“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor 2.9).
These words are often interpreted as referring to the future glories of Heaven, and no doubt they fit in well thus, but could it be said that “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit”, and would they be described as “the deep things of God” (v 10)? Such an expression could hardly refer to anything but the things of Christ and, in reality, we know little positively of Heaven or its glories, except by inference. Nor does this reference agree either with the immediate context in 1 Corinthians 2, for Heaven is not mentioned in the chapter, nor with that of Isaiah 64, from whence the words are quoted.
Isaiah 64 begins with the earnest cry of certain godly Israelites for deliverance from their enemies by judgment upon them: “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down” (Isa 64.1), and along lines well known in the past; “When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for” (v 3), referring (it would seem) to their deliverance from Egypt. The first word in verse 4, “For” could be translated ‘But’, and should be, I believe, here, as it marks better the contrast between their present circumstances and what God had in store for them. But God will not merely repeat Himself. He promises something hitherto undreamt of, and passing all conception: something that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived.
Adam no doubt beheld wonderful things in the earthly paradise, and Moses from Mount Pisgah. The Old Testament prophets saw marvellous visions, heard wonderful words and had conceptions of divine truth exceeding great, but God had “prepared for them that love him” something greater and better. Now what are these things? To answer the question we must go back to the beginning of the chapter. There we read the well-known words of the apostle, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2.2). This has sometimes been wrongly interpreted as including the whole compass of Christian testimony, but clearly it is not so; important though it be, it represents only the foundation; there is much beside to be built on it. This the apostle indicates in verses 6 and 7: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect [that is, who were no longer babes or immature in the faith] … the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.” Had the princes of this world known that wisdom, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (v 8), for in Him are “hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2.3), far surpassing anything that man had hitherto seen, or heard, or conceived.
No, this only is fulfilled in Christ, who is “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1.21, 24; 2.7): He alone hath declared the Father (Jn 1.18), but He did it perfectly so that He could say “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (14.9). But an infinite Person alone can reveal the Infinite. He was the daysman, whom Job longed for (Job 9.33), who as truly man could put His hand on man and, as truly God, on God. Hence we find that the Spirit continually prefaces His qualities and attributes with terms expressive of infinity. His love “passeth knowledge” (Eph 3.19); He is God’s “unspeakable gift” (2 Cor 9.15); His riches are “unsearchable” (Eph 3.8); peace through Him “passeth all understanding” (Phil 4.7); and His resources are inexhaustible (Eph 3.20). The greatness of His Person guarantees the efficacy of His work.
Wm Hoste BA, Editor, Believer’s Magazine, December 1934
