The Goal is Whole: Who am I? W4: The Holy Spirit

FULL STUDY:

We have been discovering the incredible new identity we have in the new creation.

Today we want to turn more to how God comes to make this identity real in us, through the Holy Spirit. Without His work, all this is just theory.

All four gospels carry pretty much the same headline as John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the crowds:

 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8)

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16)

“I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:33-34)

Jesus came as the baptizer in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was not able to baptize anyone in the Holy Spirit before He had risen from the dead and ascended into glory. John pointed this out clearly in his gospel,

“Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. He only became glorified after He had died, been buried, rose again, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. Jesus baptizing in the Spirit was such a big deal, that He told the disciples they must wait for this to happen before they could begin their mission to reach the world with the gospel:

“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)

Acts 1:4-5: “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5)

The Holy Spirit Falls

Several days later, they received the baptism with the Holy Spirit through a dramatic outpouring from heaven:

“And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance”. (Acts 2:2-4)

“Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He (Jesus) has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)

Later, as Peter was preaching about Jesus in Caesarea, the Holy Spirit came powerfully again (see Acts 10). Giving account of what happened back in Jerusalem, Peter explained,

“And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:15-17)

The baptism in the Spirit for those people was the same legitimate event that it had been earlier for the apostles. We can be confident therefore that this same baptism can be ours too. So, what exactly is this baptism?

Baptism is Immersion

Baptism is an anglicized word taken straight from the Greek, “baptizo”. It means to immerse, or literally “to cover fully with a fluid, or make fully wet” and was also used to describe staining with a dye (Strong’s dictionary). To be soaked, overwhelmed, filled, immersed. This corresponds closely with the passages we looked at yesterday about being filled up to all the fullness of God. The Holy Spirit is God!

Jesus went to the cross, made His awesome substitutionary payment for the fallen race, was buried, rose in victory, returned to heaven, was glorified, so that He could usher in the new creation, and fill it with the Holy Spirit! That’s why He came! Being made a new creation in Him is completely awesome, but even that isn’t the complete end purpose. The new creation is equipped and formed to receive the Holy Spirit!

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:13-15)

The Holy Spirit is the literal presence of God with us, bringing us revelation of Jesus and of the Father. Even more wonderful, He repeats what He hears in heaven!

Paul describes the Holy Spirit as “the Lord”.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Receiving, yielding to, being filled with, and co-operating with the Holy Spirit is fundamental to new creation life. This is how our new identity becomes real.

Rather like a swimming pool is built to be filled with water, or a gasoline tank is manufactured to be filled with gasoline, so the new creation is created to be filled with the Holy Spirit!

The Role of the Holy Spirit

We will be looking more into how we co-work with the Holy Spirit in all the other units, because this is so central and outworks in every aspect of the new creation life. In closing today, we will just look through some of the things Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, and what He would do when He came. Our identity in Christ is all made manifest through the Holy Spirit, because His role is to reveal and glorify Jesus.

In our experience, the cleanest way to embrace the Holy Spirit’s work is to focus on Jesus and glorify Him. Then we are 100% aligned with the Holy Spirit’s own purpose and allow Him to move freely.

Here are some of the things Jesus told us about the Holy Spirit in John’s gospel. As we cooperate with Him, so these attributes operate in and through us, dramatically shaping our new identity in the new creation!

1. He is the helper (comforter) (14:16)
2. He is the Spirit of truth (14:17)
3. He will abide with us (14:17)
4. He will be in us (14:17)
5. The Father sends Him in Jesus’ name (14:26)
6. He teaches us all things (14:26)
7. He brings to remembrance all that Jesus said (14:26)
8. He testifies about Jesus (15:26)
9. He could only come if Jesus went away, and Jesus said having the Holy Spirit is better (16:7)
10. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8)
11. He guides into all truth (16:13)
12. He does not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He speaks (16:13)
13. He discloses what is to come (16:13)
14. He glorifies Jesus (16:14)
15. He takes of what is of Jesus and the Father and discloses it to us (16:14-15)

The Holy Spirit helps us live a holy life, releases gifts, empowers us with signs, wonders and miracles, and manifests the presence of Jesus, giving us wisdom, freedom, and revelation. He is our unity, the dynamic of fellowship, the enlightener in the Word, and so much more! Being baptized with the Holy Spirit and continually filled with Him is essential for our new creation identity. Without Him it is all an empty form and dead theology. As Jesus said,

“The flesh profits nothing, but the Spirit gives life”. (John 6:63):

It is good to remember too that even Jesus was not released into ministry until the Holy Spirit came upon Him, as declared in this passage He quoted from Isaiah,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Embracing the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit is fundamental to our identity in the new creation!