This last Sunday, Pastor Kyle continued in our church’s sermon series through the book of 1 Corinthians. He states that almost every Cult and false religion carries a concept of hidden knowledge that can be obtained with people climb some spiritual ladder to the top of their false belief structure. But the fact is that there is no ladder that anyone can climb to get to God. The only stairway to Heaven started with a Manger in Bethlehem, when the Lord Jesus Christ descended to earth, God incarnate and hung on a Cross, where He died an atoning death for our sins, so that we could have forgiveness and salvation unto eternal life. Yet, people will search far and wide for secret meaning (a secret of the universe that you need to find) in order to try and figure out the meaning of their lives, like astrology, physics, future tellers, and cults which are all against the things of and Word of God in the Holy Bible. They will look anywhere and everywhere, except to the God of the Bible, who makes everything plain and clear for everyone to see, understand and know. All other religions say “do”, you have to do something. Christianity says “done”, Jesus did it all.
The defining trait of the Christian faith that sets it apart from all the other religions and every other belief out there is that it is not based on any hidden or secret knowledge; it is the plain, full message of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ for all – that (1) all have sinned against our just and holy Creator God and deserve His righteous wrath and punishment, (2) we cannot pay for our sins, so God sent our Redeemer Christ to pay in our place on the Cross – He died for you and I, (3) therefore, by repentance and accepting the free offer of Jesus’ substitutionary atoning sacrifice by faith, our sins are forgiven, (4) we are adopted into the family of God as citizens of Heaven, (5) the indwelling Holy Spirit is given inside of soul, and (6) gives His people eternal life with Him. God’s plan of Salvation through the infinitely intricate Gospel of Jesus Christ remains the same forever, though we spend a lifetime learning and growing daily in and by Him. God does not hide how to become a Christian or how to get to Heaven when we die or how to experience a blessed life on this side of Heaven; He reveal it. The Gospel truth is out there in plain sight for all to see, easily attainable, understandable, available and applicable to all at any point in their walk with God. Yet, we will spend our whole lives learning about the deep things of the Lord for application in life.
1 Corinthians 2:4-7 “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
Among the mature, we do impart deeper spiritual wisdom from above; not a wisdom of this age (not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God), but some of these things are revealed by the Spirit of God. The apostle simplified the Gospel for the new Believers, and told them what they needed to know and could handle at the time. One of the most important principles of good communication is to know your audience in order to explain the Bible message in a way that breaks through and connects. The defining trait of Christianity is that Jesus is our Savior and Lord, who is with us always – will never leave us nor forsake us. Read your living, God-breathed bible, it is plain to see, know and understand with the help of the Holy Spirit in the born-again Believer. God makes everything clear. But, you have to be actively seeking God and His truth with an intentional effort to find it. The secret to unlocking the secret wisdom of God is to be seeking the God of the Bible.
1 Corinthians 2:8-10 “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”
Lets continue Pastor Kyle's message on the reveal truth of God in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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