The Life of God
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised in water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4,5
When John the Baptist began his ministry, some wondered if he was the expected Messiah. John was careful to distinguish his ministry from the coming Messiah’s. ‘”I baptise you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire’ (Luke 3:16).
John’s ministry was one of preparation. He claimed Isaiah 40:3 as his own ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ John the Baptist recognised the pitiable state of the nation. There was religious formalism but not the life of God. John called for radical repentance. Those who came to him and were baptised were aligning themselves with those who wanted prepared hearts for the coming Messiah.
But whereas John the Baptist could plunge them into water, the Coming One would plunge them into the Holy Spirit. John saw the life the Coming One offered would be characterised by a very real, ongoing interaction with the Spirit.
Just as God had been in Israel’s midst in the wilderness in a tangible cloud, so He would be in the midst of Messiah’s followers. This would not be a theoretical relationship.
Does your life show evidence of having been plunged into the Holy Spirit by Jesus Himself? This was the life John the Baptist foresaw and the life now available to the Christian.
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