Exhortation, First Advent

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In this morning�s sermon, we will be looking at the role of the Spirit in the incarnation of Jesus, in the redemption achieved by Christ, and in the life of the Trinity. One way to summarize the point is that the Spirit is the divine bond, the �glue�Eof the Trinity. The Spirit is the love that binds the Father and Son. The Father begets the Son through the Spirit, and that the Son returns His love to the Father in the same Spirit.

But the Spirit�s role as divine glue is not confined to the relations of the Persons of the Trinity. The Spirit is also, as we see in our sermon text, the agent of the incarnation. It is through the Spirit that the eternal Son takes on flesh, and the Spirit is the �binding agent�Ethat unites the divine and human natures in Jesus. And we are joined to Christ by the same Spirit, the Spirit that joins God the Son to His humanity, which is the same Spirit who eternally joins Father and Son as Father and Son.

Practically, the Spirit is the active agent of all our communion and communication with God, including the communion with God we enjoy each Lord�s Day. Worship is not a merely human act. We worship the Father only by the power of the Spirit, and our worship is acceptable only because of the work of our High Priest in heaven, Jesus Christ.

This gets to one very practical question that has been raised, and quite legitimately raised, about our new liturgy: What can we do to prevent our worship from becoming rote, mere ritual, vain repetition? If the Spirit is the one who enlivens and empowers our worship, the �solution�Eto soulless, dead worship is continual dependence on the Spirit.

We avoid deadening influences in our worship in the same way that we avoid deadening influences in the Christian life as a whole. The Spirit is the life of our worship, the Lord and Giver of all life. And so the solution is to keep in step with the Spirit and to trust wholly in His life-giving power. As Paul said, �Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom You were sealed for the day of redemption.�E

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, November 28, 2004 at 07:34 AM

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