Words for The Wise, No Eye has seen, 1 Corinthians 2 The Voice

1 Corinthians 2 The Voice (VOICE)

2 My brothers and sisters, I did not pose as an expert with all the answers. I did not pretend to explain the mystery of God with eloquent speech and human wisdom. 2 I claimed to know nothing with certainty other than the reality that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who was crucified on our behalf. 3 I was moved to utter despair during my time with you. I would find myself trembling in dread and fear. 4 The sermons I preached were not delivered with the kind of persuasive elegance some have come to expect, but they were effective because I relied on God’s Spirit to demonstrate God’s power. 5 If this were not so, your faith would be based on human wisdom and not the power of God.

Christianity is not merely a set of ideas and propositions. One can agree with all the truths in the Bible and still miss the power of God. Paul knows the brothers and sisters in Corinth might attempt to reduce Christianity to a new philosophy based on human understanding, but the power of God cannot be fully grasped by our eight-pound brains. We must approach God humbly as creations, not as those aspiring to fully explain the Creator of the universe.

6 However, in the presence of mature believers, we do impart true wisdom—not the phony wisdom typical of this rebellious age or of the hostile powers who rule this age. Despite what you may think, these ruling spirits are losing their grip on this world. 7 But we do impart God’s mysterious and hidden wisdom. Before the ages began, God graciously decided to use His wisdom for our glory. 8 This wisdom has not been grasped by the ruling powers of this age; if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. 9 But as the Scriptures say,

No eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard

    and it has never occurred to the human heart

All the things God prepared for those who love Him.[a]

10 God has shown us these profound and startling realities through His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep mysteries of God. 11 Who can see into a man’s heart and know his thoughts? Only the spirit that dwells within the man. In the same way, the thoughts of God are known only by His Spirit. 12 You must know that we have not received the spirit of this rebellious and broken world but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may experience and comprehend the gifts that come from God. 13 We do not speak of these gifts of God in words shaped by human wisdom; we speak in words crafted by the Spirit because our collective judgment on spiritual matters is accessible to those who have the Spirit. 14 But a person who denies spiritual realities will not accept the things that come through the Spirit of God; they all sound like foolishness to him. He is incapable of grasping them because they are disseminated, discerned, and valued by the Spirit. 15 A person who walks by the Spirit examines everything, sizing it up and seeking out truth. But no one is able to examine or size up that kind of spiritual person, 16 for the Scripture asks, “Does anyone know the mind of the Lord well enough to become His advisor?”[b] But we do possess the mind of the Anointed One.

Dictionary of Bible Themes

7027 church, purpose and mission of

The church is called to praise and glorify God, to establish Jesus Christ’s kingdom, and to proclaim the gospel throughout the world.

God’s purposes for the church

To praise God 1Pe 2:9 See also Eph 1:5-6,11-12,14; Heb 13:15; 1Pe 2:5

To share God’s glory Ro 8:29-30 See also Mt 13:43; Jn 17:24; Ro 9:23; 1Co 2:7; Php 3:21; Col 3:4; 2Th 2:14; Rev 2:26-27; Rev 3:4-5,21

God will build his church Mt 16:18-19 See also Mt 27:40 pp Mk 15:29; Jn 2:19-22; 1Co 3:9; Eph 2:21-22; Eph 4:11-13; Heb 3:3-6; 1Pe 2:5

To challenge Satan’s dominion Eph 3:10-11 “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” refers to the powers of evil. See also Mt 16:18; Eph 6:12; 1Jn 2:14

To go into the world in mission 2Co 5:18 See also Mt 5:13-16; Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; Lk 24:48; Jn 20:21; Ac 1:8; Php 2:15-16; Col 1:27

The church’s mission

To preach the gospel to the world Mk 13:10 pp Mt 24:14 See also Mt 28:19; Lk 24:47; Jn 10:16; Ac 13:47

To do good to all Gal 6:10 See also Mt 25:37-40; Lk 6:35; Ac 9:36; Eph 2:10; 1Ti 6:18; Jas 1:27; 1Pe 2:12

Images of the church’s mission Mt 5:13-16; Jn 15:5-8 A fruitful plant in a fruitless world: Mt 7:18-19; Ro 7:4; Eph 5:9-10; Php 1:11; Col 1:6,10; Jas 3:17 Salt in an insipid world: Mk 9:50; Lk 14:34-35 Light in a dark world: Ro 13:12-14; Eph 5:8; Php 2:15; 1Th 5:5-6

The growth of the church

Numerical growth among the first Christians Ac 11:21 See also Ac 2:41,47; Ac 4:4; Ac 5:14; Ac 6:1,7; Ac 9:31,42; Ac 11:24; Ac 12:24; Ac 13:49; Ac 16:5; Ac 17:4; Ac 18:8; Ac 19:20

The church is to grow to maturity Eph 4:12-13 See also Php 1:6; Php 3:13-15; 2Th 1:3

Aspects of growth Growth in character: 2Co 9:10; 1Th 3:12 Growth into Christ: Eph 4:15; Col 1:10; 2Pe 3:18

Heb 6:1 growth in understanding

Prayers for the growth of the church Eph 3:14-19 See also Eph 1:17-19; Php 1:9-11; Col 1:9-12; 1Th 3:11-13; 2Th 1:11-12

Visions of the church’s final destiny

Rev 7:9-10 John’s vision of the church in glory. See also Mt 24:31; Jn 10:16; Eph 1:10; 1Th 4:16-17; Heb 12:22-23; Rev 21:2

The Bible Panorama

1 Corinthians 2

V 1–5: RESOLVE Paul’s determined resolve in preaching to the Corinthians is never to parade his excellent vocabulary or wisdom, but to concentrate solely on ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’. He admits that he feels his great weakness, fear, and trembling and that it is not human wisdom or persuasion that gives power to the message, but the Holy Spirit, as he concentrates on the message of the cross, the true preaching of which always is accompanied by God’s power to save.

V 6–10: REVELATION God’s revealed wisdom is shared with those who are spiritually mature. The world has rejected this wisdom and this is why ‘the Lord of glory’, the Lord Jesus Christ, was crucified. But, through His Spirit, God has revealed the truths of His word and the blessings He has prepared for His redeemed people. The same Holy Spirit, who reveals the word of God, is at work in the hearts of men to reveal to them their sin and need for this gospel of Christ crucified.

 V 11–15: RECEPTION The Christian has received ‘the Spirit who is from God’ who teaches him both the truth about God and the truth about himself, underlines his need, and intensifies his desire for God’s revelation through His word. The unconverted man (the ‘natural man’) cannot understand these things, because they are spiritually discerned and only become real to a person who has turned from sin and received the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ. God’s enlightenment follows the receiving of the Holy Spirit in conversion.

 V 16: RÉSUMÉ No one can have God’s mind unless he or she has been converted. The simplest person who trusts Christ, through grace, receives ‘the mind of Christ’ within through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.