Sabbath School for Adults: Education: Lesson 8: Education and Redemption

Thursday November 19

Education In The Early Church

One of the remarkable principles of education in Scripture emerges as Jesus, the Master Teacher, prepares to leave His students or disciples. They had been with Him for three and a half years, approximately the amount of time we allocate to a high school or college education. At the completion of either period, depending upon the person, students are often considered ready to manage on their own.
But Jesus knew better, and so He provided His followers with ongoing or continuing education under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere that teacher or guide is identified as Comforter or Advocate (in Greek, paracletos) who will be given to the followers of Jesus permanently (John 14:16, 17). He is identified as the Spirit of Truth. While the Holy Spirit is not identified as an educator, the work of the Spirit certainly is educational, particularly as it pertains to seeking and finding the truth.

Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. What is Paul saying that is so important in the context of education?

Paul begins by reminding the church in Corinth that when he first came to them he spoke of nothing but Jesus Christ and His crucifixion (1 Cor. 2:2)—no clever wisdom, only the gospel proclamation. But that was not the end of it (1 Cor. 2:6), because once these new Christians matured, the apostle would be back to teach them wisdom, the things God hid before the world began (1 Cor. 2:7), even the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10). All will be studied under the guidance of the Spirit of God as He joins with the spirit of the learner.
How deep will that study be, and how much learning will be open to those who are led by the Spirit? The chapter concludes with a quotation from the prophet Isaiah: “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him?” (Isa. 40:13, NKJV). The prophet speaking to ordinary people of his day would say that no one can do that. But Paul corrected that perception by concluding, “We have the mind of Christ,” meaning that Spirit-filled Christians have access even to the mind of God, and thus to any amount of learning and understanding (1 Cor. 2:10-13) that would be needed to know the path of righteousness.