May 23, 2021
To join our online worship this morning please visit: stmarkknox.org/sermons
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
– Romans 8:2
A most blessed Pentecost Sunday, my friends! Today, we celebrate when God poured out his Holy Spirit on humanity, when starting with the disciples in the upper room the true life that is everlasting began to reside within those who believed in the resurrection, and now knew the indwelling of the presence of God.
The Holy Spirit has been a part of God’s story throughout the Scriptures and at various times we can read how the Holy Spirit was upon a saint of God, or led someone to do God’s will. Yet, as Jesus has promised before ascending into heaven, the counselor, the Holy Spirit, the very gift of God, which is the Holy presence of God, is now made a part of us and as Paul, would later write, has set us free.
The freedom the Holy Spirit gives is freedom from the power of sin; emancipation from a life of the flesh, and liberty to live in the newness of the resurrected life in Christ. Because we have believed in the death and resurrection power of Christ Jesus our Lord, we have been set free because now we are In Christ. We have been identified as the recipients of grace, and now can live a new life that is Christ’s resurrected life.
The choice is to retain control and allow our own desires and will to lead us, or relinquish control to the power of the Holy Spirit, and allow God to lead us by its indwelling. If we choose the Holy Spirit, the ‘Spirit of life’ regenerates our human spirit; places us in the body of Christ; gives us the life of Christ and then works in the new-life within. As we walk in the spirit, and understand the truth we find our freedom is in that we are no longer condemned by God, nor do we worry about the condemnation of humanity. We are free to be who we are IN Christ.
We are free to live a life of abundance that is eternal and starts right now. We live a life fully aware of the divine presence that is with us now and always, and is continually leading us home, and leading us to share this wonderful gift with others along our journey.
May the freedom we have in Christ, and in the Holy Spirit lead us deeper in our relationship with God through Christ and the Holy Spirit, and broader in our reach to share this wonderful news with others.
Grace & Peace,
Sam