“But we impart a secret and hidden
wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age
understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. 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…’” (1 Corinthians 2:7- 9).
The rulers of this age are the elite of the world but
they could not grasp the mystery of God’s wisdom. They saw the Christ with their own eyes but
they did not recognize him as the Lord of glory and they put him to death. We must stop and realize this truth: we would be in the same situation as they if
God had not decreed (foreordained) glory for us! We would be right there beside them! We know that we have not arrived at this blessing
that God prepared for us through our own powers or abilities. We could not have even imagined it on our
own! It is undiscoverable by men!
“The natural person does
not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he
is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual person
judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 ‘For who has understood the
mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ’” (1
Corinthians 2:14-16).
The “natural person” is the unspiritual
person, the one whom the Spirit of God has not “completed.” He does not accept (or “receive,” same Greek
word) the things the Spirit teaches. He
rejects them because they are folly to him.
The Greek word for folly here is literally “moronic.” He rejects them
because he “is not able” to understand them.
He does not have the power to grasp them. He rejects them because they can only be
spiritually discerned and he is merely physical, not spiritual! The truth is all around this man but he has
not the power to see it because he has not been illumined by the Spirit. He lives in spiritual darkness!
But the spiritual man (pneumatikos)
is the exact opposite of the natural person! He is able to judge all things (same Greek
word as “discern”). He can tell the
worldly from the spiritual, truth from falsehood, and even grasp the mysteries
of God’s wisdom. In verse 16 Paul quotes
Isaiah 40:13 and anticipates a negative response from his readers. “Who is able to know the mind of the Lord in
his own wisdom?” No one! But through the
ministry of God’s Spirit we have the mind of Christ! We have been called into fellowship with
Christ. We are one with Christ. Therefore, we can be taught spiritual things
by God through his Spirit and we can know the mind of God to the degree he has
revealed it.
With this understanding of the
nature of salvation there is no reason to glorify man and every reason to
glorify God alone. There is no reason to
glorify human wisdom and every reason to glorify God’s wisdom. There is no place for human pride and every
reason for humility. There is no reason
for division in the church and every reason to find our unity in Christ. We learn that we can know the mind of God as
long as we are led by the Spirit. He
communicates God’s truth to us as we study God’s word and pray. He directs us with God’s wisdom as long as we
wait upon him and seek him guidance. Oh
the grace, mercy, and goodness of God, that he should pour out his Spirit upon
a sinner like me and grant me a glimpse of his wisdom in Christ Jesus!
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