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The light of the gospel

June 21, 2011 in Sanctification with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 4:6  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

How does God reveal Himself to us?  Many have asked this question and many will continue long after we’re gone from this earth, but the answer has been given.  God revealed Himself in the form of Jesus, who walked the earth among men, facing our temptations and yet never giving in to them, living a perfect life in perfect harmony with the Father.  In Christ, the character of God was revealed and lived out.  And in God’s Word, Jesus is revealed to us who never got to walk in His presence on earth.

But to some the gospel is nonsense, they can’t make anything of it.  They’ve been blinded to the power of the gospel as though they’re in darkness.  But to those of us whom God has called, to those of us who have responded, He has shone a light. He has illuminated Jesus in the gospel to show us the glory of God, and He’s done it in our own hearts.

Apart from God working in us, we can’t understand His revelation, we can’t see Jesus for who He is.  But when God gives the light, we can see everything for what it is. His truth is made real, His character is made clear.  Then and only then can we begin to know Him.

From one degree of glory to another

June 20, 2011 in Character, Holy Spirit, Sanctification with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 3:18  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

You are not who you once were.  You’re not who you were before Christ, but you’re also not who you were right at the moment He entered your life.  You’re being transformed by God to be more like Him.  He’s revealing more of Himself to you and as He does that, you gain more of His character.  To know Him is to behold Him.

Change doesn’t happen overnight.  No, each and every thing that God needs to work on in your life to give you the image of Christ is done one bit at a time.  One event at a time.  One circumstance at a time.  One tragedy at a time. One triumph.  One stint of suffering.  All of it, everything that happens in your life is part of the process.  It may not seem so now, but over time it will make more sense.  Look back at where you were and where you are now.  Think of all the things you’ve been through that have shaped you into what you’ve become.  And the process is only just beginning.

The journey of sanctification is ongoing and doesn’t stop until we’re just like Christ.  It won’t end in this lifetime, but it will have an impact here.  As the Holy Spirit works in you, it affects your character and the fruit you bear as a Christ follower.  You walk more closely with God, understanding more as He reveals more of Himself.  God is glorified in you and through you.

 

The Spirit gives freedom

June 17, 2011 in Holy Spirit with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 3:17  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

The law brings bondage.  Rule-keeping is grueling and not productive.  Real freedom doesn’t come from doing what the law says, but from God.  He has set us free by His grace and forgiveness.

We can search around for peace and joy and happiness, but we’ll only find them in Christ because only His completed work on the cross can bring us the forgiveness we so desperately need.  The Holy Spirit works in us to bring about contentment and joy and they’re only accessible because Jesus chose to come to the earth and take on our sin and put His righteousness onto us.  This is why we are free, we have the righteousness of Christ.  God looks down on us and sees His sons and daughters and not the sinners that we are because we’re clothed in Christ.  Freedom is experiencing God’s love in Christ.  The Holy Spirit enables us to experience it.

Ministers of a new covenant

June 16, 2011 in Holy Spirit, Witness with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 3:6  who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Trying to keep up with every rule and restriction can be tiresome and in the end doesn’t bring about perfection anyway.  We’re unable to keep the whole law and that’s why we have it.  The law shows us that we are imperfect and in need of a savior.  In Christ we have that Savior and a new covenant, one not dependent on rule-keeping, but on grace.

Trying to reconcile with God based on following the rules and doing good will still result in death.  We cant’ reach God in this way.  Only through the grace of Christ do we have a chance at a right relationship with God.  Now He’s made us ministers of that new covenant.  He’s shown us grace and now we’re to show grace on His behalf.

The Holy Spirit works in us to show the life-giving grace of God to others through our lives.  Because we’ve been forgiven, we are empowered to forgive.  Because we’ve been shown love, we are able to show love.  Only with the help of the Holy Spirit are we competent to minister to others in this way.

Letters from Jesus

June 15, 2011 in Holy Spirit, Witness with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 3:3  And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

We may not always realize the impact our lives have on those of others, but it’s a significant matter.  Our experiences with other people can change the way they think or feel about any number of subjects, including God.  How we represent Christ can make a difference in the way others see Him.

Jesus was sent to this earth as a self-revelation from God.  In Him we see all of the attributes of God in human flesh.  He walked the earth and those who lived during that time saw God for what He is.  Now, Jesus ascended back to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven, so who is left to represent God?

The Holy Spirit was sent to do God’s work in and through us as Christ followers.  Now, we are God’s letters written to human hearts.  We are what people look on and see God’s character (although not perfectly as in the person of Christ).  The Holy Spirit connects our hearts with those of others, helping us bear witness to the work of Jesus and His saving grace.  At times it may not even be something we say or do that draws another to Christ.  It may seem unexplainable how they came to know the Lord through us, but that’s all the more proof that it’s Him doing the work.

An aroma

June 14, 2011 in Holy Spirit with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 2:15-16  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,  to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

As followers of Christ, we represent the Lord whether for good or for bad.  What we say and do can have an impact on the faith of other people because we’re agents of God, and for some, the only thing they’ll know of the gospel.  But truth be told, sometimes when we’re at our best, that is, most rightly representing Jesus, people will hate us.  Some people will hate us, not because of something we did wrong, but because of something right in us.  Some people are repelled by the aroma of Christ.

Some will experience the gospel message through us and turn to God, others will sense the gospel message in us and turn away.  The thing is, it’s not our job to make sure that every person gets just the right scent, it’s our job to represent Christ in all we say and do.  Some people will be turned off from this, and there’s nothing we can do about it.  We do none of this on our own.  The responsibility of being a representation of Christ is huge and we just aren’t sufficient in our own strength to carry that out.  The Holy Spirit works in us to make sure that those who will turn to Him see what they need to see.

 

The Spirit as a guarantee

June 13, 2011 in Holy Spirit with 0 Comments

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,  and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Paul wrote once about his ability to be content in all situations.  How it is that he was capable of such a steady demeanor, regardless of whether he was in prison or in comfort?  A statement in his second letter to the Corinthians gives some good insight.  He writes to them after his plans changed and he was not able to visit as he would have liked to. His attitude though is one that shows full trust in God.  He speaks of active ongoing action on God’s part (establishes us), completed action (anointed us), and the guarantee that God has given.

Paul could be content because he knew that no matter where he ended up God had sent him. When he was sent, God equipped him. And when he went, God protected him.  He knew the Lord was with him at all times because he had been given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee.  So have we.  God is with us at all times because, as Christians, we are inhabited by the Holy Spirit.  He lives in us and works through us.  We are sealed as God’s own by His Holy Spirit in us.

The Holy Spirit can do great things through us, and that includes granting us boldness to speak the truth and courage because we know we are guaranteed His presence no matter where we are.  We’re never without God because establishes us, equips us, and seals us.

 

Pentecost

June 10, 2011 in Holy Spirit with 0 Comments

Pentecost

Acts 2:38  And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ, the many promises of God to His people, the Jews, came to pass.  He encompassed all that God had chosen to reveal to man.  In the Holy Spirit then, all of the promises of Christ to His people, the Christians, were fulfilled.  Jesus had told His followers to go and wait for Him after He had resurrected and reappeared to them.  He promised if they waited they would receive power.

And so they waited.  They hid, really.  They were all together in one place on that day, the day of Pentecost.  And when they received the Holy Spirit they all were given the power to speak in languages they didn’t know, for the purpose of evangelizing to others in his/her own tongue.  Those who heard them were amazed that these uneducated men were able to speak many languages.  Some scoffed, some mocked…but they listened.

As they listened, the previously timid disciples who were in hiding boldly came out among them and preached the gospel.  Peter delivered a sermon that brought around 3,000 to Christ that day.  It wasn’t a “here’s how to get a better life” sermon, or even a “Jesus loves you” speech.  Peter simply pointed to the truth through events that had taken place and then let the conviction of the Holy Spirit do its work in the hearts of the people.  They heard it and were “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37).  Then Peter gave them a chance to respond, which they did.

The work of the Holy Spirit in believers on Pentecost is the same power He employs today in us.  Things may not always be so drastic as to see thousands of people saved in one moment, but His conviction in their hearts and His work in us to be bold in speaking the truth is still very real, just as it was for Peter and the eleven. He may not ever urge you to speak in tongues or to preach in front of a massive crowd, but He will empower you to do God’s will in whatever situation you do find yourself in.

To God be the glory.

The promise

June 9, 2011 in Holy Spirit with 0 Comments

Pentecost

Luke 24:49  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Before Jesus departed from His disciples to be with His Father, He relayed to them a promise.  This promise caused their entire lives to change.  These ordinary fishermen, tax collectors, and otherwise nobodies took part in the birth of a movement that would turn the world upside down.  That is, after the promise, and after they waited for it.

When Jesus gave His followers the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, He didn’t send them out alone to accomplish His will.  He told them that with his departure would come another.  The Holy Spirit would be poured out on them, just as promised, and they would receive power from God to do everything they needed to do to bring about His purposes.  The power of the Holy Spirit changed them from cowards who ran at the time of Jesus’ arrest and trials to bold evangelists who proclaimed the Gospel to thousands upon thousands.

They waited for this power because they knew Jesus was true to His word.  The man who predicted that He would rise from the dead had more than earned their trust.  They knew the power would come and they knew when He showed up.  There was no reason left to question, only reason to act.  And the Holy Spirit helped them to do that too.

 

The Spirit declares

June 8, 2011 in Holy Spirit with 0 Comments

Pentecost

John 16:13-14  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

In moments where something spiritual that once seemed unclear becomes clear, the Holy Spirit is at work.  Whether it’s a verse of Scripture or something you’re learning through prayer, God is working in you for the purpose of His own glory.  When we need an answer from God, it’s not often that we’d hear an audible voice speak to us.  It’s more likely that we’d “hear” from Him through the person of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit guides us in truth.  He helps us discern right from wrong, allows us to see what sound biblical doctrine looks like, He declares to us what God is revealing. When we’re in need of direction, it’s the Holy Spirit that shows us the way.  When we’re looking for God’s will, it becomes clear (though usually not all at once) by way of the Holy Spirit’s work. He convicts us of sin, leads us in truth, and speaks to us the things of God.

It’s because of the Holy Spirit that we’re able to bring glory to God.  He molds us and shapes us to be of godly character, bearing witness to Christ through our example to others.  He loves others through us, accomplishes the Father’s will through us, and empowers us.  He’s God in us and He’s what other people see of God through us.

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