The Supremacy of Christ

I didn’t have an extended time of prayer yesterday… and I paid the price. When I pray, the day seems longer and my attitude can handle whatever happens. Not so yesterday. I was constantly dropping things, crabby, and didn’t get much done.

Today’s devotional tells me why. It is about the supremacy of Christ. He rules over illness, the weather, evil spirits, and all created matter.

And standing over her, [Jesus] rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them. (Luke 4:39)
They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. (Luke 8:24)
While [his father] was still approaching, the demon slammed [the boy] to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. (Luke 9:42)

When Jesus speaks, He has not only the will to change things but the power to do so. Illness may have to do with chemical reactions in our body cells, with molecules and electrons and the laws of physics and chemistry, yet Jesus designed those laws ages ago and sustains them each day…

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16–17)
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high... (Hebrews 1:3)

… but His Word is above all these laws, reversing them by rebuking them. As Piper points out, when Christ thinks a thing with sufficient intentionality, it materializes. All matter is utterly dependent for its origin, existence, and stability on the thought of Christ.

What about the other minds besides Christ’s? For example, unclean spirits? The NT clearly shows that the mind of Christ rules them too. One thought from Him and whether matter or mind, He sustains. He governs or it can also be altered, healed, cherished forever, or extinguished. All that exists hangs on His will. This is amazing and faith-building!

PRAY: When I pray and give myself and my day to You, this is not mere sentiment or even a yielding of my will. It is asking You to do what I ask (or even more) by the power of Your will. When I pray, it requires humility as well as faith in Your all-encompassing, all-sustaining, all-governing power. If I do not pray, who or what am I trusting? This is the Gospel repeated again. I cannot save myself and I cannot keep myself in Your will and expect great things. Only You, in Your enduring and faithful grace, can do that. I’ve no excuse for neglecting prayer, only a confession of the sin of it.

Lord, remodel my mind . . .

 

There are times when I must do something but my body resists. That old saying, “Put your mind to it” is the only way to get going some mornings, or to get up from dinner and do dishes. My mind is also easily distracted and can think of a million things I’d rather do than the task at hand. Rather than let those “I wants” determine my day, the Lord is teaching me about being determined of MIND by taking me through the Bible to see what He says about His mind and mine..

The OT uses this word to describe several things. The most pertinent for me is a noun that is best translated “plans” or “thoughts” and can describe the plans of either individuals or God. What makes God’s mind different from mine?

For one thing, Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” I’m not in a habit of lying, but can often change my mind. Also, sometimes I fail to do whatever I say I will do.

I’m not the only one. In the OT, the leaders of God’s people had trouble being true to their calling. God promised He would “raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind” making obvious that we are not capable of doing what is on His mind without His help.

The best example is Solomon. He prayed, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” and God responded, “Behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. He gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore” so that “The whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.”

Even though this man’s mind was blessed by God, Solomon was open to it, humble enough to realize that he could not be a good king without God’s help. God says to me to have the same determination:

1 Chronicles 22:19. “Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God . . . .”

Job 38:36. “Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?“

Proverbs 28:26. “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”

Jeremiah 17:10 adds another thought, “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” God rewards those who learn to think like He thinks, but this can be a challenge. Jesus, God in human flesh, was misunderstood because His way of life was so different than anyone else. If I think (and therefore behave) like Jesus, I may not be popular!

Mark 3:20–21. "Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, 'He is out of his mind.' ”

Even His disciple struggled with it, Peter in particular. When Jesus spoke of what was going to happen to Him, Peter said, “No . . . .” and Jesus rebuked him with, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

God also says in Romans 8:6-7: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Setting  my mind on the things of God is impossible if I follow the whims of my self-centeredness. Instead, He says I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and must nurture it and obey what I do know before He will show me any more about how He thinks. Also, Romans 12:2 tells me, “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.” Obviously, mind renewal requires keeping my thoughts on God and refusing to try and tell Him what to do, as if my plans could understand His mind without His blessing to reveal it.