THE MIND OF CHRIST JESUS IN US Shortly before our Lord was betrayed, He poured out His thoughts to the Father. The matter of being "IN" His people was on His mind, and He expressed it to God. His words were both strong and tender. They revealed the intentions of God and the nature of salvation. "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I IN THEM, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one . . . And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I IN THEM" (John 17:23,26). Consider the profundity of the Father being in the Son. It has challenged the greatest thinkers in the human race. And yet, Jesus spoke of that profound unity within the context of Himself being in His people. We should not expect this marvelous union, therefore, to be simplistic and easily explained. CHRIST WITHIN, THE HOPE OF GLORY It is the indwelling Christ that constitutes our hope of being glorified together with Him. "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27, NKJV). However strong it may appear, it is true to the fullest extent of the word: unless Christ is in us, we have NO hope of glory--no prospect of dwelling forever in the house of the Lord. If, however, Christ IS in us, the future is bright with everlasting consolation and good hope! EATING CHRIST Jesus spoke of the very heart of spiritual life when He said, "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so HE THAT EATETH ME, even he shall live by Me" (John 6:56). The NKJV and NIV read, "feeds on Me." This speaks of the appointed means of Jesus dwelling within the individual. Novices speak tritely about "receiving Jesus into your heart" -- and, indeed, there is an element of truth to that, as affirmed in John 1:12: "But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." That is not, however, a simplistic accomplishment, as made known in Christ's reference to eating, or feeding upon, Him. DIVINITY DWELLING WITHIN The Word of God is not ambiguous on this point. There is a unity between God and man accomplished in redemption that cannot be explained in words of worldly wisdom. No philosopher, however articulate, can adequately expound this circumstance: "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God DWELLETH IN HIM, and he in God" (1 John 4:15). Of old time, God "visited" His people (Gen 21:1; Ex 4:31; Ruth 1:6; 1 Sam 2:21; Psa 17:3). Now, in Christ Jesus, God dwells within the redeemed, making His abode with them. JESUS COMES IN TO US "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I WILL COME IN TO HIM, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev 3:20). This marvelous promise was made to none other than the lukewarm church at Laodicea. Their condition was the direct result of their distance from the Lord. They had failed to "eat" Him, ingesting His person, and had thus drifted into places that were never meant to be inhabited by the saved. Recovery demanded they return to the ordained means of Christ dwelling within -- eating the sacrifice, so to speak. JESUS DWELLS IN OUR HEARTS BY FAITH Paul prayed that believers would be strengthened with might by God's Spirit in the inner man, "so that Christ may DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love . . . " (Eph 3:17 NASB). It should be apparent that Christ dwelling in our hearts is not some Divinely automated process. For the circumstance to take place, the Holy Spirit must strengthen us with Divine might. Even then, the objective is accomplished "through faith." Those with little or no faith, and those who quench and grieve the Spirit, are foolish to imagine Christ has taken up residency in them. It appears as though this is hardly known in the contemporary church. -- Tomorrow:
"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE SHOULD INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:11-16, NASB).
Devotion 22 of 28
The Lord Jesus pressed this matter, even among those who did not believe on Him. He spoke to them of ingesting His Person, and affirmed its absolute essentiality. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I IN HIM" (John 6:56). Even though the people thought Jesus was speaking of cannibalism (6:52), and even though the original language leaves no other alternative, that was not the meaning of Christ's words. He was speaking of partaking of the Divine Nature (2 Pet 1:4), and of "learning Christ" (Eph 4:20). Jeremiah expressed the truth of this when He said, "The LORD is MY PORTION, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him" (Lam 3:24). David also expressed this profound truth: "but God is the strength of my heart, and MY PORTION for ever" (Psa 73:26).
There is no valid parallel to this matter in normal human experience. It is so lofty that only ordained types and shadows provided even the faintest glimpse of what is meant. The eating of the passover lamb is an ordained picture of feeding upon Christ (Exodus 12:2-3). It is also portrayed in the priests eating the sin offering, sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord (Lev 6:25-29). Just as surely as those priests ate the sacrifice made for sin, so believers partake of Christ, who was sacrificed for sin. In this sense, the early priests are said to "partake of the offerings of the altar" (1 Cor 9:13). Likewise, believers also have an altar of which they partake. As it is written, "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to EAT" (Heb 13:10).
The outcome of this indwelling shows its immediate connection with our minds. "Rooted and grounded in Divine love," we come to comprehend the unimaginable extent of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Here is how the Spirit states the case. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God (Eph 3:17-20). Do not imagine that this comprehension can take place independently of Christ dwelling in the heart. The magnitude of salvation is not discerned with mere intellect, but with 'the mind of Christ," else Christ would not be required to indwell us for it to occur.
This is an aspect of "the mind of Christ," and is indispensable to spiritual life and growth. We know by both revelation and experience that this cannot occur in our flesh, or lower nature. It is a product of "the mind of Christ."
I want to emphasize that the evidence of Christ dwelling within us is found in our thoughts. Where thoughts are unaffected, there has been no new birth. It is just that simple. When the Lord Jesus Christ is possessed (and He does dwell within our hearts by faith--Eph 3:16-17), He brings His mind. If Christ is really "in you" (2 Cor 13:5), His "mind" is included in the experience. If this is not the case, then in what sense is Christ "in" us, and what advantage does it bring?
PRAYER POINT: Father, in Jesus' name, help me to rid myself of any tendency to trust in self, the flesh, or the wisdom of men.