(Excerpts from one of the assignments in my Masters class)
By: Francis Asuncion
INTRODUCTION
Jesus himself said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (English Standard Version, Matt 19.26). Man’s wisdom, knowledge and capability is very limited. However, with God’s enablement and anointing, there is no limit to what he can do because it is God who will make it possible. Jesus speaking in a crowd was asked by a Pharisee which he think is the greatest commandment in the law. He replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt 22.37-38).
John Piper expressed that the primary and deepest source of love for God is coming from one’s heart that is changed and this is conveyed through the expression of the soul and mind (83). This statement complements Mohler’s concept of a Christian’s renewed mind must perpetually think about thinking, to have the understanding that he or she was made to bring glory to God, to point persons to Christ, to exalt the things of Christ and to meditate upon God’s Word (48).
However, one may ask if it’s even possible to fully love God mentally considering the complexity of the design of a human brain as well as with the way people feed their minds nowadays through widespread information available in the internet, mainstream and social media and various worldview all of which in one way or another affects a human’s perspective of God.
This paper aims to analyze the possibility of fully loving God with one’s mind, knowing that it is written in the Bible and it was Jesus himself who claimed it. The author hopes to convince the readers, by referring to the Scripture and various published articles relating to the said topic that it is indeed possible to love God with all our brain because man is wired for God.
MAN: GOD’S MASTERPIECE
Apostle Paul articulated that humans are God’s best creation. In fact, among all things that He created, we are considered His masterpiece. (New Living Translation, Eph 2.10). It is written that God chose to create humans according to His image and likeness (Gen 1.26). There is no other object of God’s creation that was given this kind of privilege or entitlement.
ACCESSIBILTY TO HIS CREATOR
Part of being God’s masterpiece is man’s privilege to commune with God. When God created Adam and Eve, He speaks freely to them and they enjoyed fellowship together. In the Garden of Eden, God and man had an intimate relationship. Fayard suggested in his article that humans are actually designed to relate to God because the coordinated activities of diverse brain systems provide the matrix for a neurobiology of the experience of God (167). Moreover, he articulated that these processes are founded on the innate human need for a relationship with God (168). However, that access level was cut at the Fall of Man when he disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. Sin brought the separation of man with his Creator. The access freely given was revoked.
MAN: DEPRAVED AND DEGENERATED
The effect of man’s disobedience was immediate and immense. Death became man’s wage (Rom 6.23) and he is bound to eternal punishment. His spirit cannot connect to God anymore because it died. Man declined into total sinfulness and depravity. Mohler presented the theory of the Reformers that the fall of man caused intellectual fall, the will warps the intellect and when the will is fallen, it produces a fallen reason (55). He examined Romans 1:18-32 about man’s futility in thinking. This crisis is also known as epistemological crisis. Mohler stated that Paul claimed that humans do not merely suppress the truth but suppresses it with unrighteousness (51). Furthermore, he pointed out that theologically speaking, the fall resulted in a devastating effect in man’s thinking, called noetic effect which resulted in ignorance, distractedness, forgetfulness, prejudice, faulty perspective, intellectual fatigue, intellectual pride, to name a few (56-58). All these effects are tied to the will. This also resulted in various worldview which recognizes that humans operate out of a set of beliefs, principles and group of thoughts.
MAN: RECONCILED AND RESTORED
God provided a way for man to cross over from total depravity and degeneration because of sinful nature to redemption and restoration through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross. His victory broke the sting of death. Those who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior was not only reconciled to God but is restored- spiritually, physically and mentally. His spirit is no longer dead but is Born Again, his connection to God restored and is assured of an eternal life. Mentally, man’s brain received total calibration, having received the mind of Christ.
CONCLUSION:
It is possible for man to love God with all his brain only if He is Born Again. Jesus said that the enemy’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. He came so that man will receive life and live it to the fullest (John 10:10). A Born again man can enjoy complete freedom including the freedom to worship God with all his being because the identity of him being God’s masterpiece as well as the privilege to have intimacy with God was also restored through Jesus’ redemptive works.
Seems Life is Goin' Bananas! 