In 2 Corinthians 2:10-12, Paul gives his readers some great
insight on who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. In vv. 6-9 he explains that true wisdom is
only found in God and that His message—the Gospel Message is a mystery or a
secret. In v. 7 he says,
7 But we impart
a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our
glory.
Paul is saying here, “The message that I and others share
with you—the message of the cross is not a message that you will find on your
own.” That word secret also translated
mystery does not mean what you think it means.
It’s not the type of mystery you read in a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha
Christy book. That word does not refer
to something that is figured out or discovered through hard study and
meticulous detective work. That word
refers to a secret that is impossible for man to penetrate—it refers to
something that man cannot come to know through personal effort and
devotion. It refers to something that
has to be revealed.For example, if I wanted to know what another person was thinking, there is no way for me to acquire that information unless that person makes it known to me. The same is true of God’s wisdom—the same is true of His Gospel. Paul is making the point here that men will never find the one true God on their own—through their own personal effort and devotion. The world will never develop a religion that is true—human wisdom will never cut it. Why? Because the answers to the fundamental and foundational questions of life are outside the realm of this world—they are with God.
Now some upon hearing this will say, “That stinks. You mean to tell me that true wisdom is only found in God’s message and that we cannot come to know and understand and receive this message through personal effort? Then what are we to do? If we can’t discover it through empirical evidence and reason how are we to understand it? Our eyes and our ears and our minds are all we have.” Well Paul tells how in v. 10. He says,
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
It is the Spirit of God who makes the message of God
known. Believers the reason we know “the
secret hidden wisdom of God” is because the Spirit has revealed these things to
us. Paul continues by saying,
For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is
in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of
God.Like I said earlier, Paul gives his readers some great insight on who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. First notice what He does. Paul says “the Spirit searches everything even the depths of God.” How is He able to do that? Paul says in Romans 11:33 that the depths of God’s knowledge and wisdom are too great and that His ways are unsearchable. How then can the Spirit search the depths of God? The answer is simply this—He is God. He knows the depths of God and understands the thoughts of God because He is God.
Though we cannot know God on our own because we are not God, the Spirit knows the depths and the thoughts of God because He is God. So Paul is saying here, “Though God’s thoughts and ways are beyond us, they are not beyond the Spirit of God.” Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Well what difference does that make? He is still up there and I am down here.” Do you remember the words Jesus spoke to His disciples before going to the cross in Jn. 16? Remember what He promised? He promised that He would send His Holy Spirit. Look at 1 Corinthians 2:12. Paul says,
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by
God.
What Jesus promised to do He did. He sent the Holy Spirit and it is this Spirit
who opens our hearts and our minds to the things of God. So follow this logic with me: God’s message is the message of true wisdom,
but His thoughts and ways are beyond our understanding, but they are not beyond
the understanding of the Holy Spirit.
And this same Spirit who knows the mind of God has been sent to us to
give us true knowledge of the living God and to make known to us His
Gospel. 
