1 Corinthians 2:9

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, 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.   Paul made quite a statement here.  Paul said that there was no way for people to really understand all the things that God has already prepared for those that love Him.  We are not promised great riches here on earth, but we can rest assured in God's promise of an everlasting and abundant life through our faith in salvation through Christ.  Verse ten adds, But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.  Paul tells us that the only way to begin to understand God is through the Spirit of God.  We do not need to understand everything that heaven will be to understand the gift of salvation.  We are not told that the Spirit will reveal everything there is to know about God, because our finite minds could not comprehend it.  We, through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, should gain a greater knowledge of God every day.  We are told to grow in knowledge of God.  At the time of our salvation, we are as a newborn child, and we need to grow into mature Christians.  We cannot believe that since we are saved, born again into God's family, that we need not continue to learn more about God.  Verse eleven continues, For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Paul stated that the only way we can know the things of man is because we are born as humans.  The other animals cannot understand the things of man.  Likewise, we cannot begin to understand the things of God until we have received the Holy Spirit after our acceptance of Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse twelve states, Now 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.  As Paul stated then, we no longer live by the spirit of the world, but by the Spirit of God.  We have been changed into a new creature.  We can now freely understand the gifts that God has given us.  Until we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we may think the good things in life are something we earned, or that fate or luck gave them to us.  As followers of Christ, we know that all good things come from God.  Verse thirteen adds, Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  Paul stated here that Christians have a new message, not guided by the teachings of this world, but by the teachings of God, or the spiritual things.  We are not called on to prove Christ historically, but to believe Christ today through faith.  Verse fourteen continues, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  We cannot know the things of God until we accept salvation through Christ and are filled with and led by the Holy Spirit.  We cannot find God nor understand God unless we come to Him in faith believing in Christ as the only way to salvation.  Verse fifteen says, But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.  If we are living under the Lordship of Christ, we are able to judge all things as to whether they are right or wrong, and at the same time no one can judge us.  Christ alone has the authority to judge our actions, because we are bought by His sacrifice and sustained by the Holy Spirit.  Verse sixteen adds, For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.  Paul first asks who can know the mind of the Lord, and then answers that believers can, because they have the mind of Christ.  All of our thoughts and actions should be determined by following what we know Christ would have us do.