KEEP READING
1 Corinthians 2:9-12 NKJV
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.
Verse nine is an often-quoted Bible verse. I once had a young man quote this verse as one of his favorites. I wasn't trying to embarrass him but encouraged him to keep reading. If you stop with verse nine, then we simply will not know what God has prepared for those who love Him. But Paul continued the thought. Standing alone, that verse is correct, and yet we have to pay attention to the next verse.
"But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit." Those ten words change everything. When we are talking about observable wisdom, we are limited. This is why God has given us His Holy Spirit. Natural man does not know what the things God has prepared for those who love Him. But God. Whenever you see the words "but God," you can trust that something is about to change. Paul is still talking to the Corinthians about how God's wisdom is different from man's wisdom. Man, by his natural wisdom, will not know the things of God. God does not want us placing our faith in man's wisdom but in God's wisdom and power.
So, God has given us His Holy Spirit so that we can know what God has prepared for us. Paul makes a connection with the spirit of a man knowing what is in a man. Our spirit knows all about us. By the same token, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, knows the things of God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the three in one. The Holy Spirit knows the things of God, even the deep things of God. And thankfully, God did not leave us with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit knows what we don't know. Verse twelve is the solution.
Now we have received the Spirit who is from God. We have not received the spirit of the world. We have received the Holy Spirit so that we might know the things that have been freely given to us from God. What a wonderful promise! God did not want us in the dark but has given us His Holy Spirit so that we would know. We can't know what God has done for us by simply observing the world around us. But the Holy Spirit reveals God's knowledge to us. It is the Holy Spirit who takes God's Word and makes it come alive to us. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us understanding beyond our intellect. The Holy Spirit knows everything about everything, and He has been given to us to help us. Thank God!
APPLICATION
I must admit I get irritated when I hear ministers say that you really have to go to a seminary and get advanced knowledge to understand what the scriptures are saying. What they are implying is that God's knowledge is available to a choice few who are smart enough to understand it. I have no problem with education, but all the seminaries in the world cannot replace the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Even Paul, with his immense scriptural knowledge and revelation from the Holy Spirit, acknowledges that we don't have anything that we didn't receive (1 Corinthians 4:7). And since we received it, why are we bragging as if we didn't receive it? If anyone could have made a big deal out of his knowledge, it would have been Paul. But Paul did not exalt himself and did not exalt other ministers.
Don't ever assume that because of your education or lack of education, you can't understand the scriptures. If you will keep reading and trust the Holy Spirit, your knowledge of God and what He has prepared for you will continue to grow.
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for giving me Your Holy Spirit to teach me and reveal to me what You have prepared for those who love You. I am one of those!