Count the Omer – Countdown to Pentecost: Day 41

Matthew 1:20 “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” NIV

Would you agree that Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, the only begotten (unique, one of a kind, of the same divine nature of God) – was conceived by the Holy Spirit? Would you agree that you can’t get much closer than that? Would you also agree that Jesus is the Second Person in the Triune nature of God – fully equal to God? Yet the greatest mystery of all time is what is recorded in Php. 2:5-11 when he referenced Jesus emptying Himself of equality with God. Jesus, Almighty God, became one of us – a Son of Adam. He was fully God, and fully man. Yet, He limited His divinity when He lived as a man. In a sense you could say He was God with His arms behind His back.

Would you also agree that God needs nothing? He is the sum total of all existence, provision and life. Yet, Jesus, the Man – experienced thirst, hunger, pain, weariness, heartache, etc. The God Who needed nothing became as nothing in need of something. What was the something He needed as a man? Obviously He needed food, liquids, companionship, and rest – just to name a few. Scripture said He needed the Father. But there was one more vital thing His life was missing. What was that one thing? Luke 3:22 answers the question:”…and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 4:1, 14 records the rest: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,..Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

News about Jesus really didn’t begin to spread until He was filled with the Spirit. Selah – Pause and think about that. No one really knew His power for ministry until He was filled with the Spirit. Jesus, the Son of Man, needed the Holy Spirit to accomplish the assignment the Lord had for Him. Selah – Pause and think about that. Would you agree that Jesus needed to pray, to read and study the Word, to attend synagogue (church), to fellowship with other believers, to worship, to give, sacrifice, obey, and to serve? Jesus, the Son of Man, did.

Why do we NEED a countdown to Pentecost? Because, like Jesus – the Man – we are sons and daughters of Adam too. If Jesus needed all these things then we must conclude we need them too. But guess what? Apart from the Holy Spirit all these things become meaningless. Jesus, the Man, needed the Holy Spirit. More specifically He needed the Baptism and Infilling of the Spirit. If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit Baptism and Infilling – don’t you think you do too? 

Making the Omer  – “count” is synonymous with saying, Make the Word of Life count! Make it matter. Make Jesus, the Word of God, count! Do you make Jesus’ life count? Does His Life in you matter? Does Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension matter – to you? Does Eternal life matter – to you? Have you made it count? Have you made the count?