City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3:5-8 (ESV)

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 … but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:4-5, 8

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. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 2:2-11, 37-47

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:22-24

Reflection

Depending on our faith journeys, our typical introduction to the Holy Spirit starts with His arrival at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Yet, in the opening lines of the Bible, The Holy Spirit is right there and active in God’s epic narrative of how and why all of creation came into existence (Genesis 1:1-2). These lines are what Jesus references when he tells Nicodemus that entering into the Kingdom of God requires a new birth, a new creation of water and the Spirit – just as in the beginning.

God’s Spirit has always been active in history, setting specific individuals apart and empowering them to fulfill God’s calling, as He worked through them to fulfill the promise of our redemption. However, God also promised that a time would come when His Spirit would be poured out on all people (Joel 2:28-29).

This promise was fulfilled after Jesus’ resurrection. Before ascending to Heaven, The Lord Jesus told His disciples to wait until receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit for power in order to be witnesses to the Good News. The result was first, the supernatural ability to preach the gospel in multiple languages to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem followed by a radically different way of living that stood in contrast to the society they lived in. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God used these two things – preaching the gospel boldly and the changed lives of believers – to grow the early church.

Application

When we receive the Good News of our salvation in Christ by faith, everything about our newly created lives is made possible by power of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who convicts us (John 16:8), confirms our adoption as God’s children (Romans 8:16), intercedes for us (Romans 8:26), teaches us (John 14:26), leads us (Romans 8:14), empowers us (2 Timothy 1:7), and makes our lives fruitful (Romans 7:4). He is the active, personal presence of God in the lives of believers in Jesus.

And where God is present and active, there will be proof. This means that our lives in Christ will have evidence of being newly created. One evidence is that we will have power to tell others about the source of our newly created lives and as we do, it will also be visible to those around us that our lives are being transformed. The apostle Paul describes this as ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ and it looks like our lives maturing to resemble our Lord and Savior Jesus – lives continuously growing to produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Two thousand years ago God, by the power of the Holy Spirit used preaching the good news and reborn lives to draw people to Himself. He is still able and willing to do the same through us today.

Prayer

Dear Father, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit whom You give to all who ask of You and have placed their trust in Jesus. Please help me to humbly submit to Your Spirit and receive, by faith, Your power to preach Your good news of salvation and to be continuously transformed. Amen.