Our God is a gift-giving God.
We are continuing in the theme of the Grace of God. In the last post, we mentioned the Trinity and that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are One. All three parts of the Godhead share the same nature and that is the nature of Grace. God’s grace can be described as salvation, mercy, compassion, favor, and kindness. All of these are given by God not because we have earned or deserved grace, but because God’s grace is a gift. God’s grace is the evidence of His love for us. Show More
The Gift of the Father.
The gift or grace of Father God is that He provided a way to restore the broken relationship which began in the Garden of Eden, between mankind and Himself. The Father did this by providing a “Seed” [check out my last episode], a Savior, a Messiah in Hebrew, a Christ in Greek, in any language- Jesus.
The Gift of the Son.
The gift or grace of Jesus Christ is revealed in the Gift of the Holy Spirit to the believer. The Holy Spirit who empowers us to live the Christian life in grace and power.
When Jesus walked the earth, His followers had the benefit of His physical presence. They felt His love, experienced His fellowship, and witnessed His signs and wonders that only God could produce. Jesus came to the earth to live as a human being for approximately 33½ years. Jesus made it very clear that when He departed, He would leave us “another like Himself” a “comforter” or a “Helper”, but this time instead of a physical person the Helper would come in the spirit, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus in the flesh could only be in one place at one time, but in the spirit, He could live in every believer. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that He lives in us.
In Acts 1:4 Jesus appeared to His disciples and commanded them to stay in Jerusalem where they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They were to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father, of which Jesus had already told them before He was crucified. Listen to what Jesus said in, John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you”. In Acts 1:8 Jesus assures his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then in Acts 2, the Christian Church was started in Holy Spirit power!
Power to do what you might ask? Power to live the Christian life and to be a bold witness in words and actions of the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ.
You see, Jesus had to leave or ascend to heaven, in order to send the Holy Spirit to us. In the gospel of John 14:16 Jesus says the following, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you”.
The word “Helper” means intercessor, advocate, or one who is alongside you through thick and thin. Jesus calls Him another Helper, in other words, one like Himself. God will never leave you or abandon you. How wonderful it is to know that although Jesus in the flesh is not here, His Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit provides the love, the fellowship, the signs and wonders that only God could produce, but now through us!
An important function of the Helper is to guide you into doing what Jesus would do. Jesus says in John 14:25, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 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 things that I said to you.
The Work of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take a look at some of the areas of life that the Holy Spirit is involved in.
1. The Holy Spirit confirms to us that we are the children of God, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”, that was Romans 8:16.
The most important thing that the Holy Spirit provides is the ability to hear from God and if we are His children then God’s desire to assure us of His love for us. The Holy Spirit does that by revealing to us in our heart or “knower” that we are His.
We don’t need artifacts, tokens, emblems or symbols to make the Holy Spirit real to ourselves. We know Him because of the relationship that forms over time. We are no longer strangers to God nor is He a stranger to us. We don’t need to belong to an organization or do ritualistic steps to draw close to God, because He lives in us. When this reality becomes our everyday experience, that is when we begin to live a victorious life. Our lives become the evidence that He lives in us!
2. The Holy Spirit is our down payment or guarantee of our future resurrection. Let’s look at 4 verses that use the word guarantee:
- 2 Cor. 1:21-22, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee”;
- 2 Corinthians 5:5, “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee”.
The word guarantee has an interesting origin. The word guarantee in the original language is the word arrhabōn; a Hebrew word which means, “a pledge, i.e. part of the purchase – money or property given in advance as security for the rest: — a down payment”. When you purchased cloth in Jesus’ day, the cloth merchants would give you a piece of the cloth you purchased as an assurance or guarantee that the bolt of cloth was yours when you returned. Can you see the connection… the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that Jesus is coming back for you.
3. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us. In John 16:12-15, Jesus makes it clear that when the Holy Spirit comes to us, the Holy Spirit will reveal what Jesus wants us to know. He will guide us into the truth because He is the Spirit of truth. Because of the unity of the Trinity, the truth that He speaks is of the Father and the son, Jesus.
4. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray. Romans. 8:26-27 shows us that even when we are so distressed or confused, the Holy Spirit is able to help us pray as we ought to. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us, often with words we don’t understand (Tongues). The scriptures call these words of prayer as groanings. Since these prayers are Holy Spirit inspired, they will always be according to the will of God! The Holy Spirit or God knows what you need! This kind of prayer in the Spirit will build up your faith and build up your confidence as it says in Jude 1:20.
5. The Holy Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 teaches us that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, that is we are not condemned to Hell! Remove that from your thinking… you are not hoping to go to Heaven, but Heaven is yours!
The evidence of our salvation is that we are learning to be led by the Holy Spirit of God. I am no longer trying to work my way into heaven or trying to gain God’s favor, after all I am now a child of God!
6. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. John 16:13 states, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come”.
The truth is of critical importance because we know that “the truth sets us free and if the truth is in Christ, we are free indeed. The opposite of truth is error, and how many of us have lived in error and suffered the consequences of making decisions based upon bad information. Now, because of the Holy Spirit in us, we are brought out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are able to see the light of Christ and move towards it.
7. The Holy Spirit fills us! One of my favorite scriptures is Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit”! Here is another quote, “First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you”. The point is alcohol can take control of you; far, far better is to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of you! So, in essence to be “filled with the Spirit” means to live a Holy Spirit-led life. Remember the Holy Spirit is God, there’s that Trinity again, so having a conversation with the Holy Spirit is talking to God. Learn to spend time with your “friend and comforter” throughout the day!
8. The Holy Spirit produces in us the fruit or character of God! It is the evidence of His work and presence in our lives. Galatians 5:22-23 describes the character and nature of the Holy Spirit and because He lives in us describes the character He is building in us; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control…”.
9. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Holy Spirit empowers us. In Acts 1:8 Jesus states, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This was a promise Jesus made to those who gathered in Jerusalem anticipating the birth of the Christian Church. The church was birthed in the power of the Holy Spirit – the power to witness or testify of what God was doing in your life. Boldness to speak the message of the Gospel or Good News. Power of the Holy Spirit in manifesting the spiritual gifts described in 1 Corinthians 12. Which we will look at in our next episode.
As you can see Jesus’ gift of the Helper or the Holy Spirit is actively revealing to us that we are loved, forgiven and accepted by Father God! The Holy Spirit also empowering us for service to our King!
In conclusion, the grace or the gift of the Father was the gift of Jesus in our lives. The gift of Jesus is the Holy Spirit who enables us to live the life Jesus has called us to. In our next episode we will look at the Grace or gift of the Holy Spirit… which is the power to change and be used by God.