The Words Of David C. Frampton – Page 66

How the Servant of the Lord Served

Isaiah 42:3c-4a

He served faithfully. The Hebrew word used here presents the idea of certainty and dependability. It is used of God’s nature (Exodus 34:6), God’s words (Psalm 119:142), and his rescue and protection of his people (Psalm 91:40). Here it points out that Jesus the Servant of the Lord is faithful to the mission that God the Father gave him. At the end of his earthly ministry he could say that he had completed the work that the Father had given him to do (John 17:4). He faithfully obeyed God by always doing what pleased him, and by being the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. In the same way, Christ will be faithful to his people (2 Timothy 2:11-13).

He endured in the work God gave him to do. He provided his strength for the neediness of the people. The words translated “grow weak” and be “discouraged” in verse four pick up words that are translated “bruised” and “smoldering” in verse three. Though the Servant would have to face the same pressures as his people, he triumphed where we fail. We can see this at various points in the Gospels. Jesus sleeps in the boat while his disciples are filled with fear (Mark 4:38). Jesus has compassion on the crowds when the disciples wanted to send them away (Mark 6:34, 36). Jesus cast out a demon when the disciples couldn’t (Mark 9:25-29). Jesus welcomed the children when the disciples wouldn’t (Mark 10:13-16). Jesus prayed while the disciples slept (Mark 14:32-41). And he conquered the devil and temptation while we often fail (Hebrews 4:15).

He persisted in the face of difficulties. One of the biggest failings all of us have is to become discouraged, depressed, and to quit or want to quit in the face of hardship and opposition. Jesus kept on when the people of his hometown tried to throw him down a cliff (Luke 4:29), when the Jewish religious leaders became critical (Luke 5:21-26), and when all the people of an area asked him to leave (Luke 8:37). Jesus would not quit when people laughed at him (Luke 8:53), when the Samaritans wouldn’t welcome him (Luke 9:53), and when Jerusalem rejected him as king (Luke 13:34). He persevered when only one man said thank you (Luke 17:17), when a prospective convert walked away (Luke 18:23), and when he saw his Father’s house turned into a den of robbers (Luke 19:46). Most of all he endured while he was mocked, beaten, spit on, scourged, crucified, and forsaken by all. Praise God, the Lord Jesus did not grow weak or become discouraged! His love and obedience were so great that he endured all to save us!

This is an excellent time to bow and to ask the victorious Jesus to save you. If you are saved, say “Thank you, Jesus!” We have a strong Savior who sticks with us and who will carry out his work in us (Philippians 1:6). Approach your life situation today with faith in him. Make Christ’s way of serving the Lord part of the way in which you look at your life. “Yes, this ____________ is happening to me, but the Lord Jesus is faithful, endures, and persists in his grace to me.”

Grace and peace, David

Jesus and the Nations

Isaiah 42:1-4

Every builder of houses knows that a building must rest on a firm foundation. If the foundation is defective, the house will eventually have other structural problems that will lead to an inevitable collapse. In the same way, every local church must be built on the Lord Jesus Christ. Read the words of the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 3:9-11). For this reason, every gathering of believers in Christ and individual members of these assemblies (local churches) need to pay careful attention to these words of God about Jesus Christ. Even more, all need to focus on Jesus the Messiah as God encourages. In this text, God the Father lifts up the Son and calls everyone to look at his Son, who is his Servant. He tells us that his Servant is his Chosen One, that he delights in him, and that he has put his Spirit on him. Next, let us listen carefully to the mission or task that the Father sent his Servant to accomplish.

God assigned a task to the Servant of the Lord (42:1d). It was to “bring justice to the nations”.

What is the meaning of “justice”? Certain words are difficult to translate from one language to another. The Hebrew word for justice is more comprehensive than our English word. Every word must be translated in its context with other words. This is what can make word studies very dangerous, especially when they try to tell the meaning of a word from its supposed roots. Use word study tools, including concordances cautiously.

In the general context, Isaiah uses the word “justice” three ways:

God’s order in creation (40:14). God made everything according to his own counsel and wisdom.
In 40:27, it speaks of the judgment or legal decision that God’s people expect when they present their situation to the Lord. They expect the Lord to bring his holy order into their lives.
The Lord invites the nations to come to him for a hearing about who is in charge of history (41:1). In this meaning, the Lord asserts his rule over all, and his people can trust him (41:8-10). When the Lord’s justice comes, people live in peace.

What is very surprising in our text is that the Servant of the Lord will bring the Lord’s justice or order to the nations. All might seem chaotic as Cyrus and his Persian armies conquer many nations (41:2-3). But Cyrus and his empire was not the goal of history; instead, the Servant and his accomplished mission will be mankind’s ultimate destiny.

God had a purpose in this mission. This text is part of the unfolding of the story of God’s glory in Christ. Think of a paper road map or a trail map for hiking in parks. As you hold it in your hand neatly folded, you can’t see much of the trail or road system. But as you unfold it, you can find the way to your destination. God gradually unfolds his plan in the Scriptures, but he has one great eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:11). Our text is part of the unfolding plan, which God increasingly made clear (Genesis 12:1-3; Psalm 2:7-9; 117:1-2) until the Lord Jesus accomplished eternal redemption and his apostles explained it in the New Testament Scriptures.

All this leads to the new humanity that God would bring about in Christ and his people (Ephesians 2:11-16).

We need to keep God’s plan before us. God’s “unfolded map” has been given to us, so that we won’t lose our way in the foggy times of our lives. We need to keep the whole map before our eyes, so that we might know our place in God’s story. You see, we can become much to focused on our small situations. Yes, you have your sins to fight, your pain to endure, your calling (job, career) to fulfill, and your family and friends to love. But there ought to be more to your and my interests than the immediate situations we are in. We are here for God’s purposes, and so we need to look at the whole unfolded map and consider everything God is doing. Doing this helps us see the greatness of the Lord Jesus, and how we are to labor with him toward his goals. Since Christ will bring justice to the nations, and we are in him, we are to participate in this purpose. What are your group, your church, and you doing?

Grace and peace, David

Christ’s Goal for His People

Isaiah 42:3a-b

The Lord Christ brings us from weakness to strength. Bruised reeds become flourishing olive trees in the house of the Lord (Psalm 52:8) and fruitful branches connected to the true vine bearing fruit (John 15). Smoldering wicks become the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) as we carry his light to the nations for their salvation (Acts 13:47). Even more, we shine like stars in the sky (Philippians 2:15). The Lord wants us to understand his purposes for us, and to lay hold of his strength to live them. He does not want you to waste your life as a smoldering wick. He expects us to be a town on the hill that can’t be hidden (Matthew 5:15-16). This purpose requires us to get out of depressed cave and to go out together onto the hills of this world (John 17:18). Each gathering of believers is to be making plans and carrying them out concerning what hills they will shine with their light. For example, plan a gathering like a game and movie night and invite people from outside your group to join you. But this will require winsome boldness!

The Lord Messiah makes us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). Notice very, very carefully that this does not mean that Christians live in some imaginary bubble of protection that keeps us from problems and suffering! Not at all! Read the context of this verse (8:18-39). There are many enemies and painful, stress-filled situations that we must live through. Conquerors conquer on a battlefield.

Yet, we are hyper-conquerors through Christ who loved us. Our total conquest happens through him. One day Christ’s bride will stand triumphant with him, beautifully dressed and shining with the glory of the Lord and reigning with him forever in peace and joy (Revelation 21-22)! Each former bruised reed and smoldering wick will be part of that eternal city where the living God floods it with his pure, satisfying light. You might appear to be a bruised reed or a smoldering wick now, but look at your destiny. You actually are more than a conqueror. So then, let us together go out bravely into the battlefield of this world, trusting in the power of his love. Live boldly for the glory of the Lord. But you can only reach this goal if Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord. Come to him, having a real change of mind about God, yourself, sin, and Christ, and have sincere faith in Christ alone.

Grace and peace, David

Christ’s wisdom toward his people

Isaiah 42:3a-b

We must face what we are, instead of puffing ourselves up in pride. Sadly, we fail to live up to our heavenly calling (Colossians 3:1-4). (I write this not to beat anyone down, but to help us all live in reality rather than in some type of spiritual fantasyland. We must sense our ongoing need of Christ and the gospel at the same time as we trust in Christ and the gospel and enjoy the glorious position we have in him.)

Few things are as worthless as bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. A reed growing near marshes is rather useless and a bruised reed can’t support anything. A smoldering wick is too far gone and almost ready to go out. Though we ought to be walking in the Spirit and joy and light, these words often are an apt description of Christ’s people. Many are weak and damaged by sin. Very few Christians escape the stumbling walk caused by entangling sins (Hebrews 12:1). Though some rejoice in salvation, they moan over their wicked past, not seeming to trust fully that the good news means that all their sins are forgiven. Others were victims of abuse, and the memories of that abuse mar their view of themselves and their hope. How many have been through severe conflicts in the church, and are afraid to love Christ’s people again! And far too many have been taught false doctrine and their lives are constantly ravaged by the falsehoods that they have consumed. And what can we say about those whose minds are overcome by a wrong delight in one part of the truth, so much so that their lives are a hideous caricature of true Christian living?

The good news of these verses is that Jesus does not break bruised reeds. Nor does he put out smoldering wicks. Are you bruised? Be encouraged. Jesus is the Great Physician. Expose your wounds to him. Never fear to go to your Mediator, because he is not only your friend, but also your brother and husband (Sibbes, Works, Vol. 1, p. 46). Remember that peace and joy are two main fruits of his saving reign (Rm 14:17). Are you smoldering? Look at him, for he is the Light, and remember that you are in him!

Think of the tender care that Jesus has toward us. If you are observant, you can see how all these words about Christ are about what he would not do. We ought to most certainly understand these negatives, but they should also lead us to think toward the positive aspects of his ministry. In other words, it is a kind of litotes, which is a figure of speech using understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g., “you won’t be sorry”, meaning “you’ll be glad”). Think of Romans 1:16. Certainly, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, but the intent was to communicate his joyful confidence in it.

The Lord Christ goes with us into situations where we learn to trust him. One man in the Gospels said to Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). Another said, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). One questioned his power and the other his desire, but he graciously healed in both cases. Another time, Jesus saw the Twelve in trouble out on Galilee during the night. What did he do? He walked out on the lake, let Peter go for a short walk with him on the water, rescued him, and then he calmed the wind.

He sends us out into the world, as he did the Twelve and the Seventy, where we can see his saving power at work. When we come back rejoicing, he instructs us about how to rejoice more properly. He makes the weak strong.

He teaches us about the extensiveness of his grace, when we become narrow-minded and idle. Think of how he tenderly taught Peter to reach out to non-Jewish people when he was avoiding them (Ac 10:1-42).

He leads people gently from sexual immorality to honor, by telling them through the Scriptures about his call of grace and the gift of the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8). Although the Lord wants us to bear much fruit, he knows that branches need to be tended to in order to become fully productive. He knows that “a few grapes will show that the plant is a vine and not a thorn” (Sibbes, p. 58). For this reason, he leads us by his Spirit in faith, hope and love that we might become more fruitful.

What new fruit is the Lord producing in your life now? In other words, how is Jesus making you smile with the joy of increasing holiness? Respond to his kindness toward you!

Grace and peace, David

Jesus and His People

Isaiah 42:2-3b

One of the tactics of the malicious enemy of our souls is to tempt people to have wrong, terrible, hateful thoughts about God. This surrounds us daily. How often we hear people cursing God for the problems of life. Even Job’s wife told him to “Curse God and die” during their grief and his pain. True Christians can enter into this temptation. When things are going our way, it is easy to say, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will be continually in my mouth!” However, when events run contrary to us, it is easy to fall to the temptation to start pouting or murmuring or complaining. Some Christians go around with the uneasy feeling that, in spite of John 3:16; Galatians 2:20 and other verses, God really doesn’t like them. And so they start to strive harder to do religious stuff to try to persuade God to have a kinder disposition toward them. Or falling into spiritual depression, some cozy up to a slavish fear of God, while they wait for God to “get them”. And there are other pitfalls such Christians can fall into during this miserable condition.

The way out of such spiritual muck is to listen by faith to what the Lord says about himself in his word. God the Father here encourages us to look to his Son and Servant, the Messiah. He is the One we need to fix our thoughts on. He is the Lord who can rescue us!

The Holy Spirit tells us of character of Christ’s public ministry during his first coming (Isaiah 42:2). This certainly is important to lay hold of, because Jesus gave a constant revelation about who God is (John 14:7-11). This is also a reason to persevere in reading the Four Gospels, because you and I cannot see with our physical eyes the life of Jesus. We must read about him in the Bible. (I wish someone had explained this to me when I was a new Christian. It might have helped keep me from much senseless doubt, fear and grief.)

Jesus did not act like an earthly conqueror. Most human leaders make it a point to push their fame, their agenda, and their power on those under their authority. This especially happens when they want their religion to be the law of the land. Verbal, legal, economic, social and physical abuses are all tools of the worldly conqueror to enforce their agenda. Think of what Nebuchadnezzar did to the Hebrews and what the Roman Caesars did to the early Christians. Think of how many followers of Christ are persecuted today because of their stand for the risen Lord Jesus. But our Savior did not do that when he came. Instead, he went around doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil (Acts 10:38), and he preached and taught about God’s saving reign.

There is probably no distinction between the verbs listed, but “the intention is to create a cumulative emphasis on a quiet, unaggressive, unthreatening ministry” (Motyer). And so Jesus healed the Roman centurion’s servant and comforted a weeping widow whose only son had died and raised him to life. Jesus spoke tenderly to a sinful woman, when Simon the Pharisee condemned her. He took time to heal and reassure another woman, while on the way to raise a young girl from death’s clutches. He protected Mary from Martha’s harsh words and later from the cruel remarks of Judas and the other disciples. He became the friends of tax collectors and sinners, while other religious leaders despised them. Jesus healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath, when others would have gladly left her suffer. And he had mercy on a blind beggar, when others were rebuking him and telling him to be quiet. Jesus was strong to deliver, but ministered in peace and calmness. This is the Savior we need. He doesn’t push us down in the dust to grovel before him, but he lifts us up to give us life and liberty and laughter!

Jesus did act with love, as in our previous examples. He still acts with love, because he is always the same (Hebrews 13:8). He died to save us, though we were powerless, ungodly, sinful, enemies of God (Romans 5:6-9). He saved us, though we were not righteous, when we didn’t understand or seek God, when we turned away and became worthless, when our words were filled with deadly poison, deceit, lies, cursing, and bitterness, while our ways were marked by malice, ruin, misery, and unrest, and even while we had no fear of God (Romans 3:10-18).

Christ receives, forgives, and restores us, even when we are disobedient children (1 John 1:9-2:2). He is glad to call us his bride, though we act like whores at times. Yes, whore is not too strong a word for anyone would pay the world to be ravished by its pleasures when they ought to be enjoying life with the Lord of glory. Yet, he welcomes us back and even goes out to find us. “Amazing love, how can it be, that you my God would die for me?” Worship the Lord for his overflowing grace! “Hallelujah! What a Savior who can take a poor lost sinner, lift him from the miry clay and set him free! I will ever tell the story, shouting, “Glory, glory, glory!” Hallelujah! Jesus ransomed me” (Julia H. Johnston).

Grace and peace, David

“And God said… and God saw”

These are words of continuation. These are the words in
the first book of the Bible, Genesis. God included them in the account of creation, over and over again. He images wanted us to know, and the way many of us learn is by repetition.

Do I know these words? I have read them since I was a child. I was reading them again on the very first morning of 2016 when I read the words, “let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” It caused a mental picture to return to me.

On Christmas Eve, Dave and I were on our way to Fort Dix, NJ to visit a man in prison. The breeze was strong and approximately 500 sea gulls were enjoying the currents in the air all around us. It felt like we were in a giant snow globe! It was a beautiful moment; one in which I had to capture in my mind.

Today it all came back as I read the words in God’s story of creation. He said, “Let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens”, and my mind went to many other times when birds made me stop and acknowledge God. Many birds are creatures of beauty, and one of those beautiful birds made a stop to our tree last winter as I was shoveling snow from the sidewalk. Within feet sat a pileated woodpecker trying to find grubs, pecking the wood while I circled him to get pictures. His red head on top of his big black and white body against the backdrop of the winter snow was gorgeous. His knocking went on far after I went inside. Later on I went out to see 3 holes in the trunk where he had been looking for food. I hoped he found something. God takes care of His creatures and I thanked Him for allowing me to see such a bird in my yard!

Traveling up the Chesapeake on a birthday cruise later on in August, for my cousin’s wife, Vickie, we spotted an osprey and little chicks high on a pole in the water. There was a mother raising her little ones alone in the middle of the river! Later on that very same day we saw an eagle sitting high in the pines eyeing us as our boat left waves in the water.

Whether it is in the cawing of crows in a field at Tyler, the flash of a blue jay, the sweet song of robins outside my window, or the chirping of sparrows in a nearby bush, they all seem happy in their praise to God who created them. I stood at the door of Bonnie’s house, where I teach a chapter from the book of Romans on Wednesdays, and listened to a whole flock of birds gathering food at the base of a blooming cherry tree! “It doesn’t seem like winter this year”, I spoke aloud. “God thank you for giving us beauty!”

So it is on Scripture our minds can meditate and on God’s magnificent creation in our daily routines. After all, God said, “it was good”!

Joy and peace, Sharon

Beyond the Hype

No, this is not an article about New Year’s resolutions, IMG_0841 (1) not directly anyway. But countless evangelical Christians treat the topic that way. Before 2016 begins, I want to talk about reading the Bible through this year.

Now, I am not against reading the Bible through in one year. I have encouraged many people during my years as a pastor to do that. And I would suggest that if you haven’t read the Bible “from cover to cover,” you should consider doing that sometime. You ought to be able to say that you have read every word of what God has revealed to you. It is easy to give many reasons for doing that, and the web is filled with such exhortations.

However, amid all the hard sell of reading the Bible completely in 2016, I will offer an alternative. Read slow and deep rather than fast and wide.

Bible reading, especially reading according to a daily plan, can easily degenerate into the fulfillment of a ritual or obedience to someone’s rules. “Oh, it’s March 11 and Pastor or Well-Known Preacher So and So told me that I have to keep to the schedule. So I guess I absolutely must read ________, or I’ll get hopelessly behind schedule.” And as the year grinds on, what happens? You know what happens! What began as a delight turns into a chore. And what is worse is that you can easily read yet not listen to the Lord your God, because you’re trying to fulfill a task, instead of listening to your Father in heaven, thinking (meditating) about what he says to you, and joyfully experiencing the transformation of your mind and way of life. How does the Spirit describe a godly experience of the word of the Lord?

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8 NIV).

For 2016, why not choose an approach that is more in line with this description than forcing yourself to trudge through a plan simply for the sake of completing a plan? Here are some suggestions:

Read one book, like Mark, Hosea, or 1 Peter, many times. For example, read Hosea ten times in January. You will slowly become more acquainted with its contents and will notice ideas and patterns that you never saw before. Or perhaps read 1 Peter every day of February. You might be surprised what happens to your understanding and your delight in that part of the Lord’s message to you!
Read according to your interest. Ah, the taskmasters will heap scorn on this. But tell me honestly, haven’t you had the experience of wanting to look more deeply into various parts of the word. Pursue your curiosity. If you need help on this subject, please contact me, because there are some pitfalls to avoid.
And always, read with your friends (gospel partners). We all tend to make every part of spirituality very individualistic. But read the same Scriptures with others and multiply your spiritual experience as well as that of the group. Certainly, you could read through the whole Bible together, but most people learn better at first in small sandboxes than in large playgrounds.

My prayer is that your soul would be refreshed, your way of living would become wise, your heart would overflow with joy, and your eyes would be filled with light.

Grace and peace,

David

Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the new covenant people

The Lord Jesus Christ is the spring (John 7:37-39; Romans 5:17) from which the

Spirit flows to us. He is the Word from which all grace comes. The law or old covenant was God’s promise through types and shadows pointing to Christ of greater grace that would come when Christ came and made his dwelling among people (John 1:14-16). In Christ the old way of the written code is replaced by the new way of the Spirit (Romans 7:6).

Christ the Word is God’s final revelation (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Spirit took from that full revelation and made Christ known through the teaching of the apostles (John 16:14-15). Jesus is also the Water of life; by faith in him we have a continual supply of the Spirit to make us overflow with the love of God in Christ. He puts Christ-consistent desires in us to tell the good news, to look on others with kindness and compassion, to cheer up the lonely and grieving, to seek to liberate people from oppressive sins, etc.

The Spirit gives us grace from Christ. Here are some suggestions about how he provides us with his help.

As the Spirit develops holiness of life in a believer, he tells them that Christ is raised and ascended and they in him, and so they ought to have their hearts and minds set on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:1-4).
When a believer faces the challenges of hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic things of this old creation, the Spirit reminds that in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3) and that we have fullness in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10).
When a struggling Christian wonders how they can give with contentment for the benefit of others and the spread of the gospel, the Spirit tells him or her that “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
When we have sinned and feel the threatening of a guilty conscience, the Sprit reminds us that we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous one (1 John 2:1).
When we would experience fellowship or friendship with God, the Spirit pours out the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:5).

May the Spirit of God make the presence of Jesus our Lord powerful in your life this week!

Grace and peace, David

On the Move

October 30, 2015 we found an apartment in Devon, PA. So, Dave and I have been sorting, packing and preparing to begin life in a two bedroom apartment. That’s a major downsize from a four bedroom home with two garages plus a study in the church building! There have been a lot of decisions and many trips to Good Will to bless others with what the Lord had given to us.

For twenty years I’ve stood at the kitchen window and reminisced on God’s goodness to us. I’ve thanked Him, made requests for family and friends with my eyes open many times. And I have praised Him, rejoicing in the beauty of the morning, gazing out at my garden alive with color in the springtime, or looking out on people sitting at our picnic table under a canopy of trees in the summer, or watching a squirrel scamper across the yard and birds flock in the trees in on a beautiful autumn afternoon, or looking out at the moon on a clear crisp winter night. I remember the Bible verse, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

In the Bible it also says in that verse that HE will be exalted in the earth! So much of His creation goes unnoticed by many, but HE tells us here that HE will be exalted. We are at the end of autumn, and today the wind was blowing leaves down upon us like rain, as we traveled to Devon to take the measurements in our new apartment. I commented to Dave that humanity is much like the leaves before us on the road. Every so often a gust of wind would send much of them scurrying around. It reminded me of people going along, just fine until something came upon them and caused a flurry of emotion, be it a family squabble, a child’s crying and whining, a friend’s misunderstanding, or a church full of people disagreeing about something at a business meeting.

At any of these times we need to remember that God says, to be still. Sometimes it is all it takes to just sit down and talk with a family member, enjoying their presence, comforting an anxious or tired child in your arms, or taking a friend out for tea and finding out just how the misunderstanding started. The church should be a place where God’s word is heeded and obeyed. So, if HE says to be quiet, then we should!

Oh, there’s times when it seems like life is like a frenzy of leaves when they scurry here and there, but God’s word is true. So, sometimes, oftener than I did in my youth, I stand at the window and be still, still remembering God’s goodness, contemplating HIM, and His characteristics, and then my world gets calmer!

I thought today while wrapping up my dishes in bubble wrap, when December 5 arrives and our boxes are all packed, the house is all clean and we turn in the keys to the parsonage and then to settle into our small apartment, and we will have lots and lots to unwrap! Christmas! We will thank God for sending His son, Jesus, to us so someday we can live with HIM! Now that will be “home sweet home.”

Love, joy, and peace,

Sharon

The Messiah and the Holy Spirit

The Bible tells us about God, the Maker, Preserver, and Ruler of everything else. It is God telling who he is, what he likes, and what he has done, is doing, and will surely do. The infinite God tells us that he is a Three Person Being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is very hard for us to understand, yet it answers many questions in the story God tells in the Bible. In Isaiah 42:1 we hear God the Father speaking of the One that he calls his “Servant” and which the New Testament Scriptures tell us is his one and only Son. And we hear him talking of Another, whom he calls “my Spirit”, whom he will put on his Servant. So then, in this text we encounter the Three Persons of the Trinity.

But more than that, God the Father tells us through Isaiah the prophet what his Son and Servant, the Messiah, would do. Before he announces the main points of the plan, he exalts the Servant as the one he upholds, his chosen one and the one in whom he delights, and the One on whom he puts his Spirit. We looked at the first three points in a previous post on Isaiah, and now we probe into this fourth point. It is not something in God’s story that we ought to rush past or to forget, because it helps us understand the good news better, as well as the Christian way of life.

Christ, the Servant of God, would have the Spirit as his “inseparable companion”. Consider three stages of the Spirit’s work in the life of Jesus the Messiah.

The Spirit was there at his virgin birth and growth. The Holy Spirit came upon her and his power overshadowed her (Luke 1:35). Though the Spirit enabled many barren women in Old Testament times to conceive and bear children, in making true humanity for the Son of God he works through a virgin woman. This is the first work in the new creation. The first Adam was made from the dust of the ground, but the last Adam comes from the Spirit through a virgin, so that he can be holy, without personal sin, guilt, and condemnation. Consider what John said of Jesus (John 3:31). Since Jesus was truly human, he went through the normal process of human development. In all this the Holy Spirit rested upon him (Isaiah 11:2; Luke 2:40, 52).

The Spirit was with him at his baptism, temptation, and ministry. The Holy Spirit came down from heaven like a dove and remained on Jesus at his baptism. Three lines of OT teaching converge in this coming of the Spirit on him. As the Spirit hovered over the waters of the old creation (Genesis 1:2), so he comes down as Jesus was in the water. Second, as the dove returns with a symbol of new life to Noah (Genesis 8:11), so he points to Jesus as the source of new life. Third, a dove was a sin offering for the poor (Leviticus 5:7), so Jesus would be the sin offering for the poor. This descent by the Spirit also testified that Jesus was the Son of God (Luke 3:22; John 1:32-34). Immediately after his baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to do spiritual battle against the devil (Luke 4:1). When Jesus had defeated Satan, he went from place to place, preaching the good news and doing many miraculous signs by the power of the Spirit of the Lord (Matthew 12:28). All this was evidence that God’s kingdom (saving reign) had come and that the promised time, the year of the Lord’s favor had arrived (Luke 4:19-21). So then, the Lord’s Servant Jesus (Acts 3:13) served God with the joy of the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21).

The Spirit acted powerfully at his death, resurrection, and ascension. When our great high priest Jesus offered himself as the final sacrifice for sin, he did it through the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). When he rose from the dead, he was declared to be Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4). The age of the new covenant and Christ’s powerful lordship began! And so he poured out the Holy Spirit on his believing people as evidence that he reigns on David’s throne at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:29-36).

In Jesus and his inseparable companion, the Spirit, the age of fulfillment arrived. As Paul says, “Now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the time for you to be reconciled to God.

Think also about the Messiah and his anointing by the Spirit (Isaiah 61:3; Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38). Jesus is our prophet. His teaching forms the basis of our lives. This is what we see first in the Four Gospels. He taught God’s message about his saving reign (kingdom), and his miraculous signs performed by the Spirit testified to him as the great prophet of God. Jesus is our high priest. His atoning work secured our salvation, and his intercession guarantees our forgiveness. The events of his crucifixion and resurrection are the key events of the Four Gospels. His finished work provides righteousness for everyone who believes in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is our king. He rules over us and defends us. In the Four Gospels we see evidence of his authority over all things, and in his ascension we
see that he is Lord and reigning on David’s throne. As Ascended Lord, he poured out the Holy Spirit on his people—those who repent and believe in him.

In the Anointed Jesus, we have every benefit we need. As we start this work week, I ask you, “Are you in the Lord Jesus Christ by faith?”