“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words” (1 Corinthians 2:12-13).
The psalmist was right when he penned the humbling question, “What is mankind that you [God] are mindful of them?” (Psalm 8:4).
What are we, that the Creator of the heavens and the earth, infinite and everlasting in wisdom and power, would spare us even a split second of a thought? Who are we that the almighty God would give us anything?
When we consider that we are tragically flawed, self-centered people, we come to a sobering conclusion: We’re sinful nobodies who deserve absolutely nothing from a perfect, holy God. Nothing but wrath and punishment as we rightly deserve for our sins against him and our fellow human beings.
That makes sense—even if we don’t want to admit it.
We can understand retributive justice. Thanks to the natural knowledge of God, even people who are not Christian know that hateful actions have consequences. And if there are no consequences for such actions, then at the very least we know that there should be. It’s the way things are supposed to go.
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them?”
Who are we? Dear Christian, this is the amazing answer, the spiritual reality we believe by Spirit-worked and Spirit-taught faith: We’re everything to God. He’s our heavenly Father, and we’re his children. Not because of anything we have or haven’t done, but entirely because of Jesus and what he has done for us. Forgiveness, life, and salvation are ours—freely given to us by God out of his great love and mercy for us.
What kind of God does that?
What kind of God would be willing to step into his once perfect and now sinful creation to live a short and painful life filled with rejection and hardship, to die an agonizing and shameful death he didn’t deserve so that his creation—who wanted absolutely nothing to do with him—could live in peace?
Our God.
Human wisdom calls that beautiful, life-changing truth foolishness. We only believe it to be not foolishness but the power of God because the Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts. That faith comes through hearing God’s Word, which tells us of Jesus and what he did to save us from our sins—all because he loves us.
By faith, we know and understand what God’s free gift of salvation means for us . . . and we want other people to know what Jesus has done for them too.
The only way they will know the spiritual reality that is theirs through faith in Jesus is by hearing the Spirit-filled, Spirit-taught Word of God. They’re only going to hear it if someone tells them. Let’s go—so that other people may know and understand by faith what God has freely given to them as well.
Prayer:
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and you, from both, as Three in One
that we your name may ever bless
and in our lives the truth confess.
(Christian Worship 586:6)
Who is the Holy Spirit? What role does this member of the Trinity play? In Holy Spirit: The Giver of Life, you’ll discover a complete and comforting picture of who he is and what he does for you!
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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