1 Corinthians 2:8-10 - No eye has seen, no ear has heard

2:8

“None of the rulers of this age understood it”. The rulers of this age, or the princes of this age, can refer both to the human rulers or the spiritual powers. In it might apply to both, for neither understood what was going on. Let’s look at the human rulers first. The chief priests didn't have a clue, they did not appreciate that they were killing the Son of God. They were so blinded by self-interest that they could not see that true salvation was at hand. The civic rulers were no better. Pilate and Herod did not appreciate what was going on. Satan was no wiser, he did not know that by crucifying the Lord he was merely completing his own defeat.

2:9

Paul now quotes from the Old Testament, as is his custom, this time from Isaiah 64:4. Or at least that is the best guess, there is no exact match in the Old Testament for this quote. Note the interesting focus, ie what God has prepared for His people. There can be a wrong sort of self-centeredness, seeing everything in terms of how it relates to me. However, it is equally wrong to ignore how central we are to God’s plans. We are the focus of His plans for the earth, and always have been. Moreover, this is vital for enabling us to persevere in a hostile environment. The forces of the world may be against us, may reject or even persecute us, but God has great plans for us. So we need not fear the world at all.

2:10

Human wisdom has not and cannot work out what God’s plans are, but this does not mean that we cannot know. For God has revealed His plans and purposes to us by His Holy Spirit. Indeed, this makes total sense. Man persists in thinking that he can work out what God is like, even what He should be like! But this makes no sense. If there is a God, then He created the whole universe, He sustains the whole universe. We have enough problems keeping ourselves together! So how can we, mere creatures, possibly imagine that we can work out how God should act? On the other hand, such a God is perfectly free to choose to reveal Himself to us, and that is what He has done in Christ.  “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God”. “Deep things” is often used of unfathomable things, so the Spirit reveals what human wisdom cannot work out for itself.