ESOCS Devotional 11 September 2024 – God’s Teacher
MEMORY VERSE: “These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 NIV
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:6-16
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God [a]ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
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The above passage introduces to us how this Mighty Teacher come from God, the Holy Spirit Himself, is designed to instruct us with the Word of God and lead us into the truth of God that will change our lives and expose us to this secret and hidden wisdom of God (v. 7). When you discover that, life is going to be exciting and adventurous, like nothing you ever dreamed before, for this line of truth is designed to set us free, to let us be the men and women God designed us to be.
Notice how the apostle first underscores here the spirit’s knowledge: No one understands the things of man except the spirit of man, which is in him. Have you ever tried to talk to your plants? We are told that plants can respond to our moods and reflect our attitudes. I know a woman who even prays over each plant. I don’t know what it does for the plant, but it probably helps her a great deal. However, it is evident that plants do not talk back. Life is constructed at various levels; the higher can take hold of the lower, but the lower cannot reach up to the higher. he higher can reach down to encompass the lower, but the lower cannot reach up to the higher. That is Paul’s argument here. Though no animal can reach into the realm of human relationships and converse with us, other human beings like ourselves can.
Now, here is this great Being of God in our universe, this fantastic Being of infinite wisdom and mighty power. How can we know anything about Him? Paul’s answer is that we cannot, except He discloses Himself to us. You cannot find out God by searching. Man by wisdom does not know God. Man by investigation of all the natural forces of life will never find his way to the heart of God. Only God Himself must disclose Himself, must open Himself to us. That He has done by means of the Spirit of God — the Spirit has come to teach us about God.
The Lord Jesus Himself appeared as a man so that we might have a visible demonstration of what God is like. The simplest answer to the question, What is God like? is to say He is like Jesus. But it is the work of the Spirit to show us what Jesus is like. Jesus said, “He will take of the things of mine and show them unto you” (John 16:14 KJV). t is as the Spirit illuminates those pages and makes them vivid and real that you find yourself confronted with the living, breathing Christ himself. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Where can we go when our efforts to know God by means of human wisdom end in a vacuum? Have we realized the power of God’s self-disclosure?
- Father, how grateful I am for this Mighty Teacher, the Spirit of God. Thank you, Lord.
Further Reading: Ruth 1:15-22; Zechariah 1:18-21; 2:1-13; Luke 11:21-28
ESOCS Devotional 11 September 2024
