Genesis 1. 1-5 The Spirit in the Old Testament

George Washington's early life is characterised by the story of the Cherry Tree: he damaged the bark with a hatchet so badly that the tree died.  It illustrates honesty and courage as a child that continues to be part of Washington's character as he grew to be a man of integrity and piety. A story from someone's early life serves to demonstrate something about their character. So I want us to learn about the work of the Holy Spirit, and we begin at the beginning - in Genesis 1.  The very first time the Holy Spirit appears in the big story of God, his world and his people.

Genesis 1. 2:
 "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

Isn't that amazing. Right at the very beginning of everything, before the beginning of time itself, God's word tells us the Holy Spirit was there.  And right from the start there are things we can learn about who he is and what he does....

Who he is... The identity of the Spirit.
The Hebrew word Spirit is "Ruach". It is the same word that can mean breath or wind. Both breath and wind are "air in motion".  The word "ruach" describes energy, power: it may be gentle as your breath, or strong as a hurricane, but it is never standing still. The idea of the Holy Spirit NOT doing anything is foreign to the Bible. He is active; he is powerful.

He is called the Spirit of God.  This is the Old Testament's most common way of talking about the Holy Spirit.  Remember that the OT had no concept of the "Trinity" as we have: no idea of God as "Three-in-one".  All they understood was the "One"... and sometimes, when they were describing a situation where God was at work, they spoke about "The Spirit of God."   That is really important too: the Holy Spirit is not just power that comes from God; he is not just from God: he is God. All that God is, the Holy Spirit is.  That doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit is just another way of taking about God. He is God. People talk about the Trinity, and sometimes illustrate the Trinity by talking about ice, water and steam as all being the same stuff: water, H2O. That illustration doesn't really help that much: water can become ice; ice can melt into water. But the Father doesn't become the Spirit; the Son doesn't become the Father: they are all God - one God not three - but each is a distinct person. So in Genesis 1. 3 we find that God says "let us..." There is a conversation taking place within the Trinity, the three-in-oneness of God. and the Spirit is part of that conversation because he is perfectly God

And conversation points towards the third thing to note about the Spirit. He's not just something that comes from God. And he's not a force or energy. He has power but he is a person.  He is part of that conversation.  He has character; he has personality. He feels; he speaks. He is a person.  Jesus says, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24)  That is true, but the Old Testament wants us to understand that God is personal.  And the Holy Spirit, breathed out by the father, the Holy Spirit, God in motion, is personal as well as powerful.

What he does... The Activity of the Spirit.
Genesis 1. 2 tells us the Spirit of God was "Hovering over the face of the deep."  The word hovered can mean brooded, or relaxed, or moved...

That means literally, continued brooding over it, as a bird does, when hatching eggs. How did the chaotic shapeless empty universe become one full of order and life?  The Holy Spirit.  Brown Driver and Briggs say he "ripened" the shapeless universe until it was ready for creation to start.  That is one of the things the Holy Spirit does. He hovers like a nesting bird.  He relaxes, stretches out and rests over what he creates. The earliest mention of Holy Spirit gifts were in the realm of understanding dreams (Genesis 41. 38) and of making things (Exodus 28. 3; 31. 2)

The Holy Spirit, then, is supernaturally creative.
* In the world, he is hovering, resting over what is good and positively creative, in science, in the arts.
* In your life, he is creative. He is hovering. He wants to make something good, orderly, beautiful, from your life.  He has some brilliant ideas for you that you can't begin to imagine.  He wants to release your creativity. There are abilities he placed in you that he wants to ripen so they can hatch out! He has gifts for you.
* In the Church, he is creative.  He is hovering, looking to see the Church and its witness take shape in creative, adventurous ways.  He wants to relax over the life of the Church and see the church becoming a purposeful, beautiful, living fruitful universe.

I wonder, what the power of the Spirit wants to create in you, in me, in us?

One last thing about what the Spirit does.  After the hovering brooding of the Spirit in verse 2, Genesis tells us in verse 3 that "God said..."   The creativity of the Spirit, works along with the creative influence of the word of God. God says... and things happen. "Let there be light."  We can barely begin to imagine a universe without light. Imagine being in a place that is completely dark. A moonless night in the middle of a forest, miles away from any town.  And when God says, this astounding force that is both energy and matter, that will eventually enable life to exist on the planet, just begins to exist. How mind-blowing is that?   And the idea of that energy had been there in the mind of God for all eternity. It took only an utterance: two Hebrew words "Yehi or" or "Be light!"  And that idea becomes a physical reality. It's the power of the word of God.

And the Spirit works with the word. He doesn't just "brood" on his own. He works along with the Word.  He always works with the word.  The creative things that the Sprit does, are regulated by the word. They are executed by the word.  And the Spirit inspires, breathes and empowers and uses the word of God in Scripture in preaching and in personal ministry.

So the spirit of God is "God in motion."  He is powerful, personal, and perfectly God. We welcome him with awe and reverence and love and faith. And the creativity of the spirit is associated with the Word of God.  We expect him to do new things, to hatch vibrant God-revealing new creation in our lives - and to do it hand in glove with the Word of God.

© Gilmour Lilly July 2011

Ephesians 6. 10-24: "Spiritual Warfare"

Finally... we come back to the story of how the Church started at Ephesus. Paul was teaching the wee group of Christians and loads of people became Christians.  There were healings and people set free from evil stuff in their lives. I won't go into the details, but something happened that made everyone know that Jesus was bigger and stronger than any other spiritual force. More people became Christians and brought all the rubbish to do with their old lives, books about magic, horoscopes, tarot cards, and burned them. Then the guys who made and sold little statues of the local goddess Diana , realised they could end up going out of business and started a riot

... From the very start at Ephesus the church had been in the middle of a battle, and, as Paul writes, the battle continues: he is "in chains" (v20) for his faith in Jesus. The Battle continues for us, too.  We are called upon to take our stand, and to wrestle (hand to hand) and to resist

The problem... Some of us would rather bury our heads in the sand and ignore what god's word says about a spiritual battle. "Isn't it more important to just follow Jesus than to bother about the devil?"  Some people aren't too sure whether they believe what the bible says about spiritual warfare. Some people would rather pretend there is no such thing as spiritual warfare.  When I was a kid we an encyclopedia, which had an article on "snakes", which had one or two black-and-white photos: I was almost afraid to touch these in case I got bitten.  Some of us might feel a bit like that about spiritual warfare. If we open the book the snake might jump out of the page and bite us!  OR we are tempted to think, as my Grandpa would say, "let sleeping dogs lie!"

Montgomery

But are not to sit around being afraid that we might get eaten up by the enemy. Paul says "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" or in the CEV "let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong."  I'm told that when Field Marshall Montgomery was appointed to lead the 8th army in North Africa, he said, "After having an easy war, things have now got much more difficult." Someone said, "Cheer up" and Montgomery said, "I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about Rommel!"  I like that.  When Jesus walked the road to the Cross, he could have said "After an easy war, things are going to get much more difficult - not for me, for the devil."  We need to be confident in our General. Jesus is bigger than the enemy, and he is able to lead us into victory.

So how are we to stand, resist, and wrestle? How are we actually to conduct this warfare in such a way that, at the end of it, we a re still standing?

Firstly, know your enemy.
Another story about Montgomery. When he was conducting the North Africa Campaign in 1942-3, he had a photograph of the German General Rommel in his HQ.  We need to know one or two things about our enemy.
1. To be aware we are in a battle, - not just with human nature or with the Roman Empire or Jewish religion, it's not just Blood and flesh, but with what Paul calls "Spiritual hosts
2. They are "Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places".   Right through Ephesians Paul is aware of what he calls principalities and powers (Eph 1. 21, 2. 2, 3. 10)
3. Take your stand against the Devil's schemes.  Schemes are methodias. What does that sound like? Methods.  A method is literally a road together, a round about rout, a work-around.  What are his methods?  The main battlefield is the mind; he uses our thinking in a number of ways.
Beliefs... doubting or distorting God's word; thinking we know better than God's word; doubting whether God could really love me.
Attitudes: wanting what isn't mine; resentment and not forgiving; hating other people;; or living in fear.
Doing:  our actions can affect our minds. If we mess with drugs including alcohol, we mess up our minds. If we mess about with occult stuff - including Horoscopes, Tarot, Ouija boards, séances, we open up our minds to the enemy. Sometimes weird things happen to people, randomly: feeling there is someone in the room for example.  Now some of these things sometimes involve tricks or co-incidences.  But sometimes they don't.  And even if they do involve tricks, they are still Satan's methods to get you playing around with things that will pull you in.  Leave well alone!

Secondly, be equipped.
This is mentioned twice: verses 11 & 13.  And it is God's armour. It is the same stuff that God shows when he goes to war against the enemy...The armour is described:
1. The belt of truth, v. 14   A well-fastened belt was essential if a Roman Soldier was going to be able to move quickly and freely.  It is truth, integrity, honesty that makes us able to do that.   God's word is truth.  We have on the belt of truth when we are reliable, faithful people who don't just talk about the Bible as truth but who live truth-filled lives.
2. The breastplate of righteousness, v. 14 . The Roman soldier had a metal waistcoat that protected his heart, lungs, and other vital organs. Righteousness means doing what is right.  It encompasses our concern for purity and poverty. Purity means the stuff you watch on TV or films, and whether you care what other people watch. Did you know that 20% of all eight-year olds in Britain have seen nudity online? It means the jokes you tell. It means the language you use. Poverty means that we care about the fact that ten million people are starving in Africa.  There are just over 5 million people living in Scotland.  Righteousness wants to respond to that because it's not right that so many should starve in our world.
3. Readiness given by the gospel of peace, as shoes for your feet.  v. 15  Grab the gospel: the good news of Jesus is bad news for Satan, for sin, for death.  We need to grasp the Kingdom of God, and go where the gospel wants to go, and know the changes that the Good News of Jesus produces in our lives. As we do that, we are getting ready for the spiritual battle. The Good news, the Gospel, is about the Kingdom. The Gospel is about the fact that the world was in the grip of evil, it was all full of suffering, and god did something to rescue the world, to heal the suffering and forgive the wrong.
4. The shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; v. 16.  This is the last in a list of things to do.  "Faith" is like the big shield that roman soldiers used. It was covered with leather which would be soaked before going into battle; then if the enemy fired burning arrows, the tips doused with tar and set alight, these would be put out when they hit the damp shield.  When all of a sudden the enemy throws things at us, whether they are doubts or temptations or suffering, it is our faith that keeps these things from harming us.
So there are four things to hold on to: honesty, right living, Good news and faith. And there are two things to receive as gifts from God
5. The helmet of salvation. God has already rescued you from being an enemy prisoner.  If you are a believer you are already seated in the heavenly places in Christ.   If you have received that salvation, you are saved and safe.
6. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, v. 17 That's the only thing we have to fight back with.  We need to take as God's gift, his word.  To learn it; study it, and to tell the Good news to others.  It's the Spirit's sword.  We don't sue it on our own. We use it in the Spirit's power; and as we do, God uses his Word to change his world.


Lastly, Pray! 
We stand wearing the armour; and take our stand by praying in the Spirit... not just our own ideas and thoughts, but knowing the Holy Spirit is leading us and helping us as we pray.  This sums up what Paul has already taught in this letter: we have access to talk to God by his Spirit (2. 18); we are built into a place for God to live, by the Spirit (2. 22); the Spirit fills us (5. 18)... so we keep alert, we pray, we persevere, we support others in service and witness, through our prayers. Paul says "pray for me."  So Pray for me as your pastor. Pray for those who work in cross-cultural mission; pray for those who have special opportunities because they are the only Christian at home or at work.

© Gilmour Lilly July 2011

Ephesians 5:21 Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ.

This is a passage of Scripture that we struggle with, for various reasons.  For some it seems oppressive, re-enforcing an intolerable and cruel regime, or calling us back to the dark ages, before the idea of human rights was developed. For others it's too easy, reinforcing our stereotypes.  For some of us it may seem irrelevant: if you're unattached, parentless and don't have a job, what does teaching about marriage, parents and masters have to say to you?

Well, let's start at the beginning.  Let's remember that Paul says "Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ."  The scope of this for believers is pretty well universal.  Husbands, wives, kids, parents, slaves, masters, pastors church members: Traveling apostles (or the BU of Scotland) and local church, teachers and prophets, worship band and congregation, team leaders and team members...  "Submit yourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ."  It's relevant to all of us.

Please note that Paul actually says "Submitting to one another." It is in fact a continuation of Paul's description of what flows from being filled with the Spirit: Speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; rejoicing; making melody in your hearts to the Lord; submitting to one another... It's part of the "Spirit-filled life", part of the overflow into a joyful, abandoned, praising life: the very next thing Paul thinks of is "Submitting to one another.  There is a theological content to this.  Submission is not only an outworking of the renewing work of the Holy Spirit in you life; it is also the outworking of other spiritual truths...


Out of reverence to Christ. Literally "in the fear of Christ".  It is because we live in a reverent fear, an attitude of the utmost respect, that we submit to one another.  In fact when Paul gets into the specifics, the "household Code" of practical instructions, each one is rooted in truths about God and our relationship with Him: thus...
1. Wives, submit to your husbands as you do to Christ...
2. Woven into the teaching about husbands and wives is teaching about Jesus and the Church. Paul says the Church is the bride Jesus loves and for whom he sacrificed himself and died.  Marriage, from the very earliest days of human life, is and has always been a picture of the love Christ has for his Church. Even before Jesus died for the Church, the union of a man and a woman has existed as the picture of the relationship between Jesus and the Church.
3. Children, obey your parents in the Lord.   The command to obey one's parents is the only one of the ten that has a promise attached.
4. Slaves, respect your masters. It's Christ you're serving.   Masters, in the way you treat your slaves, remember that you and they both serve one master, Christ.

So this is not just a matter of pragmatism, doing what works; it is not juts something that exists so certain people has to obey certain other people; it is not just a way of having a harmonious church or family life.  Submitting to one another has its roots in the work of the Spirit, and in our relationship with God who is father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The rest of the submission passage - with its teaching on husband-wife, child-parent and master-slave relationships, is the outworking of this single sentence: "Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ."  ... In every case there is a two-way traffic. It is not about maintaining the dominance of husbands, fathers and masters.  Submission is meant to be mutual.  It's about relationships.  You're not living in obedience to God's word is all you do is turn these verses into a set of rules and regulations. They are about bringing some structure into the relationships we build with one another.  All Paul says in verse 22 through to chapter 6 v 9, is an outworking of verse 21: Submitting to one another...  Whatever relationships we are in - and in some of them there may be a clear about who is responsible for what - the starting point is the same: Be subject to one another.

And submission is a radical matter. There is a weak-strong dynamic in each of the practical examples Paul gives.  Paul in fact challenges the way society thinks.

About Gender
Remember Paul lived in a society that was strongly male-dominated and sexist.  The Roman Empire tolerated the abandoning of baby girls: one Roman citizen working away from home wrote to his wife: "I am still in Alexandria. ... I beg and plead with you to take care of our little child, and as soon as we receive wages, I will send them to you. In the meantime, if (good fortune to you!) you give birth, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it." (In other words, put it outside, either to die of cold or starvation, or be raised to be a slave in someone else's household.)  And in that male dominated society, Paul not only tells the woman to work out her submission to Jesus in her relationship with her husband; he also tells the Husband to submit to his wife - in the sense that he is to love her with the same kind of love that Christ showed for the Church when he died on the Cross.  Guys, if your wife has problems submitting to you, it's either because you have problems leading, or you have problems loving. Try making a sacrifice, giving something up, and see what happens!

About generation and seniority
Children, obey your parents. Parents, do not exasperate your children. The word "children" refers to relationship rather than age, but you can narrow down the age range of the people Paul is talking to here.  They are old enough to know that they are  "in the Lord" but young enough to be still receiving education and having their minds formed by their fathers.  In the Roman world, it was a father's job to teach his children the basic life skills including reading, writing and using weapons.   The idea of children having any rights at all is a comparatively recent one.  Paul busts the generation barrier by addressing children and fathers, and giving them each responsibility for working out what it means to be a disciple. It works both ways and Paul radicalises the parent-child relationship, not by taking away the structure of submission but by giving both parent and child responsibilities.

About financial behaviour.
Slaves, obey your masters as you would obey the Lord. And masters, do not be harsh with your slaves because they are your Christian brothers.  What Paul says about the relationship between a slave and a master - and in particular the fact that they both serve the same master, really lit the blue touch paper under the institution of slavery.  Yes, - despite the natural injustice of one human being becoming the property of another - Paul doesn't say as Charles Finney did that Christians should not have slaves.  But what he said totally subverted and radicalised the way a Christian thought about slavery so it would never be the same again.

In each case the STRONG - the husbands, the fathers and the slave-owners - have a responsibility to care for the weak.

And in each case, being the WEAKER party does not take away your responsibility. Wives, children, and slaves are to submit to their husbands, parents and masters.

None of that means that we should tolerate injustice. We should speak up for justice; we should defend human rights and engage in politics.  But we do so with respect for the person on the other side of the dispute.  Whether you're a worker, a Council tenant or a benefit claimant, whether you're the boss, the official or the First Minister, you need to treat the person on the other side of the counter with dignity and respect.  That's the radicalism of Paul and Jesus; the upside-down Kingdom that is prepared to be different to the way the world is.

© Gilmour Lilly July 2011