Sunday 14 February 2010

The Mind of Christ

Some anonymous person wrote to me stating that I do not have the mind of Christ. The person did not say what led them to this conclusion, nor did he or she presented any evidence or advanced any argument in support of his or her assertion. Of course, these are often the type of unsupported assertions hurled at God’s people because their detractors don’t understand the values that true Christians are required to uphold as a way of life. In addition, the assertion that I don’t have the mind of Christ, presupposes that the person stating it understands what is the mind of Christ, and is able recognise it in those in whom it dwells.

However, instead of wasting time exposing the folly of my detractors, it might be helpful to genuine Christian to post something on the mind of Christ. In Paul’s inspired epistle to the Philippians, we read: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”(Phil.2:5). If we put to ourselves the question, what was in Christ’s mind that made him beloved of the father? To answer this question we need to ponder the question posed by Micah thus: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?”(Micah 6:6). Now many people who attend church on Sundays and on the Sabbaths think that they are appearing before the Lord, and that their presence is welcome by him. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Notice Micah’s inspired answer thus, “He has shown you, Oh man, what the Lord require of you,
1.to do justly
2.to love mercy
3.to walk humbly with your God

These virtue permeated the mind of Christ, and was manifested in the way he treated the people with whom he came into contact. Jesus treated all men justly, and taught his disciples that they should not respect persons judgment. He also extended mercy to many, by feeding thousands, healing the sick and casting out demons. And we are told, “He made himself of no reputation.”(Phil.2:7). the same could never be said of the hirelings leading UCG, LCG, PCG, RCG, COG/Hulme or any of the other divided COGs. Most of these men are arrogant, pompous and above all vain. So when these men and their gullible followers go to church, they certainly don’t appear before the Lord. For unless people have the mind of Christ developing in them, God will not invite them to appear before him.
Moreover notice what being humble did for Jesus, “Wherefore God has highly exalted him, and has given him a name that is above every name”(Phil. 2:9). And the apostle Peter was inspired to Write: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”(1 Peter 5:5). So if we want to appear before the Lord, we need the mind of Christ. And if we want to reign with him, we need to be clothed with humility, and not with the garments of pride, which are so proudly worn by the hirelings in cog-land.

The Second Temple

We know from scripture that God wanted Israel to build a second temple. The order to do so was given by Cyrus, the Persian.   The details ar...