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For three years the disciples had walked, worked and talked with Jesus. They knew Him, trusted Him and loved Him. On one particular night, however, Jesus told His disciples some very upsetting news: He would soon die.
Put yourself in the disciples’ place.
How would you feel? Confused? Frightened? Helpless? They probably did, too.
But then imagine hearing Jesus telling you, as a result of His going to be with God the Father, another friend would come - one who would be with you; one who would be in you.
The friend who was to come is the Holy Spirit. An amazing thing that Jesus told his followers was that the Holy Spirit would reside in them. Even better, He would “be with them forever.” Imagine the encouragement this offered to these individuals.
God would make his home within the lives of those people who would love and receive Him. |
In this way, the disciples would not be left with the impossible tasks of trying to imitate the character of christ and attempting to continue His mission.
Instead, through the Holy Spirit, the very life of Christ with all His character, authority and strength could be lived through their individual lives and personalities. |
Twenty centuries later, Christ’s promise still remains true. He offers hope to those who are trying to live as He lived. Anyone who has sincerely attempted to reach that goal knows that, worthy as it is, it is a hopeless ideal. Only Jesus Christ can act like Jesus Christ.
And that, of course, is the uniqueness of Christianity. lnstead of frustrating us with the inevitable failure of attempting to live up to Impossibly high ethical, moral and spiritual standards, the only Person who ever perfectly fulfilled all those stardards offers to do it again - through each of us.
Once Jesus has entered into a life,that person has the potential to let Him live out His life in and through him. This is available to anyone! |
It sounds good, doesn’t it? the obvious question is, how can I experience the resurrected Christ living His life through me? The following pages will help to explain.
Refer to “Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-filled Life?” Read it through before proceeding with the rest of this lesson.
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