The Mind of Christ
1 COR. 2:6-16
The Mind of Christ
X. Intro: 3-d glasses, can’t see effect w/o ‘em, password clue reader, they’re there but can’t be seen without the special tool
XI. Scripture: 1Co 2:6-16 <<READ>>
XII. true wisdom isn’t discovered by human means
· Man can’t discover God; neither empirically (God’s truth is not observable by the eye or the ear, no matter how many sophisticated instruments we may use) nor rationally, or intuitively (God’s thoughts are not man’s thoughts.)
· It is impossible for a lesser creature to understand a more advanced one. For a dog to understand a man it would have to be at least as advanced as a man. How much greater distance is there between Creator and creature.
· God’s plans are unsearchable. So… if we believe in only what we can fully search out, we will never fully grasp God’s plan to bless us. Infinite vs. finite
· Not understanding by worldly wisdom, they crucified “the Lord of Glory.” Is this not a title for God alone?
· In general, people reject Scripture, and the truth about Jesus in general because it just seems silly to them; illogical or impossible. One could rephrase and say folks generally reject the truths of God that are too deep for them to understand, because they are too high to understand, and they are their own barometer for truth.
· W/o Spirit they seem foolish. Does salvation through Jesus and the cross seem foolish to you?
XIII. True wisdom must be revealed
· Common Marriage Problem, “mind-reading”
ILLUSTRATION: MIND READER
· Nobody can fully know another’s thoughts. In an even greater way, no one can fully know God’s thoughts, except God himself.
· Revelation required and given.
· Those receiving Jesus, have received the Spirit of God and can understand His thoughts. Thus we can understand spiritual truths and express them in spiritual words.
· Those without the Spirit of God, those not surrendered to Jesus as Lord and Master, cannot, because they are spiritually discerned.
· The Spirit will guide you into all truth.
· Father and children. Why can’t children understand why they can’t have that third piece of candy? Why they need to brush their teeth and bathe? Why do we waste so much time on preschool and kindergarten? Why don’t we just ship those 3 and 4 year olds right to grade school and get on with it?
· I am sorry to have to tell you, that with your reason the best you will do is to gnaw at the bark of truth without ever getting to the wood, unless you allow and desire God’s Spirit to take full control of your life. In other words, we children must seek an explanation from our Father, even though we cannot fully grasp all that our Father shares of his wisdom.
XIV. true wisdom allows appraising all things, without being appraised by others
· Discerned and judgment are the same word, and mean something like investigate until understanding, or appraising.
· Someone led by the Spirit of God is not subject to any lower judgment from a mere mortal. Even the church only brings to bear the Word of God that the Spirit would use it to instruct each one.
· We as illumined (fallibly) have the potential to understand anything by the Spirit who lives within us as believers. However, we cannot be ultimately judged by another, nor be the ultimate appraiser of another, as within we have God’s mind as our guide. Who can understand and lead better than God Himself?
· But, amazingly, we, cruddy weak believers that we are, have the very mind of Christ.