That’s not a good feeling, at least for me. I hate not knowing. Ask my wife; I have to have a plan. I need to know what we are going to do. When something spontaneous enters the picture, I zone out for a bit. Why? Because my brain is trying to adjust to the change. When we don’t know, it can result in panic, disorder conflict inside our very being.
Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 2. In verses 6-9, he speaks about how man cannot possibly understand what God’s great, awesome and glorious plan included. As far as man knew, it was just us. In reference to the coming of a Savior, Jesus Christ, man had no idea – He couldn’t conceive of such a plan as what God had. Paul tells us that even the rulers knew nothing about it. That’s because it takes an understanding, a revelation that only comes from knowing God. In the natural, we will never understand nor conceive such a long-range, glorious plan. In this passage he is specifically talking about the rulers during his day. He concludes that, had they really understood, even though they were spiritual leaders – those who were supposed to be leading the people to God, had they realized, they wouldn’t have put Jesus to death. And even though it may seem like that would have been a good thing, had Jesus not been crucified, our sin could never have been paid for.
He concludes that portion by saying that, “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.’”(1 Corinthians 2:9). In other words, our natural man, or our human existence, can’t conceive such a thing. We go through our lives not thinking much about eternity. We seem to be oblivious most of the time, about the threat of certain eternal destruction to which each of us are doomed unless we go through the door – Jesus Christ – and be saved from that eternally horrific fate.
Then in verses 10-12 he switches gears a bit by saying that those who know, those to whom it has been revealed, understand the deep things of God because of the revelation of the Spirit of God within us. You see, when we come to Christ, (and I don’t mean just mouthing a few words but really meaning what you say; understanding the severity and reality of our spiritual depravity and that without Christ we face certain, eternal destruction, then repent – truly repent) only then the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. Part of His job is to teach us the things of God. Often those can be very deep things. We don’t learn them overnight, but as we grow in the Spirit, God will reveal little by little, more and more. Paul reasons that we know the things of man because of the spirit of man within us. That simply means that we learn natural knowledge because we reason as a human being. But the higher, more important things of God can only be known and taught by the Spirit of God within us.
Finally, in verses 13-16 we read that we speak of things spiritual because of the revelation of God to us when we become spiritual creations rather than carnal creations. Without the Spirit of Christ, we are carnal – we can really only understand what we experience through our natural senses. The teachings of the Holy Spirit go beyond our natural senses and seem like foolish babbling to those who have not come to Christ. It doesn’t make sense because, again, it goes beyond natural senses. We just don’t know. We don’t know because without the Spirit we can’t know. It is natural – carnal. When it comes to the Spiritual knowledge given by God, in the natural man it is impossible to understand. Yet those things are extremely important. That’s just another reason we must come to Christ. It opens up an entirely new experience. We begin to see how man’s knowledge, regardless how profound it may seem, is really only partial and limited at best. To really, deeply and to piece the entire picture together, we must be able to understand the things of the Spirit.
It really is a matter of life and death, only, not just physically, but eternally, which is much more important. With that in mind, I implore you today, to seek Christ. Believe that He is the Son of God, that He gave His life as the required blood sacrifice to pay the required penalty for our sin, then arose from the dead to never die again, in order to conquer sin and death. When we come to Jesus Christ, His sacrifice and victory are given to us. We than are pardoned from eternal destruction and granted eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord! We don’t know. But He does. And when you come to Jesus, you can know too.
— Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge