The Holy Spirit at Work in the Life of Christ
Luke 1:30-37 (Plus multiple Scriptures)
Series: God’s Spirit at Work in Our World
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - April 12, 2000
*God’s Holy Spirit has always been at work in His world, and this was certainly true in the life of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit was there with the Lord every step of the way. And today we will see 7 ways that the Holy Spirit was at work in the life of Christ.
1. First: The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s conception.
*The Holy Spirit was responsible for the miraculous birth of our Lord. As we see in Matt 1:18, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
*The Holy Spirit conceived Jesus just as the angel Gabriel had told Mary in Luke 1:30-37:
30. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
32. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34. Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35. And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
*The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s conception.
2. And He was there for Christ’s identification.
*We see this at the baptism of Jesus in John 1:29-34:
29. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30. This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
31. I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32. And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
*In that day there were so many imposters pretending to be the real Messiah. How would John the Baptist know the real Christ? God let His Holy Spirit take care of this crucial task. The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s identification.
3. And He was there for Christ’s direction.
*Luke 4:1 tells us something important that happened after Jesus was baptized: “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (Also see Mark 1:9-13) The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s direction.
4. And He was there for Christ’s action.
*The Holy Spirit certainly had a key role in the mighty miracles of Jesus Christ. In Acts 10:38, the Apostle Peter declared that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
*In Matthew 12:15-28, Jesus Himself stressed the key role of the Holy Spirit in His works:
15. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
16. Yet He warned them not to make Him known,
17. that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
18. “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
19. He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20. A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;
21. And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
22. Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24. Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
25. But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
28. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
*NOTE: Here is a possible outline for these verses:
A. Christ’s Merit vs. 15-18a
B. Christ’s Meekness vs. 19-20
C. Christ’s Mission vs. 18b-21
D. Christ’s Might vs. 22-23
E. Christ’s Mind vs. 24-27
F. Christ’s Means vs. 28
*But the most important truth I want to share here is that the Holy Spirit was intimately involved in the miraculous work of Christ. As Jesus said in vs. 28, “I cast out demons by the Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s action.
5. And He was there for Christ’s declaration.
*We see a hint of this truth in Matthew 12:18, where God the Father spoke about the coming Messiah and said: “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
*Now look at John 3:30-36, where John the Baptist gave this testimony about the Lord:
30. He must increase, but I must decrease.
31. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
*The key for us today is vs. 34 which tells us that Jesus “speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.” Sometimes I speak the Words of God, and sometimes I don’t. But Jesus always did, because He had the Spirit of God without measure.
Author John Phillips explained:
"In no way did our Lord’s humanity impair him from speaking the words of God. The means by which He, the Son of God, imparted as man the words of God, was the Spirit of God. The Old Testament prophets, of course, had their measure of the Spirit of God enabling them so to speak the words of God that we can affirm with confidence the (full and complete) verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. But with these men the gift of the Spirit was partial and intermittent (1 Peter 1:11; Hebrews 1:1). But the Holy Spirit was not so given to Jesus. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit from His very first breath and from the time of His baptism, fully anointed by the Spirit. ‘God gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him. . .’ The word ‘gives’ is in the present tense, indicating a continuous and uninterrupted flow of the Spirit in His life." (1)
*The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s declaration.
6. And He was there for Christ’s crucifixion.
*As we read in Hebrews 9:12-14:
12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14. how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
*How did Christ offer Himself to God? Vs. 14 tells us that it was “through the eternal Spirit.” The Holy Spirit was there for Christ’s crucifixion.
7. And He was there for Christ’s resurrection.
*So 1 Peter 3:18 tells us that “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”
*From Christ’s conception to His resurrection and every step along the way, the Holy Spirit was fully involved in the life of Jesus Christ. Praise God for the work of His Spirit in the life of our Savior and Lord!
1. “Exploring the Gospels - John” by John Phillips - p. 82-83
