The Power of God 2

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."  2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Various Scriptures.

So, this scripture clearly defines the Lord as the Spirit. It then goes on to say that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom. Q: So how do we get this Spirit and how do we experience this Freedom? The answer is found in the Book of Acts.

"Therefore let all Israel (all of us) be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord & Christ. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'                                                                                                                                  Peter replied, 'Repent (turn to God) and be baptized (immersed in water), 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. The promise is for you and your children and for All who are far off - for All whom the Lord our God will call."  Acts 2:36-39

This is what makes the life of a Christian, a follower of Jesus, so amazing. We have received The Gift of God's Holy Spirit living and dwelling inside of us, when we were baptized into Christ. We actually have God living and dwelling inside of us, not only that but He is doing the Transforming!

If you read through the gospels you see that the people who followed Jesus were ordinary men & women, a bunch of sinful knuckleheads....just like you and me. They had been trying to follow the Jewish Law and felt the weight and burden of trying to live up to an impossible task.....perfection! Not only that but the Jewish leaders had imposed upon them extra rules and regulations that made people feel imprisoned, not free. God in their image was a "taskmaster" who demanded perfection.                                                                              Then Jesus comes along and touches people's lives, healing the sick, the blind and the lame, touching lepers, forgiving adulterers and prostitutes, turning water into wine, increasing profitable fish catching, walking on water, multiplying food, eating and drinking with sinners so much that the religious people called him a glutton and drunkard, giving orders to the wind and the waves and ultimately raising dead people to life. This was God amongst us.                                                                                                                               Now, from the passage in 2 Corinthians we find that it is no longer God amongst us, but God inside of us also. And His miraculous Spirit is working and transforming us into His likeness. No longer do we have to work, and try to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, relying on our own resources. We have the greatest resource and power of God Almighty working inside of us. And that way....He gets the glory. Not us!

And that is so freeing!

When Paul, Peter, James & John wrote their letters to Christians all they talked about was Jesus, His power, His love, His grace and how Christ was transforming them. They wanted others to know this one and only God. Why? Because God was loving them, transforming them and they were enjoying the freedom that came from Him living inside of them!

That’s the Power of God!