1Cor 2:9-10 | KingComments | STEP | . The rulers of this world, mainly the religious leaders of Israel, were completely blind. Because their eyes and mind were set on their own concern, their own honor and fame among the people, they were blind for the wisdom of God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Who stood there before them and Who could be seen and touched. Therefore it is inconceivable that they would have crucified “the Lord of glory” if they would have had the slightest notion of Who He was and why He had come. You may have such a good knowledge of everything and know the Bible well, just as the pharisees and scribes did, but if you are filled with your own personal importance, you become blind for the glory of the Lord Jesus! . Then you will also lose sight of “what God has prepared for those who love Him”. The things that God has prepared for those who love Him, are not things you are able to observe with the natural eyes or to be heard with your ears. Neither are they things that have come out of man’s heart. Every input of the natural man, that is the man without God, is excluded here. It is about things that God had prepared. . If you read superficially, you might think: ‘This is too lofty and too incomprehensible for us. It’s better not to be occupied with “what God has prepared”, it is after all, a hopeless task.’ But that is the result of reading superficially. For says that “to us God revealed [them] through the Spirit”. Therefore there is no excuse for not immersing yourself in the things that God had prepared. The Spirit loves to tell you all about them. The point is that your heart is focused on God, whether you love Him, for He has prepared them “for those who love Him”. It is a fact that if you really love someone, you want to know him or her better. That is also the case with our love for God. You wouldn’t know anything of the things that God has prepared for you if God did not reveal them. God could have kept them all to Himself and show them only to you when you would be with Him in heaven. But God did not do that. He revealed or made them known now already. He did that through the Spirit. . Here the Spirit is called “the Spirit of God”. To clarify what he means, Paul makes a comparison with the spirit of the man. The truth is that no one knows the inner being of a man than his own spirit. Only you know by your own spirit what is happening inwardly. You are the only one who is aware of the questions and problems you are pondering on or why you are joyful and happy. All other people have no idea of that and are not able to know that. The only way that they could know is when you tell them. In this same way God works to tell you what He has given to you. Only the Spirit of God knows what is going on in the depth of God’s heart, regarding His thoughts about and feelings for you personally. . That Spirit you have received! Therefore you are able to discover what the things are that God has given to you. You have received the precise ability to search those things. The spirit of the world – which you did not receive – you find back in what men have invented or what the devil has whispered in their ear. With that spirit you will absolutely not understand one bit of the things of God. The spirit of the world doesn’t know anything about it and is in no way related to the things of God. In fact the spirit of the world is in flat contradiction with the things of God. . From this verse you read about the means God uses to reveal to you what He has in His heart. To do that God doesn’t use human wisdom, for no man should receive glory for that. So no man could say: ‘How clever those people are, who can pass on such lofty things.’ What again is the issue here? It is about spiritual things. Who is the One Who could tell about them? Only the Spirit. To tell us what is given to us by God, the Spirit uses spiritual words. What words are they? Are they unintelligible sounds? No, they are normal, ordinary words, but to which the Spirit gives a spiritual meaning. . Those are words that are foolishness to the natural man. He cannot understand it at all. Think about it. Does an unbeliever understand what you’re talking about when you tell him about your relationship with God and how your life has been changed since you’ve known the Lord Jesus? No, he does not, does he? Why not? You speak your mother’s tongue, the same language as the other one and yet you are not understood. That’s because the things of God’s Spirit are foolishness to him. He cannot understand them, for they are spiritually appraised, and to appraise something spiritually you need to have the Spirit of God. It’s about two totally different worlds. In the one world, the spiritual world, the Lord Jesus is centered and the language of the Spirit is being spoken. In the other world, the natural world, where man and his own concern are centered, the language of the flesh is being spoken. These two worlds have nothing in common. . Now you have become a believer, you can understand the way of living and thinking of people from the natural world, for you used to belong there. Now you are able to appraise all things, but he who does not have the Spirit, can neither appraise nor understand you. It is only possible through the Spirit to appraise all things. To summarize this important teaching of the apostle about the revelation of the wisdom of God, we can say this: 1. First there is the revelation by the Spirit ( ). 2. Then it is followed by the message, the way it reaches us: that happens through spiritual words ( ). 3. Finally it is accepted by spiritual people ( ). . The previous seems to sound rather proud. You would almost think that you have become equal to God. The last verse of this chapter brings clarity. There is no one who has ever known the mind or thinking of the Lord so that he would be able to teach the Lord about something. That would sound very impertinent. There are people who think that God did it all wrong. Once I heard someone say: ‘If I were God, then everything would have looked different.’ Such a person thinks that he could teach God something, but in fact he, of course, does not have the slightest notion of God. But you as a believer have received the new life, a new nature. Christ is your life and therefore you have the mind of Christ. You are able now to see and appraise things as Jesus Christ always did and still does. It is important to know that therefore you are able to appraise everything because you have now received Christ as your life. You surely understand that you are to live close to the Lord Jesus in the practice of your faith life to also give room for ‘His mind’. That was what the Corinthians failed to do, as you will see in chapter 3. Now read 1 Corinthians 2:8-16 again. Reflection: Which things do you read here about the Spirit?

‏ 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

What God Has Prepared

1Cor 2:8. The rulers of this world, mainly the religious leaders of Israel, were completely blind. Because their eyes and mind were set on their own concern, their own honor and fame among the people, they were blind for the wisdom of God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Who stood there before them and Who could be seen and touched. Therefore it is inconceivable that they would have crucified “the Lord of glory” if they would have had the slightest notion of Who He was and why He had come. You may have such a good knowledge of everything and know the Bible well, just as the pharisees and scribes did, but if you are filled with your own personal importance, you become blind for the glory of the Lord Jesus!

1Cor 2:9. Then you will also lose sight of “what God has prepared for those who love Him”. The things that God has prepared for those who love Him, are not things you are able to observe with the natural eyes or to be heard with your ears. Neither are they things that have come out of man’s heart. Every input of the natural man, that is the man without God, is excluded here. It is about things that God had prepared.

1Cor 2:10. If you read 1Cor 2:9 superficially, you might think: ‘This is too lofty and too incomprehensible for us. It’s better not to be occupied with “what God has prepared”, it is after all, a hopeless task.’ But that is the result of reading superficially. For 1Cor 2:10 says that “to us God revealed [them] through the Spirit”. Therefore there is no excuse for not immersing yourself in the things that God had prepared. The Spirit loves to tell you all about them. The point is that your heart is focused on God, whether you love Him, for He has prepared them “for those who love Him”. It is a fact that if you really love someone, you want to know him or her better. That is also the case with our love for God.

You wouldn’t know anything of the things that God has prepared for you if God did not reveal them. God could have kept them all to Himself and show them only to you when you would be with Him in heaven. But God did not do that. He revealed or made them known now already. He did that through the Spirit.

1Cor 2:11. Here the Spirit is called “the Spirit of God”. To clarify what he means, Paul makes a comparison with the spirit of the man. The truth is that no one knows the inner being of a man than his own spirit. Only you know by your own spirit what is happening inwardly. You are the only one who is aware of the questions and problems you are pondering on or why you are joyful and happy. All other people have no idea of that and are not able to know that. The only way that they could know is when you tell them.

In this same way God works to tell you what He has given to you. Only the Spirit of God knows what is going on in the depth of God’s heart, regarding His thoughts about and feelings for you personally.

1Cor 2:12. That Spirit you have received! Therefore you are able to discover what the things are that God has given to you. You have received the precise ability to search those things. The spirit of the world – which you did not receive – you find back in what men have invented or what the devil has whispered in their ear. With that spirit you will absolutely not understand one bit of the things of God. The spirit of the world doesn’t know anything about it and is in no way related to the things of God. In fact the spirit of the world is in flat contradiction with the things of God.

1Cor 2:13. From this verse you read about the means God uses to reveal to you what He has in His heart. To do that God doesn’t use human wisdom, for no man should receive glory for that. So no man could say: ‘How clever those people are, who can pass on such lofty things.’ What again is the issue here? It is about spiritual things. Who is the One Who could tell about them? Only the Spirit.

To tell us what is given to us by God, the Spirit uses spiritual words. What words are they? Are they unintelligible sounds? No, they are normal, ordinary words, but to which the Spirit gives a spiritual meaning.

1Cor 2:14. Those are words that are foolishness to the natural man. He cannot understand it at all. Think about it. Does an unbeliever understand what you’re talking about when you tell him about your relationship with God and how your life has been changed since you’ve known the Lord Jesus? No, he does not, does he? Why not? You speak your mother’s tongue, the same language as the other one and yet you are not understood. That’s because the things of God’s Spirit are foolishness to him. He cannot understand them, for they are spiritually appraised, and to appraise something spiritually you need to have the Spirit of God.

It’s about two totally different worlds. In the one world, the spiritual world, the Lord Jesus is centered and the language of the Spirit is being spoken. In the other world, the natural world, where man and his own concern are centered, the language of the flesh is being spoken. These two worlds have nothing in common.

1Cor 2:15. Now you have become a believer, you can understand the way of living and thinking of people from the natural world, for you used to belong there. Now you are able to appraise all things, but he who does not have the Spirit, can neither appraise nor understand you. It is only possible through the Spirit to appraise all things.

To summarize this important teaching of the apostle about the revelation of the wisdom of God, we can say this:

1. First there is the revelation by the Spirit (1Cor 2:10).

2. Then it is followed by the message, the way it reaches us: that happens through spiritual words (1Cor 2:13).

3. Finally it is accepted by spiritual people (1Cor 2:14).

1Cor 2:16. The previous seems to sound rather proud. You would almost think that you have become equal to God. The last verse of this chapter brings clarity. There is no one who has ever known the mind or thinking of the Lord so that he would be able to teach the Lord about something. That would sound very impertinent. There are people who think that God did it all wrong. Once I heard someone say: ‘If I were God, then everything would have looked different.’ Such a person thinks that he could teach God something, but in fact he, of course, does not have the slightest notion of God.

But you as a believer have received the new life, a new nature. Christ is your life and therefore you have the mind of Christ. You are able now to see and appraise things as Jesus Christ always did and still does. It is important to know that therefore you are able to appraise everything because you have now received Christ as your life. You surely understand that you are to live close to the Lord Jesus in the practice of your faith life to also give room for ‘His mind’. That was what the Corinthians failed to do, as you will see in chapter 3.

Now read 1 Corinthians 2:8-16 again.

Reflection: Which things do you read here about the Spirit?