QUESTION: In 1 Corinthians 2:9 it is written that "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." Is it possible even now to know some of these things that God has prepared for us?

ANSWER: Yes. Your good question is really answered by reading the above verse with the verse that follows it. Here they are together. "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. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." This is one of those wonderful "But God" statements found in the Scriptures.

The subject of much of this chapter in 1 Corinthians is the wisdom of God, which was a secret or mystery not revealed in Old Testament times. Actually the verse you have called our attention to is a quotation from Isaiah 64:4. During the time that the prophet Isaiah lived, many of the precious truths which we have in the New Testament were not revealed to the saints in Old Testament times. They were a secret or mystery. Can we know these wonderful things now? Yes. God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit.

When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our bodies. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19; John 14:17).

Now in the New Testament we have these wonderful things that God had prepared for those who love Him and we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us so that we can enter into them. (We do need to remember, however, that what was written in the Old Testament was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope (Romans 15:4).

Here are a just a few of the many things that God has prepared for us that were a secret or mystery in Old Testament times.

1. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have been made members of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 5:30).

2. We are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). Loved as Christ is loved (John 15:9).

3 Through Christ both Jew and Gentile have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Ephesians 2:18).

4. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).

5. God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

6. We can enjoy the peace of God which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

7. We are waiting to meet the Lord in the air and spend eternity with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

In order to enjoy these things that God has prepared for us, we need to read the Word of God, meditate upon these things and pray about them. The indwelling Holy Spirit will then take these things and make them real to our souls. Then we can enjoy them and walk through this present evil world in the power of them.

—John D. McNeil