The Holy Spirit

Jesus’ death wasn’t the end! Having conquered sin and evil by his death, on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead! Because he triumphed over death and returned to God the Father, Jesus now sends God the Holy Spirit to those who believe in him.

Now, God the Trinity lives within (uchi) each believer through the Holy Spirit. Every believer is now the “temple of God”.

God knew everything about us inside (uchi), even our sin, and yet still he accepted us. He died on the cross to make this possible. God will never cast us out (soto). He will never, ever hurt us or betray us. He lives inside (uchi) us, loves us always, guides us always, protects us always. This is the ideal relationship we long for. And the Bible says we enter into it by believing in Jesus.

But what happens next to the person who has entered this restored “inside (uchi) fellowship” with God?

The Holy Spirit

Opening Questions

What do you think is the most important force for good in our world today?

The Son of God – Jesus Christ – was driven out (soto) of the holy city of Jerusalem to his death at the hands of sinful human beings. According to the Bible, it was our sin that held Jesus to the cross on which he died. At the same time, Jesus willingly endured his death as a sacrifice for sin, scorning the shame of the cross, in order to bring a people back into uchi fellowship with God the Father. This was the outworking and overflowing of God’s love.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was risen bodily from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, by the power of God. For Jesus, as the Lord of life, it was “not possible for him to be held” by death (Acts 2:24). Indeed, Jesus defeated death by his own death:

[Jesus] abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
2 Timothy 1:10

Remember the original meaning of “gospel”: the announcement of a great victory. The risen Jesus and his messengers now proclaim that our sins may all be forgiven if we believe in Jesus, so that we can be restored to the inside (uchi) fellowship with God for which we were made. Through Jesus, we can be welcomed back home (uchi). This is the reversal of the banishment of everyone who followed Adam and Eve outside (soto) the Garden of Eden.

Why do you think it was “not possible for [Jesus] to be held” by death?
What does it mean that Jesus has “defeated” or “abolished” death?

It is a wonderful thing that our sins can be forgiven and we can be welcomed back into uchi fellowship with God the Father. More wonderful still is the promise made to believers that God himself comes to dwell inside (uchi) them, by the Person of his Holy Spirit. The Spirit, with the Father and the Son, is one of the three Persons who are the one God (the Trinity). This is how Jesus promises believers the Gift of the Spirit:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.“
John 14:15-17

Why would anyone “love” Jesus?
What can we learn here about the Spirit and what he does? (Note that the Spirit is not “it”: he is always described with masculine pronouns.)
Why can’t the “world” receive the gift of the Spirit?

Do you remember that in the book of Genesis we saw how the whole of the created world was described like a house or temple of God, fit for his dwelling? As the image of God, human creatures are like a microcosm of the whole world, designed for indwelling uchi fellowship with God himself. This fellowship was broken and disrupted by sin, leading to soto estrangement. In the gospel, we see how Jesus restores that fellowship by being himself cast out (soto), and now God comes to make his home with and in his people. Amazingly, we believers become God’s house/temple (uchi)! These words are addressed in the Bible to Christian believers:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What is the implication drawn in these verses between the indwelling of God’s Spirit and a person’s entire way of life?
How does the idea of being a temple of God’s Holy Spirit sound to you? (appealing / threatening / empowering / frightening etc.)

Perhaps above all, the indwelling (uchi) Spirit leads believers to the settled conviction that they are beloved children of God, welcomed into his house not as servants/slaves, but as children/heirs:

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba!¹ Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ , provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:15-17

In what ways is being a “child of God” better still than “merely” having sins forgiven?

Concluding questions:

Would you like to receive the Gift of God’s indwelling (uchi) Spirit through Jesus?
What is your response to the “gospel” announcement about what Jesus did for you?

Footnotes

[1] Abba = Aramaic term of endearment for one’s father.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.