There are many people who want to tell God how he should think. As the mind of society changes on some issue or other, people think that the word of God should be edited to reflect this shift in human thought. How often do we hear the church being called upon to move with the times and reflect current community thinking? This assumes that God thinks as human beings think, or even that God exists
This is not a new idea, and God has been dealing with this arrogance in man’s heart from antiquity. In this lesson we look at two passages in Isaiah and three references to these passages by Paul when he compares the mind of the Lord
Before we look at these passages, let us note God’s comparison of his mind with ours, when he was assuring us of his compassion toward any unrighteous person who forsakes sin and returns to God. He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts"
1Co 1:19, Isa 29:14
Paul speaks of how the word or logos of the cross is treated as foolishness by some who are wise in their own estimation. He contrasts the "wisdom of God" with "the world through its wisdom" failing to know God, because it looked upon his message as foolish, and its own foolishness as wise.
In this discussion Paul asserts that "the foolishness of God" (as the wisdom of the world regards it) "is wiser than men"
Man, by his own wisdom, cannot save himself from destruction. Therefore God needs to destroy man’s wisdom in order to save him. The wisest thing we can do is to stop being a
Rom 9:19-21, Isa 29:16
Paul quotes from the same passage in Isaiah when he discusses the basis on which God shows mercy and compassion. Paul uses the analogy in Isaiah of the potter and the clay
It is God who has determined who shall be saved and who shall not. He did not do this in consultation with man, and he has given man no opportunity to debate or negotiate. God has determined that man shall be saved by faith in his Son. The mind of man has but one part to play, and that is to hear, believe, repent, and obey in response to the revealed will of God. God’s will is the same for the rich man and the poor, the strong man and the weak, the president and the postman, the Jew and the Gentile, the freeman and the slave. All men must yield to God’s covenant and will. The king and queen must yield as must the manservant and maid. The wise man and scholar must yield as must the ignorant and unlearned. God will show mercy on those who yield, and harden those who follow
Later in the discussion, Paul issues this warning... "Not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God"
Rom 11:34, Isa 40:13
Further on in Romans Paul states that God’s will is to treat all sinners on the same basis. "God has shut up all in disobedience that he might show mercy to all"
It is not man’s place to tell God what to think. Rather, it is man’s place to listen intently to what God tells him. Therefore let us humbly hear the word of God, believe what he tells us,