Jesus And The Spirit Series

Knowing the Holy Spirit April 24, 2005

Jesus and The Spirit

Acts 10:37-38

We often talk about Jesus’ deep connection with the Father. We say that the reason that he was able to do the miraculous things that he did, teach the amazing things he taught, obey even to the point of death is his intimate relationship with the Father

This intimate relationship is spoken of and pointed to all through the Gospels and the New Testament, but Jesus’ statements in John really speak of that intimate relationship.

He says things like…

John 5:19

Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does

John 14:7

If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:31

but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

This intimate relationship with the Father should be a model for us in our Christian lives We must understand that all fruitfulness comes out of intimacy. If you are missing Spiritual fruit in your life, get closer to the Father.

But Jesus coming among us is not just about Himself and the Father (and us). The incarnation is a Trinitarian event, and we need to understand the relationship that Jesus has with the Spirit if we are truly going to understand who Jesus is, and who God is.

Born of the Spirit

You may remember how Gabriel came to Mary and told her that she would have a son, and she said, “How will this be since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35

The picture harkens back to how the Spirit hovered or brooded over the chaos in Genesis 1 and brought about the creation. And now that God is doing a new thing in creation by sending his son to walk among us, The Spirit comes once again to bring order to the chaos, and create a child without the help of a man. The Father sends the Son into the world, and the Spirit brings him there.

Anointed by the Spirit

We call Jesus the “Christ”, which is the Greek word for the Messiah, which means “the anointed one”

What makes Jesus the Christ is his anointing by the Holy Spirit

Peter explains to Cornelius’ household that Jesus is the Messiah with these words:

Acts 10:37-38

You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

Jesus himself describes his ministry and his mandate in his first recorded public speaking in Luke 4:18-19.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Hi ministry and mandate is closely connected to his relationship with the Holy Spirit and his anointing by the Spirit.

By the Spirit he set people free from entrapment. He brought them hope and liberated their relationships. Demonic powers were driven out, and creaturely life was restored. All this happened because the energies of the life-giving Spirit were at work in Jesus.

– Pinnock p.89

Directed by the Spirit

Matthew 4:1

[ The Temptation of Jesus ] Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

As soon as Jesus is anointed at his baptism, the Spirit takes the lead and brings him out into the desert to do battle with the devil.

In Ezekiel 1, the prophet Ezekiel is given a vision of the throne of God as this strange and amazing vehicle

There is this platform with a throne on it, and Christ sitting on the throne. The platform is held at each of its four corners by angelic beings with wings and four faces facing each direction. At the angelic beings feet are wheels with wheels intersecting them. The whole picture is amazing, but the key point for us today is found in verses 20-21 when is says “. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.”