The Holy Spirit, The Supernatural, & Gen Z
Last week we began part 1 of The Holy Spirit, The Supernatural,and Gen Z. This week is part 2 and the final of this topic.
A history of the Holy Spirit
Look at the Holy Spirit throughout time. He has always been working in the worst of times:
1. Creation…
He was at the beginning in Genesis and began His work by moving and hovering over the void. Painting creation. The executive of creation. The Father thought of all of this, Jesus spoke it, and the Holy Spirit began to create it all. From the beginning of time the Holy Spirit brought Color to life.
2. The Law…
The Holy Spirit was working with Moses as he walked up the mountain to get the 10 Commandments from God. And when Moses returned to the people they couldn’t even look upon his face because his face was ‘lit’ from the presence of the Spirit upon him.
3. Old Testament Kings/Prophets…
The Holy Spirit was in the middle of human history speaking to the Kings and the Prophets to build Israel, and calling mankind back to the Maw every time they wandered. He was a fire around and upon them so many times.
4. The Holy Spirit and the Messiah…
Wow, have you ever thought of that? Even Jesus needed the power of the Spirit upon Him. Being baptized right before His public ministry and then EVERYTHING begins.
5. The Apostolic era…
And when Jesus leaves the disciples and is ascended into heaven, there is a conversation between Jesus and the disciples in John 14-17. He emphasizes their need of the Holy Spirit. Telling them the Helper will come once I leave.
In John 16, Jesus says, “It is important that I go away so that the Holy Spirit will come.” And the Spirit fills the Apostles in the book of Acts to build the church all over the Mediterranean region.
The final era is personal!
6. The Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit upon the Church…
The Holy Spirit is for every generation. From the 1st century, through the dark ages when the church’s voice was being hidden by crusades killing Christians, and into the 21st century today in a dark America.
The Holy Spirit is in the revivals of the last 2 or 3 centuries: The Great Awakenings, the Azusa Street Iutpiuring, the Jesus Movement, the South American healing revivals, the African crusades with millions in attendance.
And He is with us today in the 21st Century. The Holy Spirit is running today in the age of the Spirit.
Prophetic Signs of the Holy Spirit Today
The following are futurist signs that many believe will be marks of this next generation.
Look at some of the significant markers:
•It will be a time of harvest and hostility in Christianity
•It will be a time of new media technology will help spread the gospel globally
•It will be a time of Christians helping the helpless and becoming task and cause-oriented
•A time of young leaders stepping into place in every segment of society with leadership shifts in government, education, corporate, science, and entertainment industries
•A time of internal Government affairs and failure causing the gospel to spread at the highest levels of power in our nation
•It will be a time of Jewish and Muslim leaders and then nations following declaring their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord
•A time of theology and the arts blending to create a deeper expression of worship and faith
•It will be marked by the church worldwide becoming more interconnected than ever
•It will be a time of miracles, signs, and wonders being done outside the church and in the marketplaces that will draw people to Christ
Finally
We cannot underestimate the plan that God has to reach this planet. It involves this generation. Every generation has had someone: JOSEPH led a nation as a teenager, JOSIAH led a nation at 8 years old, the Spirit came upon DANIEL as a sentinel to an entire nation as a young man, the Spirit helped young Esther save a race, the Spirit came upon a teenager named MARY to birth Jesus, and what about PETER, who was moved on and then revolutionized by the Spirit.
And then modern history we see AUGUSTINE at 22 began to help rebuild the broken Roman Empire, the MONKS awakened the Dark ages,
MARTIN LUTHER and JOHN WESLEY began The Great Awakenings in the 18th-19th centuries, and CORRIE TENBOOM changed the future of thousands during the holocaust, and recently before their deaths, BILLY GRAHAM and REINHARD BONNKE have done global evangelism since they were teenagers.
All throughout history God has had young culture shapers. And He’s looking for more right now.
The most important relationship you have on earth is the Holy Spirit. It’s not your mom and dad, your brother or your sister, your grandmother or your grandfather, or your BAE or your BESTIE.
The most important relationship we have on the earth today is the Holy Spirit.