The Jesus-Shaped Spirit: How Easter Changes our God Conversations

Deborah was standing in worship one morning when in her mind’s eye, she saw a vision of a large cross projected onto the crowd. As she watched the vision unfold, she became aware that the Holy Spirit was moving through the template of the cross like dough being pressed through a cookie cutter.

Deborah’s vision powerfully shows how Easter shapes our God conversations. Every word of the Holy Spirit comes through the template of the cross. As Jesus said before he left the earth, the Spirit would only speak in a way that points to him (John 16:13-14). Specifically, the Spirit would remind us of what Jesus said (John 14:26) and then speak about what was to come (John 16:13). 

This Jesus shaped “template” applies to all three years of Jesus ministry, but most particularly to the events of Easter. The cross represents the pinnacle of God’s mission on earth, capturing God’s heart and manner in a way no other action could. It was through the cross that God’s nature was most vividly demonstrated (Romans 5:8).

Cross-Shaped Outcomes

This understanding of Jesus’ message shapes our God conversations two thousand years later. It means that every claim to Spirit revelation must pass through the template of Jesus’ self-sacrificial love. Everything the Spirit says will be consistent with the teachings and actions of the Living word Jesus. “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father,” Jesus said (John 14:9). We know it’s God when it sounds like Jesus. 

Understanding our God conversations in the light of Jesus makes all the difference to the outcome. When we hear from God and act on it, the result will always look like Jesus. Our God conversations will produce the fruit of the Spirit, extend God’s mission and bring the kingdom from heaven to earth.

This means the discernment of our experiences is crucial. Every claim to revelation must be tested against the standard of Jesus. This is different to testing them against the standard of the Scriptures. You may have heard this said in church life. The intention is good. We must never lose the priority of the Scriptures as it is through them that we know about Jesus! 

What’s more, when we say test our experiences “against Scripture,” that is not what we mean. We actually mean… test them against the character of God as revealed in Scripture. And what is the character of God revealed in Scripture? Jesus, the living Word, the perfect image of the invisible God! (Col. 1:15).

Non Cross-Shaped Outcomes 

Tragically, this truth has often been forgotten throughout church history. People have missed the main point of Scripture’s story by testing their revelatory claims “against Scripture” rather than the One to whom it points. The outcomes have been nothing like Jesus or his mission.

Think of the early pilgrims who made their way across the Atlantic ocean to settle in the lands of North America. Pleading divine inspiration, they aligned themselves with ancient Israel, quoting verses from 2 Samuel and viewing the native Americans as the faithless Canaanites who stood in the way of their promised land. Slaughter and genocide was the result.

Think of Oliver Cromwell in mid-17th century England who led an army into war to “purify” England, overthrowing parliament and executing the king. Like the pilgrims, Cromwell aligned himself with the example of Joshua and the Israelites. Ethnic cleansing and the mass murder of over half a million men, women and children was the result.

Think of the slave holders of 1950s North America who claimed divine revelation to justify the kidnapping and enslavement of thousands of Africans. Or the colonialists of 19th and 20th C Australia, who forcibly removed children from their indigenous parents. Both the American slave holders and the Australian colonialists derived their inspiration from references to the curse of Ham in the early chapters of Genesis. Generational trauma, endemic racism and widespread poverty was the result.

Or in more recent days, think of the prosperity teachers and TV evangelists who promise financial increase when we send cheques to their ministries. Such preachers draw their inspiration from passages in Deuteronomy that focus on material rather than spiritual blessings. Greed, disillusionment and consumerism in the name of God is the result.

The Clarity of Jesus

Perhaps now it is easier to appreciate the gift of Jesus’ incarnation and passion. Because of Jesus, we know that these horrific actions made in the name of God could never have arisen from God’s heart. In Jesus, we see with perfect clarity.

So when Jesus said, “love your enemies and do good to those who hurt you” (Matt. 5:44), he was making it clear to all of God’s people that genocide was never his plan. When Jesus said, “blessed are the poor in Spirit” (Matt. 5:3), he was pointing to an eternal type of wealth that valued humility and mercy above material belongings. When Jesus treated Canaanites, Romans and Gadarenes with as much compassion and respect as Jews, he was making clear that God has never played favourites. And when Jesus breathed his last on a Roman cross to defy the evils of the world, he was demonstrating that love is and has always been his response.

Of course, it’s not that God wasn’t at work in the time of Ancient Israel. It’s not that people weren’t following God or that we can’t learn from their lives. Scripture’s purpose is to tell us God’s story through Israel’s eyes. 

But before Jesus, as the writer of Hebrews describes it, that picture was in “shadow” (Hebrews 10:1). The Old Testament describes Israel’s growing understanding of the nature and character of God against the backdrop of the ancient pantheon. Was Yahweh like Molech who demanded child sacrifice? Or like Baal who was focussed on material prosperity? Was Yahweh violent and warlike like Anat? Or gendered like Asherah? Was Yahweh tribal, favouring one nation above the other? Or was Yahweh contained in temples and geographic features? 

All of these questions are answered in Jesus. Scripture shows how the cross of Jesus removes the shadows and brings God’s light. God has always been the lamb who was slain “before the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). God’s essence has always been love, “today, yesterday and forever” (Heb. 13:8). As we celebrate Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus, may we never become confused. The message of the Spirit will always come through the shape of the cross.