February 12 - 1 Corinthians 2:16

February 11
1 Corinthians 2:12

1 Cor 2:12 Now we have received NOT the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

We find in Genesis 1:26 where God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” God then created man as a spirit after Himself – an eternal being. In our spirit we were created to know there is a God, know what is right, and through our spirit we commune with God.  As a spirit, God then created within a soul that houses our mind, will and emotions. As such, our soul is the character/personality of who we are. God then made the soul as the command center of our life. If we were just a spirit, we would be eternal, but without a personality and freedom of choice. We would be like cookie cutters – all alike in every way.

God then formed a physical body out of the dust of the earth and placed it all around the spirit/soul of the man. God then breathed into the man’s nostrils and man became a living soul. Now having a physical body, this living soul had the spirit of God living within him, always ready to receive from God. As such, God gave him dominion over the whole earth. God, however, did not want cookie cutters, but unique individual personalities that would love and serve Him out of choice. As such, God created within the soul of the man a free will to make that choice. God then did surgery on the man, taking a rib out of him to form a woman, having the same likeness of God. Together, they were to have authority over the earth as they love and served God.

God gave Adam the stern warning not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – as God did not want mankind to know evil. He did, however, give him the choice. 

We all know the story – man fell to the cunning deception of Satan, disguised as a serpent, and man fell to sin – now knowing good AND evil. As such, a death sentence of their physical body was placed upon him and all of his offspring, The DNA of mankind was forever changed to know good AND evil, and subject to physical death, but still an eternal soul, now subject to heaven or hell, depending on their choices.

In Christ, we have been given a second chance, as He has redeemed us from our sins. We can now take this verse of Scripture as a promise that we do not have to accept the spirit of the world to take over our lives, but through Christ, the Spirit of God is still there ready to freely give us the things of the Spirit of God.  We make choices every day whom we will serve. As a believer, can you purpose to choose the things of God every day in your life?

1 Cor 2:26 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.