Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 2:2, 7-16
In 2:1 Paul says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, came not with excellence of speech or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God.” Paul did not come to Corinth to display excellent speech or philosophical wisdom in proclaiming the testimony of God. This does not mean that Paul did not have excellence of speech or wisdom; it means that he deliberately dropped those things. In verse 2 he goes on to say, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.” Paul deliberately decided not to know anything other than the crucified Christ. This implies that Paul came to the Corinthians as a crucified person. He was willing to appear foolish and not knowledgeable because he had made such a determination.
In verse 6 Paul tells the Corinthians, “But we speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom not of this age, neither of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nought.” Here Paul seems to be saying, “Don’t think that we do not have wisdom. We have wisdom and we can speak wisdom, but we speak wisdom only to those who are full-grown. You Corinthians are still babes. How is it possible for me to speak this wisdom to you?”
In verse 7 Paul goes on to say, “But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory.” The expression “wisdom in a mystery” implies that the wisdom is the mystery. This wisdom, this mystery, is Christ. Furthermore, Christ as the wisdom in a mystery has been predestined by God before the ages for our glory. Christ as the wisdom and the mystery will be our portion in glory.
Christ as God’s wisdom in a mystery is even the depths of God. In verse 10 Paul says, “For God has revealed them to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” Christ Himself is the deep things of God. Every genuine Christian knows that Christ is the Savior who died on the cross for our sins. However, to know Christ in this way is to know only superficial things. What, then, are the depths? Christ as the depths of God includes such matters as God’s wisdom and mystery.
Before you were saved, did you know the purpose of the universe, and did you know the meaning of human life? Certainly you did not know these things. You did not know the purpose of your life on earth or what your destiny would be. Both the purpose of the universe and the meaning of your life were a mystery. Only when we receive a vision concerning Christ and experience God’s salvation can we understand the mysteries of the universe and of our life on earth. Many Christians have received Christ’s salvation, but they have not seen the vision concerning Christ. As a result, they still do not know the meaning of life. But when we see the vision of Christ in God’s economy, we begin to realize that Christ Himself is the purpose of the universe and also the meaning of our human life. We were created by God for Christ, and today we are living for Christ. Christ is our life, the purpose of our life, and also the goal of our living. Furthermore, Christ is our destiny; we are heading toward Him. When we receive such a vision concerning Christ, we begin to know the mystery of the universe and of human life. Spontaneously we become wise, for we have Christ as God’s wisdom. Then, little by little and step by step, we begin to know Christ as the depths of God.
The depths of God are among the things predestined by God for our glory. Paul speaks of these things in verse 9: “But even as it is written, Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not come up in man’s heart, how much God has prepared for those who love Him.” Although eye has not seen them and ear has not heard them and although they have never arisen in man’s heart, God has revealed them to us (v. 10), and freely given them to us (v. 12). Day by day, we see something further and deeper regarding Christ as our portion. I can testify that throughout the years, especially in the last few years, Christ has truly become the depths of God to me.
When we enjoy Christ, He becomes our righteousness. Furthermore, from experience we know that whenever we enjoy Christ, Christ becomes God’s joy to us. But when we do not experience Christ, God is not happy with us, and we do not have the joy of God. Whenever we enjoy Christ in a practical way, we have God’s joy. In fact, the Christ whom we enjoy is Himself the joy of God. At first, when we enjoy Christ, we realize that we are not righteous. Then, spontaneously, Christ becomes the righteousness we need. Then as we continue to enjoy Him, we realize that God is happy with us and that we have God’s joy. This experience is somewhat deep, but it is still not the experience of the depths of God.
When we enjoy Christ continually, we eventually enter into the depths of God’s being. Then we realize that we are in the very heart, the depths, of the almighty God and that He becomes our inner element. Those who oppose the truth that we who believe in Christ are mingled with God will call this heresy because they have not experienced it. Nevertheless, I cannot deny the fact that when I enjoy Christ, I touch the depths of God and God becomes the element within me.
Christ is practical to us in our experience. He is not only our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, but also the depths of God. In chapter one, we see that Christ is something to us, and in chapter two, that He is something of God. Because our experience is limited, we are not able to explain adequately what it means for Christ to be the depths of God. But one day we shall advance in our experience and we shall truly know Him as God’s depths.
The way to experience all the aspects of Christ revealed in chapters one and two is through the two spirits, the divine Spirit and the regenerated human spirit. In verse 10 Paul speaks of the divine Spirit, and in verse 11 he goes on to speak of the human spirit: “For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? So also the things of God no one has known except the Spirit of God.” This verse indicates that if we would know the things of man, we must use our human spirit, and if we would know the things of God, we must do so by the Spirit of God.
No matter how educated worldly people may be, they do not know the things of man. The things of man in verse 11 do not refer to matters such as marriage, housing, food, and transportation. It is not necessary to use the human spirit in order to know such things. These are not the things of man to which Paul refers.
According to the Bible, what are the things of man? When the Bible first speaks of man, it tells us that man was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). The first aspect of the things of man is that man was created by God in His image in order to express Him. But the man created by God to be His expression became fallen and sinful. Most philosophers do not realize that they are fallen. But the fall of man is an important item of the things of man. As those who were created by God and who became fallen, we need to repent, we need to be saved, and we need to be regenerated. These also are things of man. Now as saved and regenerated ones, we must love the Lord, live Him, express Him, and fulfill His eternal purpose. These are more aspects of the things of man.
Worldly people do not know any of these things, because they do not exercise their spirit. If you talk to an unbelieving professor about these things of man, he will not have any understanding of them. He may know mathematics or science, but not the things of man. In like manner, medical doctors know about disease, medicine, and vitamins, but they do not know the things of man. Before we were saved, we also had no understanding of the things of man, for our spirit was deadened. We did not even know that we had a human spirit, and we never used our spirit. Apart from the human spirit, how can we know the things of man? It is simply impossible to know the things of man without exercising the spirit of man.
To be saved is to be enlivened and stirred up in our spirit. All the truly saved ones, no matter where they may be, have been stirred up in their spirit. This is a fact of their experience, even if they have no realization concerning it.
As soon as a person’s spirit is stirred up in this way, he begins to know the real meaning of human life and also the source of human life. This means that he begins to know the things of man. However, after they were stirred up in their spirit at the time they were saved, many Christians are influenced to turn from the spirit and to exercise their natural mind. Probably the only place where Christians today hear messages on the development of the regenerated human spirit is in the Lord’s recovery. Elsewhere, Christians are encouraged to develop the natural mentality. That development destroys the proper knowing of the things of man and of man’s situation. Again I say, if we would know the things of man, we must use our spirit.
When we exercise our spirit to know the things of man, we are ushered into the Spirit of God. The two spirits, the regenerated human spirit and the divine Spirit, cannot be separated. This is the reason Paul speaks of both spirits in 2:11. First he says that no one knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him. Then he goes on to say that the things of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. If we would be a proper and genuine human being, we must have these two spirits. We must have the spirit of man to know the things of man and the Spirit of God to know the things of God. According to the Bible, the things of man are related to the things of God. This makes it all the more necessary for us to have these two spirits.
In verse 13 Paul goes on to refer to spiritual things: “Which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual things.” In verse 14 Paul points out that the things of the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned: “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” A soulish man is a natural man, a person who lives in the soul instead of in the spirit. In verse 15 Paul says, “But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned by no one.” In these verses we have spiritual knowledge, spiritual communication, spiritual discernment, and spiritual persons.
Do you know what it means to be spiritual? To be spiritual is to have the two spirits mingled together in your being. To be spiritual is to have your spirit, the regenerated human spirit, mingled with the Spirit of God to become one spirit. Spiritual persons live in this mingled spirit. Whenever you are in the mingled spirit, you are spiritual, and you have spiritual discernment, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual communication. You are able to discern spiritually both the things of man and the things of God.
As we consider the matter of Christ as the depths of God and the matter of the two spirits, we must admit that in order to experience Christ as the depths of God, we must have these two spirits. We must exercise the human spirit, and we must be ushered into the Spirit of God. This means that our spirit must be mingled with the Spirit of God.
We have pointed out that one who lives in the mingled spirit is a spiritual man. A spiritual man stands in contrast to the soulish man. According to the context of these chapters, to be soulish is to be Greek and to live according to Greek culture. Philosophers and those who admire human wisdom are soulish people. The spiritual persons are those who exercise their spirit to coordinate with the Spirit of God. Because they live in the mingled spirit, they are truly spiritual and they have spiritual knowledge, discernment, and communication. Here in the mingled spirit we enjoy Christ not in a superficial way, but as the depths of God and even in the depths of God. We enjoy Him in a way that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, mind has not thought, and heart has never imagined. We enjoy Christ in a way beyond all we have ever dreamed.
God has predestined Christ for us, He has prepared Him for us, He has revealed Him to us, and He has given Him to us as the deep things of God. How wonderful! We need to pray more concerning these matters, especially that we shall see this vision clearly. We also need to practice the mingled spirit in order to be spiritual. Then we shall be able to discern the things of man and of God and to communicate with others spiritually in the mingled spirit. To be sure, if we experience the mingled spirit in this way, we shall have the deeper experience of Christ. We shall experience Him not in a superficial way, but as the depths of God. We shall experience Christ daily as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. But we shall experience Him in a way that even surpasses these aspects, for we shall experience God Himself with all His depths. Praise the Lord that He is our portion through the mingled spirit!
