#29 BECOMING A SON OF GOD: THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (1)

    

     The power of the Holy Spirit–those words can bring images of miracles and of emotional worship services. But, the Holy Spirit has a specific mission to the human race that we (as a body of believers) haven’t explored much. Now, more than ever with trouble exploding in our world, we need to understand and take part in what the Holy Spirit wants to do. So, let’s begin with Romans 8:14-16* and then we’ll see where those verses lead us:

  For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…

Did you catch that last sentence–”the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit?” Two different spirits are working here: our spirit which is the same spirit that made Christ the Son of God and the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of God. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? But, it’s not really: the Holy Spirit overshadows us to create our inner man of righteousness then indwells us to help us know God as “Abba, Father!

     As recorded in John 14-16,Christ talked extensively about the Holy Spirit with his disciples. Keeping in mind what we just read from Romans 8, let’s look at some of what he said. First, let’s read John 14:16-18, 26:

  I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans … But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

The Holy Spirit is God’s provision for human beings to understand His fatherhood. Christ did not come just to leave us hanging when he ascended to the Father–he did not leave us as orphans without a father. This Holy Spirit, who had worked from the beginning of our world and who abided with the Hebrew nation, was (is) going to be inside believers in Christ. This Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, was (is) going to bring truth and to teach all things to those who were (are) born again. So in a world full of deception, God has provided the source of truth.

     Now, let’s jump ahead to John 16:12-15 and listen to more of Christ’s words:

  I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All that the Father has are Mine…

 Everything that is God’s is Christ’s, and through the Holy Spirit, everything that is Christ’s is ours–this is truth. What is God’s? Remember in my first few posts, we talked about God’s character–life, light, good, truth, spirit–all of those are Christ’s. And, through the Holy Spirit, all of those are ours (Romans 8:17)–the Holy Spirit discloses life, light, good, truth, and spirit to us. The Holy Spirit enables us to make them ours. What great news!

     In his talk with his disciples, Christ even spoke of the methodology the Holy Spirit uses to guide us into all truth:

  And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.  (John 16: 8-11)

The first work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to show us our unbelief–sin is simply not holding onto God through Christ. (Not holding onto God causes all kinds of destructive behavior.) Then the Holy Spirit convicts us of righteousness–Christ became sin and died; he was resurrected and he ascended to his Father because life is greater than death; and we are made the righteouness of God through Christ. And, the Holy Spirit convicts us of the fact that Satan and his cohorts have been judged–Christ demolished the dividing wall they had built and their lies are being revealed through the Holy Spirit. (Notice that the Holy Spirit does not convict us that any human beings have been judged!)

 

     Before we pause in our discussion–more to come in my next post–let’s look again at the first part of Romans 8:15, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again…” Nowhere is there a stronger statement of the difference between the Mosaic covenant and the second covenant that Christ ushered in. Remember, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 tells us that, after Solomon had spent many years seeking all there was to hear, his conclusion was that humans were to fear God and keep His commandments “because God would bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” This one statement of Solomon’s sums up the main idea of the Mosaic covenant–fear and obey the unseen and holy God or face judgment (with certain punishment for evil).  However, while he ministered to the Hebrews, Christ repeatedly drove home the truth that God is the loving Father and that humans need not to fear Him. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the One who brings this truth into reality in our lives. We don’t have to fear God–we are not His slaves, we are His children. God loves us with His absolute love which is perfect, complete, and real!

     As always, please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!

     *Note–all scriptures are taken from the NASB.

     @2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, February 7th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in BECOMING A SON OF GOD

#28 BECOMING A SON OF GOD: THE NEW BIRTH

     What does it mean to be a Christian? Some believers talk about being “saved” and some about being “born again.” And, some equate being a Christian with joining a church. All of the different terminologies are understandable because we all are different from one another. However, without a clear concept of the change Christ brought to the human race, we could be missing the fullness of what God’s absolute love has done for us.

     Looking back to Christ’s walk on earth, John 3:1-21 relates the conversation Christ had one evening with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. When the religious leader started the conversation out by affirming that God was indeed with Christ, the Son of God immediately focused on a concept that was completely foreign to Nicodemus as he spoke these words, “You must be born again.” Of course, Nicodemus had no clue what Christ was talking about and immediately took issue with him, “How can a man be born when he is old?” Christ assured Nicodemus that the new birth concerned being born of the Spirit. Now, we’ve already discussed how Christ was the Son of God because he had received an inner spirit from God when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary. Could Christ have been talking about the same thing happening to humans?

     In II Corinthians 5:21, Paul made an astounding statement. We’ve already discussed how Christ became sin on the cross, so that when he died, sin died. But, the second part of this verse says that the reason Christ became sin was in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. That righteousness–that inner spirit, that freedom from sin or guilt–is the direct result of Christ becoming sin for us. Could this be the new birth–when the spirit that made Christ the Son of God is “created” within us?

     I think the place to start thinking through this possibility is in Luke 1: 26-38 (the story of Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her that God wanted her to be the mother of His son). If we “stand” above the action and look down, we can see there is a definite sequence of events that happened: (1.) Mary heard the Word of God, (2.) Mary questioned Gabriel until she understood, (3.) Mary “accepted” what God wanted to do, (4.) the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, and (5.) Christ was conceived with his physical body coming from Mary and his inner spirit coming from God. That inner spirit of righteousness–the freedom from sin or guilt–was Christ’s connection with God. That righteousness was what made him the Son of God.

      The process of the new birth may be much like what happened when Mary conceived Christ. An individual hears what Christ had done, understands what it all means, “accepts” what God’s absolute love has provided, and is then overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The result is that a new spirit–an inner man–is created within the physical body of the new believer. At that point, the believer is made the righteousness of God in Christ. At that point, the believer has the same inner connection with God that Christ has.

     Now, once a person is born again and is made the righteousness of God in Christ, he or she has everything that is needed to be “saved,” right? Not so fast–Romans 8:10 (NASB) says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit [the inner being] is alive because of righteousness.”  Remember what Christ said in John 10:10 about his purpose in coming to earth–that humans would have life more abundant than the loss, death, and destruction that Satan brings. The new birth “just” makes us the righteousness of God; it doesn’t deal with the death that is working in our physical bodies. You see, there is one huge difference between Christ and his believers. Christ never had death working in his body until he released his spirit on the cross because he was born with the inner man of righteousness. We believers were physically born without the same inner man, so death began working in us immediately (thus the statement, we begin to die the minute we’re born). So, just becoming the righteousness of God is not enough to overcome the death that is working in us. Something more was and is needed.

       Romans 8:11 tells of the second stage of becoming a son of God, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Right there is the life more abundant that Christ promised. In my next two posts, we will discuss just what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is and what it accomplishes in our lives.

     Before I end, I want to comment on the controversies that surround water baptism. First, water baptism does represent what happens in the process of the new birth–we “kill” the power of sin in our life and we re-emerge as the righteousness of God through Christ. Second, we do not have to convince the Holy Spirit to overshadow us by being water-baptised. Third, water baptism could be compared to a sales receipt–a physical representation of a legal reality. Think about all the sales receipts you have accumulated over the last month. Are they all exactly alike? Are they all legal documents? I’m just saying…think about it!

     As always, please feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, January 30th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in BECOMING A SON OF GOD

#27 BECOMING A SON OF GOD: INTRODUCTION

     What does it mean to be a son of God (includes both men and women)? Throughout the Christian world, there are practically as many versions of believers in Christ as there are denominations. And that’s okay to a certain extent; after all (using an analogy), there are practically as many versions of cars as there are drivers. However, underneath the surface, all cars share the same basic underlying structures–they have  frames, engines, transmissions, braking systems, etc. Likewise, no matter who a believer is or where he or she comes from, all sons of God share the same basic underlying structure. Understanding this framework and understanding the process of becoming a son of God will go a long way in enabling us to work as our Father’s adult business partners (another analogy). So, over my next several posts, we are going to discuss becoming sons of God. However, before we begin that discussion, I want to talk a little bit about the Bible and more specifically, about the New Testament.

     As Christ’s death on the cross changed the world, a whole new understanding of God and His absolute love began to infiltrate the human race. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Bible where we see a definitive change of tone between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Let me use a couple of conspicuous examples to illustrate. One of the wisest  men ever to rule the Hebrew nation was Solomon, David and Bathsheba’s second son. This man served God with all of his heart, yet as he looked at life in general, his words were “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, NASB). In other words, after everything he had gained and after all the wisdom he had acquired, he ran into the dividing wall. Listen to what else he wrote in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun” (verse 9, NASB). There was nothing new–everything was the same-old same-old! And, the rest of Ecclesiastes was written in the same depressed tone with Solomon ending with this, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NASB). After all the blessings he had received, the only understanding of God that he had was that people needed to fear God–Solomon had no concept of the absolute love of God, none whatsoever.

     Now, let’s take a look at a couple of New Testament writers. Paul, in II Corinthians 5:17 (NASB), goes way beyond what Solomon understood with these words, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Contrary to what Solomon believed, there is something new under the sun. And, then John changed the very conclusion that Solomon reached–fear God and keep His commandments–to this, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…We love because He first loved us…And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also” (I John 4:18, 19, 21, NASB). Yes, indeed, Christ obliterated the dividing wall!

    While the New Testament writers found new knowledge and new understandings from God, they and their fellow believers were facing new and more insidious threats from Satan and his cohorts. Intense persecution arose as Satan tried to destroy every visage of Christ’s victory over him. With the gospel producing new believers by the thousands and with threats and violence surrounding them, the New Testament authors tried to bring stability in the midst of chaos by writing letters to the people they had ministered to. As they wrote, they focused not only on explaining the new knowledge and understandings of God’s absolute love, but also on the specific circumstances their converts were facing at the time. 

     As we read through the New Testament, we need to keep a couple of things in mind. First, the writers were writing letters, not books of the Bible. They had no idea that what they were writing would be read 2000 years later. Along the same line of thought, each of these writers did not have access to what the other New Testament writers were writing. In other words, Paul didn’t have John’s letters who didn’t have Peter’s. Also, despite the notion that every word of the Bible is absolutely “true,” the New Testament writers did not get everything right. For example, Paul, Peter, and John all believed that Christ was going to return in their lifetime (Hebrews 1:2, I Peter 4:7, I John 2:18). When we look at the limited world they lived in, we can understand why they felt that way. The New Testament writers had no idea that the world was as big as it is–the scope of their world was bounded by the Mediterranean Sea. They had no way of knowing that when Christ said “God so loved the world..,” he also meant the people who lived thousands of miles away from Israel. Even more important, the tremendous pressure of the persecution they were under certainly made these writers feel like Christ was going to return quickly. But, he did not.

     So, as we delve into the process of becoming a son of God, we’re going to look at what the New Testament authors wrote through the lens of the entire Bible (which we are blessed to have) and of what we have discovered about our world (overwhelming information) in the intervening years since the New Testament days. In a sense, we are going to transpose the knowledge and understanding of these writers into the new key of today’s world. By drawing on all of these resources, we will discover the power of becoming a son of God, and the power to overcome the kingdom of evil as His sons.

     As always, feel free to comment–just keep it respectful!

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, January 18th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in BECOMING A SON OF GOD

#26 UNDERSTANDING CHRIST: OUTCOMES OF THE CROSS

     When we look at the cross, our tendency is to focus on the price Christ paid for the forgiveness of our sin. While forgiveness was an important result of the crucifixion, it was not the only outcome. The cross changed the whole context of our world–it was the beginning of a new covenant which, when fully implemented, will completely destroy the kingdom of evil. Understanding the fullness of just what Christ accomplished is important mainly because we have a job to do here in our world.

     First, let’s look at the outcomes of the cross for Christ himself. While he was ministering with his disciples, he mentioned several times that he was going to be killed and that he would be raised from the dead on the third day (example–Matthew 17:23). Christ knew, going into the crucifixion, that his death was going to be temporary. As Hebrews 12:2 tells us, Christ endured the shame of the cross for the joy that was set before him. Let me repeat that, Christ gave his life temporarily because of the joy that was set before him. After doing the most difficult thing any human being has or will ever be asked to do–knowingly letting go of his oneness with God–Christ received joy. What were the results that brought Christ joy? First, the knowledge that he singlehandedly destroyed Satan’s power to keep the human race from cleaving to God. Second, his reunion with his Father and the re-establishment of their oneness. Third, his position on the right hand of God, a position that Satan had coveted before he chose to let go of God. Fourth, the right to give gifts to human beings to enable them to overcome the kingdom of evil (Ephesians 4:8). And, finally, the promise that his enemies would be put under his feet (I Corinthians 15:25). So, the outcomes of the cross for Christ can be summed up in one word–joy!

     Next, let’s consider the outcomes of the cross for Satan and his kingdom. In I Corinthians 2:7-8, Paul stated that if the princes of this world (indicating the kingdom of evil) had known the plan that God and Christ had worked out, they would not have crucified Christ. Satan and his kingdom had no idea of what was going on behind the scenes of the crucifixion. At the moment that they were rejoicing because they thought they had thwarted the power of God’s love by crucifying His son, the foundation of their reign on earth was knocked out from under them. When Christ became sin and sin died along with Christ, they suffered a major defeat–no longer was there a wall between God and the human race. The only “advantage” they had  left was the fact that each individual still had a choice between life and death (Deuteronomy 30: 15-20). Satan had to put another plan into motion; as long as he and his minions could convince people that the wall was still there,  that there were too many obstacles between them and God,  that God didn’t care about them, or  that God didn’t even exist, he still stood a good chance of wiping the human race off the face of the earth. So,after Christ was resurrected, Satan immediately began to sow seeds of deceit in order to blunt the power of Christ’s death (Matthew 28:11-15).

     Finally, let’s think about the outcomes of the cross for the human race. For this part of our discussion, I’m going to distinguish between the people that had died before the cross and those who have come after the cross. Matthew 27:52-53 tells us that as Christ died, not only was the veil of the temple ripped in two from top to bottom, but also the graves were open and many bodies of the saints arose to appear to many people after Christ’s resurrection. Remember a couple of posts ago when I explained that the dividing wall between God and the human race extended into death and that Paradise was “next” to Hades? Well, when Christ obliterated the dividing wall through his death and then was resurrected, Paradise moved to the third heaven (II Corinthians 12:2-4). That move was what Paul called “leading captivity captive” (Ephesians 4:8). So, those who had served God until their deaths were finally reunited with Him.

     Now, as far as those people who have come after the cross are concerned, Christ’s death on the cross has given the human race the right and the way to overcome the kingdom of evil. Now, a valid question arises–if Christ destroyed Satan’s power, then why is evil abounding in our world and why have believers continued to die? The simple answer is that Satan has succeeded in nurturing deception in our world and that we believers have not known how to turn the potential energy of Christ’s death into kinetic energy that will bring the fullness of the new covenant to pass.  In other words, after 2000 years of Satan’s lies, we still have not fully accessed the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that we need from God to put Christ’s enemies under his feet and to defeat the last enemy of all–death (I Corinthians 15:24-26). That is about to change!

     In the next series of posts, we are going to discuss the process of becoming sons of God (which includes men and women).  As Romans 8:19 (NASB) states, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” This revealing of the sons of God will facilitate the complete obliteration of Satan and his kingdom of evil. And this can come none too soon!

     As always, please feel free to comment and be respectful.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, January 10th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Jesus Christ

#25 UNDERSTANDING CHRIST: HIS TRIUMPHANT CRUCIFIXION PART 2

     Many Christians see Christ’s crucifixion in terms of his death purchasing the forgiveness of our sins. The transaction for forgiveness did happen on the cross, but it happened fairly early on in the day. Luke was the only one of the Gospel writers who recorded the words that dealt with the unbelief that had enslaved the human race since Satan’s deception in the Garden of Eden. Listen to Christ’s words found in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Christ hit the nail on the head. From the time that Adam and Eve were conned into letting go of God–they did not know what they were doing–to the crucifixion, the human race was separated from the truth of God’s absolute love by the dividing wall Satan had constructed through his deception. All the sin, all the evil that the human race has participated in, came because humans did not understand God’s absolute love and thus, did not understand their own actions.

     Since Christ asked God to forgive the human race, the question becomes did God answer Christ’s prayer? Back when Christ was at the tomb of Mary and Martha’s brother, Christ spoke these words to God, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always…” (John 11:41-42). On the basis of Christ’s assertion that led to the raising of Lazarus, we can indeed infer that God did answer Christ as he hung on the cross and that the human race was forgiven at that point.

     Somehow, the Christian faith has given the impression that we, as the “sinners,” determine whether God forgives us or not by accepting the gift of salvation. The ones who have sinned have no say in the matter of forgiveness–it is totally in the purview of the one who is sinned against. When God answered Christ’s prayer, the human race was forgiven of its unbelief , period. Through Christ’s prayer for forgiveness for the human race, God took care of the unbelief that would prohibit them from benefitting from what was about to happen next.

     Let’s look at Proverbs 12:28  again, “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” Christ had the spirit of his Father–the spirit of righteousness–within his physical body. Because he had never let go of God, his righteousness was in full-force and it kept him from death. In fact, the only way Christ could die was if he let go of God and let go of life. That was the something that was about to happen. Let’s watch the action.

     When the time was right and he was ready to die, Christ spoke, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). At that point, Christ gave back to God the righteousness that made him the Son of God. Now, the question becomes what happened then? Remember when we talked about God creating an alternative to Himself? Since that point, only two choices have existed–life, good, love, light, and spirit or death, evil, hate, darkness, and physicality. Christ had lived his earthly life in the first choice, so if he let go of that choice, wouldn’t the second choice rush in? Or, to put in simpler terms, wouldn’t sin rush in? Listen to his cry after he gave up his righteousness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). That, my friends, was the cry of unbelief, of sin. As II Corinthians 5:21 says, the one who knew no sin became sin. God did not turn from Christ–in fact, Christ did exactly what God wanted him to do. Christ let go of God and he let go of life, good, love, light, and spirit.

     Hebrews 12:3 encourages us to “…consider him (Christ) that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself…” The one whose joy was to be one with his Father had to let go of his Father and in doing so pleased his Father. What a contradiction! Not only that, but also the one, who spoke of being the Living Water that would totally quench the thirst of the human race (John 4:14) , thirsted and was given sour vinegar to drink (John 19:28). What a contradiction!

     Now, while Christ was dying, Satan and his kingdom were watching and seeing the result of their conniving–the light of the world was being extinguished and darkness was overtaking the surroundings. Then, Christ finally physically died as he spoke the words, “It is finished,” (John 19:30), and behind Satan’s back, a tremendous noise shook the foundations of the kingdom of evil. The veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom, or to put it in the analogy I’ve been using, the dividing wall was obliterated. When Christ died, unbelief (sin) died, too! It was as if Christ took the hugest sledgehammer ever and bashed the wall into smithereens. Satan’s ability to keep the human race from cleaving to God was forever destroyed (Hebrews 2:14).

     God’s absolute love won! This is the good news–nothing stands between us and God, nothing! Through Christ, we have the right that God’s forgiveness and Christ’s triumphant crucifixion has given us–we have the right and the power to cleave to God and to have life! As we proceed on, we are going to dig into the outcomes and the benefits that Christ’s crucifixion has brought to the human race.

    As always, please feel free to comment–just be respectful!

 

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, January 1st 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Jesus Christ
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