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Pentecost
and New Birth realities
We
saw in the last issue that Adam was originally made body, soul and
spirit and that when he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil he lost the spirit. Therefore, God could no more communicate with
him since he lacked the necessary receiver i.e. spirit. In this issue,
we will examine the situation regarding the availability of spirit after
Adam’s fall. Thus this issue could also very well be called
"body, soul, spirit. (part II)". However, I preferred to call
it "Pentecost and new birth realities" for the reason that
Pentecost is going to be our central point of reference.
1. The man
after Adam's fall and before Pentecost
As it was said, God is spirit and
therefore to communicate with Him, and He with you, you need to have
spirit. Since spirit was not available after Adam’s fall, what was
happening during that period was that God put His spirit upon those
that He wanted to communicate with. This does not mean that spirit was
available. From Genesis to Acts, there is no record of any instruction
as how to receive spirit, for the simple reason that spirit was not available1.
John 7:37-39 tells us:
John 7:37-39
"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and
drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his
belly will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the
spirit which those believing in him would receive; for the holy
spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet
glorified."
(NKJV-KJV)
According
to this passage, holy spirit was not available at the time that Jesus
Christ spoke these words and of course it was not available before that
time as well. During all this period (from Adam’s fall to the day of
Pentecost) if God wanted to communicate with someone, He put His spirit upon
him. Let’s see some examples from the Old Testament starting from
Numbers 11:16-17. According to the context, Moses wanted helpers for the
governing of the people of Israel and God answered his request in verses
16-17:
Numbers 11:16-17
"So the Lord said unto Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the
elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and
officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they
may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there.
I will take of the spirit that is upon you, and will put the
same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people
with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone."
As
it is clear from this passage, Moses had spirit and he had it upon him.
It is significant to point out two things here: first that the spirit
was not in him, but upon him. When something is in
you, it cannot be separated from you. It is part of your being. However,
when something is upon you, then it is not one with you. Second: the
fact that Moses had the spirit of God upon him, it was not because he
decided that he would like to have spirit. Even if he decided that he
would like to have spirit, there was no guarantee that he would have,
for the simple reason hat spirit was not available. Actually, it was God
that decided to put His spirit upon Moses and not the other way round.
The same is true for those seventy men as well: the spirit of God was upon
them, not because they decided to receive it but because God put
it to make possible communication with them. Having seen this case,
let’s see some more passages on the same topic. So:
Judges 3:9-10
"When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised
up a deliverer for the children of Israel who delivered them, even
Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. And the Spirit of
the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel and went out to war
....."
(NKJV-KJV)
Did
Othniel have spirit before? No. God put it upon him for the reason that
he was the judge of Israel and God wanted to communicate with him.
Let’s see another example:
Judges 6:33-34
"Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the
east gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the valley
of Jezreel. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a
trumpet [to gather the people of Israel for war]; and the Abiezernites
gathered behind him."
Did
Gideon have spirit before? No. Was it that Gideon received the
spirit from God or that God put the spirit upon Gideon? To
receive something it must be available and spirit was not available
after Adam’s fall. So it was God Who chose to put His spirit upon
Gideon for the reason that Gideon was the judge of Israel and God wanted
to communicate with him. Similar examples are many in the Old Testament.
Also if one examines the case of Saul, the first king of Israel, it can
be seen that when he disobeyed God, the spirit of God that was upon him departed
from him (see: I Samuel 15:26, 16:14).
So to summarize, Adam and Eve were
originally body, soul and spirit. However, in the day that they ate of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they lost the spirit. When
you lose a form of life that is called death. That’s why they died in
that day, exactly as God had said. From that time onwards spirit was not
available. On the other hand, for God to communicate with people they
have to have spirit. For this reason during this period, God had to put
His spirit upon certain men of His choice. For example, all the prophets
had the spirit of God upon them. God put it upon them to give them
revelation. So, regarding the period before the day of Pentecost three
things are noteworthy:
1. Spirit was not available.
2. God put his spirit upon those
that He wanted to communicate with.
3. They could lose the spirit, which
means that they had it under restrictions.
2. New Birth
Having seen what was the
situation before the day of Pentecost it is now time to see what happens
after the day of Pentecost. To see this, let’s start examining some
things that Jesus Christ said in the gospels. As we read the
corresponding records, we must bear in mind that at the time that Jesus
Christ was on earth, spirit was not available as we have already seen
from John 7:37-39. Therefore, whatever we see in the gospels about
spirit it refers prophetically to the time that spirit would become
available. Bearing this in mind, let’s have a look at John 3:1-6 :
John 3:1-6
"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we
know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs
that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to
him, "Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born again [the
Greek text reads "born from above"], he cannot see the kingdom
of God."
According
to Jesus Christ no man can enter the kingdom of God, if he isn’t born
again or born from above. This is probably enough to resolve many
arguments and guesses as to how one makes it to heaven. The answer is
simple: You must be born from above. Now what does this
"born from above" mean? The only birth that most of us know is
the birth that was given to us by our parents. Nevertheless, here Jesus
Christ tells us that there is one more birth, which is the prerequisite
to "see the kingdom of God". Questions may come immediately to
our minds: "How does this birth occur?", "who is the
parent of this birth?", "what do I receive from this
birth?". How will we answer these questions? By going to the Bible
and leave it to interpret itself. So let’s see what it says:
John 3:4-5
"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, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
(NKJV-KJV)
In
this passage Jesus Christ explains us that for a man to enter the
kingdom of God he should be born of water and of the spirit. To be born
of water means the first birth. Without having been born once, how could
you be born again? He tells us also that one should be born of
the spirit. The word "spirit" has various usages in the Bible.
However, most of the usages refer either to God who is spirit (John
4:24
"God is spirit") or to the spirit that God gives. In the above
passage "born of the Spirit" means born of God Who is spirit.
In the first birth you were born "of water2".
In the second birth you are born of the spirit i.e. you are born of God.
That in this second birth you are born of God is also clear in verse 6
where we also learn what is received by this birth:
John 3:6
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit."
Again
the two births are put together in the same sentence but this time the
purpose is to contrast them and to show that they are entirely
different. From the first birth you received what your parents are i.e.
flesh. Similarly, from the second birth you received what your parent,
God, is i.e. spirit. Having answered the question about the second birth
and who is the parent of this birth let’s move one step ahead to
examine how this second birth occurs. Again the Bible is very sharp and
clear in its answers:
I John 5:1
"whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God"
In
this passage the Word of God tells us that to be born of God what is
needed is to believe that Jesus is the Christ i.e the Messiah, the
Saviour. Yes, so simple it is. Take a minute to think about it. If you
are born of God what are you then? A child of God. A son or a
daughter of God!! That is exactly what the epistle to Galatians also
declares :
Galatians 3:26
"For you are all the children of God by faith (believing) in Christ
Jesus."
(KJV)
To
be a child of someone requires birth. And in the above given passages
the Word of God declares that at the time that one believes in Jesus
Christ is born of God. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? If yes, who is
your Father? God is your Father. Is anyone more powerful
than God? NO. What is impossible for Him? Nothing. Most people, because
of either religion or tradition, think that God is someone that you
cannot approach. Someone that is far from them and He becomes a bit
nearer only after they follow a certain ritual or do certain religious
works. If you have the same idea, you must change it if you want to
fully exploit the power that God has put in you when He made you His
child. Instead of the religious ideas that you may have collected from
the church, the school and the family put on what the Word of God says:
CHILD OF GOD. Let’s expand a bit more on this.
Isaiah 49:15
"Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on
the son of her womb?"
If
no then where do all these children that live in the streets and in the
institutions come from? That’s why God says:
Isaiah 49:15
"Surely they may forget"
However, it does not stop there. It
continues:
Isaiah 49:15
"yet I will not forget you"
Many
parents forget or mistreat their children. However, God will never
forget you. Do you know why? Because you are His child and He loves you.
Also:
Hebrews 13:5
"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content
with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will
never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say:
"The Lord is my helper; I will nor fear. What can man do to
me?"
Who
said that? Not me. God ("He Himself") said it. He promises
that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Your friends may leave
you, the government may abandon you, your boss may forsake you. But God
will never leave you because you are His child. If you feel forgotten,
neglected etc. it is because you look upon wrong things. Look to God
your Father; develop a father-child relationship with Him and you will
see how much more light your life will have. You also may boldly
say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can a man do
to me?"
3. Pentecost:
the day of a new beginning
Returning now to our
initial point, remember that spirit was lost in the day that Adam
sinned. Also remember, that spirit was not available, after that day.
Nevertheless, in John 3:6 Jesus Christ, speaking prophetically to
Nicodemus, said that one could again have spirit. The point in time
where spirit was again made available was the day of Pentecost, almost
2,000 years ago. So let’s read to see what happened that day:
Acts 2:1-4
"When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire and it
sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the holy spirit
and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance."
What
is described above is the first outpouring of the holy spirit, that
happened in the day of Pentecost. From that day onwards, holy spirit is
again available and everyone that believes in Jesus Christ receives it
and he can also manifest it with the nine ways listed in I Corinthians
12:7-10. One of these ways is speaking in tongues and it is this
manifestation that was operated in the above passage of Acts.
4. Before
Pentecost and after Pentecost: comparisons
4.1 The spirit is again available
It is now interesting to
compare the situation after Pentecost with the one before Pentecost. As
we have already seen, before the day of Pentecost, spirit was not
available. However, from that day and because of what Jesus Christ
accomplished, spirit is again available and you can again be body, soul
and spirit. What a dramatic change! But it is not the only one.
4.2 The spirit
is in you: you are the temple of God
We saw previously that
before Pentecost people had the spirit of God upon them. It
wasn’t in them. On Pentecost this situation also changed dramatically.
From that day onwards, not only everyone that believes in Jesus Christ
receives holy spirit, but also this spirit is in him. Let’s see
some scriptures on this:
I Corinthians 6:19
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the holy spirit
which is IN you, which you have from God.....?"
(KJV-NKJV)
Where
does the holy spirit, that you received when you believed in Jesus
Christ, dwell? IN YOU. It is not upon you . It is IN you.
I Corinthians 3:16
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that
the spirit of God dwells in you?"
Again
where does the spirit of God dwell? Many people, believe that the spirit
of God dwells, in the so and so church of the so and so denomination.
How much have people misunderstood what the Bible says? Here the Word of
God tells us , that the spirit of God dwells IN you. It also says that
"YOU are the temple of God". So the temple of God is not the
church at the corner of the street but YOU and do you know why? Because
the spirit of God dwells IN you. Here is the great difference
between having the spirit upon you (before the day of Pentecost) and
having the spirit in you (from the day of Pentecost). Before the day of
Pentecost, those few people that had the spirit of God upon them, were
not the temple of God for the simple reason that the spirit of God
wasn’t in them but upon them3.
That is the reason that the temple of Solomon was constructed. It was a
temporary dwelling place of God. But today, there is no more need for
man-made temples for the reason that today God does not dwell in
buildings, but in men that love Him. This fact makes any
man-made building, in which it is supposed that God dwells, at least a
waste of time and money.
4.3 You cannot
lose the spirit
Finally, it is very
interesting to see whether you can lose the spirit that God gave you or
not. We saw that Adam had the spirit under the restriction that he
wouldn’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When he
violated this condition, he lost the spirit. Similarly, before the day
of Pentecost, the people that had the spirit upon them, they had it
under restrictions. So when Saul disobeyed God, he lost it. What about
today? For one more time the difference is great. Today you don’t
have the spirit under restrictions and therefore you cannot lose it.
There was one condition that had to be fulfilled to receive spirit and
that was to believe in Jesus Christ. Once you believed, you were born of
God and you received holy spirit. You didn’t receive it under any
restriction and that’s why you cannot lose it. Moreover, holy spirit
is what you received when you were born of God. As your flesh and blood
are the tokens of your first birth so the spirit is the token of your
second birth. The birth is birth. It is an unaltered fact. As you will
continue to be a child of your earthly parents whatever may happen, so
you will continue to be a son or a daughter of God. I Peter tells us:
I Peter 1:23
"Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but of
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides for
ever"
Our
new birth came as a result of believing what the Word of God says
concerning Jesus Christ. It is therefore a birth "through the Word
of God". Now, when you were born of God you received the spirit of
God in you. That's the seed, the proof, that you are born again and this
seed is incorruptible. If you could ruin it, it would be corruptible. If
Satan or any other could ruin it, it would be corruptible. But it is
INCORRUPTIBLE.
So is it true to say that you have
as much as Adam had before the fall? NO it isn’t true for you have
more than Adam. Adam lost the spirit because he had it under
restrictions. You cannot lose it because you have it without
restrictions. Now you may think that in any case you cannot have as much
as those great Old Testament prophets like Moses, Isaiah, David etc.
had. Well, according to what we have read you do have much more than
they. They had the spirit upon them, under restrictions and certainly
they were no more than servants of God since new birth was not yet
available. But you:
Galatians 4:7
"you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ."
(NKJV-KJV)
So
is it much more than Moses, Isaiah, David? Certainly yes. May you
utilise to the full extend what God has made available for you in the
new birth and walk the great walk that he has prepared for you.
Tassos Kioulachoglou
Footnotes
1. In the case that
such instructions were given, they were spoken prophetically for the
period after the day of Pentecost (press here to
return where you stopped).
2. In the first birth
the baby is surrounded by water and therefore it is really "born of
water" (press here to return where you stopped).
3. Dwelling requires a
dwelling place where you live in. In our case, before the day of
Pentecost people could not be called "temple of God" for the
simple reason that the spirit of God was not in them (press
here to return where you stopped).
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