In Step with the Spirit

Well, good morning, and welcome to The Well Community Church. A special welcome to everyone watching online, and Happy New Year! It is good to be with you today. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Brad, and I’m the lead pastor here at The Well.

Before we dive in, just a quick reminder that we are a multi-site church. For those who have been around a while, that’s second nature, but for those of you who are new or perhaps looking to reset your church attendance goals for the new year, remember we have campuses at Maple and Ease, as well as Palm and Gettysburg. We exist to help people connect to God and to each other in every neighborhood. We are a church focused on the Word, so if you don’t have a Bible, we have them at our welcome centers to give to you, or you can follow along on your phone.

The Futility of Building Alone

It is that time of year when most people are thinking about resetting. Maybe it’s resetting your fitness because you drank your weight in eggnog over the holidays, or maybe it’s resetting your finances or making resolutions. Regardless of the goal, we often try to do things differently in the New Year.

Next week, we’re going to talk specifically about how to develop a “rule of life” or an arrangement of life, using Jesus as our example in Luke 2:52. But before we get there, I want to share some thoughts on the danger of doing any of that apart from God. There is a natural tendency in our hearts to do life on our own, but the Bible warns us about that path.

Psalms 127:1-2 (NASB)

A Song of Ascents, of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved [even in his] sleep.

There is a sense that to do life apart from God—to make resolutions apart from Him or have a reset apart from Him—is ultimately futile. Yet, that is the natural bent of our hearts. Today, I want to walk through how we got there, how we can experience the presence of God through the Gospel, and how we actually walk that out in our daily lives.

Created for Presence

If you have your Bibles, turn to Genesis chapter one. This is a critical, foundational text. In fact, verse one might be the most important verse in the entire Bible because it reframes who is actually running things.

Genesis 1:1 (NASB)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning, God created. From the start, we see God’s design: humankind was created to be with God. There are essentially two ways to do life—with God or without God. Doing life without God is what we call living “in the flesh,” in autonomy, or in sin.

Right at the beginning, we see the Triune nature of our God. We serve one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Spirit. Genesis 1 mentions the Father and the Spirit, and the New Testament gives us insight into the Son’s role in creation.

John 1:1-3 (NASB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Colossians 1:16-17 (NASB)

For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

All three persons of the Trinity were agents in creation. Then, in verse 26, we see the invitation of God to make humankind as His image-bearers to reflect His glory and rule over creation.

Genesis 1:26-28 (NASB)

Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’

God hand-made mankind in His image. Throughout the creation account, God looks at what He made and says, “It is good.” He gives Himself an ‘A’ for the day. But on the final day, after creating humankind to be with Him, He says something different.

Genesis 1:31 (NASB)

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Humankind is the crowning point of creation. No disrespect to ducks or elk—they are beautiful—but they aren’t made in the image of God. Only humans carry His breath and reflect His image. Chapter two then gives us a thematic look at why this was “very good,” showing us the perfect oneness and lack of shame that Adam and Eve enjoyed in God’s presence.

Genesis 2:18-25 (NASB)

Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’ Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought [them] to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

They were together in perfect oneness, unashamed with God. That is how we were created to function—to experience fullness of joy in His presence.

Psalms 16:11 (NASB)

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

The Lie of Autonomy

As you know, that’s not where the story ends. In Genesis 3, we see the fall of humankind. Adam and Eve were in a state of relative holiness—they were without sin, but the option to sin was available. Satan, the enemy of God, comes to Eve. He doesn’t go after God directly because he already tried that and got “punked.” Instead, he goes after what God loves most: the image-bearers.

Satan is subtle. He challenges God’s Word, His justice, and His love. He asks, “Has God said you shouldn’t eat from any tree?” He tries to make God look like a restrictive tyrant who is holding out on them.

Genesis 3:1-7 (NASB)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ’Indeed, has God said, ’You shall not eat from any tree of the garden ‘?’ The woman said to the serpent, ’From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’’ The serpent said to the woman, ’You surely will not die! ‘For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

Satan tells them, “You surely will not die.” He claims God is using scare tactics to keep them from becoming like Him. He tells them they can do life on their own, and it will be fully satisfying. Does that sound familiar? That is the same message being taught today.

Eve switches to her own rationale. She stops obeying a holy Creator and starts making decisions based on her own finite wisdom. She chooses autonomy—the desire to do life apart from God. In that moment, sin enters the world. Their first response to their new “freedom” isn’t joy; it’s shame. They hide. They try to cover themselves with fig leaves.

God, in His grace, ejects them from the garden. The only thing worse than choosing autonomy would be to live forever in that state without any hope of redemption. This moment is “patient zero” for everything wrong in our world—violence, cancer, adultery, anger, and natural disasters. We often blame God when things go wrong, but the reality is that we are living in the consequences of a human race that chose to pursue autonomy.

The Inherited Bent

You might wonder what this ancient story has to do with us today. It has everything to do with us. Just like you might inherit a genetic code for heart disease or male pattern baldness, we have all inherited something from Genesis 3: an ingrained tendency toward the flesh.

We are born with it. It’s like a fish in water; we naturally live for ourselves, for sin, and for autonomy. We are bent at birth. We can read Genesis 3 and scoff at Adam and Eve, but we do the exact same thing every day. We choose what we think is best over what God has said.

Romans 5:17-19 (NASB)

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

We inherit this sinful nature, and there is no human solution for it. You can’t medicate it, vitamin it, or exercise it away. It has to be paid for. But we are not left without hope. We have a Gospel that provides a way out.

To be “saved” isn’t just about escaping hell; it’s about being saved from a life of autonomy. It’s being saved from the loneliness of life apart from God and the slavery of our own shifting passions. Through Christ, we are reconciled to the One who created us to be with Him.

Sealed by the Spirit

In the New Testament, something incredible happens. God doesn’t just stay “with” us; He dwells “in” us through the Holy Spirit. Jesus prepared His disciples for this in the Gospel of John.

John 7:37-39 (NASB)

Now on the last day, the great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ’If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ’He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet [given], because Jesus was not yet glorified.

In the Old Testament, the Spirit was with people, but it could be taken away. That’s why David prayed, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” But for us, under the New Covenant, the Spirit is sealed within us.

Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

If you have trusted in Christ, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. You are never alone. However, even though the flesh no longer has mastery over us, we still have the opportunity to choose it. As Paul says in Romans 7, the willing to do good is present, but sometimes the doing of it is not. Even as believers, we can still fall back into those Genesis 3 moments where we say, “I’ve got this on my own.”

Walking in Step

So, how do we walk in a way that allows the Spirit to lead us? Galatians 5 gives us the blueprint.

Galatians 5:16-17 (NASB)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

To “walk” by the Spirit implies companionship. It’s about being open to the One who is with you always—in the awesome and in the ugly. This is an active, ongoing command. We are obligated to bring this potential into reality by seeking to walk with Him.

How do you know if you’re walking in the flesh or the Spirit? Paul says the deeds of the flesh are obvious.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB)

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

He lists things like impurity, anger, disputes, and then adds my favorite phrase: “and things like these.” This covers the specific “flesh residue” that is unique to each of us. If these things are habitually present, we have to ask if we are truly walking with God.

I’ll give you an example from my own life. This past Friday night, after our Christmas gathering, I went home. My wife was being “Mrs. Claus,” wrapping gifts and doing laundry. I walked into the room, stepped left, stepped right, and then had the most unathletic moment of my life. I tripped. As I was going down, I tried to avoid hitting the TV stand, but I head-butted it anyway.

I was bleeding, and when my wife screamed, “Are you hurt?” I snapped back with a sharp tone: “Of course I’m hurt!”

That was the flesh. In that moment, I wasn’t being led by the Spirit. I had to own that, apologize to my wife, and apologize to my kids. We aren’t saved from the presence of the flesh yet, just its mastery. When we have those “oops” moments, we have to get back to walking with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25 (NASB)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

A Great Week of Worship

As we look at this new year, I want to invite you to keep in step with the Spirit. Don’t build your resolutions or your “house” apart from Him. If you are apart from Christ today, I invite you to come to Him and be reconciled to the God who made you to be His.

Next week, we’ll talk about ordering our lives practically, but this week, let’s start by opening ourselves up to His presence.

We often say when we leave here: “Have a great week of worship.” What we mean is that the real act of worship isn’t just what happens here on a Sunday morning. It’s what happens in your workplace, your home, and your community. As we go, let’s resolve to be about Christ, so that when the world looks for hope or love, they see Him in us.

Let’s pray.

God, thank You that You have not left us as orphans. Because of Jesus, we are children of the living God. As we begin this new year, we don’t want to do it alone. We don’t want to live in the flesh; we want to be with You. Would Your Spirit lead us and order our steps? We love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.