Being Active in the Holy Spirit - 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

As an introvert, I prefer to observe and absorb information. I personally struggle to actively engage with others and be proactive at times. Developing relations takes action. Being passive can make me stagnant. If I am never active in my relationships, how can I advance them?

The same is true between God and ourselves. We are called as Christians to be proactive in our relationship to gain a deeper understanding of God, and it is because of the Holy Spirit that we become capable of this. 

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1 Corinthians 2:6-16
⁶ Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. ⁷ But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

¹⁰ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶ “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
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Paul just finished telling us that our faith should not rest in men's wisdom but in God's power. He tells us that the ‘mature’ impart wisdom. The wisdom imparted by the ‘mature’ is not the wisdom that we gain from the flesh and the world. Worldy wisdom passes away when we do. It is fleeting and not permanent. The wisdom we gain is from the Lord of glory, the Almighty. It is everlasting wisdom that continues in this world despite our passing away when God calls us home. This wisdom was a secret to the rulers and unsaved of the world, and if the rulers during Jesus’ time had known this wisdom, they would never have crucified Christ. 

Next, Paul states that Scripture already revealed this and reminds us that we can’t understand the will of God on our own accord. God’s glory is beyond our imagination, and we can’t even fathom how great God truly is. God reveals this to those who love Him. He did it in the past, and He will do it in the future, but He actively does this NOW for those who love Him. God actively works through us according to His plan, no matter how hard our day is, because we have the peaceful assurance that we are in Christ. 

But how do we become aware of the unimaginable wisdom of God? Paul says the bridge between our hearts and the things of God is by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows our hearts and our thoughts, but since the Spirit is also part of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit understands and knows the things of God. There is no way for our feeble human minds to comprehend, but now that the Holy Spirit is in our lives by being believers in Christ, we begin to gain more understanding. However, this understanding and knowledge only come with being submissive and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead our lives. We need to study and enrich our minds with the Word of God further to increase the depth of our knowledge of Him. In the book of James, he discusses spiritual maturity, but how can we become more mature when we don’t dedicate time to studying and reading about God and spending time in prayer? God will test us and strengthen us through these tests and trials. But this doesn’t mean that we should be passive in our relationship with God. As Christians, we should desire and strive to have an active relationship with God.  

So, I encourage us to spend more time actively pursuing a deeper understanding of Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts and your hearts. Today’s world is declining and becoming more and more evil and fallen. We, as Christians, need to strengthen our foundations in God and in the truth of God’s Word. Our children need to develop firm foundations in Christ as well, but this is up to us as parents. Their only exposure to God’s love can’t be during Sunday School once per week. This is the same for us. We must seek God daily and not wait until Sundays to be fed. The Holy Spirit bridges the gap and allows us to dwell in Him. Make the change and start walking because there are no moving sidewalks in our lives.