God In Us
Chasing Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsThe world has witnessed the amazing wonder of God in the flesh. Jesus has faithfully pointed all who would hear to the wonder and love of the Father. In Christ’s death, He will make complete the restoration of our relationship with God. This does not mark the end, but rather marks the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s plan. As Jesus departs, He will send the Holy Spirit to indwell the people of God. No longer are we just called to be spectators in God’s plan, but we are now co-missionaries with Christ. In us and through us the mission of God will find fulfillment. The same power that raised Christ from the dead indwells us.
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The Promise of the Holy Spirit
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
John 14:15
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. 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. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but 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. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
“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.
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. 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.
The disciples’ perspective is quickly matching to the reality. Their hopes for the conquering Messiah have faded and now the reality of Jesus’ words that He will soon be leaving them are becoming very clear. Jesus, in His love and care, meets their fears and doubts with the promise that they do not head into this new phase of life alone.
Jesus promises that they will receive the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, advocate who will be with them and in them. This is no small promise. In the Old Testament, the presence of God is a sacred gift given only tot he people of Israel and was dependent upon the faithfulness of the people to be maintained. We see throughout the Old Testament, the fear of the people to lose the presence fo the Lord.
“Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.
Jeremiah 11:
Ezekiel
Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.
Psalm 51
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Jesus then comes and now we experience Emmanuel, God with us. For many of us, this is the fulfillment of the gospel, this is the good news, but stopping at God coming to be with us is to stop short of God’s plan. Jesus says he must go so that the gospel will be made complete and the God who was once far off, separated from His creation, will not only come near to his creation but he will indwell his creation. We are indwelt by the God of the universe.
It does not end there though. The word that Jesus uses to
In Christ though, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. No where that we go and nothing that we face do we head into alone. We do not have to call upon the Lord to come and bestow His presence upon us. We instead are indwelt with God Himself. Every moment, the ones that we desire His presence and the ones that we do not, are lived out in the presence of the Lord.
Fear is not held at bay because we have the hope that God will come and save us from our circumstances, we do not have to fear because God is with us right now.
To Truly Love We Must Respond
To Truly Love We Must Respond
John 14:19-
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but 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. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
“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.
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but 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. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 14:
The love that Christ has for us is centered on His relationship with the Father. When Jesus was grieved, very grieved, grieved to the point of death, He went to the Father and leaned on Him for strength. When the crowds wanted to deter from the course that God had laid out and make Jesus king by force, Jesus went to the Father to persevere. Jesus was dependent upon the Father and it is out of his dependence upon the Lord that He is capable of fulfilling God’s plan. In other words, It is Jesus’ love for the Father that moves Him to surrender to the plan of God and sacrificially give of Himself fully to its completion.
The love that Christ has for us is centered on His relationship with the Father. When Jesus was grieved, very grieved, grieved to the point of death, He went to the Father and leaned on Him for strength. When the crowds wanted to deter from the course that God had laid out and make Jesus king by force, Jesus went to the Father to persevere. Jesus was dependent upon the Father and it is out of his dependence upon the Lord that He is capable of fulfilling God’s plan. In other words, It is Jesus’ love for the Father that moves Him to surrender to the plan of God and sacrificially give of Himself fully to its completion.
In the same manner, Jesus points us to the truth that our love for Him is most fully understood as we respond in fulfilling His plans. We can not fully experience the love of God without surrendering to His plan and giving of ourselves to one another. God’s love is designed to be more fully understood as we rely on Him and we witness His plan at work through us.
We Have What We Need
We Have What We Need
“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.
“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
John 14:25-
Jesus is sending to us the Holy Spirit, or the advocate. Back in verse 16, He says that the Holy Spirit is another advocate. We have two advocates. Legal term referring to legal counsel. Our first is Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father making our case to the Lord.
Our case is not built upon mercy. For many of us, this describes our relationship with God. We are focused on God’s mercy. Our greatest fear is that we will continue to sin and that at some point, God’s mercy will run out, He will grow tired of the fact that I have made the same mistake over and over again and His mercy will find its end and I will be separated from God. Jesus’ case though is not asking for mercy. Jesus argues the perfect case before the Father, the case of justice. There is no possibility for condemnation and judgment because as Jesus advocates for us before the Father, Jesus states that our punishment has been paid. The wages of sin is death and Jesus has died in our stead. God can not be a just and good God and punish twice for the same crime.
There is another advocate, legal counsel who instead of sitting at the right hand of the Father and pleading our case, this advocate indwells our hearts and pleads our case to our own hearts. He teaches us what Jesus has commanded, what he has told us about who we are now. When we fall short, he pleads with us to be reminded that Christ has died. When we are tempted, he reminds us that the old has passed away and we are new creations. He shifts our eyes upward and makes our hearts believe that we are children of God.
He moves us to prayer. Prayer as coheirs. We have the relationship that Jesus had with the Father. When we cry out Abba, Father, Daddy, His ear bends low to hear from his children.