1When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing. 7But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, 8which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as it is written,
“Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear,
which didn’t enter into the heart of man,
these God has prepared for those who love him.”
10But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God’s Spirit. 12But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one. 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
A Special Kind of Eyesight
14 Now the natural man doesn't receive the things of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can't know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one. 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him?" But we have Christ's mind.
The mind of Christ is given to each and every believer. It is the ability to see things from God's perspective. We don't avail ourselves of this ability too often, but when we do, we know we're seeing things as they truly are. This passage tells us that an unbeliever cannot see things from God's perspective. Try as they may, they are not equipped with what they need to see the things of the Spirit. They might hear and see spiritual things, but to their minds it will be nothing but foolishness. You and I have the unique ability to make sense out of things that might seem senseless to the unbelieving world. Just this week, a young man who imagined himself to be a woman shot and killed children who were in the middle of a Mass celebration in a Roman Catholic church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The theories that have emerged regarding the underlying causes of this event have been mind-boggling. The unbelieving world came out immediately with every kind of secular psycho-babble explanation of what happened.
The believer understands EXACTLY what happened. The believer understands that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood". The believer understands that Satan is a destroyer. Jesus said, "10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." (John 10:10 WEB) The unbeliever tries to find blame in gun laws or maybe the social misunderstanding of trans people. I even heard one commentator say that perhaps celebrations of the Mass should be held in less public places. The believer understands that Satan whispers lies into empty souls, telling them that they are not what God created them to be. This man was a man, but the world told him that his emptiness and confusion in life were not because he was starving spiritually, but because he was a woman trapped in a man's body. These are lies from the pit of hell. The young man became so confused as to the cause of his emptiness that he became enraged with himself, and then he focused that rage on innocent children before killing himself.
It is a wonderful gift to have the mind of Christ. We should be ready to share these thoughts with both believers and unbelievers, but don't be offended if the unbeliever cannot comprehend what you are saying or the explanations that you give. This is not because they are stubborn and hostile. They are spiritually blind. They are incapable of seeing things from God's point of view. They do not know Him, and they are hostile to God's things. Give praise to God today for giving you the mind of Christ, then ask the Holy Spirit to help you to exercise and use that special kind of eyesight for His glory.