The Purpose Stage of Spiritual Growth
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon ME, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord”
God’s anointing of the Holy Spirit is His extra-something which acts as a helper in our lives as we strive to fulfill His purpose on earth
When we are anointed with the Holy Spirit, we are able to do more, be more, and endure more, than we could without Him.
The Holy Spirit adds His super-ability, to our natural-ability, so that we can operate with supernatural ability
What Is the Anointing of the H.S.
Jesus is identifying and experiencing the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s anointing in His own life
Anoint “to consecrate for a purpose, and then to furnish with the necessary power to get results in one’s purpose”
So the purpose of anointing is to help us proclaim the message of God and to fulfill our lifelong purpose on earth
Luke 4:18-21…
The gospel message Jesus proclaimed were the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-4…
They were the fulfillment of His lifelong purpose
Notice the powerful results of His anointing:
“Then he close the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” So all bore witness to Him, and marveled.”
In other words, the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus so He would be able to proclaim the Gospel with passion & power
Paul said, “Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Thes 1:5)
The purpose of the anointing is to enable and furnish us with the ability to proclaim the Gospel with powerful results
AND, helps us to fulfill God’s purpose in our daily lives.
Is the Anointing of the Holy Spirit For us Today?
Peter and the church prayed for Jesus that the H.S. anointing would work for the good of His purpose when He was threatened – Acts 4:27…
Jesus stunned an entire audience with the power of the gospel – Luke 4:18…
Jesus’ anointing enable Him, and therefore us, to do good & help the oppressed be made free through the gospel – Acts 10:38…
So, is the anointing for us today?
Paul says it is – 2 Corinthians 1:21…
John says it is – 1 John 2:20-27…
Can We Recognize God’s Anointing Today?
We have learned that anointing means: being consecrated for a specific purpose, assignment, or appointment; then “furnished” with the ability to get results in our purpose by divine means
The second dimension of anointing is a formal anointing of a person for an assignment expressed in its verb form as “anointed”
Anointing comes from the Greek chrisma; Anointed comes from the Greek chrio
Chrio is a formal process of choosing a person for an appointment or position, then formally anointing them in a ceremony for a special assignment
Five classes of people are identified as being formally anointed in the Bible:
Prophets
Priests
Kings
Guests
The Sick
These are officially selected by God to fulfill His specific purpose
Furnishing is God’s enabling, empowering, and assurance
It gives greater ability & strength to fulfill lifelong purpose which God chose for us before the foundation of the earth
It is God’s confirmation of His purpose for our lives which He gave us before we were born
God has a divine plan & agenda for us & when we align our lives with His divine plan & agenda, He anoints us with the ability to get results
BUT, God saves the anointing of the Holy Spirit for the final stage of spiritual growth
During infancy we learned to receive the Holy Spirit
During childhood we learned to be filled with the Holy Spirit
During youth we learned how to be led by the Holy Spirit
During adult we learned how to be empowered by the Holy Spirit
During the purpose we learn how to trust the anointing of the Holy Spirit
Why do you think God waits until the purpose stage to give us he anointing of the Holy Spirit?
God’s anointing is what we need to help us fulfill His lifelong purpose for our lives on earth
As we master the purpose stage, then we are ready to fulfill our purpose & life a life-style o new self-purpose
God’s Anointing Can Easily Be Misunderstood
Although the Holy Spirit’s anointing is God’s extra-something this does not mean that anointing gives us magical powers, or that it makes us able to do super human things
We are endowed to do more than we usually can by our own strength
When the anointing of the Holy Spirit is viewed from the outside in, it can cause us to think what is happening is done by our own strength
Some people misjudge our ability when they see us o things under the anointing of the Holy Spirit
Others may think what we are doing is easier than it actually is
We may even ask ourselves, how did I do that, or how did I make it through all that?
Truth be told, it was the anointing of the Holy Spirit that got us through
When we realize we could not have done it bout our own power that’s when God gets the glory
The anointing occurs when God calls us for a specific purpose, then He furnishes us with the ability & power to fulfill it
When God sees that we are willing to fulfill HIS purpose, He will send His Holy Spirit to anoint us
When we get God’s plan, then God furnishes us with the anointing of His Holy Spirit to get it done
Five Divine Attributes of Anointing
- Identification (Acts 11:26): We get anointing from chrio & chrisma; we also get Christos & Christ from anointing
Christ means the anointed one
Christians means the anointed ones
Disciples took a new identification at Antioch – became the anointed ones
TODAY all Christians have this identification
John agrees – 1 John 2:27…
We must receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit o fulfill our new identification
- Illumination (1 John 2:27)
Spiritual insight & growth toward God’s purpose for our daily lives
John reveals the clothing of illumination in 1 John 2:20-27…
First, you shall know & teach
Second, this illumination was promised by Jesus – John 16:13…
The clothing of illumination comes from the Spirit of Truth that Jesus left to teach us all things
- Proclamation (Luke 4:18)
The message of the gospel with passion & power
Luke said when Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit He went into the Synagogue in Nazareth & stunned the audience with the gospel
Luke 4:20…
Passion & power comes right in the midst of fulfilling our purpose in life
- Consecration (1 Thes 5:23)
For a specific purpose then He furnishes us with the necessary power to fulfill it
Satan attacks & accuses God’s anointed day & night
Holy Spirit protects & preserves God’s anointed – Isaiah 54:17…
The Old Testament discusses God’s divine protection for His anointed:
Psalms 105:13-15…
One of God’s assurances is divine protection in our hour of trial
God makes it His business to defend & protect those He consecrates for His purpose
5. Regeneration ( Titus 3:5)
- “Regeneration” & “renewing” in this passage are linked together
- They both mean “a complete change or the better”
- Also translated: “process that begins with a new birth & continues with regeneration, reproduction, recreation, renovation, and renewal toward a new life.”
Regeneration constitutes a change in our lives that is always for the better
Jesus demonstrated in His life when the anointing cause Him to spend His entire life doing good
Acts 10:38…
So, regeneration is the process that creates in us, a new spirit and a new self in contrast to the old spirit & self
Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26…
“a new spirit & My spirit”
The first spirit signifies the regeneration of our human spirits which is connected to our old self
The second spirit is the regeneration by the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our human spirits which has reference to our new selves
That’s what Jesus was saying in John 3:5…
So, regeneration, not only includes a new spirit, but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:23…
God’s anointing and New Self-Purpose
New Self-Love is a Prerequisite of New Self-Purpose
After the fall, something tragic happened to the human race:
- Satan corrupted & contaminated our original self-love
- Satan severed & sabotaged our single most important relationships with God
- Satan destroyed our original purpose on earth
Consequently, the fall caused us to inherit an old self & be forced to live with a broken relationship with God, without a purpose on earth
When God saw what had been done, He sent Jesus to restore our original self-love with new self-love, and to reinstate our original purpose with new self-purpose
Jesus reconciles our single most important relationship by His death on the cross
Jesus demonstrated that new self-love is a prerequisite for rediscovering God’s purpose in our lives
John 12:25…
The term “life” means “seat of the soul’s personality where he old self and new self-dwell”
Matthew 10:39…
The term “life” means “the soul’s old self and/or the new self, whichever reigns at the time”
Taken together Jesus is saying:
“We have to love our lives (old self-love) enough to find it, then we have to hate it (old self-love) enough to lose it, and in doing so we discover a life of new self-love.”
New self-love then leads to new self-purpose
John 12:24-27…
By the time we get to the purpose stage we have already grown through infancy, childhood, youth and adult stages of spiritual growth
The Holy Spirit would have also created in us new self-love prior to fulfilling our new self-purpose
Ephesians 4:22-24…
In Greek language the expression, true righteousness and holiness can be translated
“the execution of God’s purpose in us through Christ”
New self-love is the first step in discovering God’s purpose, but the second step is for us to live with new self-purpose
John 12:27…
During this stage, God takes the crisis of our old self-love and He reconciles it with new self-purpose; then uses it for the good of humanity and the glory of divinity
Romans 8:28…
God allows us to collaborate with Him in designing the purpose life of our dreams
God designs our purpose to do three (3) things:
Romans 9:17-23…
- Show His power
- Proclaim His name
- Make known His glory on earth
Our part is to love God enough to look for good & purpose in all things, including our old self-love; then use it for His power, His name, and His glory
Romans 8:28; 2 Timothy 1:9-11…
The goal is to allow God’s purpose to be the center of everything we do
As we learn to master the purpose stage, we will develop a consistent life-style of living with new self-love and new self-purpose in everything we do in life
THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY
Maturity in the Holy Spirit is a state the Bible calls when the perfect comes
The biblical notion of perfect is maturity, which is the result of us putting off our old self-love and living with new self-love, and ultimate living with new self-purpose.
