When The Perfect Comes

Love never fails ...

but if there are gifts of prophecy, 
they will be done away.

if there are tongues, they will cease.

if there is knowledge, 

it will be done away. 

For we know in part and 

we prophesy in part

but when the perfect comes, 

the partial will be done away.  

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

From a human perspective, knowledge is power ...
and to a degree, rightly so. But here God points out that our knowledge is limited and that when our perfect knowledge comes … our worldly knowledge will be done away with.

In heaven the knowledge that we have gained here on earth will be done away with and replaced with the perfect knowledge that God provides us. The unanswered questions that hinder our current thinking will be completely done away with. We will know and speak with absolute authority. We will fully know ourselves as God has fully known each of us. This depth of our new knowledge is beyond our human comprehension. But then … we will just know.

At that point, our knowledge will be greater than ...
all of the wisest men who have ever lived combined.

Does this mean we will be all knowing like God? No … only God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. There is only one all powerful Creator God. But we will know everything there is to know, about everything God determines that we need to know.

When the perfect comes we will have Perfect Knowledge. 
There will not be a single flaw in our knowledge and understanding … 
it will be perfect.

So then how important is the knowledge we have gained in our life on earth? What does this have to do with us here and now? The point is that there is a huge difference between what we know now and what we will know then. To be able to speak with absolute perfect knowledge here in our lives today would bring untold success and power in everything we do.

Think about it. On the basis of His absolute truth and love; two thousand years later, Jesus has had more positive influence on mankind than all others before and after him combined. On the other hand by comparison ... here is what God says about the wisdom of man. “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness and again, "the Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”  1 Corinthians 3:18-20

When the perfect comes, in a way similar to when we change the operating system on a computer, all of the knowledge we have learned here will be trashed and replaced with God's perfect knowledge. No mistakes, wrong thoughts, bad ideas, or false thinking.

That will be great when we get to heaven … but how does this help us here and now? God’s Word tells us we can know the perfect here and now and we can fix our knowledge point by point.

The teaching of Jesus is clear on this Truth. 
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 and  “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. John 15:26-27 and “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7

There you have it, Jesus says that we are better off with the help of the Holy Spirit who abides with us and will be in us; than the apostles were in person as they walked with Jesus daily. Born Again Christians already have the wonderful counselor living within us and guiding us with His Perfect Knowledge moment by moment, day by day.The problem is that many choose to disregard His perfect counsel and absolute never-ending Truth.

But wait a minute you say, I’m a Christian and Jesus says I have His Holy Spirit in me, so why do I continue to make the wrong decisions?

Jesus speaks through the Apostle Paul here:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and PERFECT.” Romans 12:2

There is that miraculous absolute again. “That you may prove what is … PERFECT”

How can we prove that which is perfect? 
THREE STEPS --- 1. Don’t be conformed, 2. be transformed, and 3. renew your mind.

Change is a three step process. Ephesians 4:22-24
  1. Put off the ways of this world
  2. Put on God’s eternal Truths
  3. By the renewing of your mind

Well now that pretty much goes against everything we have learned in the world, doesn’t it? It is no wonder many of us do not take this instruction seriously. That is really difficult. Paul says; “and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.We can find perfect knowledge here and now … one principle at a time, but we must make a decision to no longer be self centered and conformed to the world.

As born again Christians, God wants us to be in the world, but no longer of the world. 
This requires humility, point by point. 

And that is --- When The Perfect Comes.

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

God Bless you my friends, Bob