Holy Ghost Stories (5): The Mind of Christ -- November 1, 2009

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:

"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

(I Corinthians 2:6-16)

"What's on your mind?" Ever asked that, or been asked that question by a loved one? Miriam & I, we ask that of one another all the time. It's remarkable, really. We've known one another for most of our lives, all of our adult lives. We've been married 18 years, in love for 23. And yet, neither she nor I can really get into each other's heads. It's impossible. We have to ask: What are you thinking? What's on your mind?

What's even more amazing is that Paul says here in I Corinthians 2:16, "But we have the mind of Christ." How can that be? Well, we're going to just scratch the surface of that question this morning. But before we even get started, it needs to be said we're talking about deep, deep mystery here. And it all starts with the mystery and the wonder of the Holy Spirit of God actually inhabiting, indwelling the believer's own heart and mind. Because, even as we contemplate this deep mystery of somehow possessing the mind of Christ, there's even deeper love, joy and assurance.

So what does it mean to have the mind of Christ? Well, for one thing, as we look at vs.6-8, it involves the mysterious wisdom of God. Vs.6-8, and vs.12 & 14 for that matter, describe this wisdom as something the world will simply not get or understand. But it isn't merely a puzzle, either. Vs.7 says, "No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." Where the NIV translation renders "God's secret wisdom", the Greek word Paul is using there is actually mustaarion, from which we get our word mystery. But this word has nothing of the mysterious in our sense of the word. We're not talking about some grand divine puzzle that people find really difficult to solve. No, instead we're talking about a secret which a person is totally unable to penetrate. But it's a secret that God has now revealed. Aussie scholar Leon Morris says it's a word that points to humankind's impossibility of knowing God's secret, and to the love of God that makes that secret known.

It's "hidden", and folks outside of Christ are still in the dark about it, but it's been revealed to believers, not as some afterthought, but as the last part of vs.7 says, revealed for our glory "before time began". We're talking about big-time mystery here, so much so that if you think about it long enough, it'll make your head hurt. But it's really a message for the heart: As Morris says, "From before all time He was concerned for our well-being, and planned the gospel that we should enter into our glory." Not as an after-thought, but God had us, those who place their trust in Jesus, before time began. Having the mind of Christ means to realize that as those who trust and follow Jesus, we are people of great destiny.

Vs.9-10 continues that thought, but draws us in even further. Listen to this - if this doesn't make your heart go just a little bit faster, maybe you should check that pulse:

"'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him' - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." Aren't those some great thoughts? What Paul is saying in vs.9 is that there is no mode of apprehension available to us, eyes, ears nor understanding, which can give us any idea of the wonderful things God already has in store for those who love Him. That's what makes loving Jesus above all and everything and everybody so marvelous! "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"! Given what we're in for, given what God in Christ has prepared for us, who can imagine loving anyone or anything any more? Where's the wisdom in that!?!

And you older folks will probably appreciate this illustration a little bit more - but think about the perspective you've gained on your life. Think about it. Miriam's grandmother, who was a great-grandmother at the time in her 90's used to talk about how it seems as if it was just yesterday when she was a little girl. Ever felt like that? And you know the thought tat comes next, don't you? If I only knew then, what I know now!

Now, I say this reverently, but take that kind of experience and think about it from God's perspective in eternity. From that perspective, eternity's just a moment away. And God has such marvelous, marvelous, wonderful things in store for us! It's gonna blow us away! No eye has ever seen what God has in store for, not just anybody, but for those who love Him - no ear's ever heard, no heart or mind has ever conceived! But if we only knew now what we'll know then!! Maybe, just maybe, that relationship, that boat, that car, that career isn't nearly as important as you think. Maybe, just maybe, it'd be far, far wiser to invest in the things of God rather than the things of men.

I remember one time, I was having one of those "neat" conversations with my Dad. And I love and respect my Dad so much - and one of the things I love about him most is his honesty. And one time, we were talking, I think we were in the car going someplace, and we were talking about eternity. And for those who don't know, Dad's got a terminal disease and we all know that his time on this planet is pretty limited. And we were talking about eternity, and Dad was wondering, questioning really, what it was really going to be like.

In that moment, I had a stroke of inspiration. I said, "Dad, do you remember what Sunday brunch was like at Muskoka Baptist Conference was like?" Remember, how could we forget? Sunday brunch at MBC is paradise. We'd get up early and go to the early service so we could get a place at the early sitting. They had fruit galore, they had toast, they had coffee, they had seafood, they had roast beef - roast beef, people - for brunch!! They had two stations there, and this kid would make you an omlette, just for you, any way you'd like it. I'd always joke & kibbutz & compliment the kid makin' the omelet, I figured the more I did that, the more I got him on my side, the better my omelet would be! And then, when it came to him asking me what I'd like in my omelet, I'd say, I want it all, baby, I want it all. I mean, half the time, I didn't even have room for dessert!!

So I said, "Dad, do you remember the Sunday brunch at MBC?" He kinda smiled and said, "Yeah..." "Well," I said, "Sunday brunch at MBC won't be able to hold a candle to what we'll experience with Jesus in eternity." And ... it's true. For, "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." Perspective. The Spirit searches the deep things of God, and gives us perspective.

Let me ask you a question: If you haven't already done so, if today was the day you said "yes" to Jesus Christ, do you think it would just be a decision you made one Sunday morning? Think about any of the ways we deepen our life in God: Do you think it's just a Bible study or small group? Is this just a worship service? Is it just a time of prayer? Is it just a quiet time? Is it just a gesture or routine to help or give to the poor? Is it just a conversation about Jesus? Is it just a song? Is it just a visit? Not if you're doing it to express your love for God. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. Perspective. That's a part of what it means to have the mind of Christ.

And then, finally, the Spirit of God doesn't just reveal a snippet of what's to come, but He also shows us what we already have in Jesus. Look with me at vs.12. We'll talk a little bit about the verses around vs.12, but we'll focus mainly on vs.12. It says, "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what he has freely given us." Did you get that? We get the Spirit to understand what He has freely given us. The Spirit is given to help us understand what we're given.

First, a bit of a homey example, then we'll go a little deeper: A few years ago, at our Carter family gift exchange, my big sister, Phyl, gave me a crokenole board. Ever played crokenole? I tore off the Christmas wrapping. I opened up the box. I took out the board. I still didn't know what it was. "What is it?" "It's a crokenole board, silly!" Phyl exclaimed, "Haven't you ever played crokenole? It's a lot of fun!!" She tried to explain it. I didn't get it. Probably, when I was very young when they played it, I was too little and folks were probably scared I'd confuse the game pieces for candy. Now we play it all the time, and if you don't know what it is, it really is a lot of fun! But that Christmas, I received a gift, but I didn't really understand what it was.

Well, the spiritual life can be a lot like that. We receive this totally free gift of salvation. We're told Jesus died and rose again to save us, to set us free, to liberate us to live for Him. And perhaps we say, "I get it, I get it." But even though you & I may have taken that step to accept Him, in many, many ways, we really don't get it, even though we got it.

Do you know what the Holy Spirit does for us? He helps us to really get it. And as Paul says in vs.11, just like any one of us knows what's going on in our spirit, so the Holy Spirit of God knows what's going on in God's Spirit. And this same Holy Spirit helps us understand what He has freely given us. It's an amazing thing: Not only does the Spirit convey to us the conviction, or if you like, the judgment of God, but He also helps us understand the grace of God. Part of having the mind of Christ entails understand under the Spirit's wisdom and guidance all that He has given to us.

But to really mine all these riches, to really glean all this, you and I have to go deeper. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. But to really appreciate it, we have to be willing to go there - be willing to go deeper in prayer, in the Word, in seeking out this Spirit who draws us deeper into the mind of Christ.

But with this seeking out, comes this deep, deep sense of assurance in your life and mine. The Spirit truly helps us to understand all that God has given us - even the deep things of God. This word Paul uses for "deep" in vs.10 was actually originally used to describe the depths of the ocean, the depths of the "deep". The Spirit wants to take us into the deep things of God, but we need to be willing to go there. But as we go deeper, great, great assurance comes - real knowledge, real certainty in Christ.

In researching this message I re-read some parts of J.I. Packer's book on the Puritans called A Quest for Godliness - I was looking for some smokin' quote to bring this all home. I didn't find that quote. Instead, I gleaned a key insight about the Christian's assurance of being saved, the Christian's assurance of really knowing God. And the insight is simply this: Assurance doesn't often come immediately in the Christian life. For some, it may. But for most, assurance, assurance given in and through the power of the Spirit doesn't come at the "front end" of things. Most often, Christian assurance comes as the reward of faith - as we go deeper in the Word, deeper in trusting Jesus, deeper in holiness, deeper in serving Him - then assurance comes. We take that gift home. We take it out of the box. We use it. And that Gift becomes more and more precious with every passing day. And we get bigger and better in Jesus as the Spirit brings home to our hearts all that God has freely given us.

One of the great preachers of yesteryear, Donald Grey Barnhouse, tells the story of meeting one of the cleaning staff in a motel in Arkansas. He left his Bible by the typewriter and told her to just leave it there. She seemed immediately interested, so he asked her, "Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?"

She said, "Oh, yes, I know Him. I couldn't have lived without Him. My mother died when I was a little girl, and He has been my help through all my life." Barnhouse then asked, "And are you sure that you are trusting Him as your own personal Savior?" "Oh, Mister," she said, "I don' have t' reckon. I know." And in the conversation that followed, Barnhouse saw her clear knowledge of the Savior, clear insight into spiritual life and clear certainty of full assurance of eternal life. (D.G. Barnhouse, Let me Illustrate, pg.23)

That's a part of what it means to have the mind of Christ: It probably isn't that the Christian is able to understand all of the thoughts of Christ. But the indwelling Holy Spirit reveals Christ, and assures us of our safety in Him. This isn't something this old world can give. But it's something only the Spirit of God provides: Perspective, assurance, we have been given the mind of Christ by faith, giving us an awesome Spirit-empowered assurance.

For further study and discussion, see: Life Group questions.