and while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” [acts 1:4-5]
it is often repeated that the word- ‘Trinity’ is not in our bibles, and it is true, but the our triune God, Father, Son, Spirit is so clearly here in these passages–making a way for us to access the throne of grace!
he [Jesus] ordered them:
Jesus Christ is king. he has all authority in all the world:
for to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [isaiah 9:6]
and Jesus came and said to them, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [matthew 28:18-20]
Jesus is Christus Victor, and is the king vanquishing sin, suffering and death
but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [matthew 9:6]
Jesus is the true king!
on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. [revelation 19:16]
does the King of kings, the Son, have authority over your life? are you bowing the knee to him?
wait for the promise of the Father:
God promises the Holy Spirit to his children, and if we are in Christ, we anticipate the move of the Holy Spirit–the disciples are told to wait patiently, that the Spirit would come, but the promise was made to them much, much earlier!
therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
for the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
for a people shall dwell in zion, in jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. as soon as he hears it, he answers you. and though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. and your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “this is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. you will say to them, “be gone!” [isaiah 30:18-22]
this is the promise: when we come to Christ, when we cry out to him, he hears and the Teacher [the promise fulfilled, the Holy Spirit] fills us, and shows us the way in which we should walk.
are you waiting on the Father, patiently waiting and crying out to him to fulfill his promises?
you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit:
oh to walk in the spirit! Jesus reiterates the prophecy made by john the baptist:
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [matthew 3:11]
and the promise of the Father in the book of ezekiel:
i will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols i will cleanse you. and i will give you a new heart, and a new spirit i will put within you. and i will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. and i will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. you shall dwell in the land that i gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and i will be your God. [ezekiel 36:25-28]
are we living in the Spirit, submitting to his work in our lives?
meditate on all of these promises coming true perfectly in the Trinity, that promises flowing from the pens of broken men hundreds of years before Christ who were writing for the disciples and for us. we are witnessing what those prophets of old longed to see and have–these men were from time to time ‘in the Spirit’ but did not have access the Holy Spirit power that we have living in us because of Christ’s victory on the cross–let us live out of this Holy Spirit power, resting in the goodness, justice and sovereignty of the Father and in the victory of the Son!
~ce