Pure, unadulterated love can be experienced by all men. The death,
resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus Christ provide the desire and the
power to love others as it was meant to be. The coming of Jesus Christ into
this world to be taken to His death for others is not only an example of
love it is also the means by which all men can experience the same
supernatural relationship of love.
This essence of life was first experienced by the followers of Jesus on the
Jewish feast day of Pentecost. Jesus had told them not to depart from
Jerusalem until they had received the promise of the Father. He had told
them (John 14) that something would occur that would forever change their
lives. They would become filled with His Holy Spirit. They would be enabled
to experience the magnificent obsession of loving others.
On that eventful day, they were patiently waiting "with one accord in
one place" (Acts 2:1). Although the 120 that were gathered in the upper
room probably disagreed in many different areas, they were all at the same
place at this time of their lives. They knew that Jesus had been raised from
the dead. They knew He was alive.
Moreover, Jesus told them to wait until the promise of the Father would
come. Jesus would come back to them the same way He was taken from them. The
Father would send the Son to take up his abode within them to be the essence
of their lives (John 14:23). The Son would indwell and enable the believers
through the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of love.
When the intercourse of the Holy Spirit comes into the flesh of man, there
is nothing else that can occur but the flesh of man experiencing the full
sensation of his being. Those early believers heard the wind. They saw the
fire. They spoke with a new tongue. It was an experience like no other
experience. It would forever change their lives.
Miraculously, those early followers of Jesus were speaking in a language
that was totally foreign to them. At this moment, they were able to speak
that which they did not know. They would soon recognize that this physical
miracle was teaching a spiritual reality. They were speaking with a new
tongue. Their way of speaking would forever be changed.
They would have a new way of expressing themselves, a new way of seeing, and
a new way of thinking. They were being moved to a different way of life.
They were becoming people of the kingdom of love.
|