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The Other 3:16s’…
Now ask even a Sunday schooler,
what is the foundational verse in the Bible, which sums up best the Salvation
plan of God and pat would come the reply…
JOHN 3:16. No doubt on this score at
all! In fact, is not the entire expansion of abbreviation of the word GOSPEL
found in John 3:16? "For God so loved the world that he gave his One
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not Perish but
have
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Eternal Life.” However, a cursory glance at other books of
N.T. would reveal that by strange coincidence (perceptive souls can discern
God’s will) all 3:16s’ in N.T. pack a punch! For instance, if
John 3:16, focuses on the vertical relationship between God and Man, then
I John 3:16 zeros in on the horizontal relationship
between men by issuing a clarion call to lay down, if necessary, their very lives
for their fellow brethren…in the process completely the ethereal cross, as it
were, with its vertical and horizontal beams perfectly in place.
In this series, I aim to look
closely at all 3:16s’ in NT and hope to complete the study in not more than ten
installments.
Firstly, let us start with Matthew
3:16 (now this would be one essay in itself) which, brings to fore one
of the emblems (Dove) of the Holy Spirit facilitating the process of a honest
reality check in all of us besides setting in black and white the Baptism
procedure, to be followed.
"After his baptism, as Jesus came
up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and settling on him."
To initiate the study, now
what are those characteristics’ of the Holy Spirit that we see so conspicuously
in a Dove? Even as we bring under spotlight, the Holy similarities that exist, we
would be well served to ask ourselves at this point… “Are these traits found in
me”, for in a Christian in whom the spirit of Christ resides
(Romans 8:9),
these qualities ought to be as naturally found like water in a surging river.
- Clean and Holy:
Ask a Dove (the only bird
of the avian world permitted for sacrifice under the OT dispensation-
Leviticus 1:14-17/12:8) to alight on anything unclean like a carcass and it would plainly
refuse! Remember the account of a dove sent by Noah to check on the receding
waters of the Flood, which came back to him, without landing on the defiled
carrion? Contrast this attitude with that of the raven sent at that time. As it
did not have natural revulsion for anything unclean, it did not come back
(Genesis 8:7-9), instead without any doubt it would have feasted on the
floating carcasses’.
If we have been cleansed by the atoning blood of Christ and if the Holy
Ghost is a Holy and a permanent guest in our lives, then naturally
as one wise soul put it “we would become allergic to what we were
addicted to (sin) and we would become addicted to (holiness) what we
were allergic to”.
Doves, say
the avian scientists are also strictly monogamous birds. Once a Dove chooses
its mate…till death do us part…sacred vow comes into effect immediately.
The one man, one wife principle set in motion in the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 2:21-24) encapsulating sexual purity, subsequent to the Fall operated sadly
only in fits and starts in OT era (Issac and Rebaccah were an honorable
exception). Quite fittingly, we see the Holy Spirit also working only in fits and
starts in the OT era, equipping people for a special assignment here… a
distinctive work there and nothing more! Simply put, the Holy Ghost was never permanent guest in
the OT dispensation. It is only in the NT
dispensation what with the arrival of Holy Spirit imminent on the Pentecostal
day, did Jesus command His disciples’ to restore the pristine purity in the
conjugal relationship (Matt 19:8-11/
Mark 10:6-12/
Luke 16:18). In the Early Church
age, the apostles followed suit adhering to the Master’s command, whilst
teaching on the subject of marital fidelity
(I Cor 7:10-11/
I Tim 3:20). How
true then “in the heart of holy marriage lies the holiness of the heart, made holy
by the Holy spirit”!
While on the subject, not only Holy marriage, let it be said at this juncture that
nothing of what Jesus’ preached in that famous
Sermon on the Mount can ever be practiced without the empowerment of the
indwelling Holy Spirit (John 15:5/
James 4:5-6 NLV). As one Biblical scholar put
it “Christianity can never become our responsibility, till we
acknowledge that it is primarily our faith-filled response to His ability”.
-
Gentle:
Now the anatomical study of Doves
would reveal that it has no gall. The gall, say acclaimed naturalists is the
source behind a contentious and a bitter spirit. As day follows night, it
follows that in the absence of gall, this Bird is uniquely gentle. Ever seen
doves fighting over food, like crows do? NEVER!
Is not the fruit of the Spirit among other things “gentleness”
(Gal 5:23)? If Holy Spirit were indwelling us then it follows that we would
be “gentle”men to the core. Period. Our evangelistic efforts (now some
Christians sadly become too aggressive here) would be marked not by
any “tu-tu main main” behavior but by a gentle spirit
(I Peter 3:15).
-
Fellowshipping:
Where gentleness pervades, can happy fellowship be
far away? Early Church swayed by the Holy Spirit was known for the
frequency of its prayer meetings fostering happy fellowship
(Acts 2:42)
in the process. While avian researchers affirm that Doves are
highly social birds, the Scriptures also point to the fact that doves live
as a happy community together (Isaiah 60:8). Even in one of our
Church benedictions’…do not we see the words fellowship and Holy
Spirit going together (II Cor 13:13)? While cottage prayer meetings in
Lenten season are good, there is nothing prohibiting any Church to
have cottage prayer meetings throughout the year. Nothing quite like
frequent fellowshipping to grow in the Lord, like the Ist century
Church!
-
Speedy:
Oh how the Psalmist wishes to have the wings of a Dove to
fly away speedily from all the dangers (Psalm 55:6,7) surrounding
him! Ask any panting and puffing predator bird, which has tried
chasing a dove, and it would vouch for the latter’s speed…gasping, if I
may add. Once again, let me bring the findings of the avian scientists,
into the picture. They affirm, that doves can touch a fantastic speed of
55 miles per hour in full flight! The early Christians, “on the move”
always under the direction of the ever agile Holy Spirit would also
vouch for the speed, He led them from place to place. Ask a certain
Phillip …(Acts 8:39,40). Say Christian, are you lethargic?
Now coming to a different
subject, intertwined with that of the dove in Matt 3:16. Should not the fact of
Jesus’ immersion baptism lay to rest all the doubts surrounding the Baptism
procedure? Without intending to stir the hornet’s nest, I want to affirm once
again that our Lord’s example of taking immersion baptism should be the guiding
principle on all debates, on which kind of Baptism is acceptable to God. Even
here, care should be taken to check to the best extent possible as to whether a
person has genuinely accepted Christ, before one enters the Baptismal waters,
lest it (baptism) be reduced to a process of merely transforming “a dry sinner”
into “a wet hypocrite”.
(Suresh Manoharan)
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