Paul goes on to encapsulate his argument in [1 Corinthians] 2:12: “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.” The Spirit is given so that we might understand God’s purpose for (and our enrichment from) the death of the Messiah. The Spirit takes something that is senseless to the world and makes it ultimately purposeful and significant to the believer. Without the apocalyptic framework, however, this logic breaks down into mystical abstraction. The cross simply reveals divine attributes or moral principles. Indeed, the attributes of divine nature are revealed by means of the Spirit illuminating the cross, but those attributes are bound to redemptive history apocalyptically understood. The nature of God is known in the cross only in light of the day of God. For this reason, the debaters of this age and the rulers of this age walk about in ignorance and blindness concerning both Creator and creation. - John P. Harrigan