Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit: But Jesus told you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7 NIV)
When Jesus Christ left, "the Comforter"/"Supporter"/"Advocate" (the Holy Spirit) came in His place. The Holy Spirit is, SPIRIT, and has never been a bodily being like Christ. The Spirit has no limit of time or space. The Spirit is able to work within your mind and through your activities, in the everyday realm everywhere. Jesus does what could only be done by a bodily being who is in the Spirit, while the Holy Spirit does what a bodily being can't do.
The Spirit draws you into the presence of Christ, even to the point of creating a relationship between you and Jesus that can be so close that to speak of being in union with Him does not have to be blasphemous. The bond between you and the risen Jesus Christ is a bond sewn by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit won't live in someone who chooses to sin in spite of conscience, or who has no love in them. The Holy Spirit is not found where sin has its way.
The Spirit 'indwelling', it means being in close relationship, and close relationship demands that you reveal not just will and message, but something of your very self. The heart, the character, and the love of God is revealed to you in creation, in the covenant with the Jews, and then in God's Son, Jesus Christ. Getting you to grasp this is the job of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit doesn't exist to fulfill your desires. Christ is not like some parent spoiling His children with presents and permission to mess around and do what they will. God is not here on human terms for human whims or even the grandest of human purposes, and can't be trapped inside your word games. Yet God is a God of gifts, a Spirit of a true freedom with the discipline and responsibility needed to be truly free, a God who wants you to dream and envision, describe and learn about, a God whose purposes are the only ones worthy of pursuit, His mysteries are the only ones worth probing.
No comments:
Post a Comment