06/08/2018
Once we have received the Holy Spirit into ourselves what can we expect to occur? What is it that we find within ourselves from that point forward? It is of course accompanied by the obvious gifts that were promised like wisdom and comfort, but it is much more... we are going to know the fullness of God. We are going to receive an amazing spark.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
Ephesians 3:14-17 ESV
As Paul writes this letter to the Ephesians he talks of many things, but this section of the letter is wonderful, and reveals to us what it means to have the Holy Spirit within us. It is more than having the outward facing gifts bestowed on us, it is deeper and more personal than that. The Holy Spirit’s obvious gifts are for our work in the kingdom, but the ultimate gift is one that He shares with us on a personal level... Himself. Let’s listen as Paul continues to write:
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV
Wow... we are going to receive Christ within our hearts, and he will be founded in love within us, and that love will give us strength for something larger, there is more; we will receive the full understanding of this love, knowing it’s height and depth. And, even though this love is so immense that we are unable to completely understand it... something else happens... we are filled beyond this point, beyond our wildest imaginations, with the fullness of God.
Once the Holy Spirit begins to enter into us it is like pouring an enormous egg from its shell. We experience this in real life while cooking a recipe that calls for an egg. We begin to tilt the cracked egg and as we do we slowly start to pour it out, suddenly it reaches a point where all the contents are pulled out together and in one unstoppable motion it falls into the waiting Bowl. The influx of the Spirit is like that; it happens in a rush and we can’t stop it’s coming until finally we are filled to overflowing. So at that moment we have received in us the egg white, which is the love of Christ, and as we do it pulls with it the yolk which, for the purpose of this illustration, represents the fullness of God.
The unfathomable has begun. The unbound love of Christ, and the untold fullness of God have suddenly taken up residence within us, and it changes who we are. We are no longer a hapless seeker trying to understand how God sparked creation, but have embodied the very essence of that creation spark within us. We are no longer the creatures we once were, but new creations, and although this is very personal to us it is an experience that is shared by untold numbers of saints.
When I was a little boy I would lay beside a pool of water and stare into a huge gelatinous mass of frog eggs. The mass seemed to be one enormous entity comprised of jelly, and black dots, but as I looked closer I could see that it was thousands upon thousands of tiny eggs, and that within each one there was a small black center... and it moved. It contained life. So day after day I would come back to the pool, and each day the black life within each tiny egg would grow, and its movements become more pronounced. Then one day I noticed a tail, and then the nuns of feet, the buds of eyes, and finally a tiny frog had filled the egg to bursting.
Our receiving the Holy Spirit is similar to this mass of eggs in that as we experience the spark of life, and begin to grow into the new creature God intends us to be, there are untold numbers developing around us, and yet the experience to each one is personal, similar, and yet completely unique. We become the untold generations of the kingdom of God.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV
Are we worthy? Are we courageous enough? Are we able to open ourselves? Are we ready to receive the spark?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the love of Christ that strengthens me, and the indwelling of your Spirit that fills me to overflowing. I thank you Holy Father for your spark; the same spark that was present at creation and that resides wherever you are. You light up my life, and that light is brighter than lightning, more brilliant than the sun, and still discernible... even when I look away. How amazing are you that even in the darkness your light exists. You are like a candle in a dark room; we only see you when we look directly at you, and yet your light is all around us none the same. You are a mystery whose solution is obvious, and right before our eyes; yet goes unseen until the moment of your choosing. I open myself now to your Holy Spirit and say “Here am I.” Fill me Glorious Father with the love of your Son, and the fullness of yourself! Let me experience the brilliance of your light; the spark of creation that will change me for ever more, forevermore. Reside in me Gracious Father, and may I never look away, may the love that is Christ sustain me through eternity and strengthen me as you enlighten me with each instant of our togetherness. Praised be your name Holy Father, for Holy, Holy, Holy, are you, and in your Spirit May I lovingly live in your eternal spark.
Rich Forbes