[Steve Myers] This is Epistles of Paul class. We left off last time in 1 Corinthians, and we had just begun Chapter 2, 1 Corinthians 2, where Paul was making the point that the gospel was preached by the power of God. It was not from fanciful talk, you know, wonderful, eloquent oratory or anything like that. That would totally defeat the purpose of God. And so he makes the point that it was the wisdom of God, the power of God. It was God opening their minds to His truth. And so he contrasts that different perspective from what the Greek world would have had versus how God works today. And so in verse 6 where we left off.

1 Corinthians 2:6 He said that, “We speak wisdom among those who are mature.”

So, if you remember, it's not that the gospel isn't wise or the message isn't one of wisdom, but it's a different kind of wisdom. It's not human wisdom. This is of the wisdom of God. And so this is spiritual wisdom he's talking about.

And he says, "We're speaking among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing."

Certainly, some of the critics would have said there's nothing good about this message whatsoever. But here he's emphasizing different kinds of wisdom, making an even stronger point about not many wise, not many noble, not many mighty. In fact, this is a little reminiscent of what James wrote. Maybe hold your place here for just a moment and take a look at James 3. Because this is a similar theme that James talked about when he contrasted the ways of the world with the ways of God and the ones that God works with, versus who the world counts as wise and wonderful. So, in James 3, if you notice verse 13, he asks a rhetorical question.

James 3:13 James says, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom."

What kind of wisdom do you think that's talking about? Well, the meekness of wisdom, that's not the mighty, that's not the noble, that's not the ultimate ways of this. No, here we see this is godly wisdom that he's talking about, the meekness of wisdom.

James 3:14-15 "If you have bitter envy, self-seeking in your hearts, don't boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, demonic."

And what we'll find as we go through the letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, we're going to find how that human wisdom, that demonic wisdom, that earthly wisdom had impacted them in so many ways, that they weren't being wise, they weren't being understanding, they weren't seeing things from a spiritual perspective. And so here, James is contrasting that very thing.

James 3:16 And then he says, "The results of that," in verse 16, "Is envy, self-seeking, confusion, and every evil thing."

Yeah, we'll see that in Corinth. We'll see those issues pop up in Corinth because of their perspective. But Paul contrasts that, like James does here in verse 17.

James 3:17 He says, "The wisdom that's from above, godly wisdom, spiritual wisdom, is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy, and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy."

And so pretty interesting to see that difference between those two kinds of... Of course, also showing, hey, there's more than one kind of wisdom overall. And the challenging thing is sometimes we look at the life around us, and that worldly wisdom seems to work sometimes. Seems like people can get ahead sometimes. Sometimes those that base their life on worldly wisdom seem to benefit from it. Of course, is that something that's going to continue? You see, that's important to recognize because what does Paul then, if you flip back to 1 Corinthians 2, what does he say ultimately? Oh, they might might get ahead for a little bit. How many times did David write in the Psalms about, you know, why do the wicked prosper? How can people get ahead in this world when they're not doing godly things? Yeah, it happens. It happens. No doubt. But will it last? So, that's the question here. And in verse 6, if you're back in 2 Corinthians 2,

1 Corinthians 2:6 He says, "That type of thing, the wisdom of this age, the rulers of this age, are coming to nothing."

They're coming to nothing. It's not going to last. Not going to last. And so that's going to pass away. That's going to be done and over with. So, that's human wisdom. It's not going to be anything that is long-lasting. So, instead, he contrasts that in verse 7.

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. The hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages for our glory." In fact, we'll continue on here, "Which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory."

So, we have human wisdom, worldly wisdom, demonic wisdom, as James said. We have wisdom of God. And he says that this was spoken in a mystery. Now the word, therefore, mystery is an interesting one. It's the Greek word mysterion. That's an R there. Mysterion, it's a mystery. It could be translated a secret, a secret. So, there is secret wisdom that God shows. And so this idea of mysterion, mystery, don't think of it like we think necessarily in English. If you think of a mystery, you think, "Well, it's something I can't figure out. I can't understand it." Yeah, in a sense, this is true. But what this is pointing at is the fact that a mystery, a mysterion, is something that has to be revealed to know the truth. So, you can know the secret, you can understand, but God has to reveal it.

And so, here, what is Paul saying? We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Yeah, God has to open your mind. It's hidden wisdom. God has to reveal it. It can be revealed, but God has to reveal it in order to understand it. Otherwise, people don't get it. They don't understand. And so he makes this point. This is the way that it was from the start. This is the way that God intended it. He ordained it that way. And so did the mighty, did the wise understand it? He says, "No, none of the rulers of this age, they didn't get it." In fact, to such an extent that the only hope that they have, they killed, they crucified. The only hope that any human being has is through Jesus Christ. "And they crucified," it says, "The Lord of glory. They killed the Christ." And so we find that this wisdom that comes from God is something that He has to open our minds to His truth. And so no wonder He says this in verse 9.

1 Corinthians 2:9 He says, "As it's written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

So, here he uses a little bit of a quotation. If you've got a middle reference Bible, it may even refer to that. Or if your Bible is offset when it's quoting different sections of Scripture. My reading Bible here is kind of like that. Here, you may have a reference to Isaiah 64:4. Not an exact quotation, but one that takes the idea from Isaiah 64 that people don't perceive by the ear, they don't understand. That's not it. And so it's outside our ability, outside of human reasoning, outside of... Even he's saying human faculty's hearing and seeing, you're just not going to get it. You're not going to get it.

And so when you look at this, wow, eye hasn't seen, ear heard, or entered in the heart of the man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. So, is that telling us then you can't understand? Well, can I understand or not? It almost makes it seem like, nope, there's no way you're going to get it. Well, that's true unless God reveals the mystery, unless God opens our mind to His truth. So, look at verse 10. It's not that nobody can understand.

1 Corinthians 2:10 He says, "But God has revealed them to us through His spirit."

So, outside of physical capabilities, all right, well, where does that leave science? Science is going to discover this? He says, "Nope." Can you measure this? No, no, that's what science does. Science measures things. That's basically what science is all about. This is not something that you can measure. And so we recognize science's limits. It's not that science isn't valuable, it is, but outside of the physical universe, they're not going to understand spiritual things. And so this is outside that ability of human thinking just to discover it all on your own. Nope, God has to reveal it. Does that sound a little bit like what Christ taught? He taught a simple thing.

Hold your place here. Let's just remind ourselves what Christ talked about in Matthew 13. If you go back to Matthew 13:13, Matthew 13:13, if you remember the scenario, disciples come to Christ and they asked Him a question. "Hey, you tell a lot of stories. Why are you doing that? Why do you preach in parables?" Was the question, and that's where verse 13 of Matthew 13 begins to receive an answer. "Christ was asked by them, why are you speaking in parables?"

Matthew 13:13 "I speak to them in parables, Christ said, because seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand." And then he makes quite a long quotation here from Isaiah once again. So, this is from Isaiah 6 mainly. And so he tells them that they're not going to understand. They're going to see, but they're not really going to perceive.

And so it's not through human understanding. Christ is basically saying exactly what Paul was saying, same thing, that if God doesn't open your mind, if God doesn't reveal the secret, the mystery, you can read it all you want, but you're not going to get it. You're not going to understand it. And, in fact, it comes to the same conclusion Paul did. Remember what Paul talked about when Paul said, "Eye hasn't seen, but God has revealed them to you." Christ says the same thing. Look down to verse 16.

Matthew 13:16-17 "But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." He says, "Assuredly, I say many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see and didn't see it, and hear what you hear and didn't hear it."

But we do hear. We have been blessed. God has been working with us. And so ultimately, it comes back to that same thought he had a little earlier. Who gets the credit? Well, God gets the credit. You see, there's always a little bit of a disconnect, you know, if we say, "Well, I was just searching and searching, and I found the truth." Do you ever have anyone say that to you? I think I've said that in the past as well. It's like, "Wait a second, did I actually find the truth or did God reveal it to me? Did God show it to me?" Yeah, that's really where it's... Yeah, I had to be looking, no doubt. But God is the one that revealed it. So, head back to 1 Corinthians, and we'll recognize that, that the means of which God uses to reveal these things to us is also something that the Apostle Paul talked about.

1 Corinthians 2:10 He says, "God has revealed them to us through His Spirit."

That's 1 Corinthians 2:10. "And so by the power of God's Spirit that empowers our understanding." And so the Spirit, not only is in us and works with us, even before baptism, it's working with us as God opens our minds. And so the Spirit helps us in that understanding. And at the same time, it's through the power of God's Spirit that even makes the plan possible. It makes it possible.

1 Corinthians 2:10 And then he says, verse 10, "For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."

And so God's revealed them to us, that revealed word, same base word for the apocalypse. The apocalypse. Sometimes if you look at the last book in your Bible, it may not say revelation, it may just say the apocalypse because that's the base word that's used there. What is a revelation? Well, it's a revealing. It's a revealing. God has revealed these things. Apokalipsa is the word here, by special divine revelation. I can't learn it. I can't figure it out myself. He's got to reveal it to me. Remember, it's a mysterion, a secret that has to be revealed to understand. He does it through His Spirit that helps us to have that understanding. And yet, he says, the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

So, by the power of God's Spirit, it's really giving me an admonition here. It's telling me I need to be doing something. So, do I just kind of look for things and try to sort things out spiritually one time, and God calls me and now I'm baptized, and now, all right, I'm done searching? No, no. Interesting here, the searches word, present tense. The Spirit searches. We claim to have God's Spirit, we should be searchers. We should be searching in the sense that it's saying God's Spirit leads us to a lifetime of searching, a lifetime of learning, a lifetime of continuing to discover deeper things of God, growing in a closer relationship with God. And so it's a valuable thing. It's not to be taken kind of, like, a treasure. You're searching for a treasure, and once you find it, you're done. No, no, that's not the case. This is an ongoing process because, as we use and utilize the Spirit of God, we are being converted. We're continuing to be converted.

And so I suppose in a sense, you could say God's Spirit kind of fuels that need, that desire to know more about God, to know more of the way He thinks, to put on the character of Christ. I think that's the important thing. So, we search all things, the deep things of God. Kind of, like, a light shining in a tunnel that... Well, we walk through Hezekiah's tunnel at the feast, which, of course, is this underground tunnel that was carved to divert the spring there in Jerusalem. And we can have a little flashlight, and with that flashlight, you can kind of see where you're walking. But as you look down the tunnel, you couldn't see all the way where you needed to see. And so you could see just enough to take the next few steps. And I think that's kind of the idea here that without that light, we wouldn't continue to walk and continue to have things come to our seeing so that we can continue on.

And so I think you can think of it in that way, that God's Spirit is that light that kind of lights the way. Or maybe you could think of it as, oh, it's the light that kind of reveals different things, ultraviolet light. You know, like, an ultraviolet, a black light. You know, a black light, you turn out all the lights and you get a black light on, you'll see things kind of jump out. If you smile, your teeth just kind of shine white because of the ultraviolet light. Some scorpions glow in ultraviolet light, which is kind of interesting. So, go buy a scorpion and put an ultraviolet light on it and you'll see it glow. You'd have to check me on that one. I think it's just certain ones will glow. Certain paper will just light up. Bodily fluids light up, you know, under black light, different oils. It's just, wow, there it is. When you're just in regular lighting, you don't see those things. And so I think that's an interesting way to think about it as well, that like an ultraviolet light, suddenly, you can see even more. It's not that regular light is bad, but it's not the whole range, right? You can see other things with this light. And so I think that's kind of what Paul is getting at here, that through God's Spirit, you can turn on the lights, the spiritual lights, and you can see so much more. And that spiritual vision becomes very, very clear. And so we see that, the deep things that we're able to see that normally people don't see. And so he makes that important point. Then in verse 11 brings another thought to mind here.

1 Corinthians 2:11 He said, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God."

Now, remember, he had been contrasting this idea of human wisdom versus spiritual wisdom, godly wisdom. This difference between demonic wisdom, sensual wisdom, worldly wisdom versus the wisdom of God. So, he's been contrasting those things. Now he shows a little bit more to the picture here that, as a human being, can you understand certain things? Well, he says, "Yeah, you can understand human things, the things of a man by the spirit of man which is in him."

So, here, he points to the fact that there's some spiritual component in us, in every human being that allows us to understand the things of a man, the human things. So, in a way, he's getting to an interesting discussion about the function of the human brain. There are certain things that we as human beings can do that animals can't do. No animal can do. How about language? Human beings have language, probably one of the prime examples of what human beings... Yeah, animals can communicate, dolphins can make little sounds back and forth. There's some things going on there. But only human beings talk, and write, and record things. Only human beings build a knowledge base. You know, we have libraries, we've got Google, we've got AI, we've got all these things that are only unique human things. We can teach, teach the next generation coming up. So, those are things that animal brain cannot grasp. They don't understand concepts like what, mathematics or physics, music, those types of things. They can't appreciate art. They don't understand religion or architecture. You know, the list is probably endless, philosophy and all those types of things. But we can. Human beings think, we can reason, we can make choices based on our understanding.

And so that thinking, reasoning, capabilities offsets the human mind from animal brain. And so animals can only do certain things in a very limited kind of a way, normally based on instinct. Or sometimes, yeah, you could train your dog to do certain things and repetitive training. Yeah, absolutely. But how many animals do you know that that'll want to go visit a sick friend? No, they don't do those kinds. We can. We can decide to share. We can decide to cooperate. We can decide to serve. We can choose things. We can choose to be angry. We can choose to be jealous. We can choose to be kind and giving. Animals don't have those desires. And you know what the interesting part is? Science doesn't know why. Science doesn't know why. There are many brains out there in the animal world that are much bigger than human brains. So, why don't they have more capabilities than us? It doesn't make sense. And so science has been searching and searching for the reasons why.

And what's amazing here in 1 Corinthians 2:11, it tells us why. It gives us the answer, why. Why science can't explain it? Remember, it just got done telling us, yeah, science can't explain everything. This isn't a scientific thing. There's something beyond the physical that comes into play here. And that secret, that mystery, that mysterion is revealed in the Bible because there is a reason why our mind functions the way it does and why it's so much superior than animal brain. That difference between human mind and animal brain is just unbelievable in the differences there.

In fact, maybe just to emphasize that a little bit, you may have heard the story about the guy who was having these headaches. And so he goes to the doctor to try to sort out why he was having these things. The doctor said, "Well, I think we should just do a scan of your head just to see maybe something going on there." So, they do this scan and the doctor comes back and he says, "You know, I've got really bad news for you." And he said, "What's the bad news?" He said, "We found out that your brain has two sides." And he said, "Well, okay, but all brains have two sides, right? So, what's so bad about that? Everybody's got two sides to their brain, right?" The doctor said, "Well, yeah, that's true, but yours is very unusual because on the left side, there's nothing right. And on the right side, there's nothing left." Yeah, that's my brain joke for the day, right? Yeah, what kind of brain do we have? Well, we have a unique brain that operates differently from animal brain, human mind. What gives us the thinking, the reasoning capabilities? And why are we so superior to the animals?

Well, if you hold your place here in 1 Corinthians, go all the way back to the beginning, go back to Genesis 1. It reveals the secret, begins to show the impact here of, why we are so different. Why are we different as human being? Genesis 1:26 tells us, at least gives us some insight here.

Genesis 1:26 It says, "God said," it says, "Elohim, let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

So, first and foremost, we see we're different. We're different than all the animals that God created because what He illustrates here is that we are made after our kind. And so He'll talk about that as Adam names all the animals.

He names all these animals, and it wasn't just to find out that there wasn't anybody else like him, but to recognize the fact that, oh, yeah, giraffes produce more giraffes, and dogs produce more dogs, and horses produce more horses. And what kind are we made after? Well, we're not horses or giraffes. We're not dogs. We are human beings made after the God kind. We're in the image of God. We are different. We are not the highest form of animals, like science would try to tell us. Oh, we're the highest form of a monkey. You know, that's what has evolved over the eons. Well, that's not true. Here we see very clearly, in fact, if you go to Chapter 2, look at verse 7.

Genesis 2:7 "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being."

So, God was intricately involved in the formation of man. He formed him, which, you know, if you ever were at the Feast in Panama City Beach, and you formed a sandcastle, it kind of takes that kind of imagery a little bit, that God formed us, that personal handling that God had in the creation of man. Yeah, absolutely. And then what did He do? He breathed. Literally, the word there means He blew into his nostrils. He blew that sharp, exhale of air, blew into his nostrils. And Adam came to life.

And so it's interesting here that this blowing, sometimes this word is translated wind, wind, sometimes it's translated spirit. This word in the Hebrew is the equivalent to the Greek word pneuma. Pneuma. And so here we have this breathing that has this sense of breath, or air, or wind, and we recognize God breathed physical life into Adam, which also entail the component that allowed him to think and to reason. And so this breath, it says, "He became a living being." By the power of God breathing into him, he became a being that now could think and to reason, not just a living being like an animal, but there's more to it than just that.

This idea of breath and spirit have a connection, especially with what we read in 1 Corinthians 2:11, where he said there was a spirit in man. We can see that a little bit clearer if we look over to the Book of Job. Take a look at Job for just a moment. In Job 32, Job 32, if you get to the Psalms, it's going to be just before that. Job 32 refers to this, this idea of God breathing into man, not just life but something more than that. What Paul referred to, this spirit, is what Job also refers to. Here's that word for breath once again that we read about earlier in Genesis. Job 32, notice verse 8.

Job 32:8 He says, "There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding."

Okay. It's not just physical life that God breathed into Adam. It was also understanding. It was, some translations say, awareness or intelligence. I am, I know that I am. So, the breath of life brought understanding and awareness. Intelligence, some translations say. Intelligence, the spirit in man is what gives us intelligence, and understanding, and awareness. Awareness.

So, the Bible refers to that ability to think and to reason comes by the spirit in man. It's what Job is referring to. In fact, Zechariah, if we go to the minor prophets, go just before the New Testament. You can find Zechariah. And in this prophetic statement that Zechariah makes, it is interesting that he brings this word from God. And as he's describing the God that he's bringing this burden from, this prophecy from, he describes God a little bit before he gets into his prophecy. And it's interesting in his description here of God, how he refers to Him.

Zechariah 12:1 He says, "Thus says the Lord against Israel, thus says the Lord who stretches out the heavens." God's the creator. He lays the foundations of the earth. Yeah, that's what God does. He made everything. But then he also says, "And He forms the spirit of man within him."

God is the one that forms the spirit of man in us. What is the spirit of man? Well, Job said it's what gives us understanding. Paul says, "How do you know the things of a man?" How do you know things, human? How do you think? How do you reason? He says, "It's only by the spirit in man." So, God has put a spiritual component in every single human being so that they can think and they can reason. I mean, is there any wonder why science can't find it? How do you measure a spiritual component? You can't. You can't measure spirit. It's not physical. And so, science is trying to figure this out, but they just can't come to it because it's something that can't be measured. God says, "It's by the spirit of man." So, God has put the spiritual component in us to think and to reason and have that awareness to create. All of that comes by the power that God has put in us, the spirit in man.

Now, don't get me wrong, some misunderstand the spirit. We read all the way back in Genesis about God breathing into man. Some people think, "Oh, that must be an immortal soul. God has put the spiritual component of an immortal soul in you." No. No, that's not the case at all. Some confuse the spirit in man with the immortal soul. That is wrong. That is not what Paul is saying. That's not what Job was referring to. That's not what Zechariah was prophesying about. No, not at all. In fact, we know that to be true. Let's just look at one example. If you look at Ecclesiastes, okay, if you go back, get before, got to get back here. Yeah, I got the Psalms. Now I went too far the other way. So, if we get to Ecclesiastes, get just past the proverb. There it is. We get to Ecclesiastes. Look at Ecclesiastes 8:8. We recognize something very important here about the spirit in man.

Ecclesiastes 8:8 It says, "No one has the power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no one has the power in the day of death. There's no release from that war, and wickedness will not deliver those who are given it."

So, if you try to say the spirit in man is an immortal soul, what's it saying here? Oh, this is not immortal. You have no power to retain the spirit. It's not going to last. It's not going to last. This human spirit is not an immortal thing, no power on the day of death. In fact, if you've ever been in the presence of someone who's died, most often times, they let out one final breath. They have no power to retain the breath, the spirit, the thinking, reasoning capabilities. Ecclesiastes will go on to say, "There's nothing in the grave. There's no thinking, there's no creation, there's no reasoning, there's no nothing in the grave."

And so what we begin to see then, is this human spirit? Well, it can't see. Your brain sees, right? Your brain sees, sees through your eyes. The human spirit can't hear. Your brain hears through your ears. The human spirit can't think. It's the essence that allows us to think by the reasoning capabilities of the brain. The brain is what thinks. The spirit is what gives it the ability to reason, to analyze, and that power to do those things. And so what we find apart from the body, the human spirit can't do anything. It's gone. When you die, it just like the wind, it's gone. It's gone. It can't think of... So, this human spirit has no consciousness apart from the body. You could even see that in human beings today. If you're in an accident, you have a traumatic brain injury, yeah, you lose your thinking, your reasoning... You have to have a reasonably healthy brain to be able to even think, and to reason, and analyze and all these things, which speaks to that very same point.

And so Ecclesiastes 12 even talks about the breath, goes back to God who gave it. And so when we die, Ecclesiastes 9:10 says we don't have any awareness of anything. And so that tells us a couple of things. This spirit in man is a spiritual component that can't be measured by science. It also tells us that without a brain, it's nothing. There's nothing there. And so that becomes very important. That offsets us then in such a huge way from the animals. So, what would happen if you're just a human being without the spirit in man, without capabilities to think and to reason? Do we have any examples of that? Actually, there is. I see some hands up.

Yeah, if you turn with me over to Daniel 4:28, Daniel 4:28, we have a very interesting example of the difference of a man with the spirit in man and someone that doesn't, that doesn't. So, take a look at the book of Daniel, Daniel 4:28. Daniel 4:28, here, we find King Nebuchadnezzar very proud of himself.

Daniel 4:28-30 It says, "This came upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months, he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke saying, is this not great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"

Well, he wasn't too self-fulfilled here, was he? Yeah, he was pretty confident in himself. Well, what happened?

Daniel 3:31-34 "While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven. 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, the kingdom has departed from you, and they shall drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They'll make you eat grass like oxen. Seven times shall pass over you until you know the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He chooses.' That very hour, the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men and ate grass like oxen. His body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and nails like birds' claws." So, he's acting like an animal now. Now, was it just because they drove him out? Or was there more to it than that? Well, verse 34, it says, "At the end of the time, over seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven." And what does it say? "My understanding returned to me."

As an animal, he didn't have understanding. It was gone. It had been taken from him. If you read this in the New Century version, it says, "I could think normally again." A New Living says, "My sanity returned to me." The Message says, "I was given my mind back." I was given my mind back. Yeah, interesting that the common English version says, "My mind was healed." My mind was healed. And it says, "I blessed the most high, praised and honored Him who lives forever. His dominion is everlasting dominion. His kingdom is from generation to generation." In fact, skipping down, look at verse 36.

Daniel 3:36 He says, "At the same time, my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me."

So, what made all the difference? The spirit in man. The spirit in man is the difference between human mind and animal brain. That's what makes all the difference. That's what makes it possible. And Nebuchadnezzar is such a beautiful example. What makes it possible for us to think and to reason and have self-consciousness and have the attributes of God Himself made in His image, in His likeness? Well, it's this spirit in man.

Now, we also have to recognize here that there's something the spirit in man cannot do. The spirit in man cannot do something. I mean, especially as you get to the greatest potential for mankind. I mean, even though the spirit in man is a spiritual component that science can't measure, what we begin to realize, if you want to turn back to 1 Corinthians 2:11, it begins to highlight that. Paul begins to show there's something that the human spirit cannot do of and by itself. Yes, it can help us to think, and to reason, and understand things. But Paul says in verse 11.

1 Corinthians 2:11 "What man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him?" That's how we think and that's how we reason. But then he says, "Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God."

And so Paul is telling us here, just as the human spirit gives us human understanding, the ability of the mind to think and to reason, it's God's Spirit that gives us godly understanding. So, there's a whole 'nother spiritual component that Paul references here to point out the fact we're not just the highest form of an animal. We are of a different kind. We are of the God kind, but to reach our full potential, we can't just have the spirit in man. We must have the Spirit of God. So, next time, we'll delve into that concept of the human spirit with God's Holy Spirit and how that works and how they can work together.