The Mind of Christ

Who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.
1 Corinthians 2:16

What does it mean that I have the mind of Christ? This is a verse that I have mindlessly quoted, but I have not fully absorbed what this gift of the mind of the Messiah means. The mind is the seat of reflective consciousness, comprising faculties of understanding, perception, feeling, judging, and determining. It encompasses much more than just mere reason. It is not so much of the “brain” as it is the personhood. The mind of Christ is the testimony of Christ in His Godhood. What does this mean for me today? I have the mind of Christ. Paul asserts that this is the case.

What is the context of this statement? Paul is talking to the church at Corinth, stating that he has not come under a false pretense of intellectualism or lofty words. He has come humbly, asserting that He wanted to know nothing but Jesus Christ the Messiah. He claims that his language and speech was not persuasive or meant to be performed in a great eloquent monologue. It was greater than that. It had the power of the Holy Spirit behind it. We see here the beginning of the development of the mind that Paul is portraying. This mind is not the same as the wisdom of men. It is more power-based than persuasion-rooted. The persuasion will pass away. There is a mind here that is interminable. This mind was once unavailable. It was top secret within the Godhead. It has always been in existence, but it has not always been accessible. Now it is.

This is a mind that eye has not seen and ear has not heard. It has never even been able to enter into the hearts of man. How, then, do we access this mind? This mind that is so obscure, evasive, and inaccessible? There is an inside link. The Holy Spirit that dwelt in Christ rests in us as believers, giving us the same mind that existed in the Son of God. This constant indwelling companion has unlimited access to the profound and bottomless riches of God’s wisdom and divine counsels. These are buried far beyond the fleshly man’s scrutiny.

Man is made in the image of God, and no one can access a man’s thoughts except his own mind. No one can access God’s thoughts unless they have direct contact with His mind. The amazing thing is this: We have this thing called the Spirit that is connected with the mind of God at all times. The Lord gave His Spirit so that we can realize and comprehend the mind of the Father. Only from the mind of the Lord God can come certain truths that are directly from His heart, His deepest, most profound secrets. The mind of Christ sometimes doesn’t speak our language. It is the language of the Spirit, sometimes unutterable.

The mind of Christ is not appreciated by the natural man. The thoughts of Christ make no sense to a man rooted in human reason. The knowing that the Spirit brings is progressive recognizing and discernment. It is a process. With the mind of Christ, the believer can examine all things in order to see the truth from the lie.

I have the mind of Christ, the messiah, and I hold the thoughts, feelings, and purposes of His heart.

What does this mean today for me? I don’t have to figure out this life thing out on
my own. I cannot figure life out alone. But I have access to the source of truth and light. The only way to discern the mind of Christ is to stay plugged in to the source. This new nature is bestowed to the believer at salvation. It is a mind of readiness, peace, wisdom, and truth. It is a mind that stood against temptation and won. It is a mind that bore the emotions of the cross and all of its passion. It is a mind that has overcome death and trampled it on the ground, making a public spectacle of it. It is the mind that will live eternally. That same mind lives in me. The Spirit of truth lives in me. I have the inside connection to the heart of God. The same power lives in me.