Living in the Image of God M05S05
The bible provides understanding that God can communicate with an individual using several methods and chooses the method that is effective for a person and circumstance. In one example, he sent an angel to Philip to deliver a directive regarding interaction with an Ethiopian and, later, provided a second instruction directly to Philip through the Holy Spirit. In a second example regarding the Peter-Cornelius meeting; God sent an angel to Cornelius in a vision to deliver a directive that he should invite Peter to his home; interacted with Peter in a vision to convey a message that Gentiles are entitled to receive the Gospel; and later informed Peter through the Holy Spirit to accept an invitation from three men that had arrived to see him. In the interactions, God used two different methods to communicate two messages of different complexity to the same person. The study includes Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: that every person can receive the Holy Spirit; who connects directly to the Spirit of God, receives instructions from God, and interprets the instructions to provide God guidance and directives.
In this bible study, we discuss several examples to understand that God communicates with individuals using several methods. He chooses the method of communication that is effective for a person and circumstance.
We discuss an example regarding interactions between the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian Minister of the Treasury, when Philip received God guidance and directive to meet and interact with the minister, for the purpose of delivering the Gospel to him. God provided the instructions to Philip using two methods of communication, for the same person in different circumstances. First, he sent an angel to Philip to deliver the initial directive. Second, he delivered an instruction to Philip directly through the Holy Spirit.
In a second example, we discuss interactions regarding a meeting between Peter and Cornelius, when God sent Peter to deliver the Gospel to Cornelius. To prepare Cornelius for the meeting, God sent an angel to him in a vision to deliver a directive that he should invite Peter to his home. Thereafter, God used two encounters to prepare Peter. First, he interacted with Peter in a vision to convey a philosophical message that Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) are entitled to receive the Gospel. Second, he informed Peter through the Holy Spirit that three men had arrived to deliver an invitation to him, the invitation was of God, and he should accept. In the interactions with Peter, God used two different methods to communicate two messages of different complexity to the same person.
The study concludes with information from Paul’s letter to Corinthians, regarding communication with God through the Holy Spirit. He informed the Corinthians, and us today, that every person can receive the Holy Spirit. Further, the Holy Spirit connects directly to the Spirit of God, receives instructions from God, and interprets the instructions to provide God guidance and directives to the person. Thus, every person can receive and follow God guidance and directives. Please watch the video discussion for more information regarding communicating with God through the Holy Spirit.
Communication with Philip
God wanted to provide directives to Philip, that he should meet and interaction with an Ethiopian minister. Philip was in Samaria at the time. The Ethiopian Minister of the Treasury was travelling in a chariot on his way back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem.
First, God sent an angel to Philip, with a message to direct Philip toward the Ethiopian: “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza’” [Acts 8:26]. God wanted Philip to go in a certain direction toward a specific road. He chose to send an angel to deliver the instruction to Philip. Philip received and followed the directive. After Philip saw the Ethiopian, God instructed him to approach closer to interact with him. This time, he spoke to Philip directly through the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it’” [Acts 8:29].
Philip moved closer to the man, initiated conversation, and accepted the man’s invitation to join him in the chariot [Acts 8:30–31]: “Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”
In these events, Philip received God guidance and directive to meet and interact with the Ethiopian minister, for the purpose of delivering the Gospel to the minister. God provided the instructions using two methods of communication, for the same person in different circumstances. He sent an angel to Philip to deliver the initial directive. Then, he delivered the second instruction directly through the Holy Spirit.
Directive to Cornelius
The second example for the study describes how God set up a meeting between Cornelius and Peter. An angel appeared to Cornelius in a vision and delivered a message to him to send men to Joppa to invite Peter to his house [Acts 10:3–6]: “One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’ Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked. The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.’”
Cornelius was a battalion commander in the Roman army at Caesarea. He was devout and God-fearing. He distinctly saw an angel of God, therefore, recognized that he was in the presence of God as he interacted with the angel. The bible passage introduces Cornelius as a regular person, such that his experience in the events describes a potential experience for any regular person. After the angel left, Cornelius obeyed the instructions immediately and sent three men to Joppa to invite Peter to his home.
Preparing Peter to Interact with Cornelius
God had an interaction with Peter to prepare him (Peter) for the meeting with Cornelius. Peter had gone to an upper room to pray and fell into a trance. That is, he found himself in a state of consciousness between being awake and asleep, with reduced personal control [Acts 10:9–10]: “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.”
In the trance, he saw a rectangular sheet, similar to a football field, lowered from heaven by its four corners. The sheet contained four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then, a voice told him to “get up, kill, and eat” [Acts 10:11–13]: “He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’”
Peter refused the offer to kill and eat; because the animals, reptiles, and birds appeared impure and unclean according to his judgment [Acts 10:14]: “‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’” The voice told him: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” [Acts 10:15]. The event occurred three times before the sheet was withdrawn back to heaven.
To understand Peter’s vision, note that he recognized the voice that talked to him as the voice of God. Also, he was concerned that the command to kill and eat would violate accepted norms of his community. In response, the voice assured him that the command was of God and he has to accept as clean whatever God declares clean. Through the interaction, God delivered a philosophical message to Peter that every person is entitled to receive the Gospel: Jews and Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) alike. Therefore, he should be prepared to take the Gospel wherever God sent him.
Another Encounter with Peter
God spoke to Peter again after the vision to prepare him to receive the messengers from Cornelius. He had come out of the vision and was still thinking about it when the Holy Spirit told him that three men were at the gate looking for him. Further, the Holy Spirit told Peter that he should not hesitate to go with the men, because God sent them to invite him [Acts 10:19–20]: “While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’”
Lessons from Peter Interactions with God
We can learn two lessons based on Peter’s interactions with God regarding the meeting with Cornelius. Peter had two encounters with God to prepare him for the meeting. The first encounter consisted of elaborate interactions to convey a philosophical message to Peter that Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews) are entitled to receive the Gospel. The second encounter occurred to inform Peter that God sent the three men that had arrived to deliver an invitation to him.
In the interactions, God used two different methods to communicate two messages of different complexity to the same person, thus providing the first lesson from the interactions: that God chooses the method of communication that is effective for a person and circumstance. This lesson also is illustrated through God’s interactions with Philip.
The second lesson from the interactions is that God would prepare a person to receive a message from another person, if there could be grounds to doubt the messenger. To understand, recall that three men came to tell Peter that God told their master to invite him. However, Peter did not know them or their master. Therefore, before they arrived, God informed Peter that he sent them [Acts 10:19–20]: “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Paul’s Message Regarding the Holy Spirit
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul explains that every person has a spirit and can receive the Holy Spirit to communicate directly with the Spirit of God [1 Corinthians 2:11–12]: “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
The Holy Spirit in a person connects directly to the Spirit of God, receives instructions from God, and interprets the instructions to provide God’s guidance and directives [1 Corinthians 2:13–14]: “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
Thus, every person can receive the Holy Spirit and, therefore, can receive and follow God’s guidance and directives through the Holy Spirit. Please watch the video discussion for more information regarding communicating with God through the Holy Spirit.
Summary of What We Learned
The bible provides understanding that God can communicate with an individual using several methods and chooses the method that is effective for a person and circumstance.
In one example, he sent an angel to Philip to deliver a directive regarding interaction with an Ethiopian and, later, provided a second instruction directly to Philip through the Holy Spirit.
In a second example regarding the Peter-Cornelius meeting; God sent an angel to Cornelius in a vision to deliver a directive that he should invite Peter to his home; interacted with Peter in a vision to convey a message that Gentiles are entitled to receive the Gospel; and later informed Peter through the Holy Spirit to accept an invitation from three men that had arrived to see him.
In the interactions, God used two different methods to communicate two messages of different complexity to the same person.
The study includes Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: that every person can receive the Holy Spirit; who connects directly to the Spirit of God, receives instructions from God, and interprets the instructions to provide God guidance and directives.