Christ as the depths of God is also the “things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). The sphere of what the eye can see is narrow; the sphere of what the ear can hear is broader; and the sphere of what the heart can realize is without limitation. God in His wisdom (that is, in Christ) has ordained and prepared for us many deep and hidden things, such as justification, sanctification, and glorification. All these the human eye has never seen, the human ear has never heard, and the human heart has never realized. This means that the things God has prepared for those who love Him are far beyond human understanding; human beings simply cannot dream or imagine them.
God has prepared the deep and hidden things—which the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, nor has the heart considered—for those who love Him. Our love toward God is a strong proof that we have been chosen and predestinated to enjoy the Triune God by soaking in His divine glory, which is our destiny and God’s mysterious wisdom.
To realize and participate in the deep and hidden things God has ordained and prepared for us requires us not only to believe in Him but also to love Him. To fear God, to worship God, and to believe in God (that is, to receive God) are all inadequate; to love Him is the indispensable requirement. To love God means to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body, with the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)—absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life. In this way we have the closest and most intimate fellowship with God, and we are able to enter into His heart and apprehend all its secrets (Psa. 73:25; 25:14). Thus, we not only realize but also experience, enjoy, and fully participate in these deep and hidden things of God.
In 1 Corinthians 2:6 Paul says that the wisdom he spoke was a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age. In themselves, human beings are not capable of knowing this wisdom. It must be revealed through the Spirit. Therefore, Paul says in verse 10, “But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” God reveals the deep and hidden things to us through the Spirit, for these things have not been seen by man’s eyes, heard by man’s ears, nor have they come up in man’s heart. This means that man has no idea concerning them, no thought of them. They are altogether mysterious, hidden in God, and beyond human understanding, but God has revealed them to us through the Spirit, who searches all things, even the depths of God.
To have something revealed to us is different from being taught about that thing. To be taught is related to our mind; to have something revealed to us is related to our spirit. To realize the deep and hidden things God has prepared for us, our spirit is more necessary than our mind. When our entire being becomes one with God through loving Him in intimate fellowship, He shows us, in our spirit through His Spirit, all the secrets of Christ as our portion. This is to reveal the hidden things planned by His wisdom concerning Christ, which have never come up in man’s heart.
In verse 10 Paul tells us that the Spirit searches all things. The Greek word rendered “searches” is used in reference to active research, implying accurate knowledge gained not by discovering but by exploring. The Spirit of God explores the depths of God concerning Christ and shows them to us in our spirit for our realization and participation.
The depths of God refer to the deep things of God, which are Christ in many aspects as our eternal portion, foreordained, prepared, and given to us freely by God. These have never arisen in man’s heart but are revealed to us in our spirit by God’s Spirit. Hence, in order to partake of them, we must be spiritual. We must move, act, and live in our spirit that we may enjoy Christ as everything to us.
In verse 11 Paul continues, “Who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God.” The spirit of man is the deepest part of man’s being. It has the faculty to penetrate the innermost region of the things of man, whereas the mind of man is capable of knowing only superficial things. In like manner, only the Spirit of God can know the deep things of God.
Christ as the depths of God is revealed to us through the Spirit who knows the things of God and searches all things, even the deep things of God concerning Christ. In order to partake of the deep things of God, we must exercise not merely our mind but our spirit. This is because the revealing Spirit of God is not in our mind but in our spirit. We must exercise our spirit by pray-reading the Word of God. In fact, the best way to exercise our spirit is to pray-read the Word. The more we pray-read with an exercised spirit, the more clearly we see a spiritual vision of the deep things of God. When we have seen these things, we should not teach them to other believers merely by exercising our mind; rather, we must teach by exercising our spirit. We must exercise our spirit to transfer what we have seen in our spirit into other believers. When we teach in this way, the Spirit of God, who is a revealing Spirit, will stir up their spirit. Here we have three spirits: the Spirit of God, our spirit, and their spirit. The Spirit of God who is in our spirit is at the same time in their spirit; this unveiling Spirit joins our spirit with their spirit. In this joining of our spirit with their spirit through the Spirit of God, they too see the spiritual things, the deep things of God that we see.
In order to know the depths of God, we must know that through incarnation God one day became a man named Jesus. Through His crucifixion the Lord Jesus terminated the old creation and released the divine life that it may be imparted into all who believe in Him. Now, in resurrection, He is the life-giving Spirit who indwells our spirit and who has become one spirit with us. Thus, we have a mingled spirit, our regenerated spirit mingled with the divine Spirit.
In keeping with this, 1 Corinthians tells us that Christ, the last Adam in the flesh, has become the life-giving Spirit (15:45b) and that “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (6:17). In the context of the whole book of 1 Corinthians, the depths of God in 2:10 refers to the all-inclusive Christ who, as the life-giving Spirit, indwells our spirit. After accomplishing redemption, this Christ has become a life-giving Spirit. As such, He is so available to us that we can be joined to Him as one spirit. Nothing can be deeper than the last Adam becoming the life-giving Spirit and our being joined to the Lord as one spirit.
In 1 Corinthians 2:12 Paul continues, “We have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been graciously given to us by God.” We should praise the Lord that we, those who have been born of God by His Spirit, have received the Spirit of God. Hence, we are well able to know the deep things of God, which He has graciously given to us for our enjoyment.
God has predestined Christ for us, He has prepared Him for us, He has revealed Him to us, and He has given Him to us as the deep things of God, the depths of God. These depths can be realized and discerned, not by our philosophical mind but only by our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. By means of the mingled spirit alone can we discern the depths of God, the different aspects of Christ as our portion for our enjoyment. If we exercise the mingled spirit, we will enjoy Christ, not in a superficial way but as the depths of God and even in the depths of God. We will enjoy Him in a way that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, mind has not thought, and heart has never imagined. We will enjoy Christ in a way beyond all we have ever dreamed. We should praise the Lord that He is our portion through the mingled spirit.