John 14:16. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. 17even 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. 18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Yesterday we said that we can and should wait eagerly (with great excitement) for Jesus’ return. And what today’s scripture tells us is that we can wait for Jesus with Jesus. Or with the Holy Spirit. Look at these two things that Jesus says:
I will give you another Helper.
I will come to you.
Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. This is the greatest of Jesus’ promises to us. When Jesus ascended into Heaven he wasn’t leaving us here on Earth all alone. He would send us the Spirit. And the Spirit is just like Jesus, only better. Better? Yes, because Jesus was limited to only one place, but the Holy Spirit can be with every Christian in every place as the same time. Now Jesus lives in every single Christian, and that is good news!
Today is ascension day. Forty days after Easter. And in ten days it will be Pentecost. Pentecost? Yes, that is the day that the Holy Spirit came to Jesus’ disciples and changed the world forever. That’s the day the church was born.
OK, I know this is a lot to process. But here’s the most important thing to know about the promised Holy Spirit. He is ANOTHER Helper (John 14:16). What does that mean? It means that the Holy Spirit is just like Jesus to us – a helper. That’s why Jesus said I will come to you.
If you have Jesus then you have the Holy Spirit, and if you have the Holy Spirit then you have Jesus. What does this mean? It means that everything the Holy Spirit does is meant to make you more like Jesus. Sadly, many Christians think that the Holy Spirit is supposed to take us beyond Jesus and beyond the cross. They know Jesus saves us from our sins, but then they think we must go past Jesus in order to have the power of the Holy Spirit.
But the truth is that the power the Holy Spirit gives us is the power to be like Jesus, especially like his cross. His loving self-sacrifice. Yes, we all want the Spirit’s power, but it’s important to remember that the Spirit’s power is the power of the cross of Jesus. The power of love and putting others first above yourself. Gaining by giving. Winning by losing. Being first by being last. Putting to death the self, and receiving the grace of God as the Spirit’s loving kindness.
Please, I beg you, don’t ever try to use the Spirit to be selfish and sinful. “I’ll ask the Holy Spirit to make me stronger, smarter, better than everyone else.” That’s not how the Holy Spirit works. He doesn’t make us better first. First he shows us how bad we are, then he loves us anyway, and that makes us better.
The promise of the Holy Spirit is the great promise of the Ascension of Jesus. Without Jesus’ return to glory he could not have sent us the Holy Spirit to make us like himself. If the crucified and resurrected Jesus had not gone into Heaven, then the Holy Spirit could not make us like the crucified and resurrected Savior. Now the finished work of Jesus is the ongoing work of the Spirit in us. By the Spirit, Christ’s life is now our life to share.
You: Have you ever been aware of the Holy Spirit in you? How would you describe this experience?
You with Jesus: In what ways is the Spirit making you more like Jesus? Less selfish? More kind?
Prayer: Father, all your gifts are amazing, but the gift of the Spirit is by far the greatest gift we could ever receive. Holy Spirit, make me like Jesus. Teach me to trust God and depend on his love just as Jesus did. Amen.
TLICfamily 