In the current teaching messages about “Living a Powerful Spiritual Life” we’ve looked closely at two particular trees in the Garden of Eden – the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know from the Genesis narrative that when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they “fell” from their glorious creation perfection. The divine order of spirit, soul and body was ruined. Spirit was meshed with soul without hope of separation to proper functionality.
Once we understand the implications of what the fruit of each tree does to the human being, we can understand a whole lot more. The atoning work of Christ on the cross dealt with sin – its consequences of guilt, shame, fear, death and so on – forever. The wrath of God has been turned away from us, too. So then, what do we make of statements by the apostle Paul where he describes the cross as foolishness to those not born again?
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
And this one, too …
1 Corinthians 1:22-23 (NIV)
“Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, …”
Those who are perishing have no access to the tree of life (the life of God in Christ) and, therefore no access to God’s divine wisdom – and they don’t know this. God’s life is much more than just breathing and blood flowing through our veins – eternal life is much, much greater than anything physical. It is about God’s wisdom and holiness which has tremendous causative, creative power. God’s wisdom is not just about knowledge and information, either. It was in wisdom that God created the heavens and the earth …
Proverbs 3:19 (NIV)
“By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding He set the heavens in place; …”
God’s wisdom can do things far beyond human imagining. And so, to the cross of Christ … the message of the cross is God’s wisdom made manifest to the world. But the world, unregenerate of spirit (those not yet born again), can only process this wisdom with their human [soulish] minds which is totally not up to the task. The unregenerate person hears the message of the cross, and it is a load of baloney to them! Foolishness to the Greeks, says Paul, who had no concept at all of spirit, soul and body; all they’d known for centuries of pervasive Greek philosophy and culture was that there was just body and soul – and soul was all, and where wisdom was acquired!
Wonderfully, in the powerful, unashamed, truthful and anointed preaching of the Gospel, the wisdom of God is declared by faithful preachers and witnesses, and for those who hear it, if they should choose to receive the message with humility … that this might really be true … and so, incline their hearts towards God, the Father releases the faith to them in order to believe. This truly is the greatest miracle there is! This is grace! Our gracious God gives to these ones, who have not arrogantly batted away the Gospel with soulish contempt, the gift of faith to believe – a first bite of the tree of life – and they are saved when the admit their sin and believe in what Christ has done. Hence Paul …
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this [faith] is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Those who say ‘yes’ and to whom God gives this saving faith are recipients of the powerful, transforming wisdom of the cross. They experience this wisdom’s power and grace. They are profoundly changed … born again (soul and spirit unmeshed) to eat of the tree of life and come into all the fullness that God wanted for Adam and Eve.
This is the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:24-25 (NIV)
“… but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
The foolishness of the cross can never be understood by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! It is beyond human understanding. The foolishness of the cross becomes the wisdom of God unto eternal life as we eat from the tree if life and allow the Spirit of God to teach us …
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NIV) 12 “What we have received [when born again] 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. 13 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.”
How awesome is that!? This is how we “born agains” live.
You are wonderfully, awesomely loved.
Ps Milton