Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father declaring us innocent! His peace He gives to us. He breathes Holy Spirit within us to stand with us in good times and in bad times allowing us to rest in His peace.
No greater love exists than one who gave His sinless life in redemption for ours. It is finished!
Security: God's Spirit lives in us and gives testimony to our position as children and heirs. (Romans 8:16) Unlike earthly wealth and possessions, our heavenly inheritance cannot be lost. First Peter 1:4 ensures us it is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for [us]." As followers of Christ, our identity as God's children and the heavenly inheritance it garners are secure.
Authority: God's children are filled with the Holy Spirit and therefore have power and authority over evil. As followers of Christ, we can stand firm against Satan's schemes (Ephesians 6:10-17) and live a holy life "by the Spirit" (Romans 8:13).
Intimacy: God adopted us as His children and we are able to call Him "Father." (Romans 8:15) This connects us intimately to Christ, as we share both in His suffering and in glory. (Romans 8:17) God's desire for a relationship with us is displayed through the sacrifice of His Son. (John 3:16) He confirms His affection for His children throughout the pages of Scripture, and the more we know about Him, the more we grasp His love for us - a love so deep we can never fully comprehend it. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
The value of our heavenly inheritance is immeasurable. It outweighs any earthly abundance. First5
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
John 20:21-23
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The New King James Version
After the disciples affirm that Jesus is God, He breathes on them, as God had breathed life into Adam. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “breath” also is the word for “spirit.” Jesus breathes God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, into the disciples. In doing so, He restores God’s original intent—His people take up His image again. They also become bearers of order in a chaotic world through healing people and imparting to them words of life: the message of Jesus, who came from God as God in human form, suffered, and died for the sins of everyone so that all may have eternal life.
Jesus had promised this prior to His death. A reference to the Holy Spirit’s work within people. The Holy Spirit is the one who forgives and uses believers to deliver His words and message, carrying out God’s will. This fits with the Spirit’s role as an advocate for sinners. Faithlife Study Bible
The ministry to which Jesus called the disciples required spiritual power. The reference here is to a special preparation of the apostles who were to become the foundation of the church at Pentecost. Here Jesus breathed the Spirit into the disciples. At Pentecost the Spirit unified the believers into one body and empowered them to testify of Jesus.
The reception of the Spirit here is reminiscent of the creative breath of God into Adam in Genesis. Yet the gift here was not a human spirit, but the Spirit of the living God.
The apostles did not take Jesus’ words to mean that they had the power to forgive sins. They knew that only God could forgive sins. Fundamentally Jesus was speaking of the responsibility of the church to declare the gospel to all the world, so that those who believe in Jesus can find the precious gift of forgiveness. The NKJV Study Bible
It is a comfort to Christ’s disciples, when their assemblies can only be held in private, that no doors can shut out Christ’s presence. When He manifests his love to believers by the comforts of his Spirit, he assures them that because he lives, they shall live also. A sight of Christ will gladden the heart of a disciple at any time; and the more we see of Jesus, the more we shall rejoice. He said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, thus showing that their spiritual life, as well as all their ability for their work, would be derived from him, and depended upon him. Every word of Christ which is received in the heart by faith, comes accompanied by this Divine breathing; and without this there is neither light nor life. Nothing is seen, known, discerned, or felt of God, but through this. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Matthew 16:19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
John 17:18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
No comments:
Post a Comment