We Have the Mind of Christ
A short time back, I wrote pretty extensively about the beginning of 1 Corinthians, where Paul confronts the problem of disunity in the Corinthian church and urges people to look at the spiritual side of people rather than their physical attributes. Paul wraps up this section by saying that when he first came to Corinth, he didn’t come with lofty speech or wisdom; only the pure simplicity and power of the Gospel and the Spirit.
But, as it turns out, the letter doesn’t end there. In fact, it’s only the beginning, and starting at the sixth verse of the second chapter, we se the continuation.
1 Corinthians 2:6-7
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of the age.
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
I think this is interesting. Paul spent all of this time in the previous few verses talking about how it was important that he didn’t come with wisdom so that people would magnify God, but now he’s bringing wisdom?
Two things. First, he’s now with “the mature,” people who are less likely to get caught up in the “I follow Paul” and “I follow Peter” game. People who are hungrier for more about God, who want to go beyond the cross and know the Lord better. But, Paul is quick to point out that he’s not bringing any ordinary wisdom. It’s straight from God. We as humans have come up with some pretty decent philosophies, and we can sound pretty good when we spout them off. But stuff that we make up doesn’t really tell us a whole lot about God.
Trying to find out about God without any help from God is as foolish as trying to find out who acted in a certain movie without knowing what a movie is. If we had no concept of God (something much more complex than a movie), there’s not a chance that we could have figured things out on our own and with our own wisdom. Therefore, it’s good that Paul is imparting Godly wisdom.
Paul also states that this Godly wisdom is given to us for OUR glory. Isn’t that weird? We always talk about God’s glory and live for God’s glory and pray that “for thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever.” So what gives here? Well, this probably refers to the magnificence we’ll attain when we go to heaven. God declared things about Himself so that we might be able to know Him and know that we’ll need repentance so that we can share in His glory at the end of it all.
But how well have we understood this idea?
1 Corinthians 2:8
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
I guess we don’t always get it. The rulers of this age didn’t fully understand the wisdom of God in sending His Son, and they weren’t the only ones. Lots of other people wanted Jesus dead too. It’s useless to speculate about what would have happened if Jesus hadn’t been crucified, but to think that that would not have happened? That would imply that we wouldn’t have needed His salvation because we were so in tune with God. Amazing.
So, if understanding the wisdom of God is hard, then what hope do we have of understanding Him? We have the Bible, but lots of non-Christians read it and don’t get it. We have preachers and evangelists, but, like the prophets of old, people can hear their words and blatantly ignore them. What’s left?
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” -
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
The Holy Spirit! He’s the key to everything. We can read the Bible, but it’s the Spirit who convicts us and give us understanding. We can hear great sermons and apologetics, but it’s the Spirit who convicts us and gives us understanding. God reveals things to us through the Spirit, and that’s not just limited to the Bible and sermons. Things can be revealed in prayer, or even in things like visions and dreams, if the Spirit so desires.
Watch this, it gets even better:
1 Corinthians 2:11-13
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
Isn’t this great? Just as I am the only one (besides God) who knows what I am thinking at any given moment, God is the only one who knows what He is thinking. But God has chosen to give us the very thing that causes us to understand His thoughts! That’s so amazing!
But it’s not just enough to learn it. Right away, Paul says that they impart it in words, by the power of the Spirit, interpreting these truths to spiritual people who are hungry for it. Perhaps this is just because we’re in the context of Paul teaching the Corinthians, but perhaps it’s because Paul wanted to reinforce the basic truth that God needs to be shared. Sure, maybe the masses only need to hear the Gospel, but believers need to be fed with new and exciting truths about God. When it comes to Christianity, there are very few, if any, things that need to be kept a secret from everybody.
The last few verses in the chapter would ultimately distract us from the point repeated at the end of the 16th verse: “But we have the mind of Christ.” And this is what we need to remember. The very mind of Christ is inside of us; the Holy Spirit is alive inside of us, and that means we get to understand and interpret the words and wisdom that God gives us! This means that as we get closer to God, as we seek a greater presence of the Lord, we’re going to learn more and more about God, which will get us more excited about Him and give us more to share with others.
Praise God for that!
Grace and peace,
Brendan
