Well, today I made one of my, shall we say, “less than good” decisions? I took Mr. Cliff and Glenn out for a walk when the temp was -3. Yikes! We have snow everywhere, and the winds have created some treacherous snow drifts. Needless to say, that walk didn’t last long…actually to the end of the block and back. By the time I got me and the boys cleaned up and thawed out, I grabbed some coffee, retreated to my office, put on a recording of our last concert by the Saint Louis Wind Symphony and here we go…..
As I promised last week, my message this time would be about one of my favorite subjects: You Too Can Be Superman! As a youth, I loved action hero movies. If you too have enjoyed movies such as Superman, Star Wars, Batman etc., you also know there is a common theme. The action hero always represents good; he possesses some superior “force” or power that enables him to win the battles; and he gets the prize (usually the girl) in the end. If you’re like me, you would leave the theater thinking, “I wish I were Clark Kent, Luke Skywalker or Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman). I wish I had “the force” or their special power so I could be an action hero! Dan the Man, Super Hero! It sounded grrreat!! But then I would take solace in the fact it was only science fiction, and in reality we’re equipped, however we are, to fight our own battles and to win or lose the prize. Oh well…but I would still continue wondering, “What if?”
THE FORCE THAT IS WITH US TODAY
Well, I’ve changed my thinking over the years, and even more specifically, since I have been a Christian. Once I learned the truth about what it means to be “born again”, I came to realize that when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, part of my salvation package was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit is to empower me to become the person God created me to be. Wow! There is no doubt in my mind today that the “force” or power possessed by any action hero pales by comparison to the power that indwells all of us who are in Christ. Our foe is Satan! He is a ferocious enemy. We will need no less than a supernatural power to go toe-to-toe with him, but God prepared us for that task. (Amen)
In the Gospel of John, 14-16, we get a close-up picture of Jesus’ final hours with his disciples in the upper room after the Last Supper. Jesus told his disciples about his impending death and what it would mean to them as he laid out the series of events that would occur within the next few hours. He could tell they were shocked and frightened, but he also knew the men in front of him were, in their own strength, a weak lot. (He was also keenly aware that the responsibility of carrying the message of salvation to the world would rest on their shoulders). So when he told them he was “going away”, he also told them it was better that he left them so he could ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be their comforter, counselor, teacher, and guide. This is key…he told them they did not need the Holy Spirit at that time, because He was with them.
Jesus knew that for the past three years the men had drawn whatever strength they had from him, so he promised them he would not leave them as orphans. Instead would send the Holy Spirit to live in them; to empower them to accomplish God’s Will. (For a picture of the transformation that took place in these disciples, I would direct your attention to Acts, 2-4. These same men who were in hiding during Jesus crucifixion became giants among men in terms of spreading the truth of Jesus death and resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, Peter – the same Peter who recently denied Jesus three times – converted 3000 Jews to believers.)
GOD’S GIFT
God’s salvation package is perfect! For most people who are drawn to Christianity, the promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life is a message of assurance and peace, as well it should be. And no doubt it beats the alternative of spiritual death and damnation! But the gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s promise that we don’t have to wait until after death to begin to experiencing the blessings of heaven on earth right here and now.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become a new creation in Christ. Our “old self” (our sin nature) is taken away and we are filled with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, whose role is to empower us to live the new life we are called to live in this fallen world. This is referenced in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone; the new is here. The obvious nature of our “old self” was to sin. But the nature of the Holy Spirit is not to sin, but to be pleasing to God. So now we are set free from our bondage to sin! Now we have choices we never considered before. As a new creation in Christ, we are empowered to make choices that help us grow in Him as well as bring honor and glory to God.
This was God’s plan even before Creation! We are to draw our strength from the Holy Spirit the same way the disciples drew their strength from Jesus Christ. And like the disciples, as followers of Jesus Christ we are called to boldly carry the same message of truth (the teachings of Jesus), love, tolerance, forgiveness, and service to others in our daily lives. In other words, we are called to live to a higher standard than the world around us, and that is indeed a formidable challenge for anyone! But God’s promise in 1John 4:4 tells us, “He that is in me (Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit in this world.” (Satan) We are told we are already victorious. Now the question becomes…do we believe that promise? Will we boldly stand on it?
Now I’ve come to the part that I know will not find favor with all readers. I know the most common criticism of Christianity by non-believers is: “I don’t see the Christians I know living a life of love for his fellow man, tolerance, forgiveness, service to others”… and they usually throw in honesty or integrity too, because they are quick to point out that Christians may talk the talk, but they don’t see it manifested in our walk. Unfortunately that criticism is “right on” in way too many instances.
THE CAUSE AND THE SOLUTION
I see two specific reasons for this unfortunate reality. First, we live in a culture that embraces political correctness (PC). Tolerance has become “anything goes”; truth is “in the eye of the beholder”; forgiveness today is too often levied according to social mores rather than according to truths found in God’s word; and honor and integrity have given way to a social numbness spawned by excessive lying, cheating and stealing in all levels of our society. Too often we hear this innocuous excuse: “Oh well,everyones doing it. That’s just the way it is today.” Really? How pathetic that we have come to accept bad behavior, or even illegal behavior, as the norm!! So in this age of PC, it takes courage and commitment to stand on the truth of God’s word because our culture in general doesn’t want to hear it. After all, this is an age of humanism and secularism, so the truth of God’s word shines too bright in this culture filled with darkness. I believe that is why there is an assault on Christian teachings and traditions today. The “truth” is an inconvenience to the way most people have chosen to live.
Unfortunately, PC has also invaded many churches today. If you belong to a church that preaches the complete Gospel of Grace- forgiveness of sins, eternal life AND the power of the Holy Spirit- thank God and don’t take it for granted. While that sounds like a terrible indictment, it is also true. Too many churches don’t dwell on the power of the Holy Spirit because they are afraid that when the people realize the freedom they have in Christ, the church (meaning a religious institution) might lose some of its control over its flock. Being in Christ and relying on the Holy Spirit is about being SET FREE. It’s about HOW to live a new life, and live it to the fullest!
Too often churches keep the focus on sin. The sin issue is a non-issue if you are in Christ! The price was paid for our sins 2000 years ago by Jesus at the Cross. As a new Christian, it’s not about continuing to look back at who we were, it’s about understanding who we are in Christ and relying on the Holy Spirit to enable us to follow His example and grow in his spirit. This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to get out of the way s0 Jesus can live his life through us. As Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” A-Men!
If you are a Christian reading this, do you call on the Holy Spirit to give you strength, courage, patience, perseverance, wisdom, whatever it is you need, to be the light of Jesus Christ in this fallen world? Unfortunately too many Christians live their life seemingly oblivious to this part of the Gospel of Grace. As I said earlier, but it bears repeating…it’s this awareness that allows you to experience heaven on earth right here and right now. Feel free to respond to this blog.
May God bless ya,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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