BY H. J. FARMAN.
“LET this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” To possess the mind of Christ would be to do as he would do in all things. We must first learn the lesson of obedience as Christ did. Heb. 10:7. “I come to do thy will, O God,” and thus he became our example. 1 John 2:6. We inquire, What was the will of his Father ? and find the answer in Ps. 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, 0 my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Then we also shall delight in doing the Father’s law. It will be our meditation day and night, and we shall become “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The great underlying principle in the mind of Christ was, 1. Love to God; 2. Love to man. His love to God was shown by his delight in doing his Father’s will, which enabled him to maintain the love of God (John 15:10); and our doing likewise will enable us to maintain the same love. His love to man was manifested in his giving his life a ransom for man, who had done nothing to merit such a ransom. Isa. 53: 4-9. In John 15:13 our Saviour shows that a man can show no greater love for another than to lay down his life for his friend. But He (Christ) did more than this; he laid down his life for his enemies. Rom. 5:10. Thus his love far out-shines the love of man. It is above man’s conception. Christ gave up his own pleasure to suffer reproach. Rom. 15:3. How many of us possess this mind which would lead us to sacrifice our pleasure to benefit friends, much less our enemies ? Paul says: “For a good man, some would even dare to die.” Rom. 5:7. This no doubt has, in some instances, been done. In time of war, for example, when some good man is drafted whom the people do not want to lose, a friend may perhaps step in and take his place. But Christ died for us when we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8), “the just for the unjust.” 1 Peter 3:18. It was the love of Christ that led him to die in man’s stead; to pay the penalty for the broken law. Thus he became a Saviour to all who would accept of his death in their stead, and live a life in imitation of his. Hence, the apostle says that “they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them.” 2 Cor. 5:15; Rom. 14:7, 8. Are we living out the life of Christ ? Does his mind dwell in us ? Are we living to benefit others, as he did ? Are we ready to sacrifice our own time, talents, strength, and means to help others ? If so, we give some evidence that we possess the mind of Christ. Often he sacrificed hours of sleep and rest, in prayer to his Father for strength to work for the benefit of others. No sacrifice was too great for him to make, if he might do another good.
This was the mind and life of Christ, and we are exhorted to possess the same mind. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Col. 3:1-3.
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald JANUARY 8, 1889