Holy Spirit - Rebirth and Change
Few things are as extraordinary as birth. Human life, with all its potential starts with us as tiny beings entering the world with utter dependence on others for our sustenance and safety. Artist, theologian, Christian, Muslim, male, female – all began their lives in this way. The power of the Holy Spirit brings about redemption and a change in hearts, a staggering transformation and occurrence that can only be compared to the event of birth.
Last Thursday, Tim continued the series on the Holy Spirit. He focused on the rebirth and regeneration that occurs at the beginning of our salvation.
Jesus described the Holy Spirit inhabiting His followers in John 3. A Jewish ruler named Nicodemus met Him secretly and admitted his belief that Jesus was of God. Jesus replied, “’Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (See John 3:1-6).’” God Himself sends the Holy Spirit into those who believe in Him and confess Jesus as Messiah. The Spirit grants a new life through inhabiting the believer, taking away the old life born under sin and causing him or her to be born into a new one. Since the Holy Spirit is God’s presence, it means that God is right beside them as they begin their new life with His spirit. It is nothing so impersonal as a pill to counteract a sniffle, nor an ability we wield at will. Utlimately, this hammers home the truth that our spiritual life's source is from God and we have no life apart from Him.
Ezekial 36:25 -27 is what Jesus referenced to Nicodemus. “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.” In this fallen world, temptation to follow our own path and do what is not right in God’s eyes is rampant. But it is no longer just us facing these changes, not with the Holy Spirit in us. As we follow Christ, the Holy Spirit changes us. “‘And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezekial 36:26-27).’” The new life would not be like the old one. Whereas the heart of stone would seek its own path, the heart of flesh given by God through the Holy Spirit would seek God’s will and love Him and others.
This duality of God’s presence with the changed heart and desires with actions are important. Having one without the other is fruitless. Israel’s judge Samson, for example, had God’s presence but not a heart to follow His commands. As a result, he was captured by Israel’s enemy. King Saul, too, did not follow God’s orders and was stripped of kingship. Those following God’s orders without His presence are like those working for their salvation, which is impossible to attain by works alone. Or maybe we see this in those who attend church on Sundays or come on Thursday nights but live the rest of the week as sinners, insisting their sin is "not that bad" or even justified.
Renaissance is a term used to describe the sweeping change that contrasted post 15th century advancements in art and technology in Europe. After almost a millennia of “intellectual darkness” in Europe, the renaissance consisted of increased learning and leaps in technology unseen in hundreds of years. To historians today, the mushrooming effect of the Renaissance period is astounding compared to the Dark Ages before it. It is therefore appropriate that the term Renaissance means “rebirth” and signifies staggering change. The Holy Spirit brings about the renaissance of the human heart, breathing new life into what once was dark. And that new life comes from pursuing a relationship with God and ever striving to be in His presence.