Jesus made many shocking statements during His earthly ministry. One such discourse is found in John 16:7 when He said to His disciples, “…It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” The Son of God was letting His disciples know that it was actually better for them if He left so that He could send them the Holy Spirit. It was hard for His team to believe that there could be anything better than having Jesus Himself teaching them, directing them, and performing miracle after miracle. But as ridiculous as it seemed to them, Jesus was convinced that sending the Holy Spirit was of greater benefit, both to them and to the kingdom of God, than if He stayed with them personally.
Well, contrary to many Christians’ beliefs, this is still true today. It is to our advantage that Jesus is seated in heavenly places and that the Holy Spirit is inside of us here on earth. Why? While Jesus was on earth He was not omnipresent; He was only in one place at a time. He could only teach and disciple a certain amount of people; He could only do miracles as He perceived needs or as people brought the sick to Him. But now, through the Holy Spirit, every believer has a “24-hour-a-day private tutor” living inside of him or her. John 16:13 says, “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” This Tutor, who transcends earthly wisdom, who sees all things and knows all things, has been assigned to direct us every day. We have the opportunity to walk in divine wisdom and knowledge that never fails.
Not only is the Holy Spirit our perfect guide, but He is also the one who empowers us to do the works of Jesus. Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” Jesus Himself did no mighty works until the Holy Spirit came upon Him (Luke 3:22). And the same Spirit who empowered Jesus, empowers us today to continue the work that Jesus began. Now instead of only one Jesus bringing healing to the sick, millions of Spirit-empowered believers can lay hands on the sick and see them recover, allowing signs and wonders to exponentially multiply, occurring all over the world at the same time.
You and I have been given the greatest resource possible to fulfill our callings: the Holy Spirit. What we need most has already been given to us! So let’s remind ourselves that we’re not mere humans on our own. We’re Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered, Spirit-aware believers walking with the very same power that Jesus Himself had.
We have… The Advantage!
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By: Kimberly Dirmann, Southwest District Supervisor
