“In 1 Corinthians 2:9, what is ‘the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him’ referring to?”

“But as it is written, 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).

This verse is commonly interpreted to refer to the glories of heaven which none has seen nor heard. Once we get a meaning for a verse in our minds, it is often difficult to dislodge it and consider any other meaning.

However, here Paul wrote about the truths of the Mystery that have been revealed to those who love the Lord in this dispensation of grace. “The things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” were not seen nor heard in the past, and they never “entered into the heart of man” because they were “hid in God” (Eph. 3:9) and were never before revealed. But Paul writes in the next verse in 1 Corinthians 2:10: “But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” Now the Mystery has been fully revealed! Now we see and know the things God has prepared for us as members of the Body of Christ through the Holy Spirit via illumination to His Word.

Paul’s point here is not the things in heaven God has prepared for us. Rather, it is that God has fully revealed to us His formerly-hidden wisdom, the Mystery and the dispensation of grace. God has revealed to us our heavenly calling and our blessed hope (Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:13) which He “hath prepared” and “ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7), and we can see it, know it, and enjoy it right now!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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