1 Corinthians 2:9 "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard..."

"But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him' – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God" (1 Cor. 2:9 NRSV).

Question:

 I have heard this repeatedly used at memorial services but don't know that I have ever heard it expounded upon in a sermon context.
 

Comment:

Paul is here quoting another source – and that source has been lost to us through time. It's not a biblical quote; the closest we could come would be Isaiah 64:4 – "from ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you" – but Paul would certainly quote more exactly if that were his intended reference.   In terms of the Letter to the Corinthians, Paul is earnestly trying to bring harmony to the divided and fractious church that he founded and left behind in Corinth. He urges them to "be united in the same mind and the same purpose" (1 Cor. 1:10). He contrasts his own commitment to the Christ against the teacher Apollos, who focuses on "wisdom." Paul first rather insults the Corinthians by telling them that they are too childish and imperfect to even begin to understand wisdom. "Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise" (1 Cor. 1:26-27). So it's not a question of having the wisdom to understand God or God's will for us. It's a question of having faith. It is foolish to attempt to figure out what God intends. The only wisdom worthy of the name is God's, and that is far beyond our mortal comprehension.   That's where the quote comes in, and Paul's point is pretty well summed up immediately afterward, in verse 11: "For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God."   There are many still today, I think, who believe that they “understand” the essence of God through their own increased awareness. Paul would undoubtedly say to them, as he writes to the Corinthians, that the Allness of God is infinitely greater than our attempts to understand. We sell ourselves seriously short if we limit ourselves to a good that we can imagine, instead of opening ourselves to the infinitely more that God is.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed