THE ONLINE SEMINAR
How to Have the Living Water of Peace, Hope,
and Purpose that Jesus Promised Us
Session Six: Our New Motivator
Part 1
As we saw in the previous sessions, we have a big problem if we want to grow Spiritually. That big problem is this. All of us were born with only one inner motivator: our selfish human nature (the motivator that the early Christians called our “flesh”). This means that our “natural” daily behavior is self-centered, self-interested, and self-aware – without much regard for the feelings and needs of others.
As we said, that’s why there’s so much trouble in the world. Planet earth is populated by billions of people whose “flesh” is motivating them daily to have behaviors of fear, hate, greed, envy, loneliness, jealousy, sexual perversion, and other such negative conduct.
Because such negative behaviors plague our planet, the purpose of Session Six is to introduce the solution to the problem. We already know that the solution is “Spiritual growth.” (We’ve been saying that since Session One.)
But now it’s time to define the term, and to talk about when, where, and how Spiritual growth begins. To do that, let’s pick up where we left off in Session Five. At the end of Session Five, The Three Circles diagram looked like this:
Powered By Our Selfish Nature
We said in Session Five that this all-black diagram displays the motivation of what the early Christians called a “natural” person. A “natural” person is one who’s not a Christian. A “natural” person is a non-Christian who only has his or her first inner motivator. The all-black diagram proves that such people can’t grow Spiritually in their original condition at birth.
Such people aren’t born with the “equipment” to grow Spiritually. They can’t live a life that’s truly forgiving, peaceful, and satisfying because they don’t have the “equipment” for it. We can see in the diagram that a “natural” person’s selfish nature is motivating his or her behavior selfishly (that’s the black color) – and since his or her mind is neutral, it can’t stop the selfishness. Worse, his or her inner spirit is Spiritually dead and can’t stop the selfishness, either. So the whole diagram is black, meaning that his or her whole motivational system is self-centered.
Thus, such people can’t have lives that are honestly forgiving, peaceful, and satisfying, no matter how badly they want to live such lives. They can’t live that way because no matter how hard they try, anger, stress, and stubbornness remain dominant. Every time they let their guard down, lust, deceit, and selfishness pop out.
So what’s the solution? If people are born with only one inner motivator (their selfish nature or “flesh”), where can they find a second motivator that can give them joy, love, and happiness? Where can they find a second motivator that can fill their lives with peace, hope, and purpose?
It’s time now to start answering these vitally important questions.
The good news about people’s selfish inner motivation is that God knows all about it. He’s always known all about it. We know that from the statements we quoted in Sessions Four and Five from King David, King Solomon, Jesus Christ, and the apostle Paul. The truth is, God promised many centuries ago that He was going to do something about human selfishness. He promised that He was going to send a second motivator to earth whose purpose would be to give people loving, peaceful, joyful lives.
As far back as 835 BC (more than 2,850 years ago), God began sending messages to earth saying He had a solution for human selfishness – and that He was going to send that solution to earth on a certain future day. The first person in history to hear that promise was a man named Joel. Here’s his story.
Over 2,850 years ago, an ancient prophet by the name of Joel was praying in the desert one day. And as he prayed, God spoke to him about human selfishness. God told Joel that He had a solution for people’s selfishness and that He was going to send that solution down to earth from heaven on a special day in the future. Here’s the promise God made to Joel in the desert:
“In the days of Jesus the Messiah, I will pour out My Holy Spirit in all repentant
humans – equally and without regard to social status. When I do that, people’s
natures will be changed, and sons and daughters will give Spiritual prophecies.
Older men will dream Spiritual dreams, and younger men will see Spiritual visions.
I’ll even pour out My Spirit in male and female slaves and servants on that day –
and the mark of being a child of God will be whether a person has received My
Holy Spirit.”
God made this incredible promise to Joel in 835 BC. And eight centuries later it came true. But, before it came true, God sent more messages about the promise because He wanted people to be mentally prepared to accept it. Here’s the most famous of God’s later messages about the promise.
Eight centuries after the prophet Joel heard God’s promise of a solution for human selfishness, the First Century rolled around in history, and with it came the days of Jesus Christ. At the time, Jesus was still employed as a woodworker in His stepfather’s business in Nazareth. But God wanted the promise of a solution for human selfishness to be clearer as the day for its arrival drew nearer.
So, to sound that clearer trumpet, one of the most interesting prophets in history walked out of the Israeli wilderness and onto the world stage. His name was John. The people called him “John the Baptizer” because he camped at the Jordan River and had the habit of leading people into water-baptism to mentally prepare them for the promise.
John the Baptizer was a hermit. He lived in desert caves, wore camel’s-hair clothes, and ate insects and honey for food. But his message about what God was going to do was so exciting that thousands of people of every age, race, status, and culture flocked to the river to confess their selfishness and be led into water-baptism. As John stood at the river’s edge, guiding crowds into water-baptism, here’s how he described how God’s solution for human selfishness was going to work when it came to earth:
“Produce ‘fruit’ in keeping with repentance! I’m leading you to be immersed
(baptized)[2. In First Century Greek, the word we translate into English today as “baptize” is the Greek verb baptizo, pronounced “bop-teed’-zo.” In the First Century, baptizo meant to immerse something in a liquid or another substance long enough to change its basic nature. For example, when First Century people soaked a piece of cloth in dye until its color was changed, they said the cloth had been “baptized.” Thus, to First Century people, the word “baptize” wasn’t a casual word. To them, “baptize” had a specific technical meaning in their everyday experience, and they knew John the Baptizer was describing a specific Spiritual experience that was coming soon and that was going to change them internally.] in water for repentance. But someone is coming after me who’s more
Spiritually powerful than I am. I’m not even fit to carry His sandals! And when
He comes, He’s going to lead you to be immersed (baptized) in the Holy Spirit
and in fire.”[3. Adapted from Matthew, chapter 3, verses 8 and 11. The story of John the Baptizer’s message is repeated in Mark, chapter 1, verses 7-8; Luke, chapter 3, verse 16; and John, chapter 1, verses 26-27 and 33.]
Now – before we talk about what happened next – let’s pause to notice that God’s promise to John the Baptizer in the First Century linked back to His promise to the prophet Joel eight centuries earlier. And if we put the two promises together (the one to Joel and the one to John the Baptizer), we can see seven important facts about God’s solution for human selfishness:
1. God’s solution for human selfishness was going to be sent from heaven to
earth during the lifetime of Jesus in the First Century.
2. God’s solution was going to involve people being immersed (baptized) in
the Holy Spirit.
3. God’s solution was going to require people to repent of their selfishness.
In other words, it was going to require them to be sorry enough for their
selfish behavior to be willing to have it changed.
4. God’s solution was going to be available to all people everywhere, regardless
of their age, gender, race, culture, social status, or any other background
factor.
5. God’s solution was going to have the power to overcome people’s selfishness
and to produce Spiritual “fruit” in them,[4. Spiritual “fruit” refers to supernatural emotions such as love, joy, peace, patience, and happiness. These supernatural positive emotions can only be produced in people by the Holy Spirit. They can’t be produced by human nature.] and it was also going to be powerful
enough to produce Spiritual “gifts” in them.[5. Spiritual “gifts” are supernatural endowments such as prophecies, visions, healings, and supernatural dreams. These Spiritual endowments can only be produced by the Holy Spirit. They can’t be produced by human nature.]
6. A unique and Spiritually powerful person was going to come “after” John
the Baptizer to implement God’s solution for selfishness.[6. John the Baptizer was soon executed by King Herod Antipas, king of the Province of Galilee in Israel, and the Spiritually powerful person who came “after” him was Jesus Christ, who then began His own ministry.]
7. When God’s solution for selfishness came down from heaven, it would include
fire as a “sign” that it was the fulfillment of the long-awaited promise.
Now, in Part 2 of Session Six, let’s continue this amazing and historic story. Let’s find out what happened after the prophets Joel and John the Baptizer gave their messages. Let’s turn to Part 2 now.
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