidden in God. The wisdom of human philosophy is not true wisdom.
As a person born and raised in China, I became familiar with the classical writings of Confucius. Apparently these writings are full of wisdom. Actually, in the sight of God, they are foolishness. I eventually came to pity the Chinese who were learned in the ethical philosophy of Confucius. This philosophy veiled them and kept them from seeing God, Christ, the Spirit, and God’s salvation. Because they were veiled by philosophy, these ethical Chinese could not see these wonderful realities. No doubt, the principle is the same with Greek philosophy. This philosophy was a thick veil covering the Greeks. Even those at Corinth who had believed in the Lord and received Him were still veiled by their philosophy and wisdom.
Philosophy makes people foolish because it causes them to reject God and deny Christ. What could be more foolish than this? It is the philosophical people who deny God and Christ. Therefore, in the eyes of God, their philosophical wisdom is nothing but foolishness. When I was in China, I earnestly desired that the learned Chinese could turn from their philosophy and see God and Christ.