Why Is It Better That Christ Went Away (John 16:7)?
00:00:00.000 | Well, it's better for us that Jesus is gone.
00:00:07.880 | He said so when he left.
00:00:10.000 | But how so?
00:00:11.440 | Why is Christ's physical absence from us better for us than his physical presence with us?
00:00:17.480 | It's a wise theological question and it comes to us from a listener named Sam in the form
00:00:22.240 | of a question about the Holy Spirit.
00:00:23.960 | "Hello, Pastor John.
00:00:25.700 | Can you tell me why did Jesus have to leave before the Holy Spirit could come?
00:00:30.720 | The timing doesn't make sense to me.
00:00:33.160 | Couldn't the Spirit have come in full power while Christ was physically on earth with
00:00:38.320 | us?"
00:00:39.360 | This is a hugely helpful question because it causes me at least to step back, ask the
00:00:46.000 | bigger question of what is God doing in the world and why does he do it the way he does
00:00:51.640 | it?
00:00:52.640 | It's a huge question.
00:00:54.600 | So simple.
00:00:55.600 | It's obviously simple and yet, my oh my, does it shed enormous light on the very history
00:01:03.120 | of redemption.
00:01:04.120 | What is God doing?
00:01:05.120 | Why does he do it the way he does it?
00:01:07.200 | So Sam asks, "Couldn't the Spirit have come in full power while Christ was on earth?"
00:01:18.320 | And here's my answer.
00:01:20.460 | He could not have come in full Christ-exalting, gospel-applying, new covenant-fulfilling,
00:01:32.160 | deepest sin-convicting, Satan-defeating power while Jesus was on the earth.
00:01:38.440 | No.
00:01:39.440 | And the reason he couldn't is because every one of those hyphenated expressions, every
00:01:44.120 | one of those expressions of power are all based upon the death and resurrection and
00:01:50.920 | ascension and rule of Jesus Christ.
00:01:54.040 | It had to be done.
00:01:55.740 | Those had to be done before the Holy Spirit could glorify them.
00:01:59.680 | In other words, the most basic ministry of the Holy Spirit in this age is the glorification
00:02:06.580 | of Jesus Christ crucified for sins, risen, triumphant over Satan, forgiving sins on the
00:02:15.240 | basis of the blood, ascended in triumph and kingly power in heaven, coming again.
00:02:21.560 | That's what the Holy Spirit glorifies.
00:02:23.240 | He couldn't glorify that until it happened.
00:02:26.200 | In other words, the Holy Spirit's ministry is not power in general.
00:02:32.180 | That's a mistake made in the question.
00:02:34.580 | It's not power in general.
00:02:36.480 | It's Christ-glorifying power, particularly glorifying the gospel or Christ crucified
00:02:46.740 | as we see it in the gospel and Christ risen.
00:02:50.680 | Now, let's see this.
00:02:52.520 | We can see this in the New Testament really clearly that what I'm saying is so.
00:02:57.640 | John 16, 7 following goes like this.
00:03:02.000 | It says, "I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.
00:03:07.860 | For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you."
00:03:12.840 | Now, we should ask, "Why not?"
00:03:16.280 | And let's watch.
00:03:17.280 | Watch what he says.
00:03:18.280 | "But if I go, I will send him to you, and when he comes," here's what he's going
00:03:24.360 | to do, "he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment."
00:03:31.520 | And then he unpacks what he means by those three things.
00:03:34.680 | Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me.
00:03:39.960 | Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, okay?
00:03:44.680 | I go to the Father and you will see me no longer.
00:03:48.940 | So there we see that the resurrection and the ascension show the world to be wrong,
00:03:56.480 | to be convicted about the justice of Jesus' crucifixion, namely they're guilty.
00:04:03.000 | And the Holy Spirit's work is to make that clear after the resurrection.
00:04:09.160 | Verse 11, "Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
00:04:14.680 | When did that happen?
00:04:16.640 | That judgment of Satan was accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus, Colossians
00:04:20.760 | 2, 15.
00:04:21.880 | Here's verse 12, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
00:04:28.000 | When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, namely the most important
00:04:35.060 | truths yet to be accomplished in my death and resurrection."
00:04:38.640 | Continuing, "For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will
00:04:44.000 | speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
00:04:49.020 | He will glorify me."
00:04:52.360 | That is the most important sentence about the work of the Holy Spirit in the Bible.
00:04:57.640 | He will glorify me, namely, specifically me in my resurrection glory and my achievements
00:05:09.340 | over sin and Satan on the cross.
00:05:12.480 | That's the peak, the apex of the glory of Christ in the gospel.
00:05:17.360 | You can't glorify Christ for that if he hasn't done it.
00:05:22.080 | See it again, John 7, verse 37, following, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture
00:05:28.000 | says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
00:05:31.820 | Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.
00:05:37.720 | For as yet," this is a very perplexing text if you don't see what he's doing, "as yet
00:05:44.720 | the Spirit had not yet been given."
00:05:48.480 | The text says, "just has not been," because Jesus has not yet been glorified.
00:05:54.680 | Now we know that the Spirit was present in the ministry of Jesus.
00:05:59.340 | It was causing people to be born again in John 3.
00:06:02.960 | Jesus was doing his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.
00:06:06.200 | We know that the Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament, overcoming the mind of
00:06:10.800 | the flesh.
00:06:11.800 | If you read Psalm 51 or Isaiah 53, he was overcoming the mind of the flesh, which according
00:06:20.000 | to Romans 8, 7, keeps you from pleasing God.
00:06:23.200 | We know saints pleased God in the Old Testament, which they can't do without the work of the
00:06:28.080 | Holy Spirit.
00:06:29.400 | So we know he was there.
00:06:33.160 | And he could not, however, powerfully do his most essential work, which was glorifying
00:06:41.880 | the risen and crucified Christ.
00:06:44.880 | Here it is again in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4.
00:06:49.880 | Here's 3.18.
00:06:51.920 | We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
00:06:57.920 | the same image from one degree of glory to another.
00:07:02.280 | And then Paul adds this, to our being changed into the likeness of Jesus by looking at him.
00:07:09.640 | He adds this, "For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
00:07:15.580 | So there's the most essential ministry of the Spirit.
00:07:20.000 | He lifts the veil, he causes us to see the glory of Jesus Christ, and thus he transforms
00:07:26.200 | his church into the likeness of Jesus.
00:07:29.360 | Now where are we seeing that glory?
00:07:31.880 | Where are we seeing the glory of Christ as the Holy Spirit lifts the veil so that we
00:07:36.200 | can see and be transformed?
00:07:37.560 | And the answer, four verses later, is this.
00:07:40.360 | The God of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from
00:07:44.480 | seeing—here it is—the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.
00:07:52.760 | So the Spirit's role, in verse 18 of chapter 3, is to reveal the glory of Christ in the
00:07:59.880 | gospel, which cannot be until Jesus is dead, buried, risen, raised, and reigning.
00:08:10.240 | That's the key work of the Holy Spirit that he could not do until Jesus was gone.
00:08:17.320 | Here's one last way to say it.
00:08:20.080 | The Holy Spirit's work is spelled out in the promise of the new covenant in Ezekiel
00:08:25.720 | 36-27 like this, "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and
00:08:34.040 | be careful to obey my rules."
00:08:36.240 | Now that is the work of the Holy Spirit, which we just saw happens by revealing the glory
00:08:42.320 | of Jesus Christ.
00:08:43.320 | That's his work in this age, right now.
00:08:47.360 | But Luke 22-20 makes clear that Jesus bought this work, secured this work, obtained this
00:08:55.400 | new covenant work by shedding his blood.
00:09:00.080 | This cup is poured out for you as the new covenant in my blood.
00:09:06.580 | So the work of the Holy Spirit in power—and that's what we're being asked, "Couldn't
00:09:12.720 | he come in power while Jesus is still here?"—the work of the Holy Spirit
00:09:17.320 | in new covenant power happens only on the basis of the blood of Jesus.
00:09:24.520 | So I'll give my answer one more time, and maybe this time it'll make more sense.
00:09:29.600 | So Sam asks, "Couldn't the Spirit have come in full power while Christ was on the
00:09:37.400 | earth?"
00:09:38.400 | Here's my answer.
00:09:39.400 | He could not have come in full Christ-exalting, gospel-applying, new covenant-fulfilling,
00:09:48.880 | deepest sin-convicting—and that sin is the crucifixion of Jesus—deepest sin-convicting,
00:09:54.920 | Satan-defeating power.
00:09:57.040 | All of those aspects of the power of his ministry are based on the death, the resurrection,
00:10:05.240 | and the triumphant ascension of Jesus to God's right hand as King.
00:10:10.680 | Yeah, we get more of Christ in his absence through the Holy Spirit.
00:10:16.400 | And that's the beauty of the new covenant.
00:10:18.920 | Pastor John, thank you for those words.
00:10:21.120 | And just about everything you need to know about this podcast, you can find online at
00:10:24.920 | DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn.
00:10:29.720 | Well young couples face a lot of questions.
00:10:32.800 | Can they use birth control?
00:10:34.280 | Should they?
00:10:35.360 | Can the wife be the breadwinner in this season?
00:10:37.880 | Should she?
00:10:39.220 | Questions like these are faced by young couples in the transition years of finishing up school
00:10:42.600 | and launching into careers.
00:10:44.840 | And those two questions come to us as a package deal in one email that we'll address on Friday.
00:10:50.160 | I'm your host Tony Reinke.
00:10:51.160 | We'll see you then.
00:10:51.880 | [ Silence ]