01.11. The Wisdom Of God Disclosed By The Spirit
The Wisdom Of God Disclosed By The Spirit
How can we obtain this divine wisdom? Is it something mystical? Does one need to descend into the depths of one’s own heart in order to reach this divine wisdom? No, the Spirit of God has descended from on high, and has revealed the secrets of God’s heart by means of the written Word. The wisdom of God has been imparted to us by the Spirit-breathed Scriptures.
Here in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 the apostle Paul discerns several steps in the communication of the hidden wisdom of God. These steps could be summed up in three words: revelation, inspiration, and enlightenment. So we see the following stages in the disclosure of the hidden wisdom of God:
The Spirit revealed the deep things of God to the apostles and the prophets of the New Testament (1 Corinthians 2:10-12).
Inspired by the Spirit, the apostles spread them through the spoken and the written word (1 Corinthians 2:13; cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:13).
The same Spirit enlightens those who are spiritual to receive these things (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). Paul emphasizes that taking part in God’s wisdom is a matter of the Spirit of God, who plays a decisive role in each of the three steps of the communication of God’s wisdom. Its revelation and proclamation, as well as its reception, are all the work of the Spirit.
First of all, the Spirit worked in the apostles in order to initiate them into the wisdom of God. He not only brought to their remembrance all things that the Lord said to them during His life here on earth, but He taught them all things and guided them into all truth. And He told them things to come (John 14:26; John 16:13). The Spirit showed them the glories of the heavenly Head and the results of His redemptive work, by which the redeemed become partakers of heavenly things.
Secondly, the Spirit used the apostles for the proclamation of God’s wisdom. They spoke these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing or combining spiritual things with spiritual words (1 Corinthians 2:13). God being a Spirit, the things of God are spiritual things, for they refer to spiritual blessings and spiritual realities. Therefore, these things had to be made known too by spiritual words. Just as the words of Christ Himself were spirit, and were life, so the words of the Spirit are of a spiritual character, marked as they are by the breath of life of the Spirit of God (John 6:63; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).
Thirdly, the reception of these inspired words is also the result of the Spirit’s work. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God; only the spiritual man can, because the Spirit dwells and works in him. Having been born of the Spirit, the believer possesses a new nature which is spirit (John 3:6). He has received a new spiritual life, a resurrection life, which is ruled by a new principle, namely the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). Besides, he is indwelt by the Spirit Himself, who bears witness with his spirit that he is a child of God (Romans 8:16). So the believer is made a spiritual man by these two blessings: the life of the risen Lord and the indwelling of the Spirit Himself. Thereby we obtain insight into the things of God and are capable of assessing the words of the Spirit - the words of Scripture. We ponder them in our hearts, and understand the mind of God. Because we have the mind of Christ, i.e. the feelings, and the thoughts of Christ, we have insight into the thoughts of God and His eternal purposes, all the riches of His grace. So we know the wisdom of God for these two reasons:
Because we are partakers of Christ, who is Himself the incarnation of this wisdom.
Because we are enlightened by the Spirit and because the Spirit, who knows and searches the depths of God’s wisdom, governs our lives.