Wednesday, January 24, 2018

WISDOM OF THE REVEALING GOD


“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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