May 31 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 16:12–15

Devotional

“He shall glorify me.” With these words Christ explains what the work of the Holy Spirit is. This shows the real meaning of what happened at Pentecost. The Spirit did not descend after Christ’s ascension to draw attention to Himself. Christ says of the Spirit, “He shall not speak of himself ” (John 16:13), but “He shall glorify me” (John 16:14).

Just as a lamp is used to shed light in the dark, so the Spirit has come to shed light on Christ. The work of the Spirit is to give light to the darkness for the blind eyes of the soul; otherwise Christ could never be seen nor desired. We celebrate Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Ascension, but despite all these commemorations of salvation life would remain forever dark if Pentecost did not happen. The Spirit has to shed light on the saving work of the Son.

The work of the Holy Spirit is often forgotten. People refer to the facts of salvation and include themselves in this saving work. They forget, however, that God’s Spirit must apply the Savior personally to the hearts of men. People say, “It is all finished, and what can we add to that?” But they forget that man himself has to be added to this work and the Holy Spirit only can do that.

“He shall glorify me.” Christ is glorified when the Spirit convicts man of sin, righteousness, and judgment. For what shall a person do with Christ without these convictions? The natural man is in so much darkness because of his own unrighteousness that he sees no attractiveness in Christ. But when the Spirit sheds light, the sinner sees his own darkness. That darkness is because of his sin, which makes him unacceptable to God. Through the Spirit man sees his impending judgment and his need for the Mediator. In this convicting work of the Spirit Christ is glorified. He is the One who is indispensable, precious, blessed, perfect, and fully suitable for sinful man.

The Spirit shall receive of Christ, and shall show, that is, apply Christ to such a sinner. The more the Spirit receives blessings from Christ and shows them to the sinner, the more this King is glorified. He does not become any poorer, although the Spirit receives so much from Him. Therefore, it must become Pentecost in our life, because the work of the Spirit is indispensable. Otherwise Christ cannot be glorified in us and we will have no benefit from all the facts of salvation that lie before Pentecost. The issue here is the work of God in us.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.