15 “If you love me, obey* my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,* who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.* 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. 28 Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. 29 I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe. 30 “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me. (John 14:15-18, 26-30 KJV)
As we are about to celebrate Easter in the next few days, we should reflect back on the sacrifice Jesus Christ has made on our behalf. He paid the price we could not paid by dying on Calvary’s cross for our sins. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son into this dying world to die in our place. Have you ever taken a moment to consider how God felt seeing His only Son beaten, thorns on His head, hands and feet nailed to a cross, and His side pierced by a sword? We should also take into consideration that God saw them giving His Son vinegar instead of water when He thirst. The crowds laughed at Him, spat upon Him, and shouted insults upon the Messiah.
Many of us would not voluntary give our only child to die in the place of someone else. We would refuse in a minute. But God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that it was necessary for Jesus to die for us. He knew that only Jesus’ blood could wash away the sins of the world. He was the only one without sin that could be offer up as a holy sacrifice. We should never think that Christ’s death on the cross was in vain. If Christ did not die, we could not have had the privilege of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come after He leaves.
As Christians, we should desire more of God’s presence in our lives. It is not good enough to taste a little of His presence but we should seek to get a deeper and richer relationship with Him. We should always keep in mind that Jesus died so we can have life and have it more abundantly. We should seek to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within. It is not good enough to have the Holy Spirit with you; you need that power in you to live right and to be an effective witness for Christ.
During the Old Testament period, the Spirit of God would come upon individuals to perform a service, and then He would leave that person. The Holy Spirit at that time did not reside in an individual because Christ did not die yet. In John 16, Jesus told His disciples that it was necessary for Him to leave them, in order that the Comforter can come and dwell in them. We serve such an awesome God that is concerned with every aspect of our lives.
He went to Calvary’s cross so that we will not only have the Spirit of God with us but most of all He will be residing in us. Just think for a moment – that means Jesus is living in us. He is not just beside us but actually living inside of us. The best example of this would be a mother with a child inside her, while that child is in her womb she nurtures that child by eating the correct food, rubbing her tummy, and talking to her tummy. She spends time nurturing and communicating with her unborn child so the child can feel her love.
If a biological mother can do that for her child, what about us who have the Creator of heaven and earth dwelling inside of us? We should spend time nurturing and communicating with Jesus. We should not allow any unclean things in our lives because our bodies are the temple of Christ (as long as you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit as describe in Act 2:4, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you . If a Christian has not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then you have the Holy Spirit beside you).
The Holy Spirit is present in our lives to teach and direct us into the right path. He is also our Advocate. The word ‘Advocate’ means ‘a person who pleads the cause of another in a court of law’. The fact that we have the ‘Advocate- our lawyer’ living inside of us permanently, we will always win. Jesus has never lost a case and He will never lose a case! We need to understand that we have The Lawyer of lawyers in us and no matter what charges or case Satan presents before the Judge (God), he will not win because we have the greatest Advocate fighting on our behalf.
Missionary Judith Gilzene Moodie