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Possessing the Redeemer’s Mind
by Francis
Frangipane
As Christians, we spend too much time battling
basic, elementary battles: “Am I truly saved?” “Am I really forgiven?”
The fact is, God has so much more for us. He seeks to conform
our thought-life to the actual thought-life of Christ.
Indeed, the Holy Spirit comes, not just to give us goose bumps
and chills, but to restructure our attitudes and perceptions until we think the
thoughts of Jesus.
Consider Paul’s remarkable insights. He wrote,
“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 one. For who
has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind
of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).
This revelation is stunning: we have the mind of Christ. God
wants us to have Christ’s very discernment.
Or consider again what Paul wrote to the Galatians. He said,
“My children, with whom I am again in
labor until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians
4:19).
Critics will call the revelation of Christ in us a heresy, as
though all we were to have was the name, but not the nature of Jesus Christ.
You see, God’s goal is not only to see us saved and go to
Heaven, but for Christ to be functionally formed and living through us on
earth.
We are not just to have a religion about what Jesus did; we are called
to possess the very substance of who Jesus is.
Yes, it means we indeed will go to Heaven; but it is more.
Through our knowledge of Christ’s word and our yieldedness to
the Holy Spirit, the actual person of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, gains living
access to the needs of man.
As His body, we give Him flesh and blood contact with this
world. True, we face conflicts, but these difficulties are staged by God so He
can showcase His Son through us.
Indeed, we face persecution, but it’s only so Christ, in the
midst of injustice, will reveal how His life overcomes death.
Again, Paul wrote,
“For we who live are constantly being
delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our mortal flesh” (2
Corinthians 4:11).
Isn’t this exactly what you desire, the “life
of Jesus . . . manifested in [your] mortal flesh”?
Aren’t you tired of the cycle of judging people and then,
because of pride, being judged by God in return?
What does it mean to have the mind of Christ?
Does that mean we walk on the water or do great signs?
Miracles are indeed a part of Christ’s life, yet there is
something greater than miracles to attain: Our hearts can be filled with the
redemptive, creative thought-life of God! (See 1
Corinthians 2.)
Lord, deliver us of our fleshly motives! Free
us from our human instincts and fallen passions. Grant us, Lord, the motives of
Jesus. Teach us to think, not as a prosecutor whose quest is to condemn, but as
the Savior whose heart is to redeem.
Francis Frangipane is the founder of River of Life Ministries in Cedar
Rapids IA and has traveled throughout the world ministering to thousands of
pastors and intercessors from many backgrounds. Francis’ heartfelt prayer is to
see established in every city, Christlike pastors and intercessors, united
before God, revealing the love of Christ to their communities.
Over the past decades, Francis
has served on a number of other ministry boards. However, in recent years he
has gradually resigned from these various boards. As of June 2009, he has also
retired from his position as senior pastor of River of Life Ministries. In this
more simplified life, Frangipane is devoting himself to prayer and the ministry
of God’s word.
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