In our study of 1 Corinthians chapter two, we look at how we can know the things of God. In chapter 1, we saw that, from the world's view, the things of God are "foolishness". Now, we will see how God can turn "foolishness" into wisdom and understanding.
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As for me, brothers, when I arrived among you, it was not with surpassing eloquence or wisdom that I came announcing to you the previously concealed truth about God;
Paul was a man of earthly wisdom as he had studied Judaism under one of the top teachers (Gamaliel) of his day. But, when he came to Christ, it was not by earthly wisdom but by the direct intervention and power of God. (see Acts 9) Therefore, when he proclaimed the gospel it was not based on his own wisdom but on what God had done in him. In our world today, that may seem strange as we place such a high value on our college degrees and it seems like the more degrees you have the more you are worth in society. That same spirit has penetrated the ranks of our "churches" and "pastors" and many who proclaim the Word are attempting to do so in their own strength and wisdom.
for I had decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Yeshua the Messiah, and even him only as someone who had been executed on a stake as a criminal.
This highly educated man decided to know nothing except the gospel of Jesus Christ. He could have debated with the best of them but instead trusted in the power of God to do the same thing to others that it had done to him. Today, we see way too much personality creeping into the presentation of the gospel instead of simply proclaiming the gospel. There are pastors and evangelists that will spend weeks, months or even years developing a clever sermon that they think is going to save the world but, as we shall see, none of us have the power to save with our words.
Also I myself was with you as somebody weak, nervous and shaking all over from fear;
This well educated man went about his ministry in a humble manner. He understood in his own heart that, when it comes to the things of God, it is serious business that cannot be handled in our own strength. There are some very great and humble preachers and teachers of God's Word but there are also many who have a "rockstar" mentality and love the spotlight. We would all do well to follow the method of Paul that we see in this chapter.
and neither the delivery nor the content of my message relied on compelling words of "wisdom" but on a demonstration of the power of the Spirit, so that your trust might not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.
We have probably all heard the expression "Talk is cheap." and it is even true when sharing God's word. Paul's ministry was effective because it was backed up by action and specifically by the action of God through the power of the Spirit. An example of this is found in Acts 19 where people were healed with a handkerchief that Paul had used.
Yet there is a wisdom that we are speaking to those who are mature enough for it. But it is not the wisdom of this world or of this world's leaders, who are in the process of passing away. On the contrary, we are communicating a secret wisdom from God which has been hidden until now but which, before history began, God had decreed would bring us glory.
The wisdom that this passage speaks of is the knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Messiah. God knew, from the beginning of creation, that His Son would have to come to save us from sin and death. That did not make much sense to many people in Paul's day and it doesn't make sense to many today. To us that are called, it makes perfect sense.
Not one of this world's leaders has understood it; because if they had, they would not have executed the Lord from whom this glory flows. But, as the Tanakh says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one's heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love him."
The leaders of God's people at the time of Jesus' first coming were not ignorant men. They had all of the "book learning" that was available yet they could not see Jesus as the Messiah. Paul quotes from the book of Isaiah and we see that God had even foretold that they would not understand what was to come. Many have used that passage to say that we cannot see or understand what God has prepared for us in eternity but that it not what it is referring to. (We can see what God has prepared for us in Revelation 21)
It is to us, however, that God has revealed these things. How? Through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes all things, even the profoundest depths of God. For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person's own spirit inside him? So too no one knows the inner workings of God except God's Spirit.
If you want to know the truth about something or someone, then you need to go to the source and it is the same with the things of God. Who better to learn about God than God Himself? We can read and study His word but only God can reveal it to our hearts and that can only happen through the Holy Spirit.
Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us.
The world and the spirit of self that controls it cannot help us to understand the things of God. The Spirit of God helps us to understand the salvation that He has given us and just what it means. Our knowledge does not save us but it helps us to understand the nature of God and to appreciate what has been given to us. This leads to worship in truth and in spirit.
These are the things we are talking about when we avoid the manner of speaking that human wisdom would dictate and instead use a manner of speaking taught by the Spirit, by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit. Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God - to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was sent to guide our every action and even our every thought. Those that do not have the Spirit cannot understand the things of God because they listen in the flesh.
But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate him. For who has known the mind of ADONAI? Who will counsel him? But we have the mind of the Messiah!
All people make decisions (judgments) every day about all kinds of things. We (the spiritual man) make these decisions based on listening to the Holy Spirit. Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah to remind us that wisdom in all situations comes from the Lord. We have that "mind of Christ" through the power of the Spirit and are able to make decisions that are pleasing to God.
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