05/19/2021
We are not meant to understand scripture with our intellect alone, but in a much deeper sense we are to engage God’s Word with our spirits. We can read that “God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son” (John 3:16), and understand that it was out of love that Jesus was sent to us, but until our spirit reveals to us the depth and breadth of that love, and who Jesus is, then we don’t truly grasp the deeper meaning of those Words. We can’t feel that love as it was given, and enter into it. We need the Holy Spirit’s help in gaining this level of wisdom, and receiving this revelation.
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,”
Ephesians 1:16-17 ESV
We are given minds, and intellects so that we can reason our way through the day to day problems in the world, and this is necessary for our physical, or natural, selves, but so often we become convinced that we can use these worldly tools to see beyond the real, and understand the spiritual with our carnal minds. We attempt to pull God’s spiritual truths into our physical world, and understand them fully ourselves; in this way we are doomed to fail.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
Romans 8:5-7 ESV
This need to engage the spiritual portion of who we are, and to allow the Holy Spirit to enter into us, and speak to us through it, is foreign to us as natural men and women. As worldly beings we are confounded when we attempt to do this, and thus many will dismiss the spiritual part of themselves altogether... calling it untrue, imaginary, or folly.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
So we begin our quest for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, with a natural understanding, or physical handicap. Interestingly enough there is a parallel between these two sides of ourselves; both intellect, and spirituality grow within us. One of these will eventually come to dominate us.
“Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.”
1 Corinthians 15:45-47 ESV
If our intellectual growth overshadows the spiritual growth then it becomes hard for us to grasp the work of the Spirit because these two are in opposition to one another... the worldly being at odds with the spiritual, or in other words, one calling us away towards the divine, while the other pulls us back into the world to stay. Consider this... our physical intellect is a governor set to control how far, and fast, we are meant to grow in our understanding, but on the other hand, the spirit is meant to be infinite as it draws us to God, and our understanding is thus unshackled, and without limitation.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
So we should pray for one another, and ask that God call those who are currently lost in their own intelligence to a spiritual understanding. We should ask that their eyes be opened, their hearts circumcised, and that their faith grow, as the Holy Spirit reveals God’s Word to them. We should teach our children early, and well, those things of the spirit that will serve them as they grow throughout their lives.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the physical intelligence you have given us so that we can choose wisely to seek you, and pursue you as we read your Word, but much more that Lord, thank you for the spirit within us that you speak to, and which, through Jesus and your Holy Spirit leads us to a full, and endless, understanding of you. Help us Holy Father to overcome the unfounded desire of our physical selves as our intellects seek to consider themselves sufficient, and able to understand all things. Open our eyes, and our hearts, to the necessity of our spirit as we answer your call by saying “Here am I”. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who is Spirit, Word, Love, and all those things that are beyond our understanding and description. Praised be your name for giving us a spirit that makes it possible to communicate with you, and your your Holy Spirit that gives us a true understanding of your Word, and who you are. You are great Lord, and your mercy evident as you hear us when we call out to you. Hear our cries as we ask for your forgiveness, and wash us clean in the blood of Jesus, removing our sins Father! Increase us in spirit and faith as we worship you in Spirit and truth. Find us worthy by your grace, and Jesus Christ, when we stand before you in judgement. Open your heart to us, and seat us at your table forevermore. Reveal to us the fullness of your knowledge and wisdom of as we sit in your presence, worshiping you, and in this way show us the fullness of our inheritance with Christ.
“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”
Ephesians 1:18 ESV
Rich Forbes