How did the coming of the Holy Spirit revolutionize the people of God?
In the early church, and in my life
In the beginning there was God, and His
Spirit hovered over the formless and empty earth (Gen 1:1). As you see the trinity of God interact
with each other, this world and us in the whole picture of the Word of God –
you can go back to this opening line and sense the anticipation of the Holy
Spirit in the creation of the world.
It did not work out the way they wished it to, but still you can see the
desire of the God to come again into the intimate connection with humanity as
it was intended from the beginning.
As I read through the different scriptures
about the Spirit I saw such joy, light and life in the character and affects of
Him. It reminded me of how the
Holy Spirit was represented in the novel “The Shack” by William Young. And whether or not all of the
expressions of the Spirit is right in his book – I too, got that same feeling
of joy, light and life that his character showed (OK not that the Spirit is an
Asian girl).
For the early church they moved from the time
where there was a separation from God because of their sins, to where, through
the blood of Jesus, God was able to live in them. Before this in the Old Testament, you can see the Spirit
filling individuals to help them in special skills (Gen, 41:38, Ex 31:3), or leaders
– particularly to give them wisdom and boldness in battles (Num 11:17,25,
27:15-18, Jud 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 14:6,19, 15:4, Is 30:1) and on those God was prophesying
through (Num 24:1-3, 1 Sam 19:20,23, 2 Sam 23:2, 2 Chr 15:1, 20:14,25, 24:20,
Is 48:16, 61:1).
The Spirit was promised to the people,
through the coming and presence of Jesus (Is 11:1-2, 32:15, 42:1, 44:3, Joel
2:28,29). And this time the Spirit
would not leave them (Isa 59:21). Jesus baptised the people with the Holy Spirit and with fire
(Matt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Luke 3:16, Jn 1:33).
And by surrendering their lives to Jesus, the word from Ezekiel came
true, but this time in a new covenant:
“And I will give you a new heart, and I
will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and
give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will
follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
Eze 36 :25-27
On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came in a
tangible way (Acts 2:12,3), just as he had when he blessed Jesus during his
baptism (Matt 3:16, Mk 1:10, Lk 3:22, Jn 1:32). He was a gift from the Father sent to fill his
followers with power (Lk 24:49, Acts 1:4,5,8, 2:33,38). He came as the advocate, comforter,
encourager and counsellor (John 14:15-16).
For the Jews as they came to believe in Jesus, they thought that
God was specifically sent to them. But instead God showed no favoritism and
confronted any racism by falling on the Gentiles, in the same way he had fallen
on them (Acts 10:44,47, 11:15, 15:8).
It must of seemed unfair to some of them who had been faithfully
following the law all these generations, when suddenly the old sacrifices were
not needed, only repentance and faith in God – and the Holy Spirit poured
himself out on all! But God was
following up on His promises to include ALL in his redemption plan (Eph 1:13,
2:22). So the Jews had to adjust
to the idea that true believers were together in the Spirit (Phil 3:3). For the Gentile’s there was the
good news that they had been adopted into the family (Rom 8:15,16) – but it was
not the family bound by the law because with the Spirit of God, came freedom (2
Cor 3:17). But the Holy Spirit was
willing and able to teach them and give them love for each other (Rom 15:30). And it was through that love that other
people could see evidence of who God was.
It cannot have been easy for the early church (it is
not easy NOW!) to figure out who this God was; with the new freedom for the
Jews, and coming from a multi-god pagan lifestyle for the Gentiles. And then the church grew so quickly and
they did not have a nicely bound bunch of scriptures like we do today. But the Holy Spirit was the one to
bring the truth to the believers (Side note: I think that is what we miss a lot
today, we rely so much on the Word of God and other books, without always
asking for the Spirit to teach it himself). He was the only one who could give birth to spiritual life and explain
what is not explainable (Jn 3:6,8).
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He
will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you
about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he
receives from me. All
that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell
you whatever he receives from me.” John 16:13-15
The early church could have the Spirit confirm within them, and
within their consciences, what was true (Rom 9:1, 1 Thes 1:5, 1 John 2:20). He would then also give the people the words,
and the boldness, so they could speak the Spirits’ words to explain spiritual
truths (Matt 10:20, Mk 12:36, 13:11, Lk 12:12, 1 Cor 2:13,14).
Ultimately they
would be able to make changes in their lives because of God’s love, which the
Holy Spirit filled their hearts with (Rom 2:29,5:5,8:4,13,26, Gal 5:17). Their lives would have been witnesses to
others as they lived with the Holy Spirit producing fruit of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal
5:22,23). Their lives would have
been in stark contrast to the legalistic ‘pure’ Jews, and the ‘live-for-pleasure’
Gentiles. The Holy Spirit was the tangible guarantee that God will give what
he has promised (2 Corin 1:22, 2 Cor 5:5, Eph 1:14). It was through the Spirit’s work of signs and wonders that
convinced people of God’s Kingdom (Rom 15:19, 1 John 4:13,5:6).
Today, the Holy Spirit has not changed at all, and many of the
same issues in and out of the church continues. So where I am at in my relationship with the Spirit?
I think I have come a very long way in recognising, loving and
allowing the Spirit to work in me and through me. I am totally convinced of his presence, even though I am
still in awe and shocked at shows of his power. If anything, it has been easy to become very suspicious and too
familiar with the workings of the Holy Spirit. I did a lot of my growing in an Assemblies of God church,
which in New Zealand is very charismatic.
So we saw God move and were touched in sweeping waves of revival, such
as the Toronto Blessing. That is where
I become wary as people would at times force their will and make out as if it
was the Holy Spirit. But he is so
gentle and persistent in teaching me who he is.
Now I love the gift of prophecy in particular (1 Corn 14). It is such a privilege to be able to
ask God how He wants to bless and encourage someone. And I have learnt more clearly to recognise when the Holy
Spirit is speaking to me, and have become more confident to offer those thoughts
to people.
I have seen a lot of growth in listening to the guidance of the
Spirit as well. I know that he
guides and speaks to us, both sending m and stopping me (Acts 10:19, 11:12,
13:2,9, 16:6,7, 19:21, 20:22,23).
And I really trust that he guides my life (Gal 5:16).
I would love to ask the Holy Spirit for of the other gifts, but it
is he who decides what to give me (1 Corn 12:1-11). I would also love to live more it the joy of the Lord, which
come from the Spirit (1 The 1:6).
Even in hard times, to have that joy to encourage myself, but also
others who are suffering. Another area that I have seen in my life, but I would
want to grow in is trusting the Spirit to be my teacher and also to guard the
truth that I already have been given (2 Tim 1:14).
”But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you
don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it
is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.” 1 John 2:27
Finally I ALWAYS want to grow in the fruit of the
Spirit – in loving others and living well (Gal 5:22,23).
What an amazing thing that we have the Holy Spirit
living within us, and how much more we can learn about him and work with him to
bring the truth to this world.
