First Fruits
It is a dramatic story - the first time people are filled with the Spirit, not just anointed for a task as in the Old Testament. God will fill us if we ask! Then the question is:
What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives as disciples?
Pentecost was the early harvest festival, celebrating the first fruits, barley was the earliest crop to ripen. It was a foretaste of the full harvest gathered later in the year and celebrated in the feast of Tabernacles. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is given to us as the first fruits, or deposit or guarantee that we will receive the fulness of salvation God intends for us (See Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:22 and 5:5).
What does the Holy Spirit do? - fills disciples and guarantees that we will receive the fulness of salvation when the Kingdom comes in fulness.
Pentecost had also become a celebration of the giving of the Law in Jewish practice by the time of Jesus. It was the Law which gave the Jewish people their identity as well as their religious, moral and practical direction. Paul’s epistles are clear that the People of God are no longer defined by the Law but by receiving the Holy Spirit, made up of both Jews and Gentiles (e.g. Eph 2:11-22 but Paul repeated this several times!).
What does the Holy Spirit do? - forms the People of God, a body of believers filled with the Spirit become the church, a new people comprising Jews and Gentiles.
The disciples - about 120 people - were together in the upper room. They were not idly waiting and not anxiously hiding. They were praying together for God to fulfil what Jesus had promised (See Acts 1:14 and 2:1).
What does the Holy Spirit do? - inspires and enables us to pray.
The people there for the festival spoke many different languages and yet they heard the disciples praising God in their own language. God loves the diverse cultures and languages of distinctive ethnic and cultural groups but He also miraculously breaks down barriers between the different cultures and languages. There is a beautiful picture in Revelation 7:9-12 of the church in fullness, when the Kingdom has come, in glorious diversity - people of every tribe and language worshipping together.
What does the Holy Spirit do? - enables us to enjoy distinctive cultures but breaks down barriers between people.
Have we asked Jesus to fill us with the Spirit, to transform our lives and make us fruitful like those first disciples?
Have we allowed Him to join us with the Body, the church, in a real and living way?
How will we allow the Spirit to take us deeper in prayer?
Are we cooperating with the Spirit in crossing cultural boundaries, to reach out to people who are different from us?
- Chris Horton
What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives as disciples?
Pentecost was the early harvest festival, celebrating the first fruits, barley was the earliest crop to ripen. It was a foretaste of the full harvest gathered later in the year and celebrated in the feast of Tabernacles. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is given to us as the first fruits, or deposit or guarantee that we will receive the fulness of salvation God intends for us (See Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:22 and 5:5).
What does the Holy Spirit do? - fills disciples and guarantees that we will receive the fulness of salvation when the Kingdom comes in fulness.
Pentecost had also become a celebration of the giving of the Law in Jewish practice by the time of Jesus. It was the Law which gave the Jewish people their identity as well as their religious, moral and practical direction. Paul’s epistles are clear that the People of God are no longer defined by the Law but by receiving the Holy Spirit, made up of both Jews and Gentiles (e.g. Eph 2:11-22 but Paul repeated this several times!).
What does the Holy Spirit do? - forms the People of God, a body of believers filled with the Spirit become the church, a new people comprising Jews and Gentiles.
The disciples - about 120 people - were together in the upper room. They were not idly waiting and not anxiously hiding. They were praying together for God to fulfil what Jesus had promised (See Acts 1:14 and 2:1).
What does the Holy Spirit do? - inspires and enables us to pray.
The people there for the festival spoke many different languages and yet they heard the disciples praising God in their own language. God loves the diverse cultures and languages of distinctive ethnic and cultural groups but He also miraculously breaks down barriers between the different cultures and languages. There is a beautiful picture in Revelation 7:9-12 of the church in fullness, when the Kingdom has come, in glorious diversity - people of every tribe and language worshipping together.
What does the Holy Spirit do? - enables us to enjoy distinctive cultures but breaks down barriers between people.
Have we asked Jesus to fill us with the Spirit, to transform our lives and make us fruitful like those first disciples?
Have we allowed Him to join us with the Body, the church, in a real and living way?
How will we allow the Spirit to take us deeper in prayer?
Are we cooperating with the Spirit in crossing cultural boundaries, to reach out to people who are different from us?
- Chris Horton
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