There is, then, a distinction between the wisdom of God and that of this world. How, then, can we attain unto the higher life,—to the real, the true wisdom? There are things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, which eyes should see and ears hear, and these “God hath revealed unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
To man, then, if born of the Spirit, is given a spiritual eyesight which pierces infinitude, and enables the soul to commune with the Author of all things. No wonder the realization of such possibilities within himself led the psalmist to exclaim, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it.” And Paul himself exclaimed, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!... For who hath known the mind of the Lord?” “The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” And “we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” Hence to us is given the power to commune with Him and to search into the mysteries of the otherwise unfathomable.
Dealing with wisdom is education. If it be the wisdom of the world, then it is worldly education; if, on the other hand, it is a search for the wisdom of God, it is Christian Education.
Over these two questions the controversy between good and evil is waging. The final triumph of truth will place the advocates of Christian education in the kingdom of God. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
That education which links man with God, the source of wisdom, and the author and finisher of our faith, is a spiritual education, and prepares the heart for that kingdom which is within.
II
THE HEAVENLY SCHOOL
God’s throne, the center around which circled the worlds which had gone forth from the hand of the Creator, was the school of the universe. The Upholder of the worlds was Himself the great Teacher, and His character, love, was the theme of contemplation. Every lesson was a manifestation of His power. To illustrate the workings of the laws of His nature, this Teacher had but to speak, and before the attentive multitudes there stood the living thing. “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.”[3]
Angels, and the beings of other worlds in countless numbers, were the students. The course was to extend through eternity; observations were carried on through limitless space, and included everything from the smallest to the mightiest force, from the formation of the dewdrop to the building of the worlds, and the growth of the mind. To finish the course, if such an expression is permissible, meant to reach the perfection of the Creator Himself.