19:40 Outro music and voice over.
For more information and free resources visit our website jesuslovestheworld.info Be blessed empowered and transformed in Jesus’ name!
As we celebrate who God is and all He has done through the 300 Jesus loves the world podcast messages, we will revisit the most popular episode of each of the five years. The most popular episodes of the fourth year is The Spirit of the LORD.
Hundreds of years before the Messiah, that is the anointed one, the king of God’s kingdom and saviour of the world walked the earth as a man, there were prophesies about Him. One of the prophecies declared how the Messiah would be recognised and described some of the characteristics He would have. They are the same characteristics of God. Let us read a small part of one of these prophecies. Remember this is hundreds of years before the Messiah walked the earth as a man.
Isaiah 11:1-2 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
These verses reveal God and the Messiah. The Spirit of the LORD and the character of God cannot be separated as they are one.
First aspect God listed is the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon the Messiah.
The Spirit of the LORD, that is the Spirit of the self existent, eternal one. It is God Himself, the Holy Spirit who will rest upon the Messiah.
Rest in this context means to settle down, to dwell or make ones home. The Spirit of the self existent, eternal one will make His home in the human tent of the Messiah.
The Messiah is full of wisdom. This wisdom is the inner quality that embodies the heart and life in harmony with the purposes and character of God. Wisdom is an attribute of God and often associated with His act of creating heaven and earth and all things good.
The Messiah will have the understanding of God which is way beyond the general revelation of humanity. It will be a deep and intimate knowledge of God, that is from the beginning, for He will be the very essence of God Himself.
He will provide counsel, that is counsel as a counsellor, once again a character of God and His Spirit.
The Messiah will come in the might of God. That is His strength, power and victory. His knowledge will be that of an eternal perspective and perception. His discernment will reveal the heart. Only God can know the heart.
The Spirit of fear of the LORD is the reverence, awe and wonder. A heart to heart connection with the self existing, eternal one.
This prophecy is such a beautiful revelation of God and the Messiah. Earlier in Isaiah the Messiah was given five names that emphasise His attributes and the attributes of God. They are full of awe and wonder, wisdom, power, love and peace.
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
the Messiah’s name will reveal His identity, His character and everything associated with Him.
The text states His name will be called Wonderful. This refers to the awe and wonder of God. That is His wonders and awesomeness.
His name will be called counselor, which reveals His wisdom and work of the Spirit of God. The messiah will be called Mighty God.
The first time this word that has been translated as God was used in the Bible was in reference to the king and priest of God Most High. A king of peace and rightness. The Messiah is the king of all kings and High priest for all humanity.
His identity, His name will be called Everlasting Father. That is without end, an eternity relationship and being. The Messiah is the very essence of God the Father.
He is the Prince of Peace. He provides complete shalom. He makes us safe and brings complete wholeness - emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.
The prophecy states, For unto us a Child is born. So the Messiah will come as a baby, born of a woman and experience the full human condition. The Spirit of the LORD shall dwell in His human tent and all the fullness of God shall live in Him.
He will come from the tribe of David. His kingdom shall be eternal. He will establish His kingdom with judgement and justice. The Messiah will bring forth perfect divine justice, a perfect justice of equality. He will be a light unto the world, the saviour and servant king. The kingdom of God shall be established on earth in Him. God’s kingdom of peace and harmony, healing and wholeness, equality and respect will be established through Him.
In a moment in human history, the Messiah did come.
Matthew 1:1-6 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
…and the genealogy continues on.
So at a God appointed time, in a moment in human history, God stepped down into our darkness and became one of us. He came from the tribe of David, the stem of Jesse.
The Jews who had given their allegiance to God believed in God and the coming Messiah. They prepared their hearts and minds to receive Him by being baptized in water by John the Baptist. As prophesied by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier, John the Baptist who would be the first witness to the one who is the Messiah.
So let us go down to the river Jordan, back to that moment in time when John the Baptist was baptising and he would see the Spirit of the LORD resting upon the Messiah.
Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus the beloved Son of God, the very essence of God, became a servant to humanity. He identifies Himself with His own creation, so humanity can identify with Him.
This is that moment in human history when the Spirit of God came upon Jesus and identified with Him.
The complete relationship of the Godhead, Father, Son and Spirit are evident in this moment. God Himself had became the Messiah as the Son of God became one of us. The Spirit of God rests on the Son. God the Father testifies of His beloved Son, that Jesus is the anointed one. The anointed one to bring peace and harmony, healing and wholeness, equality and respect. Jesus is not only the king of God’s kingdom but is the full embodiment of it.
In His coming to earth the prophecies have been fulfilled.
Luke 4:16-21 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
In that moment of human history, unto us a child was given. God gave all of Himself in Jesus the Son. As He walked the earth as a man the Spirit of God rested upon Him. In the same wisdom that brought forth His own creation, Jesus surrendered His human will to that of the God the Father’s will. His life on earth conformed to the purposes of God.
He discerned the deceptions of the heart and turned evil into good, disarming the destructive forces of evil, death and self.
Jesus not only understood the Father’s heart but came from it and revealed God’s great love to us all. He talked about God the Father with such intimacy, awe and reverence even tho He was God the Son.
In the ultimate power and authority of Almighty God, demons bowed, sickness fled and death was defeated. In the heart’s and minds of all who receive Him He established His eternal kingdom. Setting the captives free, raising each one equal, taking away all guilt and shame. Giving His victory, His justice, His rightness, His authority, His Spirit to all who receive Him.
Salvation and healing, life and death, justice and truth belong to God. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that in Jesus has come on earth.
Jesus the Messiah has come. He lived in human form, died in human form, was raised from the dead in a glorified human form and ascended back into heaven. Now at the right hand of our Father.
Jesus is the open door into heaven for us spiritually now and physically for all eternity.
Revelation 4:1-5 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
With this glimpse into heaven we again see the fullness of the godhead. Heaven is open. Heaven was opened when Jesus walked the earth as a man and the Spirit of God rested upon Him. Now we see an open heaven with Jesus the open door. He is the way to the Father, the one who sits on the throne. The seven Spirits of God, once again revealing the character of God.
Father, Son and Spirit, holy, holy, holy. He is God who gave all of Himself to us.
Revelation 5:11-14 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Amen and amen!
19:40 Outro music and voice over.
For more information and free resources visit our website jesuslovestheworld.info Be blessed empowered and transformed in Jesus’ name!