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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Today is now the third day I’d like to invite us into a conversation between Mary, the human mother of Jesus, and John, one of Jesus’ disciples, and the author of the Gospel of John. Because John tells us, in John 19:26, that he took Mary home with him after the crucifixion of Jesus, and we know Mary was evidently friends with John’s mother, we can imagine many, many conversations in that home in which John would have heard things about Jesus that only Mary could have told him. Can you imagine the questions John had about Gabriel’s visit to Mary, and her miraculous pregnancy, and all the things we usually include in the “Christmas story”?
Interestingly John doesn’t write about these “Christmas details” because Luke did, so there was no reason for John to repeat it. Luke tells us in Luke 1:3 “since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good to me to write an orderly account…so you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
So in these days in the shadow of Mother’s Day 2020, I’m just taking a few days to dig deeply into what Mary likely explained to John, and John was able to read in Luke’s account, about those unique experiences she had as the earthly mother of Jesus. Luke 1 & 2 contain many of those details. As we saw yesterday, Mary went to spend 3 months with Zechariah and Elizabeth after Gabriel’s shocking visit and the information he gave Mary about her miraculous pregnancy. Luke 1:46 begins a ‘song’ that Mary evidently sang at some point during her time with them. “My soul magnifies (glorifies) the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Can you say the same thing my friends?
This is one of the verses in the Bible which helps us understand what God did his His design and creation of humanity. Genesis 1:26 says that “God said let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over…” The verse goes on to describe all creation over which God would give mankind both the authority and ability to rule. We, humans, are superior to all other things which God created here on earth, and we have the God given ability to rule & reign over plants, animals, oceans and skies, BECAUSE of how we are created in God’s image. What Mary sang is the evidence! Do you notice she speaks of both SOUL and SPIRIT? And of course Mary is singing this with her voice pouring out from her body. There it is friends… God designed us Body, Soul and Spirit. And all three aspects of you and me are designed to praise God as we live each day!
Now let’s dig deeper. How do you praise God with your BODY? You take care of it, right? You feed it properly, you exercise it, you sleep and rest well, you protect it from harm, and you respect it, because God designed and made it remarkably complex and wonderful, that’s what Psalm 139 tells us, right? Are you bringing God glory by how you care for your God designed, God created and God sustained body?
Mary said “My SOUL magnifies (glorifies) the Lord…”. What is your soul and how do you magnify or glorify God with your soul? What’s the difference between the human ‘soul’ and your ‘spirit’? Do other animals have ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’? Those are good questions, aren’t they? Well, I think the Bible shows us there is clear, distinctive difference between the human soul & spirit. SOUL is who you are that helps us know you as a unique person. SOUL is your mind/intellect, it’s how you think. SOUL is your heart/emotions, how you feel. SOUL is your attitudes. SOUL is your passions and your ability to reason. Soul is your will. Those are all things that shape your reputation, right? While we recognize you when we see your body, we KNOW you as your soul shows who you really are through your words, attitudes, choices, and actions.
Here are some key verses that help us understand how God wants to work in our ‘soul’, so our soul glorifies or magnifies the glory of God, as Mary sang:
<> Intellect…“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
<> Heart…“Create in me a pure heart O God…” (Psalm 51:10) “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of your life.” (Prov. 4:23)
<> Emotions…“Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
<> Will…“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Phil. 3:12) That’s a good example of my will guiding my decisions and actions, right?
<> Attitudes…“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” (Phil. 2:5)
Now my friends, do you see how all these verses, and of course many more, describe how the ‘soul’ of a Christian should be functioning in a manner which reflects God to other people? So, how is your soul today? What is your ‘soul’ showing us about your relationship with Jesus?
But Mary also said in Luke 1:46 “…and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” So what do you understand to be your SPIRIT and how is it different from your soul? Spirit, my friends, is that ‘spiritual’ part of us which can enter into a ‘spiritual’ relationship with God! We are all born with a sinful human spirit or nature, right? It manifests itself very early in babies and continues to have greater and greater influence in our lives as we grow older. The reason every country has laws, police, courts, judges, prisons and even executions, is because of the power of the human sinful nature and our inability to control it!
But when we trust Jesus Christ to be our Savior, we are “born again”. In John 3:3-7. John quotes Jesus as saying: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh but Spirit gives birth to spirit…” The theological term for this is ‘regeneration’. We understand the word ‘gestation’ and ‘generation’ speak of conception, pregnancy, birth and life. “RE-generation’ means re-born, or born a second time. But Jesus is clearly describing two different types of birth. The first is how each and all of us got here on planet earth. It’s the natural pregnant woman experience where her water breaks, her baby comes through her birth canal and is born…that’s flesh giving birth to flesh.
But Jesus was talking about a spiritual birth, and that is a miraculous birth, by the Holy Spirit of God, of a Godly spiritual nature inside a human being who has repented of their sin and trusts Jesus Christ to save them from their sin condemnation. That Godly spiritual nature then enables a sinful human being to have a genuine, God honoring relationship with Holy God! Your spirit is nurtured by the Holy Spirit who resides in you as a follower of Jesus Christ. The spiritual changes happening in you are because you have a Godly spiritual nature now alive within you, living in vibrant relationship with the Holy Spirit of God! Can you grasp the significance of this my friends? It is unique to Christianity! No other faith or spiritual or religious system claims this. But it’s what God designed and Jesus makes possible for every person who trusts in Jesus as their Savior. That’s why Mary said “My spirit rejoices in God my SAVIOR.”
Listen to how Paul explains it in Romans 8: “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness… those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship…The Spirit of God testifies with our spirit, that we are God’s children…” (Romans 8:8-16)
Now when Mary sang her song in Luke 1:46-55, that was a work of God. The words she sang were significant to her, but they took on much greater significance as Jesus grew into manhood, then He taught God’s truth, He did God’s miracles, and eventually accomplished His redemption mission by giving His life on the cross and rising from the dead. It is the RISEN Jesus Christ who is able to be Savior to any person, including Mary!
Let’s just stop right here today and ponder the wonder of what Mary said in these few words and how God has designed it to work in your life and mine. Do you see that some animals also have some of what I have described as ‘soul’. Some have emotions, they the ability to think and control their bodies. Some may even have attitudes. But they do not have a human soul. Not like God designed for us. For all the aspects of our soul should undergo great change as we trust Jesus to be our Savior and we yield our lives to the Lordship of Jesus.
As we follow Jesus, and as we study God’s Word, we learn to imitate Jesus and the Holy Spirit does transformational work in every aspect of our soul…our mind and intellect, our heart, our attitudes, our will, our emotions etc. None of that is possible for any other living thing on earth, not animal or plant. This is the sanctifying work of God in changing a redeemed, regenerate person more and more to be like Jesus!
So I ask us all my friends… To what degree are you and I experiencing the transformation of all aspects of our SOUL by the work of God in us? And what do we see God doing in the spiritual aspect of our lives? How is our spirit engaging with the Holy Spirit of God? Can we each say exactly those same words which Mary sang? “My soul magnifies (glorifies) the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”
I suggest we all spend some time talking with Jesus about these profound thoughts right now.
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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