Scripture refers to the Jordan River almost 200 times, often as a crossing point or a boundary marker. You remember Joshua and the new generation of Israelites? Picture them: they stood nearing the end of a long journey, at the threshold of reaching the land flowing with milk and honey. There they stood with only this waterway separating them from the Promised Land (Joshua 3:14-17). It was also this same river that Elijah struck its waters and it parted, allowing him and Elisha to cross over on dry ground.

Have you been to Israel? Well, I haven’t; but what I read was that most of the year, the Jordan River is only a stream that can be easily forded. However, during the harvest season, that little stream transforms into a mighty torrent that overflows and floods the surrounding plains. Guess when God chose for the Israelites to cross the River? Yes, right at the flooding stage! Crossing the Jordan was a defining moment for Israel—a time of commitment, a time of ending an era and entering another. God was challenging Joshua and the Israelites to cross over in faith and with a demonstration of His power.

As we journey from Gilgal, through Bethel and Jericho, we finally arrive at Jordan. Gilgal is the cutting of the flesh and dying to our self-life, for these are hostile to the things of God and the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). From Gilgal we move to Bethel, where we begin to experience the presence of God, and to be enthralled with His love and His power. When we hit walls and other forms of resistance in our spiritual journey, we come face to face with strongholds at Jericho. As these begin to be torn down, we finally move on to Jordan—the edge of the Promised Land of the abundant life. At Jordan, we embrace our full identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

Romans 6:3-4  

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

This means that when Jesus died, we died with Him. We die to our self-life, putting it to death and burying it, and rise in the newness of life that Christ gives us. Therefore, Jordan is living the resurrected life which is the Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered life.

The Holy Spirit has always been at work in the lives of saints throughout Scripture. In both the Old and New Testaments, He comes upon those yielded to Him to do works of ministry, from prophets, priests and kings in the Old Testament to the New Testament believers.

The Holy Spirit anoints us in two ways: within us, and upon us.

When we are born again, we receive the anointing within—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The anointing within only occurs after Pentecost. Every New Testament believer has the Holy Spirit within (1 Corinthians 6:19). This is the fulfilment of the promise of the Lord to His disciples that when He rose from the dead, He will send another Helper like Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer (John 14:16-18).

We are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). The indwelling Holy Spirit is also our Counsellor and Comforter (John 14:26, the Amplified Bible - AMP). He guides us in our relationship with God to grow in Christ-likeness, so as to transform our lives to His image on earth (Romans 8:29 & Galatians 4:19). How do we know this is happening? Well, this happens when we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives as Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”.

We also have the anointing of the Holy Spirit coming upon us. Here, the Spirit empowers us to live victoriously and to serve Him. This is primarily for the benefit of others; Jesus, too, was anointed by the Spirit before He began His ministry at the age of 30 (Luke 3:21-23). Although Jesus is God, when He became a man and lived on earth, He put aside His divine glory and depended totally on the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the model for us, showing us the way to delight the Father and living a victorious life.

This anointing upon is also known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit coming upon us (Acts 1:8) or being filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:4). The word ‘baptism’ literally means ‘immersion’. And to be immersed or baptised in the Spirit is to be filled with His power. The anointing upon requires total surrender and dependency on the Holy Spirit for the strength of God. The outcome of this anointing is to have the strength to do the things which are not within our human ability (Philippians 4:13), to abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8), and to carry out any ministry for God’s kingdom purposes.

Unlike the anointing within, the anointing upon is not permanent and must be continually topped up, like petrol in a car. How can we be filled with the Spirit? By seeking the Lord and asking Him to fill us with His love (Galatians 5:6b). When we experience His love in all its dimensions (Ephesians 3:18-19a), and are filled with the Holy Spirit, His power works in and through us (Ephesians 3:20).

Then why does God fill us with the Holy Spirit?

1. To overcome sin and live victoriously

Spiritually, we are pulled down by the law of sin and death when we are constantly tempted and give in to sin, be it to steal, covet, lust, lie or gossip. When our conscience reminds us that certain actions or thoughts are wrong, we try to overcome these sins by the law of the will and mind by using our own efforts to change. We exercise self-control and will ourselves not to fall into that particular sin.

But after a while, will power fades and we are likely to regress back into sinful behaviour. By itself, the mind cannot overcome the law of sin and death (Romans 7:15-17). How then can spiritual ‘gravity’ be overcome? In a similar way to physical gravity—like how the laws of aerodynamics allow aircraft to fly, the law of the Spirit of life helps us to overcome the ‘gravity’ of our sins. We can never overcome sins in our life except by the Holy Spirit. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace”. Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, our sinful nature no longer dominates us.

2. To be effective witnesses for God

Besides changing our character, the Holy Spirit helps us testify as God’s witnesses. As Jesus promised, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

We can all practise relational evangelism, where we connect with pre-believers, by first getting to know them informally and socially (Luke 10:1-9). Once we have established a relationship, we will be able to minister, and share the gospel when people share their needs with us. All of us need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to give us courage, boldness and wisdom to be salt and light wherever we are.

3. To minister God’s specific grace

Jesus Himself totally depended on the Holy Spirit for His ministry (Luke 4:18-19). As we commit the ministry to the Lord, we ask the Holy Spirit to anoint us. We are then enabled and empowered to minister God’s grace in specific situations. Paul reminds us that God’s grace is always sufficient for our needs and His strength will perfect our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

What are some struggles which demonstrate the law of sin and death at work in your life? Oh! I know there’re many in mine! Recall your personal encounters of the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon you. In the next episode, we will look into the second part of the last milestone at Jordan—“How To Be Spirit-Filled And Spirit-Empowered”.

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