What is Spirit?

 

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.

 

True Beauty

 

 

My sister and I were looking at an old high school yearbook at pictures of old friends. At one photo she remarked, “He is not good looking at all, but because he was such a nice guy, everyone thought he was handsome.”

This reminds me of a saying that often proves true: “Beauty is as beauty does.”

In the Bible, BEAUTIFUL usually describes something or someone that is appealing to the eye, a person or object that delights the senses or excites intellectual or emotional admiration. However, the same words are also translated “good” and are connected to that which pleases God.

Actually, in the OT this idea of goodness is inseparably linked with personal faith in God. Any idea of ‘good’ being personal and separate from God is inconceivable. In other words, goodness is always a gift from God and outside the prerogative of human beings in our own strength. It was this concept of goodness in God that Adam and Eve tried to gain by sinfully eating from the forbidden tree.

Later God gave the Law and said in Deuteronomy 30:15, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” Putting this in terms of today’s word to describe God and His character, He was telling them that life with Him or living life His way would be a beautiful life.

Proverbs 28:10. Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.

Psalm 84:11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

This truth about essential goodness or beauty of life is further explained in the NT as only realized in a personal relationship with God. All true goodness and moral beauty comes from Him.

NT Greek uses three word-groups, each with its own separate emphasis, to describe what is good and beautiful. Agathos is used generally for what is good and useful, especially moral goodness in relation to God who is perfect. Kalos can be used as a synonym, but in comparison with the ethical and religious emphasis of agathos, it stresses more the aesthetic aspect, and stands for beautiful, fine, free from defects. When applied to acts, it means noble, praiseworthy. Chrēstos expresses the material usefulness of things with regard to their goodness, pleasantness and softness. Sometimes these terms are translated into ‘good’ and sometimes ‘beautiful’ showing the link to God who is the only Good One, the only Beautiful One.

Luke 18:18–19. And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

This concept of good coming from God alone is used in verses like 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.”

This fits with the gospel that says only in Jesus Christ am I given the opportunity to be truly good, truly beautiful, not in appearance but in moral and spiritual goodness. This is the beauty of God, not my own, and salvation is a share of His goodness that I can pass on to others by doing good, not in my own ability or being but in the power of God’s Holy Spirit and in the ability of the Lord Jesus Christ who lives in me.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. The OT prophet said of Jesus that “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him” yet for those who love Him, Jesus is the most beautiful person who ever lived. The Bible also says that the more I look into the life of Christ and the goodness of God, the more He changes me to be like Him, but that is not about physical beauty. Instead, He uses “all things” to transform me, even trials and troubles and as James 1 says, I’m to be joyful because they are building in me the beautiful virtue of patience. When I look in the mirror, I might see freckles, wrinkles, and signs of aging, but in the mind of God, beauty is not about that. Instead, His beauty is far deeper, lasts forever, and is utterly precious:

1 Peter 3:3–4. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.