Moments after my father died, it was obvious he was no longer in that body lying on the bed. His life had gone from there even though my sense of it remained. A dictionary might say that his SPIRIT had left. Some would call it his life force or whatever it is that makes a person alive.
I miss my dad, yet apart from dictionaries I know that his spirit lives on and someday will be reunited with a new body — because Jesus said so:
John 5:28–29. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Scripture tells me that human life comes from the Spirit of God. In Genesis 6:3 He said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” Yet reading through, it is clear that there is a difference between a human spirit and its origin. Pharaoh noticed it when he said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” God also spoke many times about filling His people with His Spirit even though they were already alive. Some were “filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship.”
Other examples include the Lord telling Moses that the Spirit was in Joshua, and “the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon” and “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon (Sampson), and although he had nothing in his hand” and “the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul” then later “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.”
Job knew that his life was due to the Spirit of God who “has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” and David knew that same Spirit could be taken from him even though he could not flee from Him. The prophets also knew that their words came from God as did their power.
The NT gives clearer descriptions of what the Spirit of God does. Foremost is that Jesus was conceived by His power: Matthew 1:18. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.”
That same Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus also said the Spirit would give words to His followers when they were on trial, but first explained the role of the Spirit in their redemption:
John 3:6; 63 and 16:13: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit . . . . It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life . . . . 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.”
After Jesus rose from the dead, He told them the Spirit would make them witnesses for Him “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
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.
Paul also defined being a Christian in Romans 8:9: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” He later explained that “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” In other words, a distinction exists between the human spirit given by God and the Holy Spirit also given by God!
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Jesus died for me and the “law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death” giving me His Spirit so I can set my mind on the things of the Spirit rather than the things of the flesh. For that reason, I focus on Him in gratitude for the Spirit who helps me do just that.
No comments:
Post a Comment