THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

CHAPTER SEVEN
THE NECESSARY ROLE OF THE HOLY GHOST
 “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Hint, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. “(Acts 1:64) NKJV

These were the Lord's final words to His disciples. The only best He could place into their hands was the assurance of the fulfillment of an everlasting or enduring promise of the Holy Spirit who would be the guide to all genuine Christian living. He had mentioned this to them in John “Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Although they were still being held bound and ruled by the earthly orientations; being obsessed by the material or worldly possessions and man-made approach about life, they curiously asked; “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” However, understanding their limitations of divine arrangements and provisions, (just like many of us are facing the same challenge today).

Jesus drew their attention to the greatest earthly and eternal necessity of life; “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me...”As for God, to His people, His greatest provision for us is to be blessed, ruled or controlled by the Holy Spirit. In fact He considers this as the topmost priority that can never be compromised or replaced by any of the best of earthly blessing or achievement.

 But the greatest mistake humanity had faced throughout decades had been to listen to contrary and misleading voices. It was the same problem that made the first created humans to fall into the terrible sin of rebellion against God (Gen 3); which all of us had suffered its spill over (Rom 5:15.17).

But still, because of Jesus Christ, there is great hope; by the wonderful intervention of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can all return to Him in faith and overcome the tricks of Satan over and against God’s purposes for our lives.