REDEMPTION

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:44-53)       

            The story of redemption can be considered in three stages: The Old Testament reveals God the Father planning and preparing. The Gospels reveal God the Son accomplishing. And the New Testament reveals God the Spirit applying and effecting.

            Jesus came into the world in a special way and returned to the Father when His mission was accomplished. Similarly, the Holy Spirit came in a special way and is now fulfilling His mission on earth. What happens when His mission is accomplished?

The foretelling of redemption

            The gospels record John the baptizer announcing the coming of the Messiah. The name Jesus is especially significant to His earthly mission. The construction-craftsman Joseph was told, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus [Joshua, “the Lord saves”], for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost.

            As John the baptizer announced Jesus, Jesus announced the Holy Spirit. “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. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you … But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:15-18, 26)

            “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-15)

            The disciples were troubled at the thought of Jesus leaving – their Master, Mentor, Messiah. The Holy Spirit came to personally fill the emptiness in their lives after His departure, a special infilling rendered impossible while the Son was with them. The mission of the Holy Spirit is to come alongside to counsel, comfort, instruct, and intercede.

            The Holy Spirit is continuing the earthly mission while Jesus engages in a heavenly ministry. The twofold work of advocacy is presently taking place. Jesus pleads the case (Advocate) of His followers before the Father, while the Holy Spirit provides sound counsel and expert guidance (Advocate).

The advent of redemption

            Jesus came at a definite date in history. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5) His advent was at a perfectly timed moment for the special purpose of redeeming and adopting.

            The advent of the Holy Spirit followed shortly after the ascension of the glorified Jesus to heaven. The Apostle John explains in his narrative, “Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:39)

            Like Jesus, at a uniquely appointed time the Holy Spirit came. “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4) The Feast of Ingathering defined the purpose for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The embodiment of redemption

            By coming to earth born of a woman Jesus was God Incarnate. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The tabernacle of Glory on earth became manifested in the bodily presence of Christ.

            By coming on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit is manifesting God Incarnate through the Church, the body of Christ. “In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22) The Church is presently the tabernacle of Glory on earth, currently under construction and one day made complete.

            Jesus finished the work of redemption in a human body and the Holy Spirit applies the work of redemption in the body of Christ, with Jesus being the Head. The assembly being gathered throughout the earth is to manifest the splendor of the risen Savior.

The ascension of redemption

            When Jesus completed His mission on earth He “ascended higher than all the heavens.” (Ephesians 4:10) He did not simply vanish as a disembodied spirit. He physically ascended. (Luke 24:51)

            The resurrection and rapture of the church, the body of Christ, is directly linked to the Holy Spirit. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)

            “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

            The ascending of the church from the earth is synchronized with the descending of the Lord from the heavens for a meeting in the air, Head and Body joining together in celebration of true life. The fashioning of the church “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27) is complete, then conclusively sealed and delivered to the Father with sounds of praise and triumph.

            When the Holy Spirit completes His mission on earth, will He then return to the Father at the ascension of the body of Christ, the rapture? “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7)

            Whether the Holy Spirit is present on earth during the Great Tribulation is an occasional discussion point among those following Jesus and is not emphatically indicated in Scripture. Will life on earth be similar to older covenant times, prior to Christ’s first appearance? Will the attention of God return to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the completion of His plans to them?

            When the world enters the final chapter of retribution (Revelation 16), an epoch of reckoning and reprisal, there appears to be no help or Helper, and life will be torturous. No level-headed person will want to be here.

Full redemption

            The Holy Trinity is involved in redemption – the Father plans, the Son effects, and the Spirit applies. The Father testifies of the Son, the Son testifies of the Father, and the Spirit testifies of Father and Son.

            The Holy Spirit is at work to bring about the completion of redemption, and the body of Christ is the testimony of redemption. In light of the second coming, the Spirit desires to mightily advance the cause of Christ in and through you. Be filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit. Be actively a part of completing the mission.