Scripture shows us over and over that God is often frustratingly incomprehensible to mankind. We grasp at Him, but cannot understand. Isaiah wrote, “Who can understand the mind of God?” And, Paul responded, “But, we have the mind of Christ.”
How can the mind of God be unfathomable, and yet somehow also shared with us?
Isaiah wrote this question as a rhetorical challenge against questioning God. Paul agreed, we cannot understand the mind of God so as to instruct Him. But, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can adopt the mind of Christ, glorifying the Father through surrender, obedience, and trust.
Who Can Understand the Mind of God – The Hebrew View
There are many passages in the Hebrew scriptures that highlight this conundrum. But, when Isaiah wrote, “Who can understand the mind of God?” it was rhetorical. He is stating that we cannot. God is not like us. Though we are made in His image, His otherness cannot be overstated.
He is eternal. We live through a series of moments. Over and over, scripture reveals how confusing our circumstances in these moments can be to us. Mankind clings to the belief that doing the right thing immediately and enduringly entitles us to the outcomes we want.
In Jeremiah 12, the weeping prophet questioned God over his suffering amidst the prosperity of the wicked. Jonah was so angry at God’s mercy toward sinners that he wanted to die. Psalm 73 and Habbakuk 1-3 cry out to God with confusion over their circumstances.
Proverbs teaches us the different outcomes for our thinking and His. And, perhaps the clearest, most concise statement by God on the difference is given in Isaiah 55:
‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
His understanding is infinite. God knows every urge and thought we have. He sees all things and exists in all places. He does not lie or change His mind. And, He knows the future. So many of the facets of His nature are simply beyond our capacity to comprehend.
The medieval sage Maimonides considered all knowledge and wisdom united with God’s being, part of his essential oneness. He is the knower and the knowledge. He rightly observes, “this is not within the power of any man to comprehend clearly.” The Christian thinker Thomas Aquinas would have agreed.
Who can understand the mind of God? No one.
The Story of Job
The story of Job is an especially good example of the incomprehensibility of God. We relate to Job. We have the urge to question God when things don’t go our way. Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s the age old problem of evil.
Job’s confusion eventually led him to challenge God, demanding an accounting. He did not understand how he could possibly deserve the fate God had handed him. God’s response started with a question.
‘Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”‘ Job 38:1-2 ESV
In chapters 38-41, God takes Job to task with one impossible question after another. He reminded Job of the difference between even a righteous man and the Creator of the universe. To his credit, Job took it to heart. He reframed the question and took ownership of his pride in Job 42:3.
‘‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.’ Job 42:3 ESV
Job is an excellent example of long-suffering in the Bible, not because Job did everything right. He didn’t. But, when we find ourselves questioning God, we must ultimately come to the conclusion Job did.
We are not qualified to render judgment on things we don’t understand.
The Mind of Christ – 1 Corinthians 2:16
Paul responds to the challenge from Isaiah in 1 Corinthians 2:16, responding that “We have the mind of Christ.” There may seem to be tension between these statements. But, we can resolve that by exploring his preceding passages on wisdom.
Paul starts an exploration of human and godly understanding back in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. He contrasts the “wisdom of the world” with the cross. Of note, Paul upholds the ontological difference between us and God in verse 25.
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:25 ESV
There was no greater shame, no worse indignity than crucifixion. God made that which is “low and despised” the source of our salvation. By every secular measure, the death of Jesus was an ignominious defeat. But, the cross is the gift by which we attain the mind of Jesus. No one can boast but in Christ.
After the resurrection, Jesus told his followers God would send the Holy Spirit. Then at Pentecost, Peter explained that the gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all who believe. Paul goes on to explain that the Holy Spirit understands the incomprehensible thoughts of God.
‘these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.’ 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 ESV
The gift of the Spirit allows us to understand and accept things which are otherwise beyond us. We still have the limitations of our inherent nature. We are creatures. He is the Creator. But, the Holy Spirit allows us to view our circumstances through the cross-shaped wisdom of God.
Paul taught participation, not parity.
The Example of Christ
We need look no further than the example of Jesus Christ when considering the question of 1 Corinthians 2:16. Note the clause at the end of the question. Did Jesus instruct the Lord? Did Jesus ever correct Him?
‘“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 2:16 ESV
Jesus understood the will of God perfectly. And, he lived in perfect submission to it. You can search the gospels, but you will not find him accusing God like Job did. Even in the garden, Jesus demanded nothing. He begged for reprieve, while simultaneously offering total surrender.
Paul wrote that we can have the mind of Christ because of the power of the cross, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. But, this does not make us equal to God. Consider the mind of Christ as explained in Philippians 2:5-8. It is characterized by humility and obedience.
The Holy Spirit enables us to have that same mindset. Just as Jesus brought glory to God through the suffering and shame of the cross, we can give God glory through our own trials.
Every trial and triumph is an opportunity. Does your response bring Him glory?
Who Can Understand the Mind of God? – The Christian View
The Christian view of this question, “Who can understand the mind of God?” points unfailingly to the Holy Spirit. At the end, Jesus promised to clothe his followers in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We might view the Holy Spirit as less personal than the Father and Son. But, the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal, universal force. It is one of the three persons within the being we call God. And, just like the others, it is purposeful, relational, and communicates with us.
The Holy Spirit awakens us from spiritual death in the flesh to spiritual life. It allows us to adopt the mind of Christ. Spiritual maturity will reflect changes in many of our behaviors. Galatians 5:22-23 calls this the fruit of the spirit. Romans talks specifically about a transformation in our thinking.
‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ Romans 12:2 ESV
James 3:13-18 discusses the nature of wisdom among believers. He encourages humility first. And, he concludes that we sow a harvest of righteousness when wisdom leads us to act in peace. Colossians 4:5-6 echoes this sentiment. Consider how James describes the wisdom from above:
‘But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.’ James 3:17 ESV
The New Testament does not change the Old Testament answer on this issue. We cannot understand the mind of God in full. But, with the Spirit’s help, we can adopt the mind of Christ. And, we can allow the lens he modeled for us to shape how we view and react to our circumstances.
How is this achieved?
These five things are not comprehensive. But, they are a lifetime of work.
- Adopt the humility of Christ, especially in suffering. Philippians 2:5-8, James 1:2-4.
- Orient yourself toward eternal realities, not temporal concerns. Colossians 3:1-2.
- Cultivate sacrificial love as the highest virtue. John 15:13, 1 Corinthians 13.
- Practice obedience to Christ’s teaching. John 14:21.
- Renew your mind through scripture and the Spirit. Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 12:1-2.
Came across this relevant piece by Charles Spurgeon today in my Mornings and Evenings devotional:
“Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?”
Job 38:16
Some things in nature must remain a mystery to the most intelligent and enterprising investigators. Human knowledge has bounds beyond which it cannot pass. Universal knowledge is for God alone. If this be so in the things which are seen and temporal, I may rest assured that it is even more so in matters spiritual and eternal.
Why, then, have I been torturing my brain with speculations as to destiny and will, fixed fate, and human responsibility? These deep and dark truths I am no more able to comprehend than to find out the depth which coucheth beneath, from which old ocean draws her watery stores.
Why am I so curious to know the reason of my Lord’s providences, the motive of his actions, the design of his visitations? Shall I ever be able to clasp the sun in my fist, and hold the universe in my palm? Yet these are as a drop of a bucket compared with the Lord my God.
Let me not strive to understand the infinite, but spend my strength in love. What I cannot gain by intellect I can possess by affection, and let that suffice me. I cannot penetrate the heart of the sea, but I can enjoy the healthful breezes which sweep over its bosom, and I can sail over its blue waves with propitious winds.
If I could enter the springs of the sea, the feat would serve no useful purpose either to myself or to others, it would not save the sinking bark, or give back the drowned mariner to his weeping wife and children; neither would my solving deep mysteries avail me a single whit, for the least love to God, and the simplest act of obedience to him, are better than the profoundest knowledge. My Lord, I leave the infinite to thee, and pray thee to put far from me such a love for the tree of knowledge as might keep me from the tree of life.