Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 34
Someday God's saints will see the Face of God and we shall behold Him throughout the endless billions of eons of eternity. It will require a period of time and a multitude of Divine operations to bring us to the level of maturity required to behold the Face of the Father.
"Are changed into the same image." As we behold the Glory of Christ we are changed into that on which we are gazing. The closer our fellowship is with Him the more we become like Him. There is no person who gains a glimpse of Christ, or who comes in contact with His Presence or with someone who is dwelling in His Presence, who is left unchanged. We are changed. We are transformed into His image.
When we sense His compassion we are made compassionate. When we get a view of His strength of character we are strengthened and become more courageous. When we realize His selfless love, coming into close contact with Him as He reveals His attitude toward people, some of the same selfless love becomes our eternal possession. We are "changed into the same image."
"From glory to glory." We are not changed overnight. Let us not become impatient with God or with ourselves. It is "command upon command, command upon command; rule upon rule, rule upon rule; a little here, a little there." It requires time for the Word of God to work its transforming operations in us. We die, and then we live—all by the wisdom and power of God. We proceed from glory to glory.
We should not "unpack" at some point, believing we have arrived at the fullness of the Glory of God. Brother, Sister, pack up and move on with the Lord. You have just arrived at one glory but the next glory already is in view on the horizon.
Keep on moving along with the Holy Spirit. We have a distance yet to travel. Our destination is the fullness of the image of the Lord Jesus Christ and union with Him in all His glory and authority. Have you arrived yet?
"Even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The task of changing us belongs to the Spirit of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the One who assigns, directs, and empowers our ministries and gifts; who demolishes the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sin that we are resisting; who creates the Nature and attitude of Christ in us; and who gives us comfort, wisdom, encouragement, and strength at every point along the way of our pilgrimage through the wilderness of the world. The Holy Spirit is as Eliezer leading the heavenly Rebecca to the heavenly Isaac.
We say "heavenly" Rebecca while realizing our earthly limitations. The Wife of the Lamb, though she is taken from the peoples of the earth, is a new creation being built on the body and blood of Christ. The Wife is born, "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).
The Holy Spirit keeps us pressing toward Christ. The fifth operation of the Holy Spirit is the inspiring of the believer to keep on pressing toward Christ. This inspiration could be considered as part of the fourth operation—the giving to us of comfort, guidance, and strength in every detail of discipleship.
However, the continual, intense seeking of the Lord, the pressing on in Christ and toward Christ each day, is so important to the overcoming life that we are listing the seeking and pressing as a fifth operation of the Holy Spirit.
Notice the attitude of the Apostle Paul, keeping in mind that this statement was made toward the end of his life: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win [gain] Christ, (Philippians 3:8)
"That I may win Christ." What an extraordinary expression for a man who had been used of God as had the Apostle Paul! Here he was, with an unparalleled record of ministry behind him, imprisoned in Rome, now writing to encourage the Christians at Philippi.
Paul had received Christ. He had been born again. He had been used in Holy Spirit-empowered gifts and ministries. Paul had experienced everything we associate with the successful Christian discipleship. What, then, is the meaning of his longing, "that I may win [gain] Christ"?
In terms of our common understanding of what it means to be a Christian, Paul is not making sense at this point. In terms of the true nature of discipleship Paul's statement makes perfect sense. The Christian discipleship is a fervent quest for Christ. Christ must be won.
The Holy Spirit so entices us that we have the desire and strength to begin anew each morning of our life seeking after more of Christ. Every other ambition must be set aside for the single burning desire. We must arise and press on until we win Christ.
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:9)
It is easy for a religious person to press part of the way into Christ and then to work out a set of practices and observances that become to him "the Christian way." The Christian way is far more than a religion. It is the pursuit of a Person.
During the pursuit our trust in our own ability to serve Christ is pushed from us by the terrific pressures brought to bear on us. Through the various workings of the Holy Spirit our own righteousness begins to fall away and we find ourselves each day relying more on Christ for our righteousness.