“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John: 14:18).
We may reflect on some human experiences to enlighten us on some hooks about life; we can call it “life Ordeal.”
Example 1
John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked Him why His disciples were not fasting while they and the Pharisees were always fasting. Jesus questioned them in a parabolic manner, why the friends of the bridegroom will mourn while He is still around, and continued they will fast when the bridegroom is no longer with them. (Matthew (:14-15).
Example 2
Esau had the birthright as the first-born he was careless about; he traded it out to Jacob for a bowl of pottage, out of desperation from hunger. (Genesis 25:29-34). He later sought the first- born blessings but could not change it, even with tears. (Hebrews, 12:17).
Example 3
The devil stole the whole of humanity’s birthright, blinded us, and twisted our minds from seeing and understanding our divine capacity, rights, and privileges.
Jesus, the son of God, died, paid the penalty for the salvation, redemption, restoration of humanity through a gruesome ordeal; so, the human can get back their divine birthright whenever they claim His Lordship and Saving grace.
He was wounded for our iniquity, He was bruised for our sin, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, but by His stripes, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
The splitting of the veil of the temple’s covering, the holy of holies that only the High Priest could enter, tore, making it another benefit of the package of our salvation, and we gained rightful access to the heavenly throne. He broke our chain of slavery from the devil and made us heirs, sons, and daughters (Colossians 1:9-23; Ephesians1:3-12).
Reflection!
The first two ordeals about life never had an intermediary. They had to work out their situation with struggles and maybe pain.
In the third situation, even after Jesus completed the work of Salvation, before going back to the Father, He assured the disciples (us) he would not leave them as orphans but will come to them (the Holy Spirit).
One can now appreciate Paul’s remark when he said, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3). – What a pampering and freebie!
Who is The Holy Spirit?
- The Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God (Trinity), God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit was part of the creation; by him, all things are created (triune God) (Colossians 1:17; Genesis 1:2-3).
- The Holy Spirit is a person referred to as He. He can feel grief, can get hurt, and can be quenched /extinguished out of life. (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
- He can think, reason, teach, and testify about Jesus in our lives (John 14:6, John 15:26).
- The Holy Spirit was in play at the conception of Christ (Luke 1:35).
- He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, judgment and guides into the truth. (John 16:8).
What Are Some of The Roles of The Holy Spirit?
- The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us at conversion by convicting us of our sin and helping us to see our need for the savior, Jesus Christ. (John 3:6-8).
- The Holy Spirit fills the believer at New Birth (salvation), a permanent seal of God and the Savior in the believer’s life. The Spirit of truth reveals the truth of God, in the Bible, while in Church, and life. He is our Helper, not by power or by might supporting us in life. He can think, reason, and teach. (John 14:16; Zachariah 4:6).
- He is the power of God that lives in us; he encourages us to live for God and do His work.(Acts 1:8; John 14:12; Ephesians 3:16-19).
- He gives assurance of freedom from Satan’s slavery and testifies within; we are children of God. (Romans 8:15-16).
- He subdues the flesh with our daily walk with Him (Galatians 5:16).
- The Holy Spirit testifies through His fruits and gifts in our lives; we are children of God. (Galatians 5:22-23; Corinthians 12: 8-11
- His work is a vital part of the believer’s life; He’s a comforter, He brings the Word to the Christian’s memory to apply as necessary. (John 14:26).
- He intercedes for us. (Romans, 8:26).
- He is our friend and partner (Jn 15;14).
- He leads and directs the believer. (Romans, 8:14).
- He gives life to a mortal body. (Romans, 8:11).
Why Will We Not Sustain The Privilege of God’s Love That Cost bloodshed?
Parents are easy references to those who have them, but many orphans may not be fortunate enough for such access, except by divine Providence. God’s plan for winning us back from the devil proves costly, with great love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
God did not only love us (saved) and left us, but He equipped us with all the support we require through the Holy Spirit to actualize the finished work of redemption in our lives and subsequent intimacy with Him on earth and the world to come. (John 14:16-18).
The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in the believer’s life to sustain an intimate relationship with God. Awareness of the attributes of the third person in Trinity will help the believer understand the benefits of the Holy Spirit and how to relate with Him for a successful Christian living.
Walk By The Spirit
The Bible commands us to walk by the Spirit, so our flesh doesn’t have control over us. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
(Galatians, 5:16).
“After our born again experience, we learned the Lord’s presence in our lives is in the form of the Holy Spirit. As soon as we opened our lives to accept Him, the Holy Spirit indwells us.
The next step then is to Walk with Him. Paul said, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.
“Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Colossians 2:6-8).
Walking with the Lord is walking in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself, but Christ; He’s in unison with what Christ wants; anything contrary will grieve or extinguish Him, especially after His warning/prompts. He is there to help us.
He is our companion and invisible friend, ready to perform His full function as a teacher, comforter, guide/companion, helper, and more as described earlier.
We will only know what He wants through the Word of God. We are to read the Bible every day and obey the teachings, so we don’t grieve the Holy Spirit through disobedience.
We are to pray always. (1 Thessalonians 5:17). When we pray, the Holy Spirit understands we don’t know what to ask and helps us. “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
(Romans 8:26-27)
Our Christian growth and intimacy with the Lord are entirely dependent on our continual submission to the Holy Spirit. We are to walk sensitive, dependent, obedient, and receptive to Him.
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