Once we have an idea of what reality is, could be or will be, there are other pressing questions that arise in the search for the Spirit’s worldview. With the help of Bonhoeffer we have considered the notion that the reality of God and the reality of the world is bound up for us in the person of the Lord Messiah Jesus. Let’s have another look at Bonhoeffer’s suggestion:

[Christ] stands at the boundary of my existence and still in my place. That is an expression for the fact that I am separated from the I that I should be by an inexceedable boundary. The boundary lies between my old and new I, thus in the centre between me and me. As the boundary Christ is at the same time my recovered centre.(Christ the Centre)

In this quote Jesus is God towards us and stands in for us before God. He is the human being in relationship to God that we should be, but at the same time he is that human for us who can’t relate rightly to ourselves, let alone God. Another way of saying this is used by Paul in the letter to the Colossian church:

He [Messiah Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For through him all things were made…all things are through him and for him and in him all things hold together. (COl.1:15-17)

Jesus is the absolute centre of God’s attention and as such, he is the centre of the universe. Understanding this is an essential aspect of having the Mindset of the Spirit. Yet the amazing thing about God’s love is that he had us in mind as his plans for Jesus were brought to perfection. By His Spirit God the Father perfected the Lord Jesus for us, to save us from our sin and give us hope for life in a new creation free from sin, death and evil. Consequently, and we will need to give some more thought to this, in Jesus we find ourselves perfected as human creatures in relation to God our Father.