Reawakening to the Spirit of Christ
The Holy Spirit is God. He is not a force, a power, or some kind of cosmic or spiritual energy that we can use as we want. He is not a feeling or an emotion. He is God, and He is a Person, one of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, one God in three Persons. God the Spirit is co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit lives in us. Jesus said this of the Spirit, “But you know him for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you … you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (Jn 14:17-20). But, are we taking the Holy Spirit seriously? Do we live in total surrender and submission to the Holy Spirit? Are we daily walking in step with the Spirit? We need to reawaken to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.
1. The Holy Spirit Is God’s Seal on Us
The Holy Spirit is God’s seal, His identifying mark on us. We as followers of Jesus Christ bear the mark of the Holy Spirit. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:13-14).
God gives the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Christ. Jesus fulfilled his promise that He will not leave us as orphans. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (Jn 14:16-17).
The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. He is the down payment paid by God Himself. God gave us the Spirit as a sign and foretaste of the whole renewed cosmos which awaits us as our inheritance. The Spirit guarantees our salvation and our access to all of God’s glorious, rich blessings. Therefore, our lives are filled with joy, thanksgiving, praise, adoration, and worship. Our lives should be one continuous act of worship to the praises of God’s glory.
2. The Holy Spirit Teaches Us God’s Truth
The Holy Spirit teaches us God’s truth. He is the Spirit of truth. He is our Teacher. He is our Advocate, Helper, and Counselor. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (Jn 14:25-27). “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. … But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (Jn 15:26-27; 16:7-15)
One of the greatest challenges today is the battle for truth. The world is constantly pushing us to believe the lie that truth is relative and self-determined. What I believe to be true is truth. We see the effect of this thinking in our culture—people are clamoring for others to accept their “truth” no matter how contrary or different it may be from someone else’s; no matter what the facts or actual truth are.
Jesus Christ has revealed Himself as the Truth, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). The Holy Spirit convicts us and the world of sin, of what is right and wrong, and God’s judgment. Those who do not believe in Christ and follow Him and instead follow the prince of this world, are condemned. But those who believe in the Truth have been forgiven and accepted as they are.
The Spirit dwells in us and constantly reveals our present condition, guides us into all truth, enlightens our hearts and minds, and teaches us to know God. He helps us to understand the depths of Christ and His Word, the truth, which sanctifies us. As Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth, your word is the truth” (Jn 17:17). The Spirit is our greatest Teacher. He lives in us and longs for us to sit in His classroom. We should not rely on our own understanding but listen to and learn from the Holy Spirit.
Also, the Spirit testifies about who Jesus is and what He has done. He makes known to us and the world that Jesus is the Lord, Savior, and Messiah. Jesus sent us and said, “You are my witnesses.” Not an easy task but the Spirit enables us to be his witnesses, to testify about Him. We are not alone. He is at our side and helps us in every way as we share Jesus with others. “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Lk 12:11-12).
3. The Holy Spirit Empowers Us for Kingdom Living
The Holy Spirit empowers us for Kingdom living. First, the Spirit gives us new, eternal life. He regenerates, recreates us so that we are born again, new creations in Christ. “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (Jn 3:5-7)
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Ro 8:9-11). The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, makes us holy, transforms our lives so that we become more and more Christlike. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ (Phil 1:6).
There is more! “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Ro 8:14-16).
We are no longer in the realm of the flesh. We are no longer of this world. We are under new management, new control. By the Spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the body, the flesh, and we no longer live according to the ways of this world. The Holy Spirit empowers us for kingdom living, to live as God’s children, as kingdom citizens now and here in this world. The kingdom life is humanly impossible. Love your enemies — humanly impossible. Forgive one another — impossible, humanly speaking. So what shall we do? Try harder. No, we are not called to a life of superhuman effort. All efforts in our own strength and by our own power will fail. We are called to a life of dependence on the Holy Spirit. He makes the impossible possible in our lives. The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. That is the power that lives and works in us, “his incomparable great power for us who believe” (Eph 1:19). God the Spirit gives us victory over sin, over our old self. There is no victory over sin through human effort. Only the Holy Spirit makes possible the impossible.
4. Reawaken to the Holy Spirit!
But for this to happen we need to reawaken to the Holy Spirit. We confess our belief in the Spirit. We know who He is, his power, and that He is real. And yet it seems as if we are holding back. It seems as if we are hesitant, afraid to surrender total control to Him. We give Him the steering wheel of our life’s car but we keep one hand on the wheel as if we are not trusting Him completely. And even when we do not keep one hand on the wheel, we still tell Him where to go instead of sitting back, enjoying the ride, and allowing the Spirit to take us where He wants to take us.
Perhaps we fear the Holy Spirit because of what he may do to us, do with us, and do through us. We fear what he might call us to do. We fear the changes He might bring about in our lives. His work in our lives is powerful, revolutionary, and radical. But we are complacent and comfortable with the way things are. We don’t want Him to rock the boat. And so we miss out on the many, deep, and rich blessings of God. We try to live the Kingdom life in our own power according to our ways. We fail. We become disappointed and discouraged. We miss out on the deeper life with God. We miss out on the unspeakable and glorious joy.
When you practice the spiritual disciplines, when you pray and study God’s Word, the voice of the Holy Spirit will be loud and clear in our lives. Paul said, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” or a better translation, “Keep on being filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18). At salvation, we have received all of the Holy Spirit, but He has not yet received all of us because there are still areas of our lives that need to be surrendered to His Lordship. Therefore, we need to walk by the Spirit and we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16). We need to surrender daily to Him so that we live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:25). And so we can willingly say no to sin and yes to Him. He lovingly points out the areas of our lives that are taking up room that belong to Him—areas of fear, anger, pride, selfishness, or self-righteousness. When these areas are surrendered to the Lord, we make room in our lives for more of Him. It is not just sin that needs to be surrendered, but also areas of pain, hurt, wounding, grief, disappointment, and loss. These also need a fresh touch of His Spirit. This is the process of sanctification.
Are you ready to be empowered by the Holy Spirit? Are you sure you want to be possessed by a spirit other than your own? If the Holy Spirit possesses you, He will be the Lord of your life! Are you ready to hand over the keys of your soul, your heart to the Lord? Are you ready to hand over the control of your family, your business, your work, your money, everything to the Holy Spirit? Are you sure you want to be taken over by the One who will expect obedience to God’s Word? Are you sure you want to be taken over by the One who will not tolerate any sin?
Then, reawaken to the Spirit of Christ. Every morning surrender to Him. Surrender means giving up control. When you want to take over the steering wheel or tell the Holy Spirit where to go, stop, pray, and resurrender control to Him. When you face challenges and temptations, surrender control to Him. When we open ourselves to the filling of the Holy Spirit, when we plug into his power, we trust Him to choose the best way He wants us to experience His presence. We trust Him to choose the best way for us to be holy and live for his glory. Let us reawaken to the Holy Spirit. Believe in the Holy Spirit. Accept the reality and presence of the Holy Spirit. Receive the Holy Spirit. Surrender to Him. Believe Him, trust Him and listen to Him. Walk in step with the Spirit every moment and He will make possible the impossible in your life.