DIVINE ASSOCIATION
Lesson 16Breath of God
1. A) What does 1 John 4:16 tell us about God? ______
1 John 4:16 (AMP) 16 and we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.
B) Comment on these statements
1. God’s perfect love is proven by His provision. ______
2. God is good to His creation, but He love creatures. ______
3. Love declares God to be the gracious Father to all who trust Him. ______
2. A) The Holy Spirit was involved at the incarnation of Jesus. The Holy Spirit was an active influence during the early life of Jesus. At His baptism, The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. Jesus returned “full” of The Holy Spirit following His 40 days in the wilderness. Jesus ministered through the Power of The Holy Spirit. Where do you suppose, The Holy Spirit was during the passion and crucifixion of Jesus? ______
B) Do you think this qualifies The Holy Spirit to bear witness to the sufficiency of the cross?
Y ___ N ___
C) Why is this important to us? ______
3. A) Where do you thinkThe Holy Spirit went upon the death of Jesus? ______
B) What do you think was He doing there? ______
4. Where was The Holy Spirit at the resurrection of Jesus? See Romans 8:11. ______
Romans 8:11 (AMP) 11 And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
5.Do you thinkJesus took The Holy Spirit with Him when He ascended into Heaven?
Y ___ N ___ Why or why not? ______
Speculation upon the Word of God is called meditation.
A)Jesus was full of The Holy Spirit; The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus – they are functionally one. Is it possible to have Jesus and not have the Spirit or vise-versa?
B)If you were to name ten adjectives describing Jesus and ten adjectives describing The Holy Spirit – would they be the same? Y ___ N ___
Why or why not?
C)We tend to apply character traits to Jesus and power and gifts to The Holy Spirit – but are we being a balanced Christian if we function with character and little power or great power and little character? How so?
D)Why is it important to demonstrate power and gifts coupled with Christ-like character?
6. We began this study with the premise that relationships are possible because God is a relationship. Explain the following illustration using again the analogy of the atom.
7. A) What do you think would happen if I gave 100% of ME in loving YOU? And YOU gave 100% of YOU to loving ME? ______
B) Do you think leg three would be a Godly Relationship? Y ___ N ___
8. Everything in creation is a trinity. Scientifically it is proven that all matter is three dimensional. Height, Length, and Width.
What would happen if we had height but no length or width?
What would happen if we had length with no height or width?
What would happen if we had width but no height or length?
Do trinities exist? Y ___ N ___
9. If indeed the Holy Spirit is the “love knot” between the Father and the Son, why would He [The Holy Spirit] be so vitally important to our existence? ______
THE LOVE KNOT
Syllabus 16
Have you ever wondered what God was doing before He created the heavens and the earth? Do you think He was quite bored? Or is there something we could pull from scripture that tells us? We do know that before the heavens and the earth a plan was already formulated – the Players – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were in Perfect Agreement. Do you think there was a celestial conference table where ideas were tossed around until the Plan evolved? Or do you think the relationship between The Father, Son and Holy Spirit was such that each possessed the same thought? We also know that God is Love. Who do you suppose God was loving before there was a universe to love?
Many years ago, I was privileged to participate in a teaching on relationships. The premise was that “relationships” are possible because God is a relationship. Marriage is a relationship (that thrives) when each partner preferred the other over themselves. Each partner gives 100% to the other. (How much is 100 %?) Relationship with God is a 100% deal. He has already given us His 100% and we are to give 100% of ourselves to Him. God too is a Relationship. What was God doing before the creation of the world? He was busy loving. The Father loving the Son and the Spirit, The Son loving the Father and the Spirit, and The Spirit loving the Father and the Son. Do you remember lesson five’s illustration of the atom?
Just as each leg of the atom pours its energy inward – holding all things together – so too do we see each Leg of the Trinity integrated and solid. From an earlier lesson, we learned that at His incarnation Jesus laid aside His Glory which could mean among other things He chose to relinquish Himself from this Perfect environment to tabernacle with His own creation – becoming man. Now this is not to say that this Divine Love Relationship ended – only changed. If God is love and Jesus is love, then The Holy Spirit is love. Equality characterizes the Persons of the Godhead. In Scripture, the Trinity is never brought together without the result of blessing. Those times when each Person stands alone it is always in an aspect of reverence toward the others. They share a blessed partnership. Jesus taught the He was in The Father and the Father was in Him. Jesus was full of the Spirit; the Spirit is ever full of Jesus. Jesus gives us The Spirit; The Spirit points us to the Son. This association bathed in love comes to us in two ways – as Divine Benediction and as Divine Sacrifice.
The Divine Benediction
It has been noted that throughout Scripture it is the Holy Spirit who is “the sacred Being who is the love knot in the Trinity”. Could it be the intense love relationship between the Father and the Son that generates the Power (motivating force) that creates universes? How GREAT is the power of love? “For God so loved the world…”
The great benediction of the Church Universal proves the love of the Trinity.
2 Corinthians 13:14 (RV) “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit”.
“Communion here, can be translated “fellowship,” and there cannot be true fellowship unless there are true fellows. Such an association springs from the same love characterizing God, and the grace Christ brought and personified.” Lockyer
THE DIVINE SACRIFICE
Hebrews 9:14 informs us that it was “through the Eternal Spirit,” that Jesus offered Himself to God as the sinless Substitute for sinners. The same Spirit who formed Jesus’ human body at the incarnation enabled Him to become strong, wise and gracious (Luke 2:40), guided and empowered Jesus, prepared Him for sacrifice and sustained Him as He died. It was through the Eternal Spirit that Jesus’ sacred will conquered its aversion to death. And it was for the Love of His Father and His people that made Him a sacrifice for sin. All the members of the Godhead were involved in our redemption, God was in Christ and also the Spirit, reconciling earth to heaven. The Spirit was present at Calvary and is witness (the only living witness today) in the world to the sufferings of Christ. In Acts 5:32 Peter claims to be witness to these things, and so also the Holy Spirit.
Quote Dr. Elden Cummings
“There were human witnesses of the outward tragedy, but the Spirit who had been the lifelong companion of Christ’s deepest and most secret thoughts, was the one solitary Witness of the infinite and eternal virtue which enforced and informed the sacrifice…Just as an attendant waited upon the steps of the sacrificing priest, who scrutinized the victim to the placed upon the altar, and was a sponsor for its unblemished health, so the Spirit who had watched with un-resting jealousy and vigilance over the life of the Son, mediated in His last offering, and as earth and Heaven became the sponsor for its spotlessness and soul-cleansing power”.
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