I am a Jesus pusher!!! John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus is the first individual of the New Covenant. John the Baptist is the prophet who is foretelling; Jesus is the fulfillment of all he foretold. The shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant took place between these two individuals. The shift from John the Baptist to Jesus presents an awesome contrast. It is found in the message each delivered. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). However, it was the special filling of the Old Testament for the purpose of a task. His message was to highlight the law. Israel must repent and become ready for the new thing God was doing in Jesus, the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was also filled with the Spirit of God (Matthew 3:13-17). But He was the first individual to experience the coming of the Spirit in the New Covenant (Acts 2:1-4). This indwelling of the Spirit would be power for a task, but also intimacy with God. The message produced from such a relationship would not just be words repeated as the Old Testament prophet. Jesus is the very image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). The Spirit of God flowed through Jesus to bring a revelation of the very heart of God. Jesus not only spoke the message of God, He was the message. What He spoke became reality in His living. The Spirit of God lived in Him in order to live through Him. This is a new day! I can be filled with the Spirit of Jesus in the same way. I am not one who proposes a theology about Jesus; I am to be one who experiences the life of Jesus who produces the image of Jesus through me. My life becomes a Jesus pusher!!!