No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.
Parallel translations
- WEB But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory,
- KJV But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
- BSB No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.
- NKJV But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
- NASB but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul speaks God's hidden wisdom, a mystery ordained before time for the believers' glory. God's saving plan was His eternal purpose, now revealed in the gospel.
Overview
The 'mystery' is God's plan of salvation in Christ, once hidden but now disclosed to believers. God 'foreordained' it 'before the worlds,' showing redemption was His eternal intention, not an afterthought. This wisdom aims at 'our glory,' the believers' final exaltation with Christ, a destiny the world's wisdom could never conceive.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Col 1:26–27the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,
- 2 Pet 1:3seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;
- Rom 16:25–26—
- Ps 78:2I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
- Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Matt 13:35that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
- 1 Pet 5:10But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
- Eph 3:4–9by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ;
- Eph 1:4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love;
- 2 Tim 1:9who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
- Rev 13:8All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed.
- Isa 48:6–7You have heard it; see all this. And you, won’t you declare it? “I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.
- 1 Pet 1:11searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.
- 1 Pet 5:1Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 2:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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