THE FATHER’S REWARD
God’s call to Holiness is an answer to a problem that was identified in Genesis. Genesis 2:7 (ESV) says that the Lord God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life. This is the Holy Spirit living in Adam, full of life and wisdom. At this point, the Father was in perfect fellowship with His children. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Spirit left them, and death entered all of humanity. Now, for the first time, Adam and Eve hear the Lord walking in the garden and calling out to them, rather than being inside, communing with them. I believe the realization of God’s external presence and their loss of fellowship with God is what was so terrifying and is why they hid themselves. I can only imagine the pain of Adam’s heart like the pain of an unexpected death, a separation from the Father. This pain was felt more deeply by God than by Adam, and it was followed by an intense and unwavering pursuit of reconciliation with His creation.
After the Mosaic law was given, the Lord prophesied through Ezekiel, saying, 'I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh' (Eze 11:19, ESV). This prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. The breath of life that Adam had in the Garden was given back to us by the Lord Jesus in John 20:22 (ESV). “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” I don’t believe they received the Holy Spirit at that point, but rather this was akin to the laying on of hands by the apostles to receive the Spirit. Jesus breathed on them and anointed them with the promise that was to come. In Acts 1:4, Jesus tells them to go and wait for the promise, and on the day of Pentecost, they received the Promise in a big way. The same Holy Spirit that lived in Adam and Eve before the fall now lives in us today.
Pinnock said in his book Flame of Love, Life has appeared in the midst of death, and the Spirit is at work moving the groaning creation toward resurrection.[1] The same power that brought Jesus out of the grave is the same power that is required to bring us out of the grave. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in the believer is the experience of new birth. It is the power of the Spirit that transforms us from death to life. I remember hearing someone say that today’s American Church is stuck between the resurrection and Pentecost. If there ever was a purgatory, this is it. There must be a Holy Spirit encounter to experience the new birth. Without a course correction and a change of heart, the individual is stuck in a purgatory of confession, not a purgatory of the afterlife, but a purgatory of physical life, existing in a zombie-like state, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth 2 Ti 3:7 (ESV). Simon believed and was baptized, and Peter made it clear that he had no part in the kingdom because of his corrupt heart. Simon confessed the resurrection but never received the promise, as recorded in Acts 8:9-24 (ESV).
Bernard of Clairvaux eloquently describes the Holy Spirit as "the kiss" between the Father and the Son.[2] The same kiss is how the Holy Spirit connects the church to the Trinity. It is the intimate fellowship with creation that was lost in the garden. God has restored all things through His love for us. Holiness is God’s love expressed through reconciliation, and we are to reflect His holiness through our love for one another. Jesus issues and order in John 13:34-35 (ESV) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This commandment is not optional; the word 'commandment’ means it’s an order. We are commanded to reflect and express God’s holiness. God has shared Himself with us since the beginning, and we are required to share ourselves by loving one another.
Lohrstorfer states in his book, Learning to Breathe, “He infused us at creation with His very image.”[3] We were made in His image, and we were restored in His image. Creation and the new birth of Pentecost were both powered by the Holy Spirit. Peter quotes God’s call to holiness from Leviticus in 1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV): 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” We are called to reflect the image of God. The image of God is holiness, and His tangible expression by His Spirit is love. Jesus said in John 17:22 (ESV), “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” This verse says that from the beginning, God’s intent and purpose were to be at one with us and for us to be as one. Unity only exists in perfect love, and the call to holiness is the call to love. N. T. Wright comments, “The Shema is at last fulfilled.”[4]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lohrstorfer, Chris. Learning to Breathe. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2020.
Pinnock, Clark H. Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
Noble, Thomas F. X. Holy Trinity, Holy People: The Theologian and the Church in the Pre-Modern West. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017.
[1] Clark H. Pinnock and Daniel Castelo, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 125.
[2] Clark H. Pinnock and Daniel Castelo, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 171.
[3] Lohrstorfer, Chris. Learning to Breathe. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2020 pg. 11
[4] Thomas A. Noble, Holy Trinity: Holy People (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2013).
God’s call to Holiness is an answer to a problem that was identified in Genesis. Genesis 2:7 (ESV) says that the Lord God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life. This is the Holy Spirit living in Adam, full of life and wisdom. At this point, the Father was in perfect fellowship with His children. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Spirit left them, and death entered all of humanity. Now, for the first time, Adam and Eve hear the Lord walking in the garden and calling out to them, rather than being inside, communing with them. I believe the realization of God’s external presence and their loss of fellowship with God is what was so terrifying and is why they hid themselves. I can only imagine the pain of Adam’s heart like the pain of an unexpected death, a separation from the Father. This pain was felt more deeply by God than by Adam, and it was followed by an intense and unwavering pursuit of reconciliation with His creation.
After the Mosaic law was given, the Lord prophesied through Ezekiel, saying, 'I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh' (Eze 11:19, ESV). This prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. The breath of life that Adam had in the Garden was given back to us by the Lord Jesus in John 20:22 (ESV). “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” I don’t believe they received the Holy Spirit at that point, but rather this was akin to the laying on of hands by the apostles to receive the Spirit. Jesus breathed on them and anointed them with the promise that was to come. In Acts 1:4, Jesus tells them to go and wait for the promise, and on the day of Pentecost, they received the Promise in a big way. The same Holy Spirit that lived in Adam and Eve before the fall now lives in us today.
Pinnock said in his book Flame of Love, Life has appeared in the midst of death, and the Spirit is at work moving the groaning creation toward resurrection.[1] The same power that brought Jesus out of the grave is the same power that is required to bring us out of the grave. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in the believer is the experience of new birth. It is the power of the Spirit that transforms us from death to life. I remember hearing someone say that today’s American Church is stuck between the resurrection and Pentecost. If there ever was a purgatory, this is it. There must be a Holy Spirit encounter to experience the new birth. Without a course correction and a change of heart, the individual is stuck in a purgatory of confession, not a purgatory of the afterlife, but a purgatory of physical life, existing in a zombie-like state, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth 2 Ti 3:7 (ESV). Simon believed and was baptized, and Peter made it clear that he had no part in the kingdom because of his corrupt heart. Simon confessed the resurrection but never received the promise, as recorded in Acts 8:9-24 (ESV).
Bernard of Clairvaux eloquently describes the Holy Spirit as "the kiss" between the Father and the Son.[2] The same kiss is how the Holy Spirit connects the church to the Trinity. It is the intimate fellowship with creation that was lost in the garden. God has restored all things through His love for us. Holiness is God’s love expressed through reconciliation, and we are to reflect His holiness through our love for one another. Jesus issues and order in John 13:34-35 (ESV) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This commandment is not optional; the word 'commandment’ means it’s an order. We are commanded to reflect and express God’s holiness. God has shared Himself with us since the beginning, and we are required to share ourselves by loving one another.
Lohrstorfer states in his book, Learning to Breathe, “He infused us at creation with His very image.”[3] We were made in His image, and we were restored in His image. Creation and the new birth of Pentecost were both powered by the Holy Spirit. Peter quotes God’s call to holiness from Leviticus in 1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV): 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” We are called to reflect the image of God. The image of God is holiness, and His tangible expression by His Spirit is love. Jesus said in John 17:22 (ESV), “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” This verse says that from the beginning, God’s intent and purpose were to be at one with us and for us to be as one. Unity only exists in perfect love, and the call to holiness is the call to love. N. T. Wright comments, “The Shema is at last fulfilled.”[4]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lohrstorfer, Chris. Learning to Breathe. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2020.
Pinnock, Clark H. Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
Noble, Thomas F. X. Holy Trinity, Holy People: The Theologian and the Church in the Pre-Modern West. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017.
[1] Clark H. Pinnock and Daniel Castelo, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 125.
[2] Clark H. Pinnock and Daniel Castelo, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022), 171.
[3] Lohrstorfer, Chris. Learning to Breathe. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2020 pg. 11
[4] Thomas A. Noble, Holy Trinity: Holy People (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2013).
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