Have you ever felt dry or disillusioned or that your relationship with God was lived more out of drudgery than zeal? I think if were being honest, everyone of us could answer yes to this at some point in our lives. Why is this? We have been given the greatest gift anyone could ever be given, so why are we not living as if we’ve received it?
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about walking around as if were on cloud nine all the time. Personally, I tend to be reserved, and celebrating can be a challenge. I’m also not negating the fact that there will be times that we go through things in life that will be difficult. However, our relationship with the Lord shouldn’t seem like a chore. It should be the source of life. If it doesn’t feel this way, we most likely have a misconception of who God is.
In the last part of this series, we talked about revelation’s fruit. (To read it, click here.) We saw Jesus’ emphasis on revelation when John the baptist questioned his perception of Christ. We saw how Abraham, Saul, and Job each had a misconception of who God is. God’s revelation of Himself brought an understanding that allowed them to know Him in a way they hadn’t previously. Each of them were changed by revelation’s fruit.
For Saul who became Paul, it changed everything. It would take him from being under the law into the new covenant. Under the new covenant, Paul would receive what he called an abundance of revelations. (2 Cor 12:7) Paul knew the importance of the revelation of God in the lives of believers.
When he prayed for the Ephesians, he prayed that God would give them “revelation in the knowledge of Him,” because Paul understood that there is truly nothing better than knowing God. (Phil 3:8) His knowledge of God made him say that he was “well pleased” to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. (2 Cor 5:8) This is zeal. There’s life in knowing the Lord. Paul knew this. This life here had no hold on him. He knew very well through an abundance of revelation the Source of true life.
the New Covenant
It’s the new covenant that allows each of us to know Him just as Paul knew Him. I believe one of the largest reasons we can become disillusioned, struggle with sin, or live weak ineffective christian lives is because we don’t understand and embrace our relationship with God as He intended under the new covenant. He intends for us to know Him in such a way that we can’t help but love, adore, and give our lives to Him. Just as Abraham’s motives changed as He began to know God, our motives will be changed. We won’t serve the Lord out of drudgery or guilt. We will serve Him because we love and adore Him.
Many times, we can be tempted to think of Christianity the way many of the Pharisees and Sadducees treated the old covenant.* We’re tempted to think it’s broken down to rules written in a book that we follow. That’s not God’s intent. God intends that we have a living relationship with Him. I know it seems redundant to say a ‘living relationship,’ but I want to stress the point. It is a living gospel. Religion is dead, but God is alive. He wants us to walk and talk with Him and to know Him through a personal relationship. Knowing Him through this personal relationship brings life. If we try to treat our relationship with Him like a religion, it will not bring the abundant life He intends for us under the new covenant. Let’s take a look at God’s description of the new covenant quoted in the book of Hebrews.
“…Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. (Heb 8:8-12)
God’s intention is that we all know Him. It’s important to realize that He’s making some points regarding the way we are to know Him, by contrasting the new and old covenants. He starts by telling us that the new covenant will not be like the old covenant (the law), and carries this contrast throughout the description of the new covenant. Understanding this contrast will help us to understand our relationship with Him.
Let’s look a little closer at the contrast He makes about us knowing Him. The first part of this contrast is seen here, “None of them shall teach His neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me…” What’s readily apparent here is that we’re going to know Him apart from someone teaching us. God’s not doing away with biblical teaching, but making a contrast to the way the children of Israel were taught to know the Lord under the old covenant. However, we don’t see the full contrast clearly, because of the difference between the Greek (the original language) and English languages. The writer of Hebrews (speaking to Hebrew people) uses words that help illustrate the contrast.
know verses know
Looking at the Greek, we’ll see that the writer highlights the contrast the Lord is making by using two different words for “know.” Where it says, “None of them shall teach his neighbor… know the Lord,” the word is “ginosko.” It means “to know” in a very broad sense that covers a large variety of applications. According to the Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, in this instance, it’s specifically referring to knowing the precepts of God. The thought is that a neighbor could teach one to know God by teaching them the law. The contrast addresses the fact that knowing the law, didn’t translate to knowing God.
We see a good example of this in John chapter seven. There’s a debate over Jesus being the Christ. Many people believed, but many of the chief priests and the Pharisees (those who knew and taught the law) didn’t. The Pharisees questioned those who wondered, “Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” (John 7:48-49)
The implication was that if anyone would recognize the Messiah, it would be the the rulers and the Pharisees, because they knew the law. They were suggesting that the people that believed Jesus was the Christ were cursed, because they didn’t know the law well enough to not become deceived. The religious leaders thought they knew God, because they knew the law. However, when God was incarnate in the form of Jesus Christ many rejected Him. They put all of their confidence in knowing the law, but it didn’t translate into them knowing God.
In contrast, knowing God under the new covenant isn’t about teaching and knowing the law, but rather knowing Him relationally through His revelation of Himself. This is seen in the word used for “know” when referring to the new covenant. It is “eido.” It means “to see” by implication to know. This word speaks not only of seeing but perceiving. This is a picture of revelation. God reveals Himself to our senses. That’s why verse ten in the description of the new covenant says, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” God wants to reveal Himself directly to our minds and hearts. He wants to reveal Himself to us, so our knowledge and understanding of Him is personal – not just something we heard about.
Knowing is loving
The writer of Hebrews knows his audience and uses “eido” because his audience would’ve been familiar with it. The Key Word Study Bible says that the tense of the word used here is actually from the Hebrew language. It includes the idea of choosing to love, and when referring to God means, “to know God, i.e. to acknowledge and adore God.” How awesome is that!? This is talking about knowing God in such a way that causes us to choose to love, acknowledge, and adore Him!
So how does this happen? As God reveals Himself to us, we will see Him in all His love, goodness, grace, mercy, faithfulness etc., which in turn will cause us to choose to love, acknowledge, and adore Him! That love and adoration will cause us to consider Him to be OUR God, and ourselves to be HIS people. (Heb 8:10)
I can remember a time that I had become disillusioned in my relationship with the Lord. I hadn’t lost my faith completely. I still believed, but my faith had never been tested to that degree. Life’s circumstances caused me to question the promises of God – had they been true promises or just figments of my imagination? Did I believe everything that I thought I had believed? I was shaken, but Jesus and the word of God as my foundation remained.
I will never forget the day that God revealed Himself to me in a powerful way. At the time, I was going back to school, paying for my classes as I went, and only working a couple days a week, so money was tight. One of my classes was Life Span Psychology, and I had to give an oral report on my life span. I couldn’t do it without talking about Jesus. I had decided that I wanted a christian tape to play at the end of my presentation that helped sum up where I was (choosing to love.) The whole way to the christian bookstore to buy the tape, I had been worried about the cost. I knew how much a tape typically cost, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get it.
I had just pulled in and was sitting in front of the store when God whispered to me, “I have a gift for you inside.” Immediately fear gripped my heart, and doubt began to flood my mind – ‘what if there’s nothing in there?’ Then all the things that seemed at that time to be broken promises rushed into my mind. In that moment, the power and presence of God entered my car. All the brokenness and grief came to the surface, I SOBBED as the tangible overwhelming presence of God loved on me. He reassured my heart in a way that only He could. Eventually, I regained my composure and ventured inside. The tape I wanted was 50% off. It wasn’t all the tapes in the store. Just the one I wanted.
You might be thinking that’s not much of a gift, but God’s revelation that He was giving it to me ahead of time was transformative for me. You see what was under the fear in my car that day was a deeper question, “Can I trust you?” God knew the brokenness and deeper question in my heart. He wasn’t angry. He knew that I needed a greater revelation of Him, and He’s not afraid to meet us where we’re at. He knew a leap of faith wasn’t possible for me at that time, but He knew that I wanted that tape, so I would take the hesitant walk of faith inside.
Do you know what happened when God met me where I was, poured out His love and faithfulness on me, and started to heal me? It caused me to know (eido) Him better. It caused me to know Him in that way that caused me to love and adore Him. Seeing His love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, and care changed something in me. Seeing Him brought life and etched something on my heart that said, He’s mine and I’m His.
That’s the beauty of having a living relationship with God under the new covenant. We get to know Him in a personal way that will cause us to fall in love with Him. He’s not just some God in the sky. He’s my God, and I’m His child. We have the privilege of knowing Him through His revelation of Himself to us and the magnificence of knowing Him bringing transformation and abundant life.
The Gift of the spirit
I mentioned briefly the second part of the contrast about knowing Him above, but I want to look at the practicality of this. How is this lived out in our lives? Let’s look again at Hebrews 8:10:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Again, He’s using the word “laws” here to contrast “the law” as written in the Old Testament. According to the Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, in this passage the word “laws” is referring to “the things prescribed by the divine will.” Instead of the Old Testament law written on tablets of stone or scrolls, God is making His laws/divine will known to us by putting it in our minds and writing it on our hearts.
He accomplishes this by giving us His Holy Spirit to live within us. When we enter into a new covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit. (John 3:5-6) Under the old covenant, the focus was on keeping the law. Under the new covenant, there’s a transition to walking in His Spirit. This is at the core of our Christian faith. Paul, when explaining the gospel (new covenant) to the Romans, spends a lot of time on this contrast between the law and the Spirit. In Romans 7:6, he says:
But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
It is through this life in the Spirit that we know God and His divine will. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t just bring revelation, as we see in the scripture above, we are to serve God in the Spirit. It is through the Spirit of God that we have a life giving relationship with Him. Jesus goes to great lengths to explain this to His disciples prior to His crucifixion. He knows they need to understand the change from a relationship with Him in the natural realm to a relationship with Him through the Spirit. By looking at His explanation to His disciples, we glean understanding into our own relationship with Him.
The Transition
Picture the scene. It’s Jesus’ last night with His disciples before His crucifixion. They’ve been with Him for three and a half years. They’ve ate and drank with Him. They’ve watched as He challenged the religious norms of the day, ignored social barriers, cast out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. They’ve come to believe that He’s the Christ. The One they’ve been waiting for – for generations. He’s told them repeatedly that He is going to die and be raised up on the third day. He’s shared the passover meal with them – a symbol of the old covenant. He’s told them, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood…” a symbol that His death and resurrection would usher in the new covenant.
Then Jesus tells them He is going away, and where He’s going they cannot come. Yet, they aren’t hearing it. Peter has sharpened his sword and swore to die with Him if necessary. They’re ready to do whatever it takes to see what they think is going to happen come to pass. They don’t understand that He hasn’t come to usher in an earthly kingdom, but a supernatural spiritual kingdom.
The things Jesus says this night are of utmost importance. His disciples need to understand the spiritual nature of the new covenant. He knows that he needs to communicate these truths in a way that they will hear it, but even through they don’t want to believe it, the fact that He’s leaving them is beginning to sink in, and they are troubled. (John 14:1, 16:12) He begins to tell them about the Spirit of God by linking it to the fact that He’s not leaving them alone.
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)
Jesus is letting them know that they won’t be alone, but also that His Holy Spirit will dwell in them and abide with them forever. He continues to explain the benefits of having the Spirit of God living on the inside of them. He says of the Holy Spirit:
…He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14: 26)
…He will testify of Me. (John 15:26)
…He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-14)
Jesus is describing the practicality of the promise of the new covenant in which He will write His divine will in our minds and on our hearts. Not only will the Holy Spirit be with us, but He will teach us, guide us, testify to us about Jesus and the Father. We know by other scriptures that He will give us the words to speak when we are to testify about Him. (Mark 13:11)
The Mystery
Dispersed throughout Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit, He’s giving them a picture of what Paul calls “the mystery.” Look what he says in Colossians.
…God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)
The mystery is Christ in you, and we see Jesus pointing to the fact that He will be in His disciples both in His teaching and His prayer. He’s telling them that the Father will send the Holy Spirit and then says, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18) He then tells them that they must abide in Him to bear fruit, and in Him they will have peace. (John 15:4, 16:33) When He prays for His disciples and all those who will believe because of their words, (that’s us) He says,
“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21)
This is a picture of the mystery. I don’t think we’re able to fully comprehend it, other than to say that it’s supernatural. The triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – are One, and choose to come dwell in us at the time that we believe. (Eph 2:22) Paul gives a more detailed explanation in Ephesians.
“having made known to us the mystery of His will… that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times [when Jesus came] He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him… In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:9-10+13 brackets added for understanding)
We’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He is part of the promise of the new covenant by which God makes His divine will known to us and by which Christ lives in us, making us one with Him and the Father. Jesus makes the new covenant possible by His sinless sacrifice on our behalf. The Holy Spirit is the promise by which we live out God’s intention when He promised the new covenant.
Empowering
We sometimes see a tendency to minimize the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn’t. He emphasized the importance of the Holy Spirit not only prior to His crucifixion, but again prior to His resurrection, He emphasizes the importance of the Holy Spirit to empower them. He instructs them not to even try to be His witnesses without the baptism of the Holy Spirit: **
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now… you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:4,5,8)
Jesus wanted them to understand that the Holy Spirit was imperative to empower, enlighten, and enable them to do what God had called them to do. The Holy Spirit is just as imperative in our lives today. The New Testament is full of scripture references regarding everything that is done in our lives “by the Spirit” or “through the Spirit.” However, I want to look at Paul’s description of the role of the Spirit in the context of explaining the gospel (new covenant) to the Romans.
The law of the spirit of life
First, it’s important to understand that Paul uses eight chapters to explain the gospel to the Romans. He’s never met them and wants to give a thorough explanation. He first talked about the doctrine of salvation. He then begins to explain the practicality of living out the gospel. The pinnacle of which is found in Romans chapter eight, where he explains the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Let’s take a look.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)
At first glance, this may look like nothing more than a contrast between the flesh and the Spirit. But when we look at the context both in the previous chapter and in these verses, we see that the contrast is between three different laws. The first law is the “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” This is for us today. We’ll talk more about it in a moment. The second is the “law of sin and death.” This is the law that says that because of the weakness of my flesh, I have a propensity to sin. The third is the law of the Old Testament (as something that is lived out in the flesh). Paul links the law of sin and death and the Old Testament law by saying, “what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh…” This is summarizing the point that Paul is making in the previous chapter – that the law isn’t bad, but we could not keep the law because of the weakness of our flesh. This is the same reason God gives for giving the new covenant:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. (Heb 8:8-9)
Under the old covenant, the children of Israel tried to fulfill the requirement of the law in the strength of their flesh, but they weren’t able.
Under the new covenant, we come under the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” This means that because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are given the Spirit of life. We live under a new law. It’s a law that says that because we are Christ’s, we have the life giving Spirit of God living on the inside of us. We don’t look to our own strength or our own ways. We look to the Holy Spirit to bring about life in every circumstance and every situation. This is why Paul said to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)
This life in Christ is to be lived out through the Spirit, which is the source of the abundant life that Christ came to give us. (John 6:63, 10:10) We see this in the things that Paul goes on to say about the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
…the Spirit is life… (Rom 8:10)
…He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Rom 8:11)
…by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body…(Rom 8:13)
…led by the Spirit of God… (Rom 8:14)
…Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15)
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (Rom 8:16)
…we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit… (Rom 8:23)
…the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses… the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us… (Rom 8:26)
Do you need guidance and strength? Look to Him, the Holy Spirit will lead and strengthen you. Are you struggling with your flesh or experiencing barrenness? He will help you to cry out, put to death the deeds of the flesh, and make you fruitful. Are you feeling alone and want someone to pray for you? He will remind you that you are His and He is yours, and intercede for you. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus says that you have all these things through the Spirit that is living on the inside of you. Ask the Father in the name of His Son, and the Spirit of God will bring the abundant life that Christ died to give us.
Christianity is not meant to be lived in our own strength. It’s all about a relationship with a loving God that has provided everything we need. He’s given us His life giving Spirit through which we know Him, connect with Him, and are empowered to live a life that glorifies Him in the earth. It’s boils down to an understanding that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
*There are many covenants prior to the new covenant in the Bible, but when I refer to “old covenant” in this blog, I am referring to the covenant made with the children of Israel when they left Egypt which is also referred to as “the law.”
**For a more detailed understanding of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, check out The God I Never Knew by Robert Morris.