According to Paul’s understanding in chapters one and two, real wisdom is the mysterious wisdom hidden in God. As we have pointed out, this wisdom is Christ Himself. God has made this mysterious, hidden wisdom to be our destiny. This means that God has determined that the mysterious and hidden Christ become our destiny. Do you know what your destiny is as a Christian? Your destiny is the mysterious and hidden Christ, the One who is the wisdom of God, the center of God’s economy and our portion. Have you ever heard that Christ is your destiny? We all know that Christ is our Redeemer, Savior, Lord, Master, and even our life. But probably you have never realized that Christ is your destiny. Nevertheless, this marvelous fact is revealed in 2:7. Here Paul says that there is a wisdom, a mysterious, hidden wisdom, a wisdom hidden in God, which is Christ Himself. Furthermore, God has predestined this wisdom for our glory. This surely indicates that God has made Christ to be our destiny. Praise Him that He is not only our Savior, Lord, and life—He is also our destiny! This destiny will eventually lead us into glory.
Although it is correct to say that glory is Christ, we need to remember that glory is God expressed. To say that glory is Christ actually means that Christ is God expressed. The expression of God, Christ, is our destiny. What a destiny we have! This destiny will bring us into glory, a glory which is the very expression of God. If we see this, we shall want to bow down before the Lord, worship Him, and offer our thanks and praise to Him.
In verse 9 Paul says, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not come up in man’s heart, how much God has prepared for those who love Him.” To realize and participate in the deep and hidden things God has ordained and prepared for us requires us not only to believe in Him, but also to love Him. To fear God, to worship God, and to believe in God, that is, to receive God, are all inadequate; to love Him is the indispensable requirement. To love God means to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body, with the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)— absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life. In this way we have the closest and most intimate fellowship with God. It is thus we are able to enter into His heart and apprehend all its secrets (Psa. 73:25; 25:14). Thus, we not only realize, but also experience, enjoy, and fully participate in these deep and hidden things of God.
In verse 6 Paul says that the wisdom we speak is not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age. In themselves, human beings are not capable of knowing this wisdom. It must be revealed through the Spirit. Therefore, in verse 10 Paul says, “For God has revealed them to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” God reveals the deep and hidden things to us through the Spirit, for these things have not been seen by man’s eyes, heard by man’s ears, nor have they come up in man’s heart. This means that man has no idea concerning them, no thought of them. They are altogether mysterious, hidden in God, and beyond human understanding. But God has revealed them to us through the Spirit, who searches all things, even the depths of God.
To have something revealed to us is different from being taught about that thing. To teach is related to our mind; to reveal, to our spirit. To realize the deep and hidden things God has prepared for us, our spirit is more necessary than our mind. When our entire being becomes one with God through loving Him in intimate fellowship, He shows us, in our spirit through His Spirit, all the secrets of Christ as our portion. This is to reveal the hidden things planned by His wisdom concerning Christ, things which have never come up in man’s heart.
First Corinthians 2:10 says that the Spirit searches all things. The Greek word rendered searches includes active research and implies accurate knowledge not in discovering but in exploring. The Spirit of God explores the depths of God concerning Christ and shows them to us in our spirit for our realization and participation.
The depths of God refer to the deep things of God, which are Christ in many aspects as our eternal portion, foreordained, prepared, and given to us freely by God. These have never arisen in man’s heart, but are revealed to us in our spirit by God’s Spirit. Hence, we must be spiritual in order to partake of them. We must move and live in our spirit that we may enjoy Christ as everything to us.
Many of those who believe in God do not know the depths of God. They know God only in a superficial way. This is true of Jews, Moslems, and the majority of Christians. How many Christians today know God according to His depths? Many believers do not even have a proper realization of the matters which God regards as truly deep. Some think that to have biblical knowledge about the seven heads, the ten horns, and the seventy weeks is to know deep things. According to them, to understand such matters is to know the Bible in a deep way. Certain believers even think that speaking in tongues is something deep. Actually, tongues-speaking is a very shallow matter. It has nothing to do with the depths of God spoken of in verse 10.
If you wish to know the depths of God, the deep things of God, you need to know the books of Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews, John, and Revelation. But not even these books, books which reveal deep and profound matters, tell us that Christ, the last Adam in the flesh, has become the life-giving Spirit. Only in 1 Corinthians do we have such a statement. Moreover, only in this book does Paul say, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (6:17). What things are deeper than these? What is deeper than the last Adam becoming the life-giving Spirit and our being joined to the Lord as one spirit? These things are unfathomable; they are immeasurably deep and profound.
To know God only as Creator is to know Him very superficially. Even medical students who study physiology may conclude that the human body must have had a Creator. Through their study they may come to know God and acknowledge Him as Creator. Others may know that God is sovereign and that He can provide everything we need. But not even this is the knowledge of the deep things of God.
If we would know the depths of God, we must know that through incarnation God one day became a man named Jesus. Through His crucifixion the Lord Jesus terminated the old creation and released the divine life that it may be imparted into all who believe in Him. Now, in resurrection, He is the life-giving Spirit who indwells our spirit and who has become one spirit with us. We have a mingled spirit within us, our regenerated human spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. This is a very deep matter. Unfortunately, few Christians know these deep things.
If we consider the context of the whole book of 1 Corinthians, we shall have the assurance to interpret the deep things of God in 2:10 as referring to the all-inclusive Christ who, as the life-giving Spirit, indwells our spirit. After accomplishing redemption, this Christ has become a life-giving Spirit. As such, He is so available to us that we can be joined to Him as one spirit. Nothing can be deeper than this. How sad that these depths are neglected by so many Christians today!
To know the depths of God is to know Christ in many aspects as our eternal portion. Christ is the center of God’s economy, the portion given to us by God for our enjoyment, and the mysterious wisdom hidden in God. God’s wisdom in a mystery is Christ as the deep things of God. I encourage you all to pray and fellowship concerning this and to seek a deeper understanding of the depths of God—Christ Himself as the mysterious and hidden wisdom, the focus of God’s economy, and the portion given to us by God for our enjoyment. Christ, the all-inclusive and extensive One, is truly the depths of God.
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