The testimony of the Spirit of God…
Filed in Devotions & Studies |Journal,
Some of my readers enjoy all the personal stories that I share while others look forward to some of my Bible devotions. Well, its been awhile since I’ve shared some of my thoughts by way of a devotional study. Perhaps it is time to do just that.
In my devotion this morning I read something that really struck my heart. Felt like the Lord wanted me to share on it. It had to do with a statement made by Jeremiah, where he said, “O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause; You have redeemed my life.” (Lam3:58 nasb - The alternate translation has ‘You have pleaded the causes of my life.)
As I meditated on this there were two issues that stood out to me, side by side. One was, ‘You have pleaded my soul’s cause, or, the causes of my life.’ The other was, ’You have redeemed my life.’
I thought about how these two statements applied to me personally. But there was more to be had. What made these statements so interesting is that I saw how they could easily be transposed over into the New Testament with regard to the finished work of the cross and of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Behind Jeremiah’s statement, “You have redeemed my life,” we have the story of the kinsman redeemer. The Hebrew word for ‘redeemed’ is ‘goel.’ It literally means to redeem or to act as a redeemer for a deceased kinsman.
Under the law of Moses, only the closest of kin could serve as a kinsman redeemer for another Israelite, whether it be the marriage of a widow, the acquiring of the property of a deceased relative, or for various other matters. (We see this in the story of Ruth and Boaz.)
Of course my mind went to how Jesus Christ fulfilled the role of our kinsman redeemer by way of the incarnation and through the ministry of the cross.
Peter said, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1Pe1:18 nasb)
But there was something else that Jeremiah said that really caught my attention. It is where Jeremiah said, “You have pleaded my soul’s case, that is, ‘the causes of my life.’”
These are the kinds of thoughts that went through my mind – ‘Who would the Lord be pleading Jeremiah’s case before?’ ‘Is the Lord merely pleading Jeremiah’s case with respect to Jeremiah’s enemies?’ ‘Or can there be a deeper significance here where we can actually catch a glimpse of God’s Messiah?’ ‘Perhaps we are even seeing something of the intercession of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.’
My mind went to the cross. Is this not where we catch a glimpse of the intercession of Jesus Christ? Is it not where He says, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
This prayer of intercession was for the Roman soldiers who had no idea of who Jesus really was. They really did not know what they were doing. But there was a group in the Jewish leadership that did know what they were doing. This prayer was certainly not for them.
Isaiah prophesied concerning the Christ, saying, “Therefore, I will allot Him [Christ] a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, AND INTERCEDED FOR THE TRANSGRESSORS.” (Is53:12 nasb - Have we not all been transgressors in our lives?)
It is at the cross where Jesus becomes our kinsman redeemer. But the cross is not where the intercessory ministry of Jesus ends. The apostolic writer said, “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (He7:25)
Jesus is our forever Savior because He is our forever Intercessor.
This brings me to another aspect of intercession that I want to draw attention to. There is the fact of intercession that takes place in the very heart of each believer. It is the intercession of the Holy Spirit.
This intercession work is a very real part of every believer’s walk with the Lord. Also keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Jesus. Thus the intercession of the Holy Spirit can be said to be Jesus continuing His intercessory ministry in our hearts and lives.
Where Jesus is actually seated at the right hand of God in heaven, He is also in our hearts in His spiritual form. He told the disciples that He would be with them always.
For some background on the intercessory ministry of the Spirit of Christ, consider these Scripture portions:
1) “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rm8:15,16)
2) “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rm8:26,27)
Here we see the two-fold testimony of the Spirit of God. He testifies to our hearts that we are God’s very children. This is a continuous testimony. But the Holy Spirit also continues a testimony of intercession for us and in us. This is something that we may not always be aware of.
As we follow this through keep in mind what Jeremiah said; “O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my life.” (Alternate translation.)
This statement could easily be placed where Paul is giving instructions concerning the Holy Spirit’s testimony in us that we are children of God, along with the Holy Spirit’s intercession that takes place in the deep of our being.
The most important keynote is found in the verse, “The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.”
This special intercession of the heart is expressly for those who have been twice born, that is, those who are truly the children of heaven. It is these ‘children of heaven’ where Paul later says that nothing will ever be able to separate any of God’s children from the Father’s love which is found in Christ Jesus.
Another clue is where Paul said the Spirit’s intercession is, ‘according to the Father’s will.’ The work of the Holy Spirit is to help each child of God work out their problems of life, work out their failures in life, to work out their relapses in life, or simply process life as it comes, whatever the causes, but always in accordance with God’s perfect will.
This issue of God’s love for us is very much in keeping with something Jesus said — “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; FOR THE FATHER HIMSELF LOVES YOU, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” (Jn16:26,27 Caps for emphasis only.)
Once again all this ties in with what Jeremiah said, “O Lord, You have pleaded the CAUSES of my life.”
The Father’s is concerned with the total of our lives. He is concerned with the ’causes’ of our lives. We are His very children. Paul said, “And we know that God CAUSES all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rm8:28 Caps for emphasis only.)
Think about it — If you are a parent, what would be your deepest desire for your children? You can fill in the blanks. But for one thing you would only want the very best for each of your children. Be sure that our heavenly Father’s will is that we learn how to live from His very best for us. The intercession of the Holy Spirit works along this principle. He helps us work out the causes of our life.
This is why the apostle John tells us that if we are fearing punishment from God, we really do not understand the Father’s perfect love for us. There is a vast difference between punishment and spiritual discipline. God is not out to punish us. Yet He does discipline us in accordance with His love and His kindness.
His discipline has an objective — That we may share in His holiness and that we may produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives.
The important thing to keep in mind is that all of God’s children have the Holy Spirit as the permanent indwelling presence of Christ in them. John said, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1Jn5:11,12)
There is much to be said on this issue of the testimony of the Spirit of God, but I’ll leave these things for your own meditations.
May the peace of the Lord rule in your hearts,
Blessings,
Buddy
