A Quickening Spirit

Paul said: "And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45, KJV, emphasis added).

The last Adam is Jesus (read my earlier message - "The Last Adam") and He is called "A Quickening Spirit." He is called a Quickening Spirit because He has divine vitality. We, who are His Church, His Body, ought to have divine vitality. Look around you and you will notice that most of the contemporary Local Churches lack divine vitality. They are like what John saw and recorded in the Book of Revelation, the Church in Sardis - a dead Church:

"These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: 'I know your works, and you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Revelation 3:1, 2, 5, NKJV, emphasis added).

The phrase, "but you are dead," means, dead spiritually. This is equivalent to saying that our profession of Christianity is mainly in name. If we continue to do the "dead" things that we are doing, God will blot out our names from the Book of life!

Recently a pastor made an unfortunate mistake as he conducted a funeral. Before him, in an open casket, lay the remains of the departed brother. Motioning toward the deceased and speaking in somber tones, the pastor said, "This corpse has been a member of my Church for more than ten years." You may be tempted to laugh. But, quite seriously and unknowingly, the pastor's statement is an accurate description of the spiritual condition of not only his Local Church, but many other Local Churches as well.

Sadly, the contemporary Church appears to be filled with spiritual corpses - those who lack divine vitality. They may attend Church regularly, even occasionally read their Bible and pray; they attend Cell Groups, prayer meetings and other Church activities, but they lack a real quality of spiritual life. They come short of what is required as committed Christians.

An innocent young girl was trying to describe her pastor's sermon to her parents, who had been unable to attend Church that Sunday morning: "I really can't remember much that our pastor preached," said the child, "But I think his text was - 'Many were cold and a few were frozen.'" Again, I do not think that description of the condition of the Local Church was a coincident. I believe God used that young girl to reveal the spiritual condition of the Church.

A call for Prayer

But praise God, a thaw (for those who ar frozen) is coming for those who would learn to pray in the energy and vitality of Jesus' Name - "A Quickening Spirit." We need to pray that the entire congregation repent of their sins. We need to pray that our Church is filled with the Holy Spirit and that we "walk in the Spirit so that we wll not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). Without the anointing and the unction of the Holy Spirit (read my earlier message - "The Unction of the Holy One") we resort to our own wisdom and strength to do God's work in the Church of Jesus Christ. The result will certainly be disastrous.

Never trust man

There is a haunting phrase from the prophecies of Isaiah which captivates one's imagination:

Isaiah said: "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he" (Isaiah 2:22, NIV).

We must cease to confide in or trust in men. In the related passge a few verses back (11 ant 17), Isaiah said that the proud and lofty people would be brought low; that is, the kings, princes and nobles would be humbled. They, in whom the people had been accustomed to confide should show their insufficiency to afford protection. The strength, pride, and pomp of men's finest and best is ultimately destined for failure. and he called on the people to cease to put their reliance on any of the devices and refuges of men, implying that trust should be placed on the Lord only.

The phrase, "who has but a breath in his nostrils," means that man is weak and short-lived and has no control over his life. All his power exists only while he breathes, and his breath is in his nostrils. It may soon cease, and we should not confide in so frail and fragile a thing as the breath of man.

The psalmist said: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (Ps. 146:3 - 5, KJV).

Trust only the Lord

Let us read more of wht Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15: "And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. the first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor. 15:45 - 47, KJV).

Held in stark contrast are two races and two sources of sustained strength. First, is Adam's fallen race, a race at the created level sustained by the breathing of air. Second, is Christ's reborn race, a people at the redeemed level sustained by the breath of the Holy Spirit.

All of us experience the first resource. Since creation when - ".... (God) breathed into his (man's) nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7, KJV), we all have depended upon our respiratory systems for survival. If breathing is denied for more than a few minutes, it usually results in at least some deterioration of certain brain functions. If air is denied too long, death is imminent. We are all creatures "whose breath is in our nostrils." But there is an added dimension of living energy (life-sustaining "breath") available to all whom Jesus has redeemed.

Consider the account following Christ's resurrection when He came into the room where His disciples were hiding in fear. It is interesting to note one of His first actions. Now that the process of salvation, through Christ's death and resurrection, was completed, Jesus operated as Lord of their new order. The Bible says, "He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (John 20:22, NKJV). This is clearly a direct parallel of the first creation, when the Father had created man and then endured him with life-breath. Now a new creation has been made possible. The Son of God from heaven had become man's Redeemer and now is making possible man's recovery from the limits imposed upon him by reason of sin and man's devastating fall from his originally intended order. All that "the first Adam" could bequeath to his offspring has now been exceeded by everlasting life available only through "the Second Adam" - the Lord Jesus Christ. By reason of His resurrection, He now transmits a life-breath that gives spiritual vitality far beyond the limits of unredeemed man. Therefore, we trust only the Lord, the Second Adam.

Our help in "Perilous time"

The term, "Perilous time," means time of stress, danger and trial. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul lists 18 moral blemishes and ends with - "Having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Tim. 3:5, NKJV).

People tend to display external appearance of following the Bible doctrine and practice. They go to Church but they lack power and conviction which only the Holy Spirit can bring.

People become restless in this perilous time. Most of us have been pressed into action by haste-filled situation where we have had to run until breath was no longer available. We are always in a hurry, even without reason to do so. Winded, we stop, bending over to nurse the pain in our sides. Gasping for breath, chests heaving and lungs burning, we have reached our limit.

David knew what to do in distress and he went to seek God for comfort - "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, where is your God" (Ps. 42:1 - 3, NKJV)?

Just like David, that is exactly where we should go - to the Lord!

The psalmist said: "Be still, and know that I am God; ..." (Ps. 46:10, NKJV).

In the context, the psalmist made God his refuge - "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, ..." (Ps. 46:1, 2).


In other words, God is for us as a place to which we may flee for safey; a sourse of strength for us in danger. The word "trouble" covers all that can come upon us which would give us anxiety or sorrow. Furthermore, if we fail to keep still we may miss hearing God's voice. We need Him all the time and He delights to speak to us all the time.


Our Lord is a quickening spirit - a revitalizing, breath-of-life-giving "resuscitator" of weary souls. When your spiritual breath rate seems too heavy and the pace impossible, it is probably a sign that you are functioning only with Adam's race, a race whose breath is in the nostrils. What we all need is "spirit-breath," and in Jesus' Name, our Quickening Spirit, is available.


Waiting on the Lord


Here is a remarkable promise of God: "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:30, 31, emphasis added).


The phrase, "those who wait on the Lord," means, those who wait for His help, that is, to trust in Him and put their hope or confidence in Him. Although, in the context, it refers to those who were suffering a long and grievous captivity in Babylon, the promise is equally applicable to all who feel they are weak, feeble, guilty and helpless and who, in view of this put their trust in the Lord.


However, it does not imply inactivity, or want of personal exertion; it implies merely our hope of aid is in Him. No man can wait on the Lord in a proper manner who does not use the means which He has appointed for conveying to us His blessing. To wait on Him without using any means to obtain His aid, is to tempt Him; to expect miraculous interposition is unauthorized, and must meet with disappointment.


The promise of spiritual vitality is linked to waiting on the Lord. We are called to slow down in the Lord. Someone said, "Just walk on uninterruptedly and very quietly; if God makes you run, He will enlarge your heart."


While waiting on the Lord we need to pray in Jesus' Name, our Quickening Spirit. Our confidence in getting the right answer rests upon - "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21).


In Jesus' Name we can speak death to whatever is robbing us of energy and vitality (whether be spiritual, physical, or material) while at the same time speaking life into situations or circumstances that need those same qualities. For example, we can speak death in Jesus' Name to resentment that may be destroying a marriage and life into the loving affection that once existed, even though it may seem to have long since disappeared.


Beyond that, praying in Jesus' Name, our Quickening Spirit, means using the power of His Name to awaken our own spirits in daily renewal.


The psalmist said: "Revive me, O Lord, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble" (Ps. 143:11).


Let us use Dwight L. Moody's Prayer:


"Use me then, my Savior, for whatever purpose, and in whatever way, You may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with Your grace. Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken it and refresh it with Your love. Take my heart for your abode; my mouth to spread abroad the glory of Your Name; my love and my powers, for the advancement of Your believing people; and never suffer the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate; so that at all times I may be enabled from the heart to say, "Jesus needs me, and I am His."


In conclusion, let me add another prayer of my own:


"Lord, I come today as a part of Your New Creation. I praise You for the newness into which You've ushered me - new joy, because You've fogiven me; new hope, because of Your promises to me; and new love, because You first loved me.


But Lord, I am also very conscious of the finite limits of my flesh. Though part of a New Creation, I am also a creature of Adam's race. Oftentimes my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. And so I come to this day to receive Your inbreathing - the inflow of the life-breath of Your Spirit. You know how it was that You breathed into Adam long age, and the First Creation sprang to live. Now, O Lord - O life-giving, Quickening Spirit - breathe freshness and newness of life into me. Let Your Spirit refresh me at my points of weariness, and by Your Spirit strengthen me beyond my weakness. In Jesus's Name, Amen.