EARLY CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIANS , as they struggled to develop a comprehensible Doctrine of God, have long developed and described the qualities of God as omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. For the rest of us, that gives us glimpses of God as all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. In addition, they developed a description of the mystery of God’s triune nature: that he is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, of one essence but three distinct personalities.
Paul says, in relation to this, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” (Rom. 1:20) He also surfaces for us how close God is to us. God’s all-present quality is made clear in Jesus; Paul says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Col. 1:15). With this view, God’s presence changes in our minds from transcendent to immanent, from far away to very close. Here also Paul also gives us a keener understanding of God’s all-powerful quality, displayed in Jesus, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Col. 1:16; c.f. Prov. Ch. 8) Also in this same passage, Paul clearly infers that the all-knowing aspect of God, his Spirit, is present in Jesus. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” (Col. 1:19)
This ‘fullness of God’ is the great gift, himself as Holy Spirit, that is given to us in our new birth in Christ (c.f. John 3:5-7). Of him, Jesus, in whom all fullness dwells, says to us, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) And so we arrive at a better understanding of what Paul expresses to us about the person of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” (1 Cor. 2:10-12)
We are stunned, as well we should be, when a true recognition of the fact that the fullness of God dwells within us becomes ours experientially through Christ. It is not that we will ever attain this fullness, but that this incredible mystery continues to unfold within us by God’s graceful progressive revelation of himself in our day-to-day life, especially so as we walk it in faith and obedience. When we stumble, we remember, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Rom. 8:26) When we are restored from some foolishness, healed from some malady or malaise, and are refreshed and upwelling in gratitude, we exclaim, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord?” (Rom. 11:33-34)
Maintaining the fullness of God within is necessarily a moment-by-moment discipline for Christ-followers. Paul says “The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment.” (1 Cor. 2:15) The spiritual man makes ‘judgments’ about all things; that is, he makes wise decisions based on the all-knowing wisdom aspect of the Spirit of God within him. He is not subject to the ‘judgments’ of the unspiritual man, whose application of his self-knowledge often is exercised in legalistic ‘judgments’ rendering condemnation of others. Paul explains, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” (Gal. 5:16-18) Paul concludes, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16)
Paul, like all the writers of the N.T., and this is also extremely characteristic of Jesus, often quotes the O.T. When he refers to the mind of Christ, he is most likely drawing from the prophet Jeremiah. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” (Jer. 9:23-24) Just as the fullness of God is displayed mercifully and clearly in the covenant of Grace through Jesus, so it was neither fully nor intentionally hidden under the old covenant of the law. “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Jer. 23:19)
Father, thank you for your trustworthiness, your integrity, your consistency. “I the Lord do not change.” (Mal. 3:6) “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) Thank you that through you and by you we find salvation in Jesus. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Father, thank you for life itself and for life in the Spirit. “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7) “Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:21-22)
Q. What parts of my mind are not the mind of Christ, and what must I do about this?
Leave a Reply