What does 1 Corinthians 2:9 mean?
Paul has been comparing human wisdom with God's wisdom in the previous verses. Human wisdom is based on what can be observed by the human senses and worked out from human logic and reason. It was highly valued by the intellectuals of Paul's day. Reason and knowledge are applauded in the Bible, but not given the same lofty status as they are in an ungodly world (Proverbs 1:5; Colossians 2:8).The problem with human wisdom is that it has no way of accessing God's wisdom. God's wisdom must be revealed and then believed or else it remains secret and hidden (Isaiah 55:8–9). God established His wisdom before time began. It always included His plan to sacrifice His own Son to pay for human sin and make it possible for those who believe to share in His glory forever. The rulers of this age could never have known that.
Paul now quotes from Isaiah 64:4 to sum up these ideas and reveal that the motive behind God's secret wisdom has always been to provide for His people. Isaiah wrote that no eye has seen, ear has heard, or human heart has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.
How could we know? Human wisdom can't bring us to the understanding that the Creator God loves His people or that He has prepared the glories of eternity to share with them. At best, we can understand this by the intellect. But we cannot trust in it without faith in God (James 2:19). We must believe by faith.
First Corinthians 2:6–16 describes the difference between human wisdom and God's wisdom. Human wisdom is limited to what can be observed and worked out with human reason. Scripture points out the value of reason and knowledge (Colossians 2:8; 2 Timothy 2:15), while demonstrating a difference between what man's mind can achieve and what God's Spirit can reveal. God's wisdom, including His plan to offer salvation through Christ's crucifixion, must be received and believed spiritually through God's Holy Spirit. Without the help of the Spirit, people cannot believe what is spiritual, so they reject all spiritual truth as foolishness. Christians, though, have access to the mind of Christ because of God's Holy Spirit with us.
When Paul first came to Corinth, he did not present the gospel to them with lofty speech and impressive arguments. He presented the truth as simply as he could so their faith would be based on God's power and not human wisdom. Only those with God's Spirit can understand the truths revealed by God, including Christ crucified for human sinfulness. Those without God's Spirit are limited to what can be observed and worked out with human reason. God's Spirit makes it possible for us to understand and believe spiritual things.
