Recap: In the last post we looked at the exclusivity of the ministry of the incarnate Jesus - his pre-cross ministry. Prior to the cross, we see a ministry that is meticulously orchestrated by the Father so that this critical phase of his goal to save the world (John 12:47) plays out exactly in accordance with his "definite plan and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23). In the end, the targeted focus of Jesus' pre-cross ministry was to prepare and equip only a few Jewish men who were chosen, taught, drawn and given to him by the Father - a unique process never repeated after the cross.
The night before his crucifixion, when the eleven remaining apostles acknowledged that they finally understood his teaching, Jesus turned to his Father and said, "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4 NKJV). His pre-cross ministry was complete. He had achieved all that the Father gave him to accomplish. His eleven charges were ready to replace him and begin the task of launching the Church.
This week we'll focus on the amazing post-cross ministry of Jesus. In the last post, I presented the following chart to help us understand how everything changes at the cross.
Enter the Holy Spirit
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26 NIV)
While Jesus was with us in the flesh, the Father was meticulously controlling every aspect of Jesus' earthly ministry (John 5:19). The Father's work culminates after Jesus' death with the sending of the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Christ - into the world (John 14:26,15:26). After the cross, the pre-cross duties which were performed by the Father (teaching, revealing, drawing), are assumed by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit teaches spiritual lessons (1 Cor 2:13), the Spirit reveals the gospel as truth (1 John 5:6), and the Spirit draws people to faith in Jesus (John 15:26).
The amazing ministry and power of the Holy Spirit is often simply referred to in the pages of the New Testament as "grace".
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. (Titus 2:11 NIV)
I've shared this definition of grace before but it's worth repeating (borrowed from J.G. Lenhart): "'Grace' is God's divine influence on the heart and its reflection in the life." In short, grace is the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in us, for us, and through us.
The Open Door of Grace
After the cross, the exclusivity of Jesus' pre-cross ministry gives way to a wonderful, all-inclusive, open door of grace administered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus alludes to this forthcoming change in his ministry when he addresses a crowd just a few days before his crucifixion with these words -
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (John 12:32 ESV)
I believe that this somewhat cryptic and evocative statement from Jesus, was intentionally intended to be understood in two ways. Although we're told that Jesus was referring to the cross (v. 33), the term "lifted up" (Gr. hypsoo) generally means "honored" or "exalted". So, I believe, Jesus purposely used the double meaning of "lifted up" to convey to us:
that while he was on the cross ("lifted up"), he would draw all of humanity to himself to die with him (see Post 23),
and that after the cross, when he was exalted ("lifted up") at the right hand of the Father, he would draw all of humanity to himself to live with him.
We witness the effect of this new, unleashed, post-cross "draw" to Jesus when unbelievers and skeptics begin to recognize his divine identity immediately after his death. The Roman centurion who took part in crucifying Jesus, suddenly proclaims, “Truly, this was the Son of God” (Mat 27:54). And Jesus’ own brothers, James and Jude, who were skeptics before the cross (Mark 3:21, John 7:5), become ardent believers and leaders of the church after the cross. And we see the formation of local Christian churches which become filled with both Jews and Gentiles who formerly believed in all manner of false gods.
This flood of salvific grace that became available to everyone after the cross is clearly the subject of the prophetic post-cross teaching by Jesus of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22. When the original invitees (the Jews) refused the king's invitation to the banquet, the king gave new instructions to his servants.
So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:9-10 NIV)
"Anyone", "everyone", "all", "whoever". Whenever we see these inclusive words used by Jesus, we should know that the verse is a prophetic "post-cross" teaching.
"Coming to Jesus"
In the post-cross ministry of Jesus, we see that the all-inclusive offer of "coming to (believe in) Jesus" replaces the exclusive, pre-cross process of "coming to (be with) Jesus." Through a wonderful act of love and grace, when received with surrender and humility, the Spirit amazingly converts the gospel message as delivered by the apostles into a life-giving, faith kindling, truth-revealing, soul-cleansing power that baptizes people (figuratively/spiritually) into Christ , reconciling them with God. That’s the post-cross model of salvation/justification. We see this clearly in Paul's encouragement to the saints in Ephesus.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13 ESV)
The gospel is heard, faith is kindled, the Spirit is given, new life begins.
Final Thought
There is a power of salvation - a salvific grace - now offered to all of mankind (Gr. pas anthropas), through the Holy Spirit, but it is not irresistible. Scripture tells us that the Spirit can be "quenched", "frustrated", "resisted". Although access to God, through the Spirit, is now available to everyone (Acts 17:27), the grace/power that brings salvation is not automatic. It is only acquired and appropriated through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 5:2).
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV)
Amen.
Next Post: In the final post of this foundation-building series we'll try to tie all the pieces together. Here's a link to the next post:
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