Jesus' Defining Moment and Ours
October 5, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."
Matthew 3:16 (NIV)

Jesus’ cousin, John “the baptizer”, son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, was challenging anyone who listened to repent, get baptized by immersion as sign of their cleansing and decision to live a new life. Somehow he knew that his job was to get people ready for the arrival of the Messiah whom John knew (at least to some degree) was Jesus. John didn’t want to do it, but since Jesus insisted, he submerged Jesus in the Jordan and as Jesus re-emerged from the water something extraordinary happened. Jesus experienced the unequivocal and immersing love of his Father in Heaven. It was a  baptism not of water, but of the Holy Spirit. This baptism, the filling of a person with God’s spirit is a reality for those who have chosen to believe and entrust their lives to the Leadership of Jesus.
   
There is not believer who has not been given and empowered with all of the Holy Spirit.

If this was necessary for Jesus, how much more necessary must it be for us? If Jesus needed the Spirit in order to do the Father’s will, how much more we?

This “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is sometimes an ecstatic experience, sometimes accompanied by praying “in tongues”. For others there is no physical or emotional experience whatsoever, nor need there be. Yes, the Holy Spirit is comforter, guide, the one who comes alongside, but more than that, much more than that, the Holy Spirit is given to us to empower us to obey the Lord and to carry out the mission on earth for which we have been created. The believer’s mission on earth is not to seek more of the Holy Spirit. Every believer has all of the Holy Spirit there is to have. Instead the believer’s mission is to help Jesus usher in the Kingdom of God in the power of the Spirit.

But this one thing must not be missed. The foundation of it all is the Father’s love. The Father says to you (while you are yet an unrepentant sinner Rom. 5:6-10), “you are my child, in you I am well pleased”. The Father’s love and the empowerment of the Spirit are inextricable.

Do you believe the Father loves you unconditionally, regardless of how good you are? Believing this one thing sets you up for a life of freedom, power in the Spirit and for a life of purpose. Disbelieving  this one thing is crippling. More than anything else, Jesus said, “believe”.

“Lord, it is almost impossible to imagine you saying to me 'you are my daughter/son. In you I am well pleased'. Yet you do. Unbelievable. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Amen”