So far, we've learned how to live and grow in faith by focusing on the "message of wisdom for the mature" - the message of the cross (1 Corinthians 2:6 NIV).
Today we will see how Paul interprets the Old Testament. In doing so, we will see how to put our spiritual growth on steroids by seeing the gospel as “the mystery that has been hidden” (1 Corinthians 2:7 NIV) in the Old Testament and fulfilled by Jesus in the gospel.
Let’s look at our text for today:
“However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him — 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV
In the above passage, Paul is quoting Isaiah 64:4 NIV to show that the message of the cross is not discernible by sense (“no eye has seen, no ear has heard”) but has to be revealed to us by God’s Spirit (“these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit”).
Paul points us to the cross - the pardon and forgiveness that flow from it to all who believe, our salvation through the suffering and dying Lamb. And Paul is saying that message is a supernatural revelation from God’s Spirit. The Gospel is not discernible to the natural mind, the mind without the Spirit, which is why the message of the cross is “foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
And this is why the “rulers of this age” during Paul’s day did not understand the message of the cross, why the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate crucified the Lord of glory because the message of the cross was not revealed to them by God’s Spirit.
Here is an exercise designed to help us grow spiritually: please read Isaiah 64:1-12 NIV. As you are reading along, take special note of verse 4, as Paul did, and see the message of the cross fulfilling that verse.
Question 1. Please share your thoughts as to how the cross fulfills Isaiah 64, and especially verse 4.
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Here is how Paul would speak about Isaiah 64:
Isaiah begins this passage with a plea for God to rend the heavens and come down (Isaiah 64:1) to make His name known to their adversaries (Isaiah 64:2), and to act on behalf of His people (Isaiah 64:4). Isaiah laments the ongoing sin of the people, and expresses their need to be saved (Isaiah 64:5).
The cross is the answer to Isaiah’s plea, for at the cross God came down in a human body, has “acted on your behalf” (Isaiah 64:4) to save us from our sin! But no man could conceive of this salvation by the cross naturally, nobody has ever heard or seen anything like it! Nor could anyone even imagine it! And yet God has revealed that very message to us by His Spirit!
Remember that the message of the cross is hidden in the Old Testament, and the role of the Spirit is to reveal it to us. The way to live and grow in the gospel is to see the hidden mystery of the gospel in the Old Testament clearly displayed in the New Testament and fulfilled by Jesus. As we behold Jesus and the gospel throughout the Scriptures our faith increases; we become firmly established at the cross, unshakable and settled, and we are enabled to walk by the Spirit so we don’t gratify the lusts of our flesh (Galatians 5:16). In other words, we grow!
As we continue this study, we will see Paul repeatedly running to the Old Testament to reveal the message of the cross, which will correct the wrong thinking and acting of the Corinthians, and help all of us grow in Christ and mature in our faith.
Question 2. What did you learn today from this study of 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV and Isaiah 64 NIV?
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