It’s very important to our confidence and well-being to know the identity that God has given us. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us,“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstbornamong many brothers and sisters.” Even before He established the foundations of the world, God knew us and claimed us to be His very own. He knew that we would be His children and that we’d be the brothers and sisters of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t make mistakes. He’s a God of order, and in Genesis 1:25, He tells us that He made all the animals and living creatures after their own kind. This is true with us as well. Genesis 1:26 affirms that human beings were made in the image of God. He made us after His own kind, and He’s given us a destiny in Christ that equals the wonder of His brilliance and love.
God created Adam, the first man, and Genesis 2:7 tell us that God breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, and he became alive. This is a very important detail to note. Adam’s body was formed from the dust of the ground. The dust on the ground in our modern world is full of impurities and in some cases, toxins. We must keep in mind that this was not the case when God created Adam. Back then, the dust was pure and full of God’s glory. From the dust, God created Adam’s body to perfection. In other words, Adam was a perfect man who had no flaws, but without God breathing spirit into Adam, he was just a perfect shell without life.
John 4:24(NLT) tells us, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” God is a Spirit, and He created us as His spiritual children. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, not the other way around. Adam was God’s masterpiece, as are we. Adam was exquisitely special and perfectly suited to have a relationship with God. This relationship included perfect fellowship, communion, and harmony. This was possible because God gave Adam spirit, and before Adam sinned, this meant that God could have the kind of relationship with humanity that He wanted.
Adam, the first man, had mutuality with God because of the spiritual life that God breathed into him. God’s design and original intention was to make the connection between Him and Adam pure, perfect, holy and blessed. Adam’s spirit was home for God’s Holy Spirit, and because of this, Adam could connect to God and commune with Him through God’s Spirit. This fellowship of the Holy Spirit was the defining characteristic of Adam’s specialness. When he lost the fellowship of the Holy Spirit because of his sin against God, Adam lost what made him special. He lost the Holy Spirit, and he gained the knowledge of evil. This was a catastrophic transaction on his part.
The Holy Spirit is the Difference Maker in our individual lives, just as it was for Adam, and more importantly, just as it was for Jesus Christ when he walked upon this earth. Jesus Christ had to fulfill the law. He could not skip any steps or slip through without fulfilling all aspects of human existence. Matthew 3 tells us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ began after he was baptized by John the Baptist. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, led into the wilderness to be tempted by satan, and after his victory over temptation, he began his ministry to teach and preach repentance and to proclaim the power of God’s Kingdom. Jesus told us in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father unless they come through him.
In John 3:6(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.” And Romans 8:2 tells us that because we’ve given our lives to Christ, we belong to him, and the power of the Holy Spirit has freed us from the power of sin. To walk with the victory of Christ in our lives, we must allow the Spirit to control our minds by thinking about the goodness of God and the promises He has made to us in His Word. Jesus Christ said in John 6:23(NLT), “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing.” We can’t navigate this rocky terrain of life on earth without the Spirit’s leadership and guidance. We must do everything possible to partner with the Holy Spirit, and this includes thinking, speaking, and behaving according to the example of Christ. Humility is required to enter God’s Kingdom, and we must humble ourselves under God’s Holy Spirit in all that we attempt to do. Jesus Christ restored the connection that Adam lost. He gave his life on the cross so that we could be rescued from sin and death. Because of the accomplishment of Christ, we can live by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, have an abundant life, and successfully continue the ministry of God’s love that Jesus Christ began. 2Corinthians 3:6(NLT) declares, “He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.” We can make a profound difference in the lives of others because of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us! So, let’s always be incredibly thankful that God has equipped and empowered us through the Difference Maker, the person of the Holy Spirit. He will lead, guide, and help us according to God’s Will for our lives. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Difference Maker”, written by Vince Mack. Blessing Beads and More© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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