One Spirit to drink...

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

Genesis 11:5-7

After the great flood of Genesis the peoples of earth shared a common language and came together on the plane of Shinar and decided that they would do what sinful human nature will always do when given the chance - they attempted to elevate themselves to God's level. Here's what they said to one another, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves..."

In this passage of scripture God acknowledges the power of men, working in concert, to accomplish great evil. Obviously these peoples were moving toward something that God could not allow and His answer was to confuse their speech and break them up linguistically so they could not ALL work together to accomplish this evil thing.

As with just about every sinful behavior in the Old Testament, there is a New Testament redemption of and reversal of this event. After the coming of Christ and the ultimate way of redemption for mankind, God needs redeemed individuals to work in concert - every tribe and tongue - to accomplish his will of the redemption of all mankind. What God needs is an organization like Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

As I was reading in Acts 2 and pondering what happened at the day of Pentecost last night, the Lord revealed to me this marvelous reversal he accomplished through the Spirit so that His will in spreading the Gospel would be accomplished:

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment,because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

After Peter explained to them the Gospel, the scripture recounts that about three thousand people were added to the church that day, many of whom I am sure went home and shared with others, spreading the message of Christ all over the known world!

Lord-

As I come back to your Word again and again today let it speak to me in new ways - ways which I have not before considered. Let it impress upon me your will, the completeness of your working, your unimaginable complexity. Let me become immersed in your thoughts, led of your Spirit to a new understanding of the intricacy of your plan - the sheer awesomeness of your Living Word unfolding before my very eyes!

As a body, Lord, as one church let us work together using the same heart language - the language of the Holy Spirit - to accomplish your will of the redemption of all mankind!