The Mind of God – A.S.K 13

 

READING: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

TEXT: … for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Why does it matter what God thinks?

This is the type of question that shows that the questioner is not really thinking, or does not really know what they are asking. It’s good that God is patient with us!

Imagine that you are going for an interview to get a job and you bump into someone who gives you an angry comment and asks you to watch where you are going. You turn to your friends and say, ‘Who does that guy think he is? Why should I care what he thinks?’ You then head into the interview room and the person you have just mocked is sitting behind the interview desk – he is the head of the company and the person who will decide whether to employ you or not. Suddenly it really does matter what he thinks!

When we ask the question, ‘Why does it matter what God thinks?’, it shows that we are not really aware of who God is, or indeed who we are. He is the Almighty God. He is our Creator. He is our Judge. One day we will have to stand before him and give account of everything we have done with all the good gifts he has given us – including the gift of our own life. We will also have to give account for every wrong action done, every cruel word spoken and every careless thought. In other words, it matters what our minds think about God, because his mind is infinitely greater and one day we will have to answer to him.

But it’s not just that one day we will have to answer on the day of judgement. It matters what God thinks because we need guidance and hope for today. Paul tells the Corinthians that the rulers of this age did not understand who Jesus was or what God was doing through Jesus and so they crucified the Lord of glory. But God intended even that most evil of deeds for good. ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things that God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9).

however great your thoughts and dreams, you can never out-think and out-dream what God has planned for you!

You and I will often dream and think about the good things that we have planned for our lives. Perhaps you would like to get married, or become rich, or become famous, or have children, or play for Barcelona (or Real Madrid!)? Here is the incredible thing – however great your thoughts and dreams, you can never out-think and out-dream what God has planned for you! That’s why it’s so important to know the mind of God, because it is so beautiful and good and pure – unlike any human mind. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’(Jeremiah 29:11).

‘How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!’ (Psalm 139:17). This is another wonderful thing. There is always more to learn. There is always deeper to go. God does not reveal everything to us all at once. God’s thoughts are like the drops of water in the ocean. They are too numerous to count and beyond compare. We will bathe in them for all eternity!

The question then arises: how do we know what God’s thoughts are? Paul answers. They are revealed to us by his Spirit. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. He teaches us, not in words that come from human teachers, but in words taught by the Spirit. That is why it is so important to realise that the Bible is not just something made up by human beings – it is the very words of God, given to us to reveal the mind of God.

When we have the Spirit of God, we accept his words and we are able to know the mind of Christ. As Paul tells us in Romans 12:2: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’

He tells the Philippians ‘to have the mind of Christ’ (Philippians 2:5). Isn’t it an absolutely incredible thing – not only that we can know what God thinks, but also as we grow and develop as Christians, that we can have the mind of Christ?

The great scientist Stephen Hawking asked the question: What is the purpose of the universe? He answered by saying: ‘If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would know the mind of God’. I think he really meant that we would become God. How sad that as an atheist he did not grasp that we do know the mind of God, not by human reason, but by God’s revelation.

God has told us what the purpose of the universe is – to glorify him and declare his praises. And to provide a home for us – the creatures he made in his own image! We have the mind of Christ.

CONSIDER: Once you know who God is, once you realise how your finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite mind of God, once you know that he is good and beautiful and love, then you will never ask why it is important to know the mind of God. The question won’t make any sense to you. Knowing Christ is everything.

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING: Discovering God’s Will – Sinclair B. Ferguson

PRAYER: O Lord God, you are beyond searching and yet you have created us with minds that do search. We bless you that you do not leave us to guess, but that in your mercy, through your Spirit and Son, you have revealed your will and your glory to us. O Lord, give us the mind of Christ. Amen.

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The Trinity – A.S.K 12