In additon to the other promises that believers enjoy, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit’s presence with us. Our lives do not end, after all, the day we claim the new birth offered through Christ. John Wesley, who began the Methodist revival, taught that such a moment comes when God declares that our just punishment for law-breaking is forgiven. We find ourselves justified, born all over again or from above or anew so that we may be part of God’s new creation.
As new creations of God’s grace, our past no longer haunts us. We understand that we are free from the soul-crushing burden of thinking that we have to earn God’s love. We can start to grow into the new creation ourselves. This is new for the world. This is new for us. We will learn what all the newness means as we journey with Christ on our way.
If we are to learn, then we will want a teacher. Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit will teach us everything we need. The Spirit will teach us who we really are. We will learn both our destination and our purpose on our journey through life. We will learn to live in the new creation birthed at Pentecost. We will learn how to be new creations ourselves, continuing on the journey Jesus began for us. On our journey we will cooperate with the Holy Spirit and grow into spiritually mature people.
Jesus also promises us the luxury of learning because we will know God’s peace. God’s peace is the heart knowledge that we can do nothing to make God love us less or love us more. With that awareness at our center, we live and love abundantly in holy peace.