57. The Holy Spirit - Heart Surgeon Series

IN GOD'S IMAGE 57 - THE HOLY SPIRIT - HEART SURGEON

This message is part of a series of 90 sermons based on the title, “In God’s Image – God’s Purpose for humanity.” This series of free sermons or the equivalent free book format is designed to take the reader through an amazing process beginning with God in prehistory and finishing with humanity joining God in eternity as His loving sons and daughters. It is at times, a painful yet fascinating story, not only for humanity, but also for God. As the sermons follow a chronological view of the story of salvation, it is highly recommend they be presented in numerical order rather than jumping to the more “interesting” or “controversial” subjects as the material builds on what is presented earlier. We also recommend reading the introduction prior to using the material. The free book version along with any graphics or figures mentioned in this series can be downloaded at www.ingodsimage.site - Gary Regazzoli

We have been looking at the work of the Holy Spirit as He sets about preparing a holy people for God.

• We have spoken about the Holy Spirit being the “embracer,” the one who goes forth to embrace the lost sheep and draw them into fellowship with the Godhead.

• Then last time we looked at another title that describes the work of the Holy Spirit and that is, the Holy Spirit as “builder.”

• We went back to the story of the Tower of Babel and compared the differences between two buildings. One being erected by a human community in defiance of God and one being built by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit in glory to God.

• In both accounts language is used by God to either divide a community, the one in rebellion, or in the case of preparing a holy people, to build a community.

• And amazingly, unlike the bricks and mortar used on most construction sites, including the Tower of Babel, this building is being constructed with those individuals who commit their lives to Jesus Christ.

• The apostle Peter refers to these individuals as “living stones.”

• This building is being constructed “living stone” by “living stone” to be God’s dwelling place, a holy temple.

We then went on to show how this new dynamic of the Holy Spirit indwelling God’s people is one of the major distinctions between the Old and the New Covenants.

• Under the Mosaic Covenant the people of God were identified by their relationship to the Torah or the law.

• Now under the New Covenant God would “put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33).

• The main reason for this change was to address the deficiency which existed between what the law required, holiness, and the people’s inability to attain the holiness it required.

• It is the presence of the Holy Spirit living in us that brings about transformation on the inside.

• And rather than being recognised by externals like circumcision, days and diet (Romans 14:17), our godly behaviour inspired by the Holy Spirit living in us is now what identifies God’s holy people.

• These individual saints or living stones come together and rise into a holy community called the church.

Now we need to look at the role of the Holy Spirit as “heart surgeon.”

• As mentioned, God is building a holy temple that is being constructed “living stone” by “living stone.”

• As we have emphasised throughout this series, God’s purpose from the beginning is to make man in His image.

• Now we need to address the question, what is this man in God’s image supposed to look like?

• Well we get an indication of this from what God expected of ancient Israel

• Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”

• His expectation in now dealing with the church remains the same.

• 1 Peter 1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

• And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus’ instruction in the Sermon on the Mount is, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

• Now with all this talk of holiness and perfection, one could be forgiven for feeling a little inadequate in meeting God’s high expectation of fallible humans.

• But as we have seen with previous examples where we humans fall short of God’s expectations, He steps in and provides the means to achieve the impossible.

• Don’t also make the mistake of thinking that being in God’s image is just a matter of us achieving a better record when it comes to obedience to God’s law.