THE M OF CH
by Ling P
W
hat is the mind of God? What does God think about? And, more specifically, what is the mind of Christ? Do you know? Can we know God’s mind in the first place? Well, what does the Word of God say? Paul himself asks: “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him” (1 Corinthians 2:16, paraphrasing Isaiah 40:13). And yet, right after quoting from Isaiah, Paul continues: “But we have the mind of Christ.” Now, Paul is not making a distinction between the mind of God and the mind of Christ—as though they are two different things and we have one but not the other. In fact, we have the mind of God, through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit. It is true that we cannot know nor even get a glimpse of God’s mind, and we certainly cannot instruct Him. But Paul explains: “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” (2:11). But this Spirit of God has been given to us! Paul continues: “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” (2:12). Finally, he says: “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom
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THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN September/October 2023
