Daily Bread 1 Corinthians 2
Daily Bread
1 Corinthians 2
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
Observation:
Paul distinguishes between the philosophies and wisdom of the world, and the wisdom of God. Paul doesn’t pretend to be an eloquent or flashy speaker, but admits that he fully relies on the Lord for His wisdom and the Spirit’s power.
Paul then goes on to say that those who do not have the Spirit of God within them will not be able to understand, and will not accept the things of God because they are spiritually discerned. And of course the means for us to understand the things of God is the Holy Spirit.
When we become a believer, the Spirit of God joins with our spirit. This is the sense in which we are a new Creation in Christ. We are a new Creation because this life giving Spirit of God will be the key to understanding the ways and means of God. Even in the Old Testament in the prophet Zechariah said, “Not by might or power says the Lord but by My Spirit.” This is the sense in which we have the mind of Christ. (2:16) Jesus himself relied on this same Spirit and it wasn’t until he received the Spirit in His baptism that He began His ministry. Ie. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me …”
Application:
As we seek to operate in God’s power and not our own, we need to wait upon and cultivate the Spirit’s presence and power. As we come into a personal relationship with God by accepting Christ into our lives, we receive the Holy Spirit. It is then that we begin to sense God’s presence, peace and friendship.
At this time we are given specific spiritual gifts to use to help build the kingdom of God. God usually calls us to use this gift(s) in the context of a local church, though some with the gift of being an apostle may work with several churches. At the same time, as we are nurtured in the Word of God, the Spirit begins the process of transforming us to be more like Christ. Of course there will be battles against the flesh, because we still live in a sinful body, with sinful thoughts, and sinful willfulness. But as we submit and allow the Spirit to lead our lives, we can say as Paul says in Galatians, “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Galatians 5:16)
So you might ask? Well how do I get this Spirit? For one if you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you are given the Holy Spirit, and this is the sense in which you are a New Creation in Christ. But the bible also teaches us to seek the Spirit, who is a person of the Trinity. As we look at a person like Paul, and the great conversion and life change he experienced and lived out, we can only attribute this to the power of the Holy Spirit and his willingness to submit to the Spirit’s guidance in His life. We too can grow in our experience, as we seek the Spirit and don’t quench its power to lead us, guide us and totally transform our hearts and mind to more like Jesus.
Prayer: Thank you for giving us Your Spirit when we came to know You through Your Son. You have given us a wisdom and power that those in the world cannot comprehend. May we live in that power and that wisdom and not rely on our limited human resources. Come Holy Spirit into my heart and soul and change me to be more like the Son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 Corinthians 2
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
Observation:
Paul distinguishes between the philosophies and wisdom of the world, and the wisdom of God. Paul doesn’t pretend to be an eloquent or flashy speaker, but admits that he fully relies on the Lord for His wisdom and the Spirit’s power.
Paul then goes on to say that those who do not have the Spirit of God within them will not be able to understand, and will not accept the things of God because they are spiritually discerned. And of course the means for us to understand the things of God is the Holy Spirit.
When we become a believer, the Spirit of God joins with our spirit. This is the sense in which we are a new Creation in Christ. We are a new Creation because this life giving Spirit of God will be the key to understanding the ways and means of God. Even in the Old Testament in the prophet Zechariah said, “Not by might or power says the Lord but by My Spirit.” This is the sense in which we have the mind of Christ. (2:16) Jesus himself relied on this same Spirit and it wasn’t until he received the Spirit in His baptism that He began His ministry. Ie. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me …”
Application:
As we seek to operate in God’s power and not our own, we need to wait upon and cultivate the Spirit’s presence and power. As we come into a personal relationship with God by accepting Christ into our lives, we receive the Holy Spirit. It is then that we begin to sense God’s presence, peace and friendship.
At this time we are given specific spiritual gifts to use to help build the kingdom of God. God usually calls us to use this gift(s) in the context of a local church, though some with the gift of being an apostle may work with several churches. At the same time, as we are nurtured in the Word of God, the Spirit begins the process of transforming us to be more like Christ. Of course there will be battles against the flesh, because we still live in a sinful body, with sinful thoughts, and sinful willfulness. But as we submit and allow the Spirit to lead our lives, we can say as Paul says in Galatians, “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Galatians 5:16)
So you might ask? Well how do I get this Spirit? For one if you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you are given the Holy Spirit, and this is the sense in which you are a New Creation in Christ. But the bible also teaches us to seek the Spirit, who is a person of the Trinity. As we look at a person like Paul, and the great conversion and life change he experienced and lived out, we can only attribute this to the power of the Holy Spirit and his willingness to submit to the Spirit’s guidance in His life. We too can grow in our experience, as we seek the Spirit and don’t quench its power to lead us, guide us and totally transform our hearts and mind to more like Jesus.
Prayer: Thank you for giving us Your Spirit when we came to know You through Your Son. You have given us a wisdom and power that those in the world cannot comprehend. May we live in that power and that wisdom and not rely on our limited human resources. Come Holy Spirit into my heart and soul and change me to be more like the Son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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