To listen to the radio version, click here.
To search archives, click here.
Apples of Gold
Radio Script for October 19, 2009
“Christ Redeemed Us So That We Can Receive the Holy Spirit”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Why did you get saved? Why did you become a Christian?
Was it to get your “fire insurance?” Was it because you had a “heaven to gain and a hell to shun?”
Was it to take care of your sin and guilt and find forgiveness?
Was it for the fresh start, to be “born again?”
Or maybe you aren’t even sure why. Maybe you were at a service and you just felt strangely drawn.
Well let’s look at Galatians 3:14. Look at the opening words to this verse: “He redeemed us in order that…”
When you see the phrase “in order that,” you know that what’s coming up is a reason. Why did Christ redeem us? Here is the reason.
Now I’m going to share the entire verse, and it gets convoluted, so bear with me. Galatians 3:14 in its entirety says, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
Yes, there’s a lot packed into that verse, about like the MapQuest directions from my house to the capitol. So instead of following every turn, let’s focus on the start and the finish.
That verse starts with, “He redeemed us in order that…” And it ends with, “…we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
So here it is, in a simplified way. “Christ redeemed us so that we can receive the Holy Spirit.”
Have you ever thought about it that way? Why did Jesus save me? So I could receive His Holy Spirit.
Galatians 4:6 says, “…God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts…”
This was foretold by Jesus in John 14. The Holy Spirit is called the Counselor, the Spirit of truth, and Jesus said He “will be in you.”
The Bible talks about being filled with the Spirit and baptized with the Spirit and receiving the Spirit. Acts 10:45 talks about “the gift of the Holy Spirit” being “poured out.”
In Acts 19:2 Paul asked the Ephesians, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
Ephesians 3:16 talks about God’s Spirit in our “inner being.”
Second Corinthians 1:22 says that God “put His Spirit in our hearts…”
First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
First Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
So think about that simplified version of Galatians 3:14, “Christ redeemed us so that we can receive the Holy Spirit.”
Now let me talk about my goals in raising my children. In the long run, I’m not going to be around to help them make wise decisions. I can’t follow them everywhere. I can’t advise them in every situation.
And even if I was, I don’t know the best thing to say, or the best way to say it. A dad can easily give a lecture that young ears don’t hear.
Plus, they grow up and move out. Then they make almost every decision on their own, only consulting you once in a while.
And eventually I will be dead and gone. I couldn’t give advice even if they wanted it.
So what is my goal? What is my hope that their lives will turn out all right?
It is that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within them.
Christ redeemed them so they could receive His Holy Spirit – and that is the best hope I could have for my children – that the Spirit of God would live inside them!
And the same is true as we make disciples in our churches. The best thing that can happen to them is to receive the Holy Spirit.
And the same is true for me. I need to be filled with Holy Spirit, to walk in the Spirit, to live by the Spirit. We need to be led by the Spirit in all things.
The Spirit of God will give us wisdom. Jesus said in John 16 that the Spirit will guide us into all truth.
Listen to this list of good things we will have through the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22 calls these the “fruit of the Spirit.”
In John 7 Jesus said the Spirit will be like streams of living water flowing from within us. Yes, from within us, because that’s where the Holy Spirit is – inside us!
Have you ever heard someone talk about having a personal relationship with God? This is what it is – the Holy Spirit living inside you.
This is what I want for my children, my best guarantee that they will have all they need. This is what I want for new believers who are trying to figure out what to do with their new Christian lives. It’s what I want for everyone – for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
It’s a main reason we were redeemed in the first place.
Just like it says in that simplified version of Galatians 3:14, “Christ redeemed us so that we can receive the Holy Spirit.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here: http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one: douglas_apple@msn.com
(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-
No comments:
Post a Comment