The things of joy.
A Christian Guidebook: Why Has God Saved Us? (2)
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. 1 Corinthians 2.12
Precious things
I will let you in on a secret.
Few things give me more pleasure than for Susie to ask me to read her one of my poems.
I know, that probably sounds a little silly. But allow me to explain. God has given me a love of poetry—not all poetry, to be sure, but much. And He has given me a gift—if not, perhaps a calling—to try my hand at poetry, which I have done for many years now. Each poem I write requires a good bit of thinking, trying words, working within a set form, finding just the right meter, images, and points, and tying it all up nicely. It takes time. And when it’s done—is a poem ever really “done”?—I take satisfaction and delight in what God has given me. My poetry-writing is a form of communion with God, learning His way of thinking, peering into the things that have been freely given to us with a view to seeing them as God does and proclaiming them in pleasing words (1 Cor. 2.13).
So, when Susie asks me to read a poem, I light up like Parliament on Guy Fawkes Night (to quote a line from an old Broadway song). I am tickled pink because I love her so much and I delight in my work and I rejoice in the thought that she might find some pleasure in what I’ve created.
I want her to know the things God has freely given to me in the way He has given them so that she may delight and find some small measure of joy in them as I do.
To the praise of the glory of God’s grace.
And this is one reason God has saved us.
The things freely given
All who have come to the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ and are saved have “received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God”. Stop there. Freely given. We weren’t seeking this. Indeed, at the time it came to us, we were enemies of the Lord (Rom. 5.10), wanted little or nothing to do with Him. But, in the fullness of His time for each of us, He sent His Spirit—the Holy Spirit of the eternal God!—into our heart, giving us a new heart and enabling us to cry out to God as Father (Ezek. 36.26, 27; Gal. 4.4-6). Now the Spirit of God, the Life-giver, the Encourager, He Who interprets God’s Word to us, bears fruit in us, and distributes holy gifts among us—the Spirit of the living God is in us, having brought the gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
He is the greatest of the gifts freely given to us. Salvation and eternal life are also in that gift-box. As well as understanding of God’s Word, hunger for His truth, the desire to serve and please Him, know His will, grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus, spread His grace to others, see and understand and marvel at and appreciate the majesty of His creation in all its forms and facets, and to continue living and knowing Him forever.
God has not only made a poem of the entire creation and all of spiritual life, but He knows there are great draughts of joy and enrichment and satisfaction for us as we “listen to” Him “read” that poem. God has freely given us a new life that allows us to see His world like one of those old disco balls, in which everything on its surface sparkles and reflects and refracts and cries “Glory to the Lord!” and beckons us into it for joy.
And even we are God’s poems, as Paul says in Ephesians 2.10, where the Greek word for “workmanship” is ποίημα, poiema—poem. Perhaps this is why we find it pleasurable when others take an interest in us and want to get to know us better. They’re asking us to “read” our “poem” to them. What fun! And God wants us to know, love, enjoy, and serve Him by all the things He has freely given to us and which He seeks to “read” to us day by day.
That we might know
Because all the things He has freely given to us are aids to knowing Him; and knowing Him and being in His Presence is where the greatest joy can be known. The more we ask God to read us one of His poems—speak to us from His Word, show us the majesty in a humble tree, open the wonder of creation, grant us greater appreciation of our work and calling, enfold us in some work of cultural beauty, deepen our love for others—the more He “reads” these to us, which He has given us out of His love, the more we find ourselves surrounded by and infused with His joy.
And while that joy is typically fleeting—and God has arranged that it must be so—it has the effect of reminding us that we are made for joy, that in the Presence of God is fullness of joy (Ps. 16.11), and joy is where our lives are ultimately headed forever. And thus in all the things He has freely given us, by the mind of Jesus which His Spirit teaches us to know (1 Cor. 2.16), we may live in the joy of the Lord as the defining framework, disposition, and motif of our lives.
Just as God intended when He saved us.
So today, ask God to “read” you one of His “poems”—that you might better understand and appreciate one of the things He has freely given us. Doing so may bring you into His delight, His joy, and His Presence in a new and wondrous way.
Search the Scriptures
1. Meditate on Psalm 16.11. Is this how you experience the Presence of God? When?
2. Read 1 Corinthians 2.12 and 13. What are we supposed to do with the things God has freely given us? How do you do that?
3. How would you counsel a new believer to begin using “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2.16)?
Next steps—Transformation: Make a mental inventory of the “poems” God has written for you. Choose one of them to meditate on as a gift from God, and to “listen” as He “reads” His joy and glory from that gift—whether a friend, a loved one, something from the creation, a work of art, or a meal.
T. M. Moore
Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
