The Holy Spirit wrote a book — the Bible. 2 Peter 1:21 tells us that the Spirit directed and controlled the writers of Scripture. While human writers employed pen and paper, the Holy Spirit employed those men. All of Scripture points to and testifies about Jesus (John 5:39-40). In other words, the Holy Spirit chose to write one book. And He chose to write that one book about Jesus Christ.
As God, the Holy Spirit is utterly free to do all that He pleases, and it pleases Him to make much of Jesus. It pleased Him to do that when He wrote the Bible, and it pleases Him to do that through each of us. In Spirit-Filled Teaching, Roy B. Zuck describes this, saying,
“Teaching does not suddenly become Christian when a spiritual footnote is added to what a teacher imparts. Rather, biblical truth must be interwoven by the Spirit into the very fabric of teaching, if it is to be considered Christian education,” (54).
So, our job is to obey the Father and partner with the Spirit by teaching Christ-exalting biblical-truth to our students. There is a great line in Student Ministry and Supremacy of Christ about this: “Every dimension of hope is initiated by the Father, developed by the Spirit, while always exalting the Son,” (Ross, 16). This is the work of God’s Spirit in the world today. John Piper explains,
“The Spirit is sent to make Christ real to people and to show us who he really is in his glory so that we come to love him and trust him and obey him and show him to the world. What this means is that the Holy Spirit is more likely to come in power where the truth about Jesus is being lifted up and made plain. The Spirit loves to come and take the truth about Jesus and turn it into an experience of Jesus.”
So, as integrators, we must ask ourselves: Are we in step with the Spirit by making much of Jesus in our classrooms? The Holy Spirit gives power to the gospel that we proclaim — awesome power (Rom 1:16). I want the Spirit to work mightily in and through me. And we can be confident that He will do this when we join Him in doing what He loves to do.
Part of why I am so passionate about Christ-exalting, biblical integration is that the Spirit is too. In the Spirit’s book, He said that the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19) and Christ holds all things together (Col 1). Jesus is worthy. And the Spirit loves to speak of Him. The Spirit loves to highlight his work of salvation on the cross. He led four men to pen whole books about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is God — worthy of praise Himself — but He points to Christ. We too can be like Him by living out the end of Galatians 5:
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Let’s keep in step with the Spirit by agreeing with the Spirit and the Spirit’s book. And let’s teach his book. And let’s proclaim the message of the book — Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father (Phil 2:11).
