Ep. 4 | The Holy Ghost of Christmas Past
Speaker: Jesse Turkington
Summary: It is impossible to fully commit to a Biblical Worldview without the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life. So, how does the Holy Spirit inspire this renewal?
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Music created by Chad Hoffman
Artwork created by Anthony Kuenzi
Jesse’s Personal Notes:
The Holy Ghost of Christmas Past
Introduction
Hey, welcome to Pickled Parables. My name is Jesse, and this podcast is provided by Parable Ministries. You can check out more at our website at parableministries.com.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been working our way through our introduction series, kind of introducing ourselves and introducing what we believe in and value.
Today’s topic fits hand in hand with last week’s lesson. Last time, we talked about personal perspectives and worldviews, and specifically what it meant to have a biblical worldview.
So, for today, we’re going to talk about how the Holy Spirit works in people's lives and how He helps influence our personal perspectives.
So, if you haven’t listened to last week’s lesson yet then I would encourage you go back and give it a go because it’s a very helpful backdrop for our topic today.
Either way, it’s up to you. But for right now, let’s dive in.
God’s Nature
In India, there’s a really important waterway called the Ganges River. It’s important because it’s a source for people to bathe and wash their clothes and have access to water.
It’s very important to the social structure of those who live near it because many will gather at the river and have community together.
One evening, there was a boy playing near the water when he noticed something crawling around in the branches of a nearby tree.
This tree was close to the river with its branches hanging over some of water. And in these branches was a pretty big scorpion.
The boy hadn’t seen a scorpion this big before and so he stopped and watched it as it climbed around in the tree.
The scorpion was making its way to the edge of a branch. But as the branch narrowed, the scorpion’s size began to cause some problems.
The scorpion had reached a point of no return. It couldn’t turn around because the branch was too narrow and its weight was causing the limb to lower.
After struggling for a moment, the scorpion lost its grip and fell into the river.
The boy watched it as it fell and he saw as it in the water as it struggled.
“What a fitting end for such a nasty creature,” he thought.
Scorpions had caused so much pain and sometimes even death. So, when a scorpion died, it wasn’t something people shed tears over.
But not too far from where the scorpion had fallen was an older man bathing in the river. He had noticed the scorpion’s fall and he was aware of its struggle for survival.
Curiously, he waded over to the scorpion and he reached down into the water and picked it up. Almost immediately, the scorpion stung him and he dropped it back into the water.
The boy, watching, thought, “What is that guy doing?”
But after a moment, the man reached back into the water and pulled the scorpion out again. He began to wade towards the river bank but not long after, the scorpion stung him again.
Now at this point the boy was (mez-mer-ized) mesmerized because he thought this man is crazy.
Sure enough, the man he reached back into the water for the scorpion, a third time. And he carried it close enough that he was able to throw it onto the grassy bank.
After the scorpion gathered its senses, it scurried off ready to live another day. But the man hobbled over to a tree and rested against it.
The boy was beside himself with curiosity. Why would anyone do that?
So, he ran over to the man and the first thing he noticed was his bloody hands which were starting to swell. The boy asked him, “Why did you do that? Why would you save a scorpion?”
And the man replied, “My boy, the scorpion’s nature to sting does not change my nature to save.”
My friends, we must admit, that it is mankind’s nature to sting, but no matter how much pain we cause, there’s nothing we can do that will change God’s nature to save.
A Renewed Nature
When God created men and women, He singled them out and made them special. Genesis 1:27 says, “…God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 NIV)
God held a unique and special love for His people.
“Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” (Genesis 2:19 ESV)
God let mankind participate in His creation. He gave relationship to them and loved them.
But mankind responded to this love with selfishness. Our ancestors performed an act of rebellion, seeking self-gratification and rejecting a healthy relationship.
This attitude has been inherited by every man and woman since.
It’s ingrained into who we are. We are selfish, self-seeking people. Even when Jesus taught, “Do unto others what you’d have done to you,” Jesus knew He’d have to phrase it that way so people could understand that He was truly trying to say, “Be kind.”
Our spiritual condition is filthy.
Can you imagine the pain that we have inflicted onto a God who offered nothing but love and safety and comfort?
Our natural condition is a faithless partner who carries a lot of baggage.
But despite our tendency to lash out and sting, God offered an extended hand to restore relationship with us, to take us back. You see,
“For by grace you (can be) saved through faith; and (it’s not because) of yourselves (it’s not because of what you’ve done), it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB)
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV)
“… if you confess with your mouth Jesus (is) Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NASB)
“Therefore (Jesus) is able … to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for (us). (Hebrews 7:25 NASB)
“(And) I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NASB)
God reached out to us to take us back. He wants to redeem us, clean us up and renew our thinking.
Paul talked about this in his letter that we call 2nd Corinthians. He said:
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person (a new creation). The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And (this is still Paul talking) God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, (God made Christ) to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:16-20 NLT)
Living a New Life
It’s through the work of Jesus Christ we are made right before God. Our guilt has been forgiven, our shame has been forgotten and our fear has been replaced with confidence. We are able to enter into a fully restored relationship with our Creator.
So, our standing has changed but how are we renewed? How does our thinking change? How are we made into a new person?
That is done through the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was given to Jesus’ followers after He ascended to Heaven. He is the sign of our covenant with God. Much like how circumcision was the Old Testament sign of Israel’s covenant with God.
The Holy Spirit is our seal. He is our guarantee that God didn’t leave us because the Holy Spirit is the presence of God in our life.
The Holy Spirit is the third member of the triune God and He plays a very important role in a Christian’s life.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, mankind is renewed and then continually renewed into the image of our Creator.
Yeah, we were originally crafted in the image of God (like Genesis 1:27 says) but we have fallen far from representing Him to others. It is through the influence and authority of the Holy Spirit that we can become ambassadors of God.
So, how does He do it? How does the Holy Spirit inspire this renewal? How does He affect our thoughts?
He does it through teaching and intercession. As our seal, He lives with us through experiences and He continually directs our attention to a godly perspective. Often, He’ll try to work with our conscience to encourage right thinking.
However, it’s possible that a person’s conscience can become seared. Meaning that they have a perspective or a worldview that has fallen far from God’s original design. Sin has a way of twisting truth into a counterfeit belief.
If that’s the case then the Spirit works to reprogram our understanding of morality. The Spirit uses the teachings of the Bible as His curriculum.
Jesus gave multiple examples of what a spiritual renewal looked like in His teachings. He said things like:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”(Matthew 5:43-45a ESV)
“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.
And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” (Matthew 5:39-41 ESV)
And “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12 NIV)
This mindset, this shift in thinking, is what happens when the Spirit ministers to us. He creates new thinking patterns. He presents new perspectives and He offers a godly worldview.
When allowed to work freely, He corrects and inspires our thoughts. This new way of thinking then dictates our actions and after practice, results in new habits.
In the fifth chapter of Galatians we’re given examples of what the Holy Spirit produces in a person’s life.
“The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23a NLT)
This is contrasted with our fallen natures.
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and other things like these.
Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
(Because) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:19-21 and 24-25 NLT)
The Spirit leads us by prompting us and reminding us of Jesus’ commands. Jesus said as much in John chapter 14. He said,
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 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.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:15-18 ESV)
A common phrase that I’ve heard quite a bit – mostly it was during a prayer meeting, this one person would always ask us to pray that he would walk in the Spirit.
He was thinking of Galatians chapter 5:16, which says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
I remember that request because I had never heard anyone ask for that before.
But there is a way to know with certainty if we are being led by the Spirit or not.
We are being led by the Spirit when we are obeying the specific things that God has presented through Jesus’ teachings and the apostle’s writings in the New Testament. That’s what Jesus is saying in John 14, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” and “the Father will give you another Helper.” The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.
Now, last week I presented the definition of a worldview by James Sire. The first sentence of his definition was that “a worldview is a commitment.” It’s something that you align with, something that you live by.
Now, let me tell you, you cannot have a complete biblical worldview without the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life.
The Holy Spirit works to transform and renew our minds and our hearts; our emotional centers. This is something that’s needed in order to commit to the values and worldview of the Bible.
It’s through Jesus Christ that we have been redeemed and set apart for the Kingdom of God but it is through the Holy Spirit that we are renewed and continually renewed.
Often the Spirit works in tandem with the Bible. You could think of it as like the Spirit being the soap and the Bible being the water. Together, the Spirit and the Word of God wash clean the filth of our minds.
We are still a people who lash out and hurt others like that scorpion in India. We still carry our sinful natures, but the Spirit works so hard to reorientate our minds and bring us into alignment with God’s values.
No matter what we have done or what we continue to do, God is consistent in His love for us. He wants us to change, of course, through the renewing work of the Holy Spirit but we must admit that we live with a conflicting nature.
Jesus is the embodiment, the representation, of God’s love. And, through the influence and authority of the Holy Spirit, we have been given the honor of becoming ambassadors for Him.
So, let us walk in the Spirit and allow Him the freedom to work in our lives unhindered.
- the end
Conclusion
Thank you for joining me today. We’re at the tail end of our introduction series and next week we’ll conclude it with a topic about communal Christianity.
I’m really excited for this topic, it is a personal favorite of mine. If people truly lived out what Jesus taught, then Christianity would truly be effective for those who need it.
Followers of Jesus in the Bible are presented as a family and that’s a purposeful depiction.
So, join me next week as we conclude our introduction series of biblical basics.
Thanks again for listening, and I hope you have a great day.