One Mind part 1
This one might take a little while. Which, as I always say, is why I started doing a series in five parts for these Rants. It lets me dig into things a little deeper. So, to set the foundation, we're going to talk about the mind of Christ. THE mind of Christ. Singular. Which is why the title says, "One Mind." So let's start with 1 Peter 3:8-9, "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." And let's get this out of the way right away: It's not about earning a blessing. That's not even what the Scripture says. It says "inherit." And you can't earn an inheritance. I think, as usual, its more about how to EXPERIENCE what we've already been given. Your inheritance is experienced when you turn the other cheek. When you rend not evil for evil. When you don't rail against what's railing against you. When you have compassion. When you love. When you're pitiful--full of pity, not doing something that needs to BE pitied. That's how you experience Jesus' life. That's how you let Him live His life in you, and through you, and as you. You let the love that's inside come out. Remember the other day when I quoted Jeremiah 29:11? Well, I'm going to do it again: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." That's what the mind of Christ thinks. Peace. Not evil. To give an expected end. And, if you notice, Jeremiah was written before the cross. That expected end WAS the cross. The cross--the second death that freed us from death and brought forth the new life of the New Man--is what the mind of Christ was pointing to in the Old Testament. One thought. One purpose. One mind. The only thing ON God's mind... is man. Look at this: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psalm 8:4). God is mindful of man. His mind is full of man. Which means the only thing on God's mind... is love. Because God IS love. He is the Creator, and He Created us for the single purpose of loving us. He wanted to express Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. He wanted us to know love. So He gave us His Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The ultimate truth of the universe that says, "God is love and He loves you." Its one thought coming from one mind. Let me end with this: "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19). The mind. The heart. Its the same thing. The mind of Christ. The heart of Christ. And the point I want to make, and will continue to try to make in this Rant series, is that God gave THEM... ONE... heart. His heart. One for all and all for one. Its not a mind for me and a different mind for you. Its one mind for US. Because WE are all part of ONE New Man. The many-membered body of Christ. Its about unity. But its NOT about conformity. But we'll get to that.