This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day two of our look through 1st Corinthians 2. We're
going to focus on verses 6 to 9 today. And this week, this chapter, Paul is
answering for us the question, what does God's wisdom look like in the everyday
life of a believer?

Yesterday we talked about the fact that it looks simple. It looks personal. It
looks powerful as the Holy Spirit works through your life.

It doesn't always feel powerful, but it looks powerful as he does things that
you could not do on your own. That's how his wisdom looks. Today we're going to
see that God's wisdom looks to us in our everyday life, it looks like a choice.

That's how it looks in my own mind. That's how it looks as you and I wrestle
with it in our own lives. It looks like a choice, a choice between two different
values.

Listen to what Paul had to say in verses 6 to 9. We do, however, speak a message
of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of
this age who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a
wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time
began.

None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written, no eye has seen, no
ear has heard, no mind has conceived, but God has prepared for those who love
him. That is in one sense what wisdom looks like.

Paul says that as we look for wisdom, we need to look at unexpected places as he
compares two basic ways of looking at life. He talks about the wisdom of this
world and he talks about the wisdom of God. He talks about the rulers of this
age and he talks about the actions of God in our lives.

And so let's, you and I, look at these two different ways of looking at life,
these two different values. First, the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this
world, by the way, it looks so solid.

It looks so dependable. From big business to higher education to big government,
it seems like those are the places to invest our energy in order to accomplish
change, in order to see things happening. Finances, education, organization, big
things in this world, government.

The wisdom of this world looks very powerful, but Paul reminds us here that it
misses the point and it's not going to last. Look at the truth about what looks
so powerful, so valuable in this world, the financial institutions, the big
governments. Paul says the world's wisdom is passing away.

They're coming to nothing, he says. Any changes that might be worked through
this world, the wisdom of this world, they're only temporary because it's
passing away. And he also says this world's wisdom is without understanding.

It looks so powerful, but it did not even understand why Jesus came. In verse 8,
"None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they wouldn't
have crucified Jesus. " If you need proof that this world does not get it, the
values of this world are off, look at what they did to Jesus.

The only perfect person who ever walked this earth, God in human flesh, and they
crucified him. And it's easy for you and I to blame others and think of how we
would have done it differently, but the truth of the matter is, in any age, we
would not have gotten it. Even though disciples of Jesus, they didn't crucify
him, but they ran away from him because they didn't expect him to work in power.

All but John were not there that day that he was crucified. So you look at the
truth, the wisdom of this world, it looks so solid, so dependable, but as you
choose, as I choose to go after the things that make me feel smart, or if I
chase after money because it makes me feel powerful, I'm not saying God can't
use money in your life, he can. He can use it for good, but if I chase after it
because it makes me feel powerful, it's not going to last.

And all of those human institutions, they're built on selfishness, they're built
on a lack of understanding of what's really true, what's really real. That's the
wisdom of this world. And I can choose that, I can choose to chase after that
all day long, every day, or I can make a different choice.

I can choose to chase after the wisdom of God. And as Paul talks about the
wisdom of God here, he uses some words, especially at the beginning, to help us
to realize it is not so obvious as the wisdom of this world is something to
chase after. What obviously looks powerful in this world is not.

What can easily be hidden in this world is most powerful. Paul says this wisdom
from God, it was a mystery. It's a mystery that looks impossible until it's
revealed by God in your life.

The mystery of Jesus coming into this world and giving his life for us. In fact,
Paul says, it is a hidden wisdom. The wisdom that God has, it looks almost
insignificant because it begins in the heart.

Jesus talked about this in his parables. He talks about the mustard seed, the
small seed of faith. He talks about the seed that's planted that becomes a huge
tree.

It's the kingdom of God, a symbol of the kingdom of God. All the things that
seem less obvious to us in this world, all of those things that God is doing in
the world, those are the things that are going to last. So Paul says, don't get
caught up in things that seem like they're going to last, that seem to others
like they're powerful, the popular thing.

Get caught up instead in the mystery, in the hidden thing. But he also uses
another word as he talks about this wisdom from God. He says, get caught up in
what God has destined.

God has destined this, he says, for our glory before time began. How does God's
wisdom look? It looks like that which is going to last.

It looks permanent. Those things that look so impressive in this world, you
know, you've seen them. The things that are advertised, the things that people
buy, they just last for a short amount of time.

They're here today, they're gone tomorrow. The wisdom of God, before time began,
he planned that you would come to know him through Jesus Christ. And after time
in this world has ended, you're going to be spending eternity with him in that
relationship with him.

It's destined, he says. It looks old, but it is brand new. It is planned from
the beginning, but it is fresh every day in our lives.

That's what destiny is all about. It's something that's been from the very
beginning, but it also is renewed in our lives every single day. That is the
truth of God's wisdom.

Now, Paul, as he talks about this wisdom from God and this choice we have to
make, what am I going to choose today? Because if you're honest with yourself,
there are some days when you chase after the things of this world. If I could
only become more popular with that crowd, if I only could get that person's
approval, if I could only somehow make a little bit more money or could get some
corner office or at least move one cubicle up in my office, if I could only get
that title, if I could only do this, I'd feel better about myself, I'd feel
better about life, I'd feel like God was more at work in my life.

We can get so fooled by the values of this world. So what keeps us from
following that road? Because we're all tempted that way.

In verse 9, Paul tells us that the quality of life that helps you to choose
God's wisdom above the world's wisdom, God's values above the world's values, is
the quality of hope. In verse 9, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. " You live with hope and
you look forward to hope.

Hope is beyond, he says, it's beyond our human vision. It's outside the range,
he says, of our human ears. It is above the thoughts of our human hearts.

It's hope that only God can give based on his word. It is the hope of eternity,
yes, what's going to happen after you die. But that is not all he's talking
about here.

He's talking also about the hope of everyday life, the hope of God's presence in
your life, the hope of knowing that no matter what happens, you are serving a
God whose promises are going to come true in your life, the hope of hanging onto
your relationship with him through any difficulty in your life. It is a hope
that you can't see or hear or even put a mental finger on, yet it is a hope that
through the Spirit of God in your life, through the love of Jesus in your life,
through the power of the Father in your life, it is a hope that you can know
with assurance. It's a hope that's greater than your sight.

It's a hope that's greater than your hearing. It's a hope that's greater than
even your thoughts, more powerful than even those things. It is a kind of hope
that builds a lasting foundation for your life.

We've all heard this phrase, "It's too good to be true. " And sometimes we think
that about hope. If we're wishing for something, something's not going to
happen, it is too good to be true many times.

But here Paul is saying, "It is too true to not see this hope that God has for
us in everyday life, this hope that God has for you right now. " So the question
I have for you, the question I have for me is, "What choice am I going to make
today? " It's not the choice I made yesterday that we're thinking about.

It's not the choice I might make next week. What choice am I going to make today
when it comes to the values? The values of this world or the values of God?

Let's pray together. And Jesus, we pray for Spirit-powered strength to choose
you, to choose your wisdom, to choose your values. What does your wisdom look
like?

It looks like choosing you instead of finances, instead of popularity and
instead of some title, instead of some power that I might have over people.
Lord, that's an empty chase. Lord, today we want to choose you.

We want to choose your wisdom, your power in our lives. So we ask that you help
us to see things through the eyes of hope, the hope that you want to give us now
that extends all the way into eternity. And let that hope give us the confidence
that we need to choose your values today.

We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Tomorrow we're going to look at verses 10 to
12 and the power to experience God's wisdom.