1 Corinthians 2:6-10 Wisdom of the Spirit!

1 Corinthians 2:6-10  We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

What is Paul talking about when he says that God has revealed it to us by his Spirit?  What has been revealed?  Why Jesus Christ?  Why the resurrection?  Why this new creation idea?  Paul is talking about salvation: his firm belief that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  (Titus 2:11)   Salvation from sin, from finiteness, from eternal damnation, from nothingness after death.  This salvation brought true life, eternal life, to all people who are found in Christ, trusting in his works, not their own works.  We who were once lost, away from God, are now found.  This is the mystery, a wisdom that has been hidden.  In this temporary existence, we function by using our human thought processes, the wisdom of this age.  We depend on the brain's ability to function in this world.  The brain's chemical/electrical system identifies life's necessities and also provides us with the necessary skills and components to navigate life successfully.  The brain exposes life to us, allows us to interact with life, provides knowledge about where we are in our existence: our history, our future.  But this thinking system will physically fail at death.  The brain's usefulness to us will cease: this elaborate, delicate system of thinking will disappear, die with our earthly body.  Then what will happen to us?  Our cognition?  Will we merely become hosts to the elements of decay?  Is that all there is to life when we breathe our last breaths and our brains shut down?   Paul knew that each believer was a host of the Almighty God through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.  We are not finite: our spirits will live on.  Not only will we live on, we will be glorified, known forever as children of God, at home with the Lord.  That is why Paul so emphatically repeats what has been written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.  Why does he say this with such passion?  He says it with total determination because God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  He believed in the words of Jesus, who said, In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  (John 14:2-3)

In today's passage, Paul speaks a message of wisdom among the mature Christians.  He describes a spiritual reality: a life cannot be measured by the methods of the world, with an empirical understanding of existence.  He talks about a life that does not have its dependency on the existence of the flesh, for the flesh will die; brain activity will cease.  But there is a world that exists beyond those realities, and that existence is a spiritual one.  Whether in the body or out of the body, we will know the God of existence.  All we see alive around us is a reflection of God.  Every bird flying through the air, every animal bounding over the land, every insect crawling along the earth's surface, every reptile, every living organism reflects God.  All life cries out there is a God, a living force that occupies this world.  All the vegetation that carpets this world cries out God amongst us.  He has revealed himself to us through the life He has created here on earth.  But this life is but elementary to the fantastic life of the everlasting God.  The Bible says: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  (Psalms 19:1)  We see life on earth as complex; we analyze it, inspect it, tear it apart; sometimes with the intention of knowing enough about our surroundings that we can replace the Creator, so that we can become God.  But we will never find the Creator with that mindset.  We might alter the DNA of organisms, even our human DNA, supposedly to make better creatures, immune to disease and dysfunctions.  But we will never become God or bring him down from his exalted position as Creator God.  Paul says that man's wisdom, his knowledge, his ability to comprehend existence with his brain will always fall short of knowing God: we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  To know the reason for man's existence depends on God's wisdom that has been revealed through Jesus Christ alone.  Knowing Jesus is the mature Christian's wisdom and knowledge.  Salvation, real life, is found through Christ alone: not in the facade of life, not in finite life, not in the life of troubles and pain; but in real life, life forever in the kingdom of God.  Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  (John 14:6)

How often as believers do we function as immature Christians with futile and carnal thinking.  We try to find meaning in this life by getting the most out of what the world offers.  Our endeavors are focused on the activities and realities of this life rather than eternal life.  When difficulties hit us, we wonder where God is, but we have not walked closely with the Lord every day.  When we do not get all that we desire out of life, we wonder why God hasn't provided more success for us.  When we feel sick, when events transpire in ways we do not desire, we complain.  We forget while experiencing the vicissitudes of life that God exists all of the time, and He is in control of those who love him.  Paul told the church in Rome that we have the Holy Spirit to intercede for us when we do not know how to pray.  He goes on to say: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  This does not mean all things are good, but that God will use everything that we yield to him for our good in the long run, for He is the blessed controller of all things.  The glorious message that we have to tell is what Paul expresses so well in our focus today: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.  This is the message God wants us to embrace.  Drop your intentions to comprehend spiritual existence through the chemical/electrical impulses of your mind.  Of course, God uses our minds, but there is another reality beyond our human ability to think: the voice of God, the still small voice of the Spirit.  If your brain ceases to function today, the Spirit will remain, talking to your spirit.  His reality is that true, that evident in us.  We are alive because He is alive in us.  We will be resurrected because the life in us is not our own, but is Christ Jesus' life through the Spirit of God.  God will never leave us or forsake us.  The Spirit says to us, "I will lift you up just as I delivered Jesus from death and the grave."  Because of Jesus' resurrection, we too will be resurrected from our lifeless bodies.  Paul told the Colossians this was the mystery God had made known: Christ in you, the hope of glory.  (Colossians 1:27)  Amen!