The biblical text to which I refer is found in the first epistle of the apostle Paul to the community of faith in Corinth, where we read properly:
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. 1st. Corinthians 2:9
And it is a direct reference to the writings of the prophet Isaiah, when he writes:
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Isaiah 64:4 (65:17)
It is a text well known to all those who militate in the ways of faith, but what does it mean?
I’d like to give you a non-theological explanation of the text. One of these mornings as I was praying to the Lord, asking Him about the need we have throughout the world for the Revelation of the Good News to reach more and more people, He made me understand that the Revelation of the Gospel is not established on earth, not because of the absence of proclaimers of the Kingdom, but because of the lack of understanding we have about how to live the life of Heaven on earth, and this because of impediments we have to “see”, to “hear”, and to “receive” the Revelation of God in our hearts.
The life of faith is a life of conviction, that knowledge we have understood; but since faith is not a human elaboration but the effect of the establishment of the Spirit of Truth through the Word of God (John 8:32), the life of faith is the life of Heaven’s standards of living, on earth of course.
Then, things that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, means to live no more by the things that are proper to our existence, and to substitute them by the spiritual realities under which it is lived in Heaven. It is a substitution of models of life, it is a matter of making material things disappear, that is, the most immediate things, those things by which we have learned to live, those that were part of the essence of our existence, and learning to live by the rules of life of the existence of Heaven; we had already been exhorted to this by the apostle Paul, when he instructed the community of Colosse:
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
Things that eye did not see, nor ear heard, nor have risen in the heart of man, means not being affected, negatively and/or positively, by the factors of atheistic social existence under which one lives existentially, but, above all, understanding that human experiences are deformed realities that need to be transformed into “holy” realities; this activity is properly the process of Evangelization, that is, the process by which the reality of people together with their circumstances is transformed.
Only the man/woman of faith has the authority and power to transform deformed realities and make them precedents for acts of faith by which others can see, hear and receive into their hearts the transforming Grace; of this also the apostle teaches, and writes:
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Ephesian 4:28
Things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, means the constant activity of establishing the instructions of the doctrine of Christ; it means understanding and acting on what Jesus taught when at the beginning of His ministry He established the basis of the Gospel: Ye have heard that it was said, …But I say unto you.
Revelation will not come until we make the “switch” of life intentionality, everything begins with the decision to change according to the instructions of the Spirit by the Word, as it is written:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
Things eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have they entered into the heart of man, is the operation of the Spirit whereby man is freed from his religious bonds, and led by the Spirit Himself to establish understanding of Life in all his activities. May the Lord give you understanding.
The biblical quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
Pastor Pedro Montoya
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