Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 201

July 20;    Luke 3:22;    47/260(III);    ‘Upon’

Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

The Bible teaches us very clearly in Philippians 2 that the Lord Jesus Christ ‘took off’ His deity and left it in heaven.  What Jesus did has a technical theological term called kenosis.  Jesus was born a Man.  Relationally, Jesus was the Son of God, but He functioned on earth as a Man.  Until Jesus was thirty, He did no miracles nor did He preach and teach.  At the age of thirty, the Lord was water baptized in the Jordan River, by John the Baptist.  When Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit came upon Him to empower Jesus to minister.  This is proof that Jesus functioned as a Man.  If He retained His power as God, the Holy Spirit would not have to empower Him.  When the Holy Spirit empowers someone for ministry, the Bible always uses the word ‘upon’.  When we become Born Again, the Holy Spirit comes in us.  When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes upon us to empower us.  Jesus’ ‘Father’ was the Holy Spirit.  This was so that His blood was not tainted with humanity’s fallen nature.  He ministered as a Man, empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that we, the Church could be empowered by the Holy Spirit as well and continue the ministry of Jesus.  In Acts 1:8 the Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples telling them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them to minister.  On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:3), the Holy Spirit came upon His disciples and they were empowered to minister.  This is also for you too.