The mind of Christ

1. At least four times in the New Testament we read about the “mind of God.”

2. Romans 8:6 and Rom. 8:27 mention the “mind of the Spirit.”

3. We have in Rom. 11:34 “the mind of the Lord.”

4. The “mind of the Lord” and the “mind of Christ” can be found in 1 Cor. 2:16.

SINCE THE NEW TESTAMENT SPEAKS ABOUT THE MIND OF DEITY, MIGHT ASK WHAT IS THE “MIND OF GOD” OR THE “MIND OF CHRIST.”

a) This is a subject we can understand.

b) Paul said he and others “had the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), our Scripture reading.

c) A variety of passages help us understand Jesus’ mind.

d) Part of our insight into Jesus’ mind is found in the book of Philippians (Phil. 2:5-11).

2) Paul said “have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

3) Paul then used this passage to partially explore for us the mind of Christ.

a) In Phil. 2:6 Paul said the mind of Jesus was unselfish.

b) Jesus was deity, but He did not count His deity as something to be “grasped.”

c) Rather than retaining the glory and honor of deity, Jesus emptied Himself of these things.

d) Jesus remained deity, but His glory was set aside so He could come and serve.

e) The mind of Christ was therefore a mind of one who was willing to serve in a selfless way.

4) Unselfishness is also found on the part of the Father; Jn. 3:16.

5) God “so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son.”

6) The Father and the Son had minds that were and still are unselfish.

7) If we want to have the mind of Christ, we will be willing to serve and do so unselfishly.

8) Another insight into Jesus’ mind is found in the attribute of forgiveness.

9) The mind of Jesus was laden with forgiveness.

a) Consider Lk. 23:34 – “forgive them they know not what they do.”

b) Jesus said people could “speak against the Son of man” (Mt. 12:32) and “be forgiven.”

c) Today there are those who have something bad said about them and they refuse to forgive.

d) How different this is from the mind of Jesus.

e) Jesus forgave people who claimed He was a criminal worthy of death.

f) Jesus was led like a sheep to slaughter (Acts 8:32), but He still was willing to forgive.

g) He stood ready to forgive those who claimed He was in league with Satan.

h) If we are going to have the mind of Christ, we will excel in the area of forgiveness.

10) One of the things that sets Christians apart from the world is a willingness to forgive.

11) It is the world’s way to say, “I will not forgive.”

12) It is the way of the world to say, “You hurt me twice or thrice and I will never forgive.”

13) Jesus demonstrated forgiveness on a level that no one else will ever see.

14) When asked about how many times to forgive Jesus figuratively said “70 times 7” (Mt. 18:21-22).

15) This past week there was a story about 6 Islamic clerics. These men were detained at an airport.

16) I heard one of them speak about the incident and he said the incident would not be forgotten.

17) He and presumably the others were going to stir up quite a fuss about what they experienced.

18) This Muslim expressed a lack of forgiveness and his attitude—a public attitude is not the way of Christ.

19) When we look at the mind of Christ we see a balanced mind.

a) Jesus had compassion for the weak and poor.

b) When people were in error, He used gentle guidance and correction.

c) When people were doing what was right, they were commended.

d) When people were involved in error and would not change, they were sternly denounced.

20) Tied in with a balanced mind was His obedience.

21) The mind of Christ was filled with obedience.

22) For instance, Jesus was willing to come to the earth and live as a man.

23) In Jn. 8:29 Jesus said He “always did” the Father’s will.

a) What Christian is willing to step forward and say, “I always do the will of God”?

b) We are not looking for someone who says, “most of the time” or “almost all the time.”

c) Who is willing to say they “always” get it right? That is not me, and I do suspect it is not you.

d) The mind of Christ was set on doing the Father’s will.

e) Even when Jesus was at the end of His life and facing the cross He said, “not my but thine be done.”

24) Related to Jesus’ obedience is His close association with the Scriptures.

a) Time and time again Jesus said, “it is written.”

b) He used this expression when speaking with the devil (Mt. 4:4).

c) When He responded to the devil in Mt. 4:10 He again said, “it is written.”

d) When Jesus cleansed the temple (Mt. 21:13) He said, “it is written.”

e) Leading religious theologians came to see Jesus and lodge a complaint; the Lord said, “It is written” (Mk. 7:6).

f) Before being betrayed Jesus said the disciples would spurn Him because it “was written” (Mk. 14:27).

g) If we have the mind of Christ we will know the Bible and we will use it again and again.

25) If we want to know what was in the mind of Jesus, Lk. 19:10 gives us another insight.

26) Jesus came to “seek and save the lost.”

27) Jesus was mindful (thinking about) the unsaved.

28) Why would the Lord have been thinking about the lost?

29) The answer is that in His mind He knew the fate of the unsaved.

a) Having the mind of Christ means being familiar with what happens to the unsaved after death.

b) Jesus spoke about a very painful suffering for those who enter into eternity unsaved.

c) He spoke of the “whole body” being cast into Hell (Mt. 5:29).

d) If a person had just part of their body exposed to great pain, they would want relief.

e) Consider the image of one’s entire body in an eternal state of punishment.

f) Some of us have worn contacts.

g) Get debris under a contact or a similar problem and the pain can be pretty severe.

h) As bad as that pain can be, it is limited to a particular part of the body.

i) Jesus speaks of Hell as a place where the “whole body” is consumed by pain and agony.

j) The mind of Christ was concerned about the unsaved.

k) If we have His mind, this will also be one of our concerns.

30) Another key quality in comprehending the mind of Jesus was love.

31) This quality is a basis for all the things previously listed.

32) Jesus’ love for man caused Him to act in the ways already described.

33) Love was always in the mind of Christ, but there was more than love in His head.

34) Jesus had His mind set on things above.

a) Our Lord lived to do heaven’s will.

b) 1 Pet. 4:1 says Jesus “suffered in the flesh.”

c) Not many people have a mind to suffer.

d) Jesus did. He was prepared to do whatever was necessary to accomplish heaven’s mission.

e) He did this out of love and dedication to heaven’s plan of redemption.

35) Again and again we can find Biblical aid to learn what was in Jesus’ mind.

36) Consider some other items.

37) Thankfulness was part of the Lord’s mind.

a) In Mt. 11:25 Jesus expressed His appreciation to the Father.

b) On another occasion (Jn. 11:41) Jesus again expressed His thankfulness.

38) If we look into the mind of Christ, we see a mind preoccupied with prayer.

a) Jesus drew into deserted areas and prayed (Lk. 5:16).

b) When in agony Jesus prayed “more earnestly” (Lk. 22:44).

39) If we look into the mind of Christ we see grief over sin.

a) Lots of people joke about sin; it is regarded as funny—an object of humor.

b) I cannot recall a single time when Jesus looked at sin and found humor in it.

c) I can find instances of where He saw it and it saddened His mind.

d) In Mk. 3:5 it is said that Jesus was “grieved” by the hard hearts of some people.

40) Looking into the mind of Christ we find calmness in death.

41) Lk. 23:46 says, “into thy hands do I commit my spirit.”

a) Death is a universal problem.

b) Although it comes to person after person, people face it in different ways.

c) Some take the approach where they do not want to face it.

d) There are those who try to deny it in every way they can.

e) Others finally come face to face with it and their minds are terrified.

f) In the mind of Christ there was peace and tranquility.

g) We heard from 1 Cor. 2:16 that we are to “have the mind of Christ.”

h) This statement applies to all the things we have looked at thus far.

i) It also applies to the end of life. We should seek to approach our final days or hours peacefully.

j) Death is a time to go home; it is a time to truly rest from our labors.

42) Jesus could have this mindset because of what He said in Jn. 17:14: He was “not of this world.”

43) In the Lord’s mind, this earth was a place for Him to carry out a mission.

44) He did not plan to spend an unending existence on this planet.

45) He also does not plan to come back to earth a second time.

46) If we have the mind of Christ, this should be our attitude as well.

a) We are here for a short period of time and then we leave.

b) Once we depart, we are not coming back. A saved person would not want to come back.

c) Sickness, disease, famine, disasters…..Jesus’ mind was on an existence of eternal things.

d) This must be the way that we look at life as well.

47) The mind of Christ was a mind that was ready to receive sinners.

48) In Lk. 15:2 we are told that Jesus “received sinners.”

49) The mind of Christ means we hold the door open (figuratively speaking) for all people.

50) Jesus was interested in anyone who was lost and this must be true of us.

51) A final quality on my list is compassion (Mk. 8:2).

52) Jesus said He had “compassion” on a crowd.

53) The mind of Christ encompassed many things and they were all good.

54) God wants us to seek to imitate the mind of Christ.

55) We start that process by becoming a Christian.