‘Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are perfect. But a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world which are coming to nought. But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds to our glory, which none of the rulers of this world knew, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.'
Having spoken of foolishness he now wants to correct any misapprehension. It is not really foolishness that they are speaking, it merely appears like that to unbelievers. It is in fact great wisdom. Those who have received understanding, who have received perfection in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10; Philippians 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:17; Hebrews 10:14), recognise and admire its wisdom.
Here the idea of being ‘perfect' is of having been made ‘perfect' in mind in Christ, having fully accepted the word of the cross, and having thus taken up the right mind set in the Spirit. Having received enlightenment and understanding from God Himself they have ‘perfect' understanding. It is to have matured into adulthood as no longer children under the Law, but as adult sons through the Spirit of adoption so that we receive the Spirit of His Son whereby we cry ‘Abba, Father' (Galatians 4:4-6).
As with many other Christianised words it has a past, a present and a future reference. Jesus' hearers would become ‘perfect' by taking up the same attitude towards others as God had, that is, by yielding their wills to the will of God, taking up His mind set as demonstrated through what He revealed Himself to be (Matthew 5:48). For the rich young ruler to become ‘perfect' he had to yield his will to God by yielding his riches and taking up the right mind set towards his riches (Matthew 19:21). To be ‘perfect' (men and not children) in understanding is to have the right mind set in order to be ready to receive spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 14:20). It is the Spirit Who makes ‘perfect', giving the right mind set, and nothing else is therefore required (Galatians 3:3). To press on towards the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus indicates the ‘perfect' man (Philippians 3:15), the one with the right mind set towards God. Thus to be perfect is to have a right mind and heart set towards the will of God, which comes about through the working of God's Spirit, so that Christians, who initially receive this mind set at conversion, are called on to reveal it in their lives, and to maintain it. That it also has a continuing present and future significance, is revealed in Ephesians 4:12-13.
But the wisdom that is appreciated by having the spiritual mind set does not gain the appreciation of ‘the world'. It contradicts all that the world believes about the innate goodness of man. It is a wisdom which the world's rulers (‘not many noble are called' - 1 Corinthians 1:26) do not appreciate. They scorn it. They reject it. It does not agree with their view of things, or with their view of how things should be. It would interfere with their future intentions, and their desire to keep control of the world by their own methods. It is rather a wisdom that reveals what God has foreordained, from the beginning of time, a wisdom that brings about potential of the salvation of the world (John 3:16; 1 John 4:14) through the death of His Son, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-10).
‘We do speak wisdom.' That is, Apollos, Peter and himself (1 Corinthians 1:12), along with all like-minded preachers.
‘Among those who are perfect.' The word rendered ‘perfect' means ‘full and complete', ‘having full measure', ‘fully developed'. They are those who have become true sons and have received the right mind set through the Spirit. They have received true wisdom. Thus it means those whose understanding is enlightened (Ephesians 1:18), because they have fully grasped the truth of the message and have fully understood its implications. They have received a full measure of God's wisdom, and recognise the wisdom of the word of the cross. They have become knowledgeable in Christ. They have received the Spirit which has made them complete in Him.
‘Yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, those who are coming to nought.' The world does not see it as wisdom. It goes against all that they hold dear, it contradicts their own self-righteousness. It calls on them to behave in a way in which they do not want to behave. It calls on them to deny themselves and to take up their cross and follow Him. It calls for genuine humility. And this goes against all that they are.
Nor do the world's rulers see it as wisdom. They have demonstrated this in that they actually carried out the crucifixion of the Lord of glory. They did not want someone who got in the way of how they saw things. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, all had their own reasons for getting rid of Jesus. They followed different aspects of man's wisdom, both Jewish and ‘Greek', but their ends were the same. This last fact confirms that the ‘rulers of this world' are not to be seen as spiritual forces but as human beings (although we may see spiritual forces as at work behind them). So again we are reminded that the wise of the world, and the powerful of the world, have rejected this wisdom, which has on the whole only been received by those who are foolish and weak, those who are base and despised (1 Corinthians 1:27-28), for the powerful do not want to humble themselves as sinners.
‘Those who are coming to nought.' That is, those who are to be made ineffective, powerless, who are to pass away, who are to be brought to an end, who are doomed to perish. In other words their wisdom will cease in contrast with the expansion of the everlasting wisdom. Their power will fail in contrast with the eternal power at work through the Spirit. Their authority will collapse as God's authority and Kingly Rule expand. For they themselves will come to nothing.
‘But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even that which has been hidden.' We declare something which, in the wisdom of God, has been hidden, a mystery which is now a revealed mystery to those who have come to understanding, who have thereby become ‘perfect', something hidden in the foreknowledge of God but now made known. God's secret is now laid bare to His own. The Old Testament had built up to the coming of Christ, it had revealed what God was going to do quite clearly to those with eyes to see it, and yet the way of His coming and what He did in His coming has taken all by surprise. Although it was there to see, none saw it. To His own it has now been made clear. To all others it is still a mystery.
‘Which God foreordained before the ages (worlds) unto our glory.' It is a wisdom revealed in the plan and purpose of God, foreordained before time began. And that wisdom is made up of all that is contained in the word of the cross and of the crucified and risen Christ, spoken by God, issued forth from God, and brought to fruition when the hour had come, so that all who responded in faith and trust might be saved. And God purposed it from the beginning that through it ‘we' might receive ‘glory' through being in Christ, a glory which is both present and future. The idea of glory includes future splendour, both literal and moral (2 Corinthians 3:18), and honour (1 Corinthians 15:43) and is meanwhile descriptive of the joy and rapture that fills the hearts of His people (1 Peter 1:8) and of the power that rests on them through the Spirit of God (1 Peter 4:14).
For the amazing thing is that it is God's gracious purpose for His people, that they may receive glory, as is constantly emphasised. Being declared righteous by faith we ‘rejoice in hope of the glory of God' (Romans 5:2), for the body at the resurrection, sown in dishonour, will be ‘raised in glory' (1 Corinthians 15:43), when He comes in His glory (Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27), for when Christ Who is our life is revealed and made known, we also will be revealed with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4).
Further, the ministration of the Spirit, the ministration of righteousness, is with glory (2 Corinthians 3:8-9), so that as we behold (or reflect) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, even though the mirror reveals it but dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12), we are transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18), and our light affliction, which is for a moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17), so that we know that we will receive a crown of glory that is unfading (1 Peter 5:4).
Thus our being ‘called' through the Gospel will result in our ‘obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ' (2 Thessalonians 2:14). For the elect are to ‘obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory' (2 Timothy 2:10), and God has called us into His own kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:12; 1 Peter 5:10), and is bringing many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). Note here that the calling of the elect by God is through the Gospel, through the word of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:17-18), and results in glory. So the glory that His people are destined to is very real.