In His
instruction to His disciples, Christ dwelt upon the great gift of the Spirit,
declaring that nothing was too great to be expected from the coming of the
divine Spirit. He longed to quicken and enlarge the conception of His disciples
by communicating to them His own complete appreciation of God’s love, that they
might be able to comprehend the value of the gift of all gifts, given by God
with the giving of His beloved Son, —the gift of the Holy Spirit. On all who
love and serve God this gift has been bestowed. Christ has made provision for
all to receive His Spirit; for He desires to see human nature released from the
bondage of sin, and, by the power which God gives, renewed, restored, raised to
a holy rivalry with the angels.
To the woman at
the well Christ said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him, and He would
have given thee living water. . . . Whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Yes; in giving
the Holy Spirit, it was impossible for God to give more. To this gift nothing
could be added. By it all needs are supplied.
The Holy
Spirit is the vital presence of God, and
if appreciated will call forth praise and thanksgiving, and will ever be
springing up unto everlasting life. The restoration of the Spirit is the
covenant of grace. Yet how few appreciate this great gift, so costly, yet so
free to all who will accept it? When faith takes hold of the blessing, there
comes rich spiritual good. But too often the blessing is not appreciated. We
need an enlarged conception in order to comprehend its value. Signs of the Times, August 7, 1901 par. 2-4.
(Emphasis mine.)
The
gift of the Holy Spirit comes at a cost. Why is it “so costly”? Because it comes
from the reconciled heart of God, made one again with Adam’s race by the
sacrifice of His Son. It was the loss of His Son that cost so much, and by
which the Father emptied Himself so fully. Thus, empty of all but love, God can
restore His vital gift of life to every suppliant soul.
“God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them.” (2 Cor. 5:19). Hanging lifeless from the cross which God provided,
shell-shocked by Heaven’s thunders, the silenced Christ woos us back to His
Father, who pleads with humanity to love Him again. He calls all who have a
needy ear that can hear Him.
God’s execution
of One equal in worth to our world’s six thousands years and its billions of
fallen children showed His readiness to destroy sin. Yet, the souls of both God
and the participating penitents die together with the pure sacrificed lamb of
God. They both partake of the lamb’s spotless sacrifice; we, because we needed
the humbling, and God, though He didn’t. His lamb with Him again, the Father
forever remembers Their sacrifice for our sake. The lamb brought God and us
together for one greatly needed cooperative effort. And thus, having united two
alienated parties, the self-sacrificing Mother of all living whose sorrows God
greatly multiplied for our second birth achieved atonement between His Father
and all Their children who fall on His life-giving body in sorrow for and
hatred of their sin. His still, spotless body touches their “body of sin” “and
death” (Rom. 6:6; 8:2, cf Rom. 7:24), charging it with life and power to yield
themselves to God, and their will to His.
“And they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and
when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and
stood up on his feet.” (2 Ki. 13:21).
The Son, our “everlasting
Father” (Isa. 9:6), together with His Father, allowed the beating and murder at
the hands of all Their dysfunctional children, in order to break the
enchantment of Satan. When, once we have expended our wrath, and have witnessed
with horror the death and destruction that it resulted in, then They can place
our loyalty back in Them and in Their holy Law. The Ancient of days, the
Life-giver who alone has immortality, needed an Advocate to help Him have the
pains of death. God facilitated His own death as His Son let Them both die
together so that They can call Their children home again. The Seven Trumpets and the Investigative Judgment, p. 42, 43.
Death, infinite death, is the level at which the
infinite God functions to know His own deep gift-giving. God provided for His
own reconciliation with rebellious man when He sent His beloved Son to give His
life a ransom for men. Having reconciled with mankind, He gave them His “vital
presence” in a most stunning demonstration on Pentecost. “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of
them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4).
“And we
have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1Jn. 4:16).
Now, to dwell
in God is to be in the Spirit. “At that day ye shall know that I am in My
Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20). “Hereby know we that we
dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit.” (1Jn.
4:13). “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” (Rev. 1:10). “Thou wilt shew me
the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there
are pleasures for evermore.” (Ps. 16:11).
