Twin City church of Christ Blog
“March 12, 2024 - The Thoughts of God”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsThe Thoughts of God
Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:11-13
Since we cannot think our way to God, how do we learn about him? Paul explains with a simple principle from human relationships: “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”(1 Cor 2:11). We can grow quite skilled in reading body language or guessing the intentions of others, yet we never know someone else’s true thoughts unless they tell us. So God’s thoughts would forever remain a mystery to us unless the Spirit within him revealed his thoughts to us. The Spirit of God “searches everything, even the depths of God” and “comprehends the thoughts of God”(1 Cor 2:10, 11). The Spirit’s revelation means we can finally know God’s will and thinking.
“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God”(1 Cor 2:12). The Spirit who indwells Christians is not “the spirit of the world”—meaning the thoughts and ideas that make us like the worldly people around us—but is the Holy Spirit himself. Through his revelation, we can “understand the things freely given us by God.” It is not clear if he is referring to the Corinthians’ spiritual gifts, which had a teaching function, or to the apostles’ teaching (I lean toward the latter). “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual”(1 Cor 2:13). So when the apostles teach the Spirit’s revelation, it is never “by human wisdom”—never to glorify themselves.
There is a risk here that we will get sidetracked into discussing the precise nature of the Spirit’s work and miss the main point: we have access to God’s thoughts! We can know that he has tremendous love for us and wants to live with us eternally. We can know how he feels about our everyday choices. We can know when we disappoint and thrill him. We can know how he wants to be worshiped and served. Praise God for sharing himself with us!
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One Thing to Think About: What would life be like if God had never revealed his thoughts to us?
One Thing to Pray For: Earnest desire to follow after God’s Spirit—not the “spirit of the world”
