“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:5-7.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Jesus spoke of His departure, He was going to the One who sent Him. Yes, I so loved the world I gave you My only begotten Son so all that believe in Him shall never perish but have eternal life. I was in Christ reconciling you to Myself not counting your sins against you but accounting them all to Him. And He is not on loan to you, He is My gift to you, He is with you always and interceding for you to the uttermost. He came down from Heaven and once He accomplished the work I gave Him to do I raised Him up and He ascended back to Heaven but He did not return alone. Everyone who believes in Him was raised with Him and seated with Him at My right hand. You may be thinking that you are not there but you are. Physically you are on earth as ambassadors of the Kingdom continuing His work of reconciliation but spiritually you have direct access to Me and are with Me even now by the Holy Spirit in you and on you.
Yes, Jesus finished the work I gave Him to do.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. Romans 8:1-3.
He paid your judgment and satisfied your sentence so that by being born again through receiving the seed of My incorruptible imperishable Word you were created anew in Christ for a life of good deeds prepared in advance. And how does that come about? By the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39.
He spoke of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive once He had been glorified by Me.
I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. John 17:4-5.
He came to give you living hearts (spirits) into which I could pour My Spirit. A dead and stony heart of unbelief cannot receive My living Spirit. All who believe in Him He empowers to be children of God, My very own family with Him as the firstborn of many brethren. And My Spirit within your spirit witnesses to you that you are My children and joint heirs with Christ, and cries out “Abba,” “Father!”
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. Ezekiel 36:25-27.
He came to bridge the gap that Adam had created between us and bring you back into oneness with Me by oneness with Him so that you would have access by the One Spirit at all times to Me and My Kingdom. He was pleased to release you from your sins by His eternal blood and to make you a kingdom, priests unto Me. Revelation 1:5-6. And I am pleased to give you who believe, the little flock of My Son, the good Shepherd who laid down His life for you, the Kingdom.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10.
What do you see from the Words of Jesus we are looking at today?
First, He was sent by Me to do a work. And as I have sent Him so He sends you.
Second, when the work was finished, He could return home to the Kingdom of Heaven. And so will you when your work that you are sent to do is done.
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. 2 Peter 1:12-15.
Before his work was done on the earth, no one could keep him in prison or put him to death. Remember how Herod imprisoned Peter and set his execution date but the Church prayed and I sent My angel to set him free of the chains and open all the gates before him and kept him safe in My secret place? He was not done with his work yet. It was many years later that he perceived by My Spirit in him that he was done with his earthly tour of duty and he could come to his true home forever to receive glory from Me for the glory he had given Me on earth.
Paul knew as well. Before that no one could take him out.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
Even Abraham knew. How did he know? He was fully satisfied. Full of years and complete and there was a reward waiting for him. And what was that reward? I told him from the beginning of our friendship:
“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your very great reward.” Genesis 15:1.
I was his reward. And he knew Me as El Shaddai. The God who has all you need and overflow. I take care of you forever according to My riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Third, Jesus knew His assignment was to save you, raise you, and fill you with My Spirit. And He glorified Me on earth by doing all of that and doing it with excellence and joy. My Will prospered in His hand. Isaiah 53:10.
And as I sent Him so He sends you to seek out and save the lost (bring all to the new birth), raise everyone up to Me by showing them Jesus (when He is lifted up by you He draws all to Himself), and once you give people the knowledge of who Jesus is and who they are to Me, you give them the joy of receiving Jesus and taking them one step farther—getting them filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 3:37-42.
Because of Jesus finishing the work I gave Him to do, you have the opportunity to be My children and joint heirs of everything that is Mine in Him. You are born again from above by the imperishable seed of My Word, which you allowed to plant in you to save your souls.
Because He won for you eternal life and the gift of My Spirit, you too can know what to do and have the power from Me to do all I have given you to do with excellence and with joy. And as you have glorified Me on earth by completing the work I gave you to do, I will glorify you with Jesus when you finish your tour of duty as My ambassador, witness, worker of the works of Jesus, and My royal priesthood ever interceding for all men with the great High Priest of your confession, Jesus in whom I have fully equipped you for every good work, purpose and plan for your life.
“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:5-7.
I love you. I never take any gift away, My gifts and calling are irrevocable, but it was better for you that He ascended to Me for many reasons but two especially, I raised you with Him as His body and I poured My Spirit into your heart through Him so that you can live your life through, with and in Him, which is through, with, and in Me, forever. The Holy Spirit is in you and on you forever.