1 Corinthians 2:6-16. HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST

1 Corinthians 2:6-16                                 Kevin E. Jesmer 8-8-17

Key Verse: 2:16

“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (ESV)

Part 1: God’s Secret Wisdom (6-10)

God’s secret wisdom cannot be understood by people who love this world. God’s secrets are for those who love him. This fact is revealed in verses 6-10, “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. ⁷ But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 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.” (ESV)

God has is own wisdom. To those who don’t know him, the long-hidden secret is that God loves the world and sent his Son to die for the sins of all people. (John 3:16). Those who accept his Gospel, through faith, are forgiven and receive eternal life. This secret is revealed in Ephesians 3:6 which reads, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

 If the worldly rulers had known that Jesus was God’s way of redemption, they would not have crucified Jesus. The fact that they did crucify Jesus meant that they did not know why Jesus came to this world. They did not know who he was. They were in total darkness. They were lost ones.

The reason the worldly rulers just didn’t “get it” is that, to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God, we need the Spirit of God.  They just didn’t “get it” because God hadn’t given it to them. They needed their hearts made receptive by God’s Spirit and his word. Through faith, God gives his Spirit to those who repent and receive Christ. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”(John 1:12).

To us Christians, we ask,  “Why is this such a great secret? Isn’t it obvious?” It is not obvious to all. The secret knowledge of God must be imparted to the hearts of the people. It is God’s gift to believers. When God makes things clear then our spiritual eyes are opened and the Gospel becomes obvious.

We need to pray to have the mind of Christ. If there is any doubt that you don’t have the mind of Christ or you feel that you are lacking in understanding, please pray to the Lord, for his Spirit so that you will grow in wisdom and understanding. I think the worst thing we can do is just sit there in our own sense of self sufficiency and our own “human” wisdom. If we are going to mature spiritually, we need to look outside of ourselves to find wisdom that is greater than our own. Jesus once said that no servant is greater than his master. (Jn 15:20) If you want to grow you need to stop being your own master. Let Christ be your master and may he minister to you by his Spirit.

Receiving the wisdom of God is related to loving God. Look at verse 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.” We need to love God. To love God is impossible on our own. But we can love, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) He transforms our hearts so that we can love God. Then God is pleased to impart to us the secrets of the Kingdom of God.

The wisdom that God has for us is beyond our wildest dreams. Look at verse 9 again,  ^“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.'” The Kingdom of God…our personal relationship with Jesus Christ…the grace of God…our glorious hope…our glorious mission while living in this world…,Such things are beyond human comprehension. They are indeed treasures given freely by God to his children.

Red Cloud, a famous Aboriginal Leader of the Lakota tribe in the late 1800’s had a sense of treasures being not of this world. He said, “I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”  (Indian Life Newspaper, March 2013). He knew the truth about worldly riches. He knew there was something more important than worldly riches. Did he know what that was? I am not sure. But Jesus knows. Jesus teaches us to seek the kingdom of God. Matthew 6:19-21 reads, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (ESV) And verse 33 sums it up, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” May there be a huge movement among people of this land, to love God, to learn God’s secret wisdom and seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, (which is Christ).

 Part 2:  The Spiritual Person (11-16)

God reveals his wisdom to us by his Spirit. Look at verses 11-16, “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. ¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ^{16 ‘}For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” 

Natural people can not understand the things of God. Look at verse 14 again, “¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” People of this world judge everything by their pragmatic human wisdom, thinking about what is the best for them personally. They give no mind for the next world, which involves an eternal relationship with Christ and a living hope in the kingdom of God. The wisdom of God does not guide their thinking. They are helpless, sort of speak, for they cannot understand the things of God by worldly wisdom.

But God gives us his Spirit so that we may know his heart and mind and understand the Gospel.  We are born of the Spirit and become a spiritual person by his grace. The spiritual person is the one who has the mind of Christ. They can see things from God’s point of view. God reveals his wisdom to us by his Spirit, so that we can live according to God’s word Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” For Christians, this does not mean living by Old Testament law. It means being guided by the Spirit of God according to New Testament principles.

We may wonder how we can ever share the Gospel with those living without Christ. God will open up opportunities to share the Gospel with people. Look at verse 13 again, “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.” God goes on ahead of us and imparts his words into peoples’ hearts, by his Spirit. May we trust the Lord as we share his word with those around us.

Craig Smith, in his book, “Whiteman’s Gospel” refers to this passage when thinking about how to apply the Gospel to the culture of Native people. How much of the Native, non-Christian culture, can be embraced without compromising the universal core of Christ’s teachings? Smith states, “Our pursuit must be of Christ, and not culture. If culture is more consuming in our lives than Christ, we are not living a balanced Christian life.” (p. 125) He asks the question, “What Native American cultural issues are permissible in the Kingdom of God and which are not?” He concedes that the ultimate answer to this question is the Spirit of God. Smith says that the Spirit of God is ultimately able to deal with issues of culture and cultural practices. He states that the Christian church must keep this eternal principle in mind and understand where each person stands on the “cultural assimilation scale” which is either traditional, assimilated or marginal (p. 125). He states that Christians must preach Biblical truth, which transcends all culture and allow the Spirit of God to do the convicting and revealing to individual people. He says that just as the Native communities are diverse, not one form of ministry will be applicable to every community. The best person to say how to apply Christian teachings to a traditional community is a traditionalist guided by the Holy Spirit of God. Such a person will evaluate his culture in light of the Bible’s teaching and apply such teaching. This process should not be brought on by a person not familiar with the culture. Are we, as a church, able to let go and let God and be willing to let this happen? I pray so

Prayer: Lord, help me to grow in my love for you, and give me the mind of Christ.

One Word: Love God; have the mind of Christ