Aaron Salisbury preaches on the image of the Holy Spirit at Rivers Apostolic Centre, Palm Sunday 2026
A Palm Sunday service at Rivers Apostolic Centre featuring a mission field update, healing testimonies, and a sermon by Aaron Salisbury on what it means to be made in the image of God the Holy Spirit.
Summary
This episode is a recording of the Palm Sunday morning service at Rivers Apostolic Centre. The service opens with communion, led by the senior pastor, who connects the Palm Sunday narrative in Matthew 21 with Psalm 118, drawing out the meaning of "Hosanna" as a cry for salvation and success. Jordan Field then gives a detailed update on a recent mission trip to Papua New Guinea, covering Bible school teaching, a youth camp attended by hundreds, follow-up camps for new believers, and a visit to a home caring for 65 homeless children in Port Moresby. Field also announces an upcoming trip to PNG the following week to assist with the first Lutheran youth conference in 40 years, a multi-day event featuring nightly main sessions and daytime presentations from legal, medical, and mental health professionals. The service also features healing testimonies from two congregation members — Damien, whose chronic back pain from a forklift accident 22 years prior disappeared after prayer, and Sue Gordon, whose abnormally slow heart rate normalised following prayer. The main sermon is delivered by Aaron Salisbury, who argues that humanity was created as the image of God the Holy Spirit, that sin caused a departure from that image, and that through Christ, believers are being restored and transformed back into their original design — moving from living for God's acceptance, to living from it, to living as the image of God.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Palm Sunday Communion and Opening Scripture
Pastor: Thank you, Jesus. His love gets a hold of us and we are never the same again. We are never the same again. He is awesome, awesome, awesome. Thank you, Jesus. We're in an amazing week this week in the kingdom. This is a time of great celebration, feasting and remembering. This morning we have a space in scripture that I just want to read for us. It comes from Matthew 21. Welcome to go there and read along if you'd like.
"And when they came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples on ahead, saying to them, go into the village that is opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall reply, the Lord needs them, and he will let them go without delay."
And the crowds that were ahead of him and those that followed him were shouting, Hosanna. Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven.
Hosanna. That word means save and make successful. Save and make successful. It means mercy in everything and success in everything. They're shouting to Jesus as he comes with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
And the amazing thing is just a few days later, Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room. They are sharing a Passover meal. And he is singing and they are quoting from a scripture that was read many, many years before, written apparently and probably by David, not really knowing the prophetic nature of what he was writing. But let's pick up in Psalm 118. All of it is amazing, and a lot of it we've been singing about this morning. So go and read the whole thing for yourself, but let's pick up in verse 25.
"Save now, we beseech you, O Lord. Send now prosperity, O Lord, we beseech you. And give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. You who come into his sanctuary under his guardianship. The Lord is God. Who has shown and given us light. Decorate the festival with leafy boughs and bind the sacrifices to be offered with thick cords."
Now read that again. Decorate the festival with leafy boughs and bind the sacrifices to be offered with thick cords. And little did David know that he was speaking about Jesus, who was going to be bound and who was going to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.
And today as we come to this table, we come to remember this most amazing event. Today we understand is Palm Sunday, because we think that the leaves that were put on the road were palm leaves. And as people threw their clothes down and as they threw the palm branches down, they were saying, Hosanna, Hosanna, save us, save us. Give us success in everything. Give us mercy in everything. And Jesus comes and he dies on a cruel cross, overcomes hell, death and the grave, and he saves us, that we might be saved, have success in everything, and amazingly have mercy in everything.
And then we are exhorted in Romans 12 verse 1, present yourselves as a living sacrifice, pure and holy before the Lord, because this is your acceptable and true worship.
Let's stand up this morning. If you're visiting with us, we come forward for communion. I'll ask Dave and Jason and Darren to just do the communion bread for us, break bread. And as we come this morning, I want us to remember Jesus and what he did for us. I want us to remember that he was bound and sacrificed on our behalf. But let us also bring ourselves this morning to him as a living sacrifice, which is our holy and acceptable worship before the Lord. Let's stand and come and let's partake together. If you have children with you, you're welcome to bring them up. And parents, it's in your hands around your children's taking of communion. And let's just remember that we ourselves are now the sacrifice, the living sacrifice, to be presented to the world as a testimony of what Jesus has done for us.
Thank you, Lord. The power in the broken body and the blood of Jesus. We celebrate it each week because he's worthy to be remembered.
Welcome Back and Mission Sunday Introduction
Well, we want to say welcome back to Jordan Field who's come back off the mission field. And welcome to Roz and Ash who've come with him this morning as well. Hallelujah. So good. We have Mission Sunday today, so there's a lot about missions.
Jordan Field's Papua New Guinea Mission Trip Report
Jordan Field: Morning, church. I'll do offering later, so what I thought I'll do is give you a quick update on the mission trip that I did two weeks ago now. So if I can have the slides, please. I just thought I'll give you a bit of an update and show you what happened during the trip to PNG.
So there were four reasons for my trip — there were five actually, but the fifth one didn't happen. I was meant to go to Wewak to visit Samaritan Aviation and spend some time with them. Their hangar was getting really old — it's an old hangar that they've taken over — so they wanted me to come and have a look. But that didn't happen because I got concerned about flying into Wewak and not being able to come out again. So I came straight through. God allowed four things to happen, and thanks for your prayers again. It was amazing. I could feel the prayers. And when God's people pray, you can feel it in the mission field. You know God's moving because stuff happens that you don't even know you could do. So God's able to do stuff when we just go.
So just quickly, getting there — in the past we should be able to fly into Ngugunak, but this time there were no MAF flights because all the grass was too tall. So it took eight hours to get there. That image on the left is a lot of creek crossings. By God's grace, I was able to get there in about eight hours from the nearest airport. The other image was about four hours out of Ngugunak on the way in to the airport — that's eight o'clock at night. We got stuck on the mountain and had to push the car, so that took ten hours to get back to the airport. We arrived at midnight in the nearest town.
The next image — when you get there, you've got to cross the river. So all the luggage needs to be carried across the river to Ngugunak. Fortunately for us, the river was only about waist high, and I got all my luggage carried across by the boys. Crossing the Jordan.
Bible School and Youth Camp
The next image is the Bible school. The first week was spent teaching at the Bible college. There were 11 students — most of them were third and fourth year students, but about four of them were first year. They do this every year from January to June. It's a Bible school for the local youth. I taught there for the week, three sessions a day and a devotional in the morning. That was amazing. That really was a good use of my time.
In this school, the leaders come in for the school with their wives and kids. They actually come and live on Ngugunak for those six months with the family. The next image is where the youth camp was. The stadium there is the high school's podium for the assembly hall — that's an outdoor one. It rains nearly every day in Ngugunak, as Royree and Dave would know, and those who've been there. But praise God, that weekend it did not rain. I saw the rain coming on the Friday night when we were meeting for the first session, and I just said, God, please send the rain around us. And sure enough, the rain went around us. It was amazing. It was raining around us, but it didn't rain in Ngugunak. So prayers work. Prayers work.
That's where the youth camp was held. I spoke — there's a little lectern there in the front — and most of my sessions were there. During the day they had games and other activities. We had about 300 to 400 during the day and probably about 600 to 700 at night time. We had a lot of people from the community come as well.
Sunday Gathering and Blessing of Leaders
Sunday was the biggest. We had probably over a thousand people there at the gathering. I was meant to leave about two o'clock on that day, on a Sunday. So I got all the leaders to come around and stand in the whole area with the youth leaders and the Bible school leaders. And we had all the new people who had come to the camp for the last five years — who have committed their life to Jesus and are following Jesus — come in the middle, and they blessed them and prayed for them. That was amazing. It was an anointed time. It was a blessing to honour the leaders as well as the people who have made a decision to follow Jesus.
Follow-Up Camps and Bible Distribution
As part of Faith Missions Giving, we gave some money towards the follow-up camp. After the camp is finished, the Bible school leaders go into the communities and follow up with the new believers and those who rededicated their life to Jesus. The night before they left, we gave about 30 Bibles as part of Faith Missions Giving. We paid for 30 Pigeon Bibles, which I took in, plus a lot of stationery for them to go through for the weekend.
They had two weekends of follow-up camp. They did one at Ngugunak and the other one in the rural community, where there were about 15 attendees at the camp and 11 of them gave their life to Jesus. So they followed them up with a follow-up camp. All in total, there were about 100 youth who came to the follow-up camp over the two weekends after the youth camp. Nearly 30 of them were first-time decisions who came back for the follow-up, which is amazing. And they gave out 35 Bibles from what we gave them. So it was amazing. Thank you again for praying.
Life PNG Care — Homeless Children in Port Moresby
The next image is a new one I haven't talked about before. I met this gentleman last year in July, and he runs an organisation called Life PNG Care. He looks after homeless kids in PNG. The pink house is where he lives. He's got upstairs and downstairs, and he's got 65 homeless kids who he looks after in that building, plus three of his own kids. So there are 68 kids in this house — girls upstairs and boys downstairs. This guy is an accountant. He works full-time as an accountant and looks after 68 kids with his wife in that house. And he runs the organisation which looks after 700 kids in PNG — homeless kids in PNG — paying for their school fees and uniforms to go to school.
The left image is where they study. There's a little hut — on the left side of that image — where the kids study, because he pays for all the school fees and they go to school. They can't study in the rooms because everyone sleeps everywhere in the house. That's the washing hanging on the fence line. They don't have a washing line. They hang it on the wire fence.
When I was talking to him, he said there are 60,000 homeless kids in Port Moresby alone. 60,000. And I said, what? Is that real? He said, yeah, it's real. There's a cave outside of Port Moresby where they live. During the night they live inside the cave, and then they come down into Moresby and beg on the streets. So over 60,000 kids are homeless in Port Moresby. It's a sad story.
They've got a school on the campus there, on that property. They pay for a teacher and she homeschools them — from kindergarten and primary age. So Zeke and Levi and I, we're taking some people and giving shoes, second-hand shoes, clothing. Margaret Jensen has been able to give us some clothes to take. We've got about 30 kilograms each of luggage to take. We'll go and give it to them next week.
Upcoming Lutheran Youth Conference in PNG
What's happening next week — we're going, and as you guys are aware, next Wednesday we're going, and Thursday night the conference starts with the Lutheran church. This is the first time in 40 years of Lutheran church history in PNG that they have never run a youth conference. So this is the first time, and they've created a shield. That emblem there is the shield for the camp. Every year they've got five congregations, so they'll put a badge on the blue image and pass the shield around as they run. So this is the first camp of many to come. I feel like God's on the move. And so what we're doing as a church is investing into what's happening in PNG.
The format for the conference is I'll be taking the main sessions on the nights and the mornings. During the day we're doing one-hour sessions. We've got well-known judges from Papua New Guinea presenting on law. We've got mental health specialists in the country coming to present on looking after your mental health and what help is available. We've got medical doctors coming to present on physical health. So we've got conferences running and our sessions running for three to four hours each day from Friday and Saturday. And then we're joining with them on the normal Sunday morning service and the Good Friday service. We'll be away from the 1st to the 6th of April. It would be really appreciated if you can pray with us. I am excited to take Levi and Zeke with me because I know God's got a plan.
Mission Giving Appeal and Prayer
One of the things that God's been putting on my heart for the last six months is about being transformed into the image of God more and more. In Psalm 19:1, God talks about the heavens declaring the glory of God. And Ephesians talks about it — we are created for God's glory. The purpose we are on this earth is to bring glory to God. And if you're not living that, if you're not bringing glory to God, why are we here? Because we were created for God's glory.
The last six months has been such a whirlwind of a journey for me because I'm seeing — why are we here on this earth? If we become a Christian, why aren't we just taken up to heaven? The reason we're here is because we are being transformed into God's image, and we're meant to take others with us. That's the heart of missions. The commission is part of that — that we go out and tell, and show, and live.
I challenge us all to continue to do what you can in your sphere. What can you do? What have you got in your hand that God can use? If Moses can use a stick to transform a nation — a stick, to bring Israel out of Egypt — what else can God do with what you have? Each one of us has been given something to use, whether it's a gift, a skill, whatever it is. Don't tell me you've got nothing. You have something that God can use to transform where you are and transform the people around you.
Money is one way, but there are a lot of other ways you can contribute. Change yourself first. Let God change you and then change those around you. As you come and give this Sunday, Mission Sunday, I want to just challenge us to ask God that one thing you've got that you can give. You can't say you're too old or too young. You can't say you don't have time. When I was up there, someone said, how are you able to do this? You must not be working. I said, I work full time. But you choose how you spend your time. You can choose to waste it or you can choose to honour God with it and use it for transformation.
Just ask God for one thing. Just ask God, what have I got in my hands that I can use to give to God so he can transform me and transform those around me? Because when you do that, God will give you something.
Father, I just pray for each and every one of us, Lord, as we commit to you what you have given us. Because the question that I feel you're asking is, what is it that is in your hands? That's like what you asked Moses all those years ago. What is in your hands that you can use today? So Father, as we commit that one thing, we ask that you would use it for your glory. Transform me, transform my surroundings, transform those around me so that we corporately and individually can bring glory to you as it was in the beginning. That in the beginning you created all things for your glory. Father, I thank you that we can use what we have in our hands to transform ourselves and transform those around us. We praise you. We give you glory for who you are and the fact that you can, you do, and you always will use whatever we give you to transform us and transform those around us. So Holy Spirit, we give you permission to work in our hearts, in our minds, to use what we have for your glory. May that be sacred. Whatever you have pointed out to us, may it be sacred and given over to you. Like that stick that turned water into blood and parted the Red Sea and even brought water out of rock. A stick. Lord, if you can use a stick to bring a nation out and save a nation, Lord, what else can you do with what we have? So Father, we give you praise and we give you honour. And Lord, as we give today of our finances and money, Lord, we pray you will bless that. You will use it for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Missions Giving Update and Appeal
Pastor: The figure that we've got in the Faith Missions Giving is $144,756. March's target was $162,000. So praise God for that. Amazing.
Just as you're preparing your things to come, I feel on the back of what James has been saying, we need to respond. We need to respond — what is your stick? What is it that you've got that you could use and haven't yet? Or maybe you have been using it, but there's something in your hand and there's a need, there's a cry in the heart of God for the nations of the earth. We've heard about Papua New Guinea today, but there are stacks of nations. Our focus has been on Papua New Guinea for many years and will continue to be, but I just want to make an appeal. I want you to respond today as you come. Just come and stay down the front. I'm going to pray over you.
I'm making an appeal for those who are willing to give more to missions. Maybe you can't go, but maybe you can. Maybe you've got money and you're just not giving any. There's an eternal weight — a kabod, a heaviness of the glory and the presence of God for the nations. Jesus said, all authority has been given to me. You go. But the preceding verse says, and when they saw him, they worshipped him. And in that context of worship, he said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Go into all the world. And sometimes we preach with good deeds and we show and we demonstrate the kingdom. Sometimes it's with the power of healing or one of the other gifts. And sometimes it's the plain preaching and teaching of the word of God that shifts a nation.
Father, today in the name of Jesus, some have given all they've got. But whatever it is that you're asking of us today, Father, I pray that with dedicated hearts and hands and feet and bank accounts we would be among those who did not withhold. We did not give what you didn't ask, but we did give what you did ask. So Father, I ask you to bless this today as people come to give to missions and tithes and offerings and whatever else. Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Introduction of Aaron Salisbury
So Aaron is going to bring us the word of the Lord today. Aaron, come on up.
The Kookaburras — A Sign of Double Anointing
Aaron Salisbury: Praise the Lord. The Lord is worthy. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is here, and we're just going to do some different and interesting things this morning, because the Spirit of the Lord is here, and when the Spirit of the Lord is here, it's important to get out of the way and let the Spirit of God do what the Spirit of God wants to do.
Katie, can you put that image up? Aren't they gorgeous? The reason I put that image up there is we have one kookaburra who comes to, he laughs and has a wonderful time in our backyard and just really encourages us each morning. And I got a lovely surprise when I got up this morning — I took that photo because there were two of them. And I thought, wow, two kookaburras. And you may be thinking, well, what's that got to do with anything?
Well, I think of any bird that really represents Australia, it's these guys. And the kookaburra is wonderful because he's got a wonderful laugh. Some people don't like it. I think it's amazing. I love the kookaburra's laugh. And I did a bit of research on the kookaburra. Do you know that the kookaburra symbolizes laughter, of course, but do you know the kookaburra also symbolizes healing? The kookaburra also symbolizes overcoming fear.
And this morning there wasn't one, there were two. Two means double. So there is a double anointing, and I speak the word of the Lord to you this morning. There is a double anointing of laughter that is going to come across the church. Joy. Some of the joy was breaking out this morning, but a whole lot more joy is coming. In fact, double portion is coming. Double portion healing is coming to the church. I'll say that again. Double portion healing is coming to the church. And what's so exciting is double portion overcoming fear is coming to the church.
Healing Testimonies
And I told you this morning was going to be a bit different, so I'm going to ask Damien to come and share with us first, and then Sue Gordon is going to come and share with us too.
Damien: Back in January, we actually turned up early for the service. Aaron was preaching. At the end of it, he said, anyone needs prayer. I had quite a bad forklift accident when I was 22. Did a fair bit of damage to my back. Over the years, tried everything — physio, acupuncture, anything and everything. Doctors kept saying, just take drugs. Don't like it. So pretty much dealt with it, I suppose. Turned it into a mentality that that's something I've got to live with.
A certain morning, it wasn't even come up front — just stand in your seat. And Charles, Sammy, and Darren prayed for me. And I literally sat down and it was gone. I hadn't slept a full night through in 22 years. And since then I've had one night that I've woken up, but it wasn't because of the pain in my back. So thank the Lord. Thank you for faith and thank you for the people for believing.
Aaron Salisbury: Hallelujah. Isn't he wonderful?
Sue Gordon: Good morning all. Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago, Aaron called for prayer for kidneys. I hesitated a bit because the kidneys is not one of my major issues. I hesitated and I thought, oh, that's not really a big thing. But I thought, nobody else is getting up, so it must be me. So I came out. Aaron prayed. I've not had a twinge in my kidneys since.
However, I have a whole raft of niggly conditions that are the result of a larger issue for which they cut my throat. And there's a whole testimony around how all of that happened. But what happened in the midst of Aaron's prayer was that another issue was also touched — one which I would not have responded to. I would not have thought, if he'd called out, if you have a heart issue, I would not have responded, because my heart issue I consider the least. It's the bottom rung of the issues. So I would not have responded.
However, in the process of dealing with issues, I've had to, over the last few weeks, be checking my blood pressure. There's not a problem with my blood pressure. However, on this blood pressure monitor there's a little heart and it measures your heart rate. And my very slow heart rate is now not very slow. A slow heart rate is apparently really good for elite athletes, which I am not. It is apparently not a good thing for fluffy middle-aged women. So I'm declaring that that is healed. And we know that God is Jehovah Shamma, Jehovah El Roi. He sees and he hears. And he responds to our level of faith. And he responded to mine and brought me out. He touched the one thing, but he also touched the other. Praise God.
Prayer for Healing
Aaron Salisbury: I need you to listen to me carefully because the Holy Spirit spoke to me exactly at 8:30 this morning. And what the Spirit of God said to me is, there's somebody here in the congregation — and I want you to listen carefully to this — and you're thinking, if only I could get prayer right now, God would heal me. If that's you, come to the front right now. Your heart's pounding. You say, if only I could get prayer right now, God would heal me. I know you're out there. Don't hold back. Just come right now.
Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. The Spirit of God is here. Lord, I thank you that you are the healer. You are the healer, Lord. Right now, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, let healing flow in Jesus' name. Let healing flow. Power of God flow. Just receive it. There's the Spirit of God. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
As God responds, just come a bit forward. There's more healing up the front here. Come a bit more forward. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, I just thank you that your power is here. Just lift your hands to the Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, right now. Power of God flow. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord, we just thank you for complete and total healing. Thank you, Father God, in the name of Jesus. Lord, let your power flow right now. Let his presence flow all over you right now. In Jesus' name. Thank you, Lord. Complete and total healing, Lord. You've done it before. You're going to do it again. Fire and wind, come do it again. Come rest on us. Rest on Lauren right now in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Father God, for your healing in Jesus' name. Thank you, Lord. There's the Holy Spirit. Oh Lord, I just thank you for your joy. God is so good. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Bless you. Praise the Lord. God is so good. Wow. Hallelujah.
Sermon: The Image of the Holy Spirit — Genesis 1
Well, this morning we're going right back to the very beginning, which is in Genesis chapter 1. If you have your Bibles, turn there. We're going to read right at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start, apparently. I'm going to be talking this morning about the image of the Holy Spirit.
It says in Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 to 2:
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
The Spirit was moving over the waters. Come rest on us, Lord. Hallelujah.
Genesis, go down to verse 26:
"Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
It says there in verse 2 the words "without form and void," which express one concept — there was chaos over the face of the earth. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Australia — Southland of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit of God is hovering over Australia right now. And I read this from Cole Stringer's book, Discovering Australia's Christian Heritage. He says this:
"Have you ever wondered why Australia was not colonized long before it was? Why didn't the Muslims colonize this place? After all, they were visiting our shores for hundreds of years before the Europeans came. What about the Hindus? They came and colonized Bali, which is but a few hundred kilometers across the Arafura Sea from Australia's north coast. Doesn't it seem strange that this huge continent was left untouched for thousands of years? It's almost as though this massive continent was invisible. I believe, like many of my ancestors, that God has kept this nation for himself for such a time as this."
In the year 1606, Captain Pedro Fernández de Quirós gave this continent the name Australia del Espíritu Santo, or literally, Southland of the Holy Spirit. Now in the Bible, Hebrew names not only talk about character, but also happenings and even the destiny of those granted that name. So what does this suggest for the destiny of Australia?
No other nation on earth has been blessed with the title Southland of the Holy Spirit. In fact, de Quirós's actual proclamation was as follows: "On this day of Pentecost, 14 May, 1606, I take possession of all this part of the South as far as the pole in the name of Jesus, which from now on shall be called the Southern Land of the Holy Ghost."
That was declared and prophesied by Captain Pedro de Quirós 420 years ago. He made that prophetic proclamation — Australia, the Southland of the Holy Spirit. So that, my fellow Aussies, is your national identity. It was prophesied on the 14th of May, 1606. I want that to wash over you for a moment. That is your identity.
Those two kookaburras that we saw the image of a few moments ago — they symbolize laughter, healing, and overcoming fear. And I believe in this time, we're in a place of the double anointing. And here's the double anointing. We personally are made in the image and likeness of God the Holy Spirit. And we live on the land — just stamp your feet — we live on the land blessed with the title that no other land has: Southland of the Holy Spirit. This is our identity. This is who we are.
Made in the Image of God — What Does That Mean?
Now, in verse 26 that we've just read in Genesis chapter 1, God's response to the chaos in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 is to bring divine order. What did God do? He created male and female according to his own image and according to his likeness. Verse 26 can also be translated this way: let us make man as our image, and according to our likeness. The Hebrew preposition in that phrase can be translated as "as." So who was God talking to when he said "us"? He wasn't talking to the angels, because we're not made in the image of the angels.
But what is the image of God? Well, the Scriptures tell us in John 4 verse 24 that God is Spirit. It says also in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 17, now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. God is very clear when he comes to describing his image that he is Spirit.
And I want to talk to you this morning about the fact that we are made in the image of God. We seem to relate clearly to God the Father — yeah, well, I can get that. And God the Son — well, of course, Christ came and showed us who God the Son is physically. But how connected are we with the fact that we are in the image of God the Holy Spirit? That's how we've been made. That's who we are.
Where's Sarah? Sarah, why don't you stand? Sarah knows that her dad will never embarrass her, so she's confident in that. But right there is the image of God standing up. Because Sarah is made in the image of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And here's what I love about the working of the Spirit of God. What I love about the moving of the Holy Spirit is you are made in the image of God. And as the Spirit moves and breathes on you, you become more you.
What I'm loving right now — can all the young adults please stand again? You guys are getting a lot of exercise because you're praying over people and stuff. The Spirit of God is moving very powerfully on the young adults. I want to encourage you, as I was encouraged before, to come along on Easter Sunday night because we have Stephen Scott all the way from New Zealand coming to share. But what was significant was the last Sunday night that we had — we had the meeting after the meeting. We had a great Sunday night service, but then people left. But these guys started to pray, and the Spirit of God began to move so powerfully upon them. There was all kinds of stuff happening all over the place. And it was the breath of God — just blew through this place — and wave after wave of the Spirit of God was moving. And some of you are hungry for the Spirit of God. I can sense it right now. So I want to encourage you to come on Easter Sunday because we're going to see another fresh move of the Spirit of God. Thanks, guys. You can take a seat.
The Second Commandment and Our Identity as God's Image
Exodus 20 lists the Ten Commandments. The first commandment says, you shall have no gods before me. And the second commandment says, you shall not make any carved images to be worshipped. We are forbidden to make images of God because God has already done so. We are his image. We are his likeness. You have been created as the image of God.
So what was the image of God commanded to do? Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over all the creeping things on the earth. What's interesting is it doesn't say have dominion over one another. So what on earth happened? Well, sin and falling short happened.
Romans 3:23 says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have all sinned, and we've fallen short of the glory of God. But good news — read on. Romans 6 verse 23 says, for the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We can choose this morning the wages of sin — and by the way, Satan pays lousy wages — or we can say yes to the free gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
If you don't have eternal life through Jesus Christ this morning, at the end of the service we're going to give you an opportunity to become thoroughly born again by the Spirit of God.
Restored to the Image — Living For, From, and As
What takes place when we accept this free gift, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ? Because something happens when we say yes to God and we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What happens is you are restored. You are restored to the image and likeness of the design God created for you. Everyone who has accepted Christ has the Spirit of God within. You are sealed and guaranteed.
I want you to look at 2 Corinthians 1 verse 21. It's a great scripture because in verses 21 and 22, we have the whole Godhead represented. It says there:
"Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
We who are in Christ are being transformed into what we were originally created as. This is the powerful thing about the image of the Spirit. As you become more and more like God, as the Spirit of God blows over the church, we become more us. So Sarah is becoming more Sarah. You are becoming more you. And that's exciting. I'm watching these young adults and they're becoming more themselves. Some of you think, well, that's a bit scary. No, no, no — we've got it so wrong. That's exciting when you become more you, because you are the image of God and you are the image of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit breathes on God's people, God the Holy Spirit transforms us into our original design. You are becoming more you. That's your original design.
Let's look at 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18. It says, being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. In this season, we are transitioning from glory to glory to the image of God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit is transitioning us from one of two stages into a third stage. We are either living for, living from, or living as.
In Ephesians 1 verse 6, it says, God has made us accepted in him. So why are we still trying to get God's acceptance? That's called living for. That's called hoping we're doing enough to gain God's approval. There are others that are living from God's acceptance, which is far better than living for it. But the fullness of who God created you to be was to live as the acceptance of God. You have been created as the image of God, to live as accepted in the beloved — not for the image of God, not from the image of God, but as the image of God.
Let me give you another example. Ephesians 2 verse 6 says, we are seated in Christ in heavenly places. Why are so many who have been born again still hoping for a seat? Why are we saying, I hope one day in heaven there's a seat for me? Others are living from a seat, but we have been raised up together to live as seated, to live from that place in Christ Jesus.
Tetelestai — It Is Finished
Turn to John chapter 19 verse 30. It records when Jesus died on the cross. In the original Greek, he said the word tetelestai, which means it is finished. Jesus never said, I am finished. He said, it is finished. What Jesus declared was witnessed by those standing around the cross. It was witnessed with a temple curtain being torn from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split open, and the dead came up out of the graves.
The word tetelestai is a fascinating word because it's actually used in business. The word tetelestai is used to signify that a debt was paid or has been paid completely. Jesus was declaring that our debt — humanity's debt of sin — was completely satisfied, requiring no more sacrifice.
So I want to dig a bit deeper right now on this thing of us being as the image of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to live as the image of God the Holy Spirit? I want you to turn in your Bibles to John chapter 17. I want to read verses 20 to 23. Jesus prays what has been known as the high priestly prayer. And he says these words before he went to the cross:
"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me."
Oneness is doneness. As the image of the Holy Spirit, as the image of God the Holy Spirit, I am a living tetelestai. You are a living tetelestai. You shouldn't be trying to earn what you already have because the price is already paid. The debt is fully settled. That's why you're called a human being, not a human doing.
Oneness is sonness. As the image of God, I am a son of God the Holy Spirit. I want to talk to you about sonship. I didn't really understand sonship at all until my beautiful boys, Joel and Michael, came along. Sonship means your family. And sonship means you have full access to dad's fridge, dad's wardrobe, and dad's car. After all, you are a son. You have the DNA of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Sonship — The Story of Joel and Michael
Oneness is now in your account. Years ago when Wendy and I were pastoring the Baptist Church — Glenham Baptist Church in New Zealand — by the grace of God, after years and years of working and praying and believing, the Spirit of God came and breathed on that church in the most wonderful way. To the point where so many people were coming into the church, I had to ask the church secretary to screen people coming in, because I was not being given time to prepare a message. And the church building that we were in was an old wooden building. If someone walked down the hall, it would just echo through the building. And I used to recognize the different footfalls. I knew who was coming. I could always tell if it was a visitor because the footfall would be very gentle, very peaceful. But if someone was confident and knew they should be there, it was very different.
And I always knew when Michael and Joel were turning up to church because they couldn't care less about any protocol at all. They stormed past the secretary and ran down the hallway, thundering. And they would burst into the office. They don't need no appointment. And they would run around behind my desk and start opening the drawers looking for lollies and looking for chocolate. And they would look in the drawers and they'd look at me and say, what kind of pastor are you anyways? Where are the lollies? Where are the chocolates? That's what dads do — they give lollies and they give chocolates.
And I looked at these two and I thought to myself, yeah, they know. They know their dad. They know they've been made in the image of their father. They know in their DNA they're sons. And they can bolt right in, past the protocol, past the secretary.
You know when you're calling some organisation and it's press one, press two, press three, please wait, your call is very valuable to us, but we're going to make you wait for another hour? You wait and wait. But isn't it wonderful with the Lord? There's no secretary. There's no on hold. There's no waiting. You can burst into the throne room. And this is what it means to be in the image of the Holy Spirit — we can go right in. We don't have to wait. We don't have to worry about protocol. And as I watch my two little boys, they knew who they were. They had identity. They could burst right on in.
The Holy Spirit Within and Upon
Ephesians chapter 1 verses 13 and 14 speaks of being sealed with the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said in John chapter 20 verses 21 and 22, he said to them, peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this to them, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.
We are made in the image of the Holy Spirit. But I want to tell you this morning, there's more. There's more the Spirit wants to do. Jesus breathed on his disciples just like the breath of God was breathed on Adam in Genesis 2 verse 7, and Adam became a living being. Here the disciples were sealed with God the Holy Spirit by the breath of the resurrected God the Son and became the living church. We are the living church. We have been sealed in the Holy Spirit. Oneness now is in our account. The disciples had that oneness breathed into their account in John 20 verse 22.
Now, that oneness was great and wonderful and powerful, but there's more. That oneness is to be loved. That oneness is to be enjoyed. That oneness is to be experienced. And Jesus went on to say in Acts 1 verse 8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Spirit is within me, but he's upon me for you. The Holy Spirit is within us who believe, but for many the Holy Spirit stays within. But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, he empowers you with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 verses 8 to 11.
Among the gifts are the gifts of knowledge and also the gifts of healings, which happened with Damien and Sue. The Spirit of God came upon me and gave me, firstly, the gift of knowledge, and secondly, the gift of healings. This demonstrated the image and likeness of God the Holy Spirit and showed that oneness is given to be lived, enjoyed, and experienced.
We live in a world where the image and likeness of God is mocked. So our response as the people of God should be overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. That's why we had testimony this morning, because testimony overcomes.
Like those laughing kookaburras who visited this morning — there's something about them. When they laugh, it's like we're laughing at the enemy. Do you know kookaburras kill snakes? They're very useful to have around.
Invitation — Living, Enjoying, and Experiencing the Holy Spirit
For those who've accepted Jesus Christ this morning, God the Holy Spirit's image and likeness is within you. And that image, as I said, is to be lived, enjoyed, and experienced. God the Holy Spirit is here this morning. And he wants you to live, enjoy, and experience him. God the Holy Spirit wants to empower you to serve him and live for him effectively.
Let's stand this morning. Everyone stand to your feet. The Spirit of God is here. But before I pray for people, I'm aware that this morning there's someone — there could be more than just someone — who's come into this place this morning and you, if you're honest with yourself, if you search your heart, you don't have peace with God. I'm not asking you, do you come to church? I'm not asking you, do you even read your Bible? I'm not asking you if you think you're a good person. What I'm asking you is, before you turn off your bedside light and go to sleep at night, do you have peace with God?
And the wonderful thing is this morning, you can have peace with God. You can have that peace within. Just as our heads are bowed right now, our eyes are closed and we're focusing on the Lord. If you don't know Jesus Christ this morning as Lord and Savior, I've got great news for you. You can. You can have peace with God. And it's not just a feeling. It's a peace that passes understanding. And that can be yours this morning.
So if you don't have peace with God, you're in turmoil. Your heart is pounding right now. But you'd love to have peace with God. You'd love to have that image of the Holy Spirit burning inside of you and real. I'm going to ask you to do something maybe you've never done before. While our heads are bowed and while we're focusing on the Lord, I just want you to raise your hand in this place. Just put your hand up right now if you don't have that peace with God. I just want you to raise your hand and say, Lord, I want that peace with you.
There's something else I want to do this morning, and that is to pray for people who know the image of the Holy Spirit is there, but they want the Holy Spirit within them to be lived, to be enjoyed, and to be experienced. Because as I said earlier on, I know the double portion is coming of laughter. Double portion is coming of healing — oh, it's coming. We've seen healing already, as you heard this morning, but there's a whole lot more coming. And the double portion of overcoming fear is coming. Just like those two little guys came and sat on my fence this morning — oh, it's coming.
You feel the Spirit of God on you now? Why don't you just come forward? If you feel the Spirit of God is moving on you, just come forward right now. Just come and stand up the front. I'm not going to prescribe. I just want the Spirit of God to come and be the Spirit of God. Come on, young adults, you should be up here. Come, come now.
Thank you, Jesus. Prayer team, won't you come and stand with me because we're going to minister to some people this morning. Hallelujah. The Spirit of God is here. Hallelujah. Keep coming, keep coming. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.
Standing up the front, just raise your hands to the Lord because the Spirit of God is here. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, come. There's a fresh wind of the Spirit in this place this morning. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord, we give you full access to our hearts right now. Full access, Lord. Fire and wind, come and do it again. Open the gates, let heaven on in. Come rest on us, Lord. Come rest on us, Lord, all over again. All over again. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
If you raised your hand to accept Christ this morning, I'd like you to come up the front too. I'd like to pray with you and for you. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah.