O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. (Psalms 104:24)

to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; (Psalms 136:5)

The immeasurable wealth of God's wisdom is already proclaimed to us by the extremely diverse and complex world of creation: from the atomic elements through outer space to the remotest part of the universe... including all living things on earth from the heights of mountains and clouds to the depths of the seas and caves. He created all of this out of love to give us a gift and to awaken in us joy, gratitude, and praise for our Creator. He thus made his eternal power and divine nature visible to our fragile littleness (Romans 1:19-20), but because of his divine power and infinite wisdom, he provided us with a much greater gift according to his eternal purpose, even before he created anything. Paul writes:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight. (Ephesians 1:3-8)

God gave himself to us: he sent his Son to us so that we might be adopted as his children in Jesus. He made known to us in Christ this mystery of his will, which was hidden in him from the beginning of time (Colossians 1:26-27; Ephesians 3:9-11). Paul writes:

in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)

However, the secret of Christ's kingdom is not given to everyone, because it is conditional:

And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” (Mark 4:11-12)

Of course, the holy God wants everyone to live with him, that is, to repent (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4) and receive forgiveness of sins. That is why he sent his only begotten Son into the world (John 3:16-18). But the condition for living with his, on the one hand, that we want to live worthy of him, that is, holy and pious. On the other hand, we can only receive forgiveness of sins if we realize the gravity and depth of our sins, therefore, whoever does not repent of his sins with all his heart is already under judgment:

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (John‬ ‭9:39‬)

Because Jesus did not come for those who consider themselves righteous, but for repentant sinners:

And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke‬ ‭5:31-32‬)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke‬ ‭19:10)

We can already read in the Old Testament that God hides himself and does not answer those who are unworthy of him:

Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. (Micah 3:4)

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

In the time of Jesus, the things that made for peace were likewise hidden from the eyes of the religious Jews (John 12:36-43), because they did not recognize God’s testimony of his love in Jesus (Luke 19:41-44). It is the glory and wisdom of God that he hides the secret of his kingdom from this world and reveals it to his children, so that through them his manifold wisdom may be known:

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21)

Jesus was not only fully aware of how wicked the rulers of this world were, but he also experienced that the majority do not ask for the love of God to repent of their sins and live with him (Matthew 7:13-14, 22:14; Luke 12:32, 13:22-24, 18:8).

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ (Matthew 13:10-15)

Although in a world shaped by sin, it happens again and again that some people walk with God (Hebrews 11:4-38), however, this world is constantly opposed to God, as most clearly testified by the cross of Jesus, who appeared to reconcile us to God, even at the cost of suffering death on the cross for us because of the hatred of evil people (John 7:7, 15:18. 23-25).

As the blood of righteous Abel, continuing with the case of all the murdered prophets (Matthew 23:29-36), so the blood of Jesus bears witness even more (Hebrews 12:24) that the whole world transformed by sin lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19), and remains God's enemy "until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Peter 3:6-7), for although the promised Savior appeared in the world as a testimony to God's eternal love, the Lord of glory was crucified. Paul writes:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. which none of the princes of this world knew; for if they had known, they should never have crucified the Lord of glory (Wycliffe Bible Translation). But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-10)

The secret wisdom of God has not been known to any of the rulers of this world (Acts 13:27; 1 John 3:1) because it is veiled to those who are perishing because of their sins (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”  (John 9:41)

But how could they have realized the gravity and depth of their sins, repenting of their sins with all their hearts, if they do not see the need for their repentance at all? (John 5:44-47) For on the one hand, faith is not of everyone (2 Thessalonians 3:2), but only of the saints, who have the willingness to repent and the common struggle for holiness (Jude 1:3). On the other hand, if someone’s unbelieving and evil heart is permanently hardened in lies (John 8:37-44), certain eternal death awaits him already in this world (Matthew 12:31-32). The searcher of the hearts and the tester of the minds (Jeremiah 17:9-10) also knows who will never come to the light, but will remain an instrument of the power of darkness in this world (Luke 22:52-53). Jesus saw very clearly what was in store (Matthew 23:14; Mark 12:38-40) for the self-righteous religious Jews (Matthew 8:12), and he did not pursue unreality (Matthew 23:15. 33). He knew that when he returns, “his angels will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.” (Matthew 13:36-42). Likewise, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:8, presents as unrealistic the possibility that they might recognize him, that is, that the whole people of Israel would obey Jesus from the beginning, and that his own would accept him and not crucify him. On the contrary: Jesus, the Author of life, was crucified! This had to happen (Luke 24:25-26), because the hearts of the people had become hardened (Acts 28:25-28), and they showed no repentance. This is the life-destroying reality of sin: to consider ourselves righteous opposite God (Luke 18:9-14; 1 John 1:8-10). Therefore, the Jews finally handed Jesus over to Pilate, and the rulers of this world were gathered together against the Lord of glory. Luke writes:

‘The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ — for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (Acts 4:26-28)

God always wants the best for everyone in all circumstances, and although he knows everything in advance, he does not plan ahead with sin and evil (1 John 1:5), because all evil is far from him (James 1:13. 16-17). He cannot will evil and sin, and thus the cruel execution of his Son. But he willed that his Son should take on the cross in order to reveal to us his eternal purpose, which is independent of everyone and unchangeable. For he planned from eternity to show the deepest essence of his divine being, the power and strength of his love, through the obedient, humble and devoted service of his Son. Therefore, through his death, Jesus only testifies even more to how great God's love is for us: the Son voluntarily gave his life to death to save us from death, that is, he literally gave his life for us (John 15:12-13). Because the essence of his love is devotion. Only in this sense did the almighty and all-knowing God predestinate Jesus' redemptive death.

He sent his Son into the world despite the fact that he already knew in advance that the response of evil people to his love that saves from sin would be the same as what the evil one himself - who "was a murderer from the beginning" - does to man (John 8:40-44): they despise his own beloved Son and wish only one thing: Death for the "heir"! What Jesus said in the parable:

“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. (Luke 20:13-19)

Although the Eternal God knew from the beginning that the response of the rulers of this world would be hatred (Acts 3:18), the Father sent his beloved Son into his own world, which he had created, so that he would be "received" because he would come "to his own" (John 1:10-11). Knowing in advance what his own creatures will do to Jesus, the omniscient God nevertheless sends the Son into the world to reveal himself (John 17:3). In his infinite wisdom and power, he shows the power of his love to the world through his Son: he conquers hatred with such love that he was ready to give his Son even to death for us, who were his enemies (Romans 5:6-10). For he cannot be anything other than love that gives itself unselfishly (1 John 4:8. 16). Paul writes:

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

There was no other way to salvation than the cross of Christ: "the power of God and the wisdom of God", as eternal love put hatred to shame (Colossians 2:15), life conquered death, and righteousness triumphed over evil. Paul writes:

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galata‬ ‭6:14‬)

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-31)

God has shown the power of his love and hidden wisdom, which he decreed from eternity for our glory. For by his divine power after his Son's redemptive death he raised Jesus (Acts 5:30, 17:31), which is a testimony to us that he broke the power of death.

Even his disciples might have thought that with Jesus' death everything was over, but injustice cannot prevail: life has conquered death. For it was not possible for death to hold him (Acts 2:23-24). Jesus "was declared to be the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). Whoever lives with him will live with him even after death:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Jesus died and rose again for us, for our justification, that we might live a holy life for him (2 Corinthians 5:15). Jesus lives, death had no claim on him (John 14:30), he is Lord! He has the authority to judge everyone righteously (Revelation 1:17-18), because he always trusted in the righteousness of God during his earthly life (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus rose again and appeared, but only to those who believed in him (Acts 13:29-37). Peter said:

And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. (Acts 10:39-41)

The apostles bore witness to life: which they have heard, which they have seen with their eyes, which they looked upon and have touched with their hands...

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:24-29)

We also love him, though we have not seen him; and though we do not see him now, we believe in him (1 Peter 1:8-9). As he did during his earthly life, so now Jesus forgives repentant sinners and provides every help to work out their sanctification for eternal life. Paul writes:

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)

Jesus rose from the dead and continues to make intercession (John 17:26). After his resurrection and glorification, he still helps his people in their weaknesses, so that everyone who comes to God through him will receive everything they need to change their lives, endure, and reach their goal. Jesus, who is now with the Father, can give strength in renewal to come to the obedience of faith, and as Paul write:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26)

For God has given to his children the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation, that they may know him and the power of his resurrection (Ephesians 1:17-20).

God gives his Spirit, but not to everyone. For he has come, "whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him" (John 14:17), but to those who believe, he is the testimony of God. John writes:

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:8-11)

Jesus sent the promised Holy Spirit, who still bears witness to the Son today: invisibly, quietly and gently like the wind (John 3:8), but not unnoticed, for he works with such power as a blazing fire that burns away all weakness and sin in us. Jesus said:

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:49-50)

Let us think of him who, even when he was tormented by pain and suffering on the cross, did not care about the shame, but even in his humiliation his soul thirsted for God and his body yearned (John 19:28; Psalms 63:2-4; John 19:29-30). For Jesus considered the love of God better than his own life, and as the humble suffering servant of God (Isaiah 52:13-53:12 - GOD’S WORD Translation) he fulfilled the will of the Father by his death on the cross and was glorified (John 17:4-5). Now he is at the right hand of the Father to make his disciples one with himself, and thus with God (John 17:23), and "if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." (Romans 6:5)

The mystery of salvation runs through our history, from the beginning to the present day. Although the hidden life of christians in Christ (Colossians 3:1-4) is not unnoticed by the world (John 13:34-35, 17:23), God, in his wisdom, still reveals his name only to those who love him (John 14:21-26). The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is with Jesus’ followers, teaching them and helping them in their struggles to wait patiently for that great day to come, the completion of their redemption (Romans 8:23). Paul writes:

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

We know that God is well aware of all the weaknesses of his children, and he has the power and strength to strengthen them, through the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages but is now made manifest (Romans 16:25-27). God’s own will and unchangeable purpose will accomplish his purpose (Isaiah 46:9-10, 55:10-11), for the depth of his riches, wisdom, and knowledge is inexhaustible! He will carry out his eternal plan according to his will even when the majority of his creatures disagree with it, and even when today’s self-righteous religious world does not follow Jesus, but rather not seeing sin, lives a hypocritical life like the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:13. 15. 27-28. 33).

BUT WE FOLLOW JESUS!

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)