"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." John 14:16-17
There is definitely considerable amounts of discrepancy to go around within the church about the Holy Spirit. Every denomination has a different opinion about Him, even going as far in some cases as believing that He's crazy and needs to be ignored. I would argue that the Spirit is the most important part of the Trinity to a believer, but don't stone me for heresy just yet. I know that it's by Jesus' blood sacrifice that I am redeemed, and by the belief in that sacrifice that I am saved by grace, but it's the Spirit that remains in the world today and allows me to move in God's purpose.
In my continuing image of man metaphor, the Holy Spirit is God's soul. He is God's all-present, all-powerful, life-giving soul that dwells with us and in us. As I mentioned a few weeks ago in the post "Breathe Life into Me," the Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, which means breath. So the Holy Spirit is God's Holy Breath, that fills all the spaces around us and all of the sinful, breathless holes in us.
Although He showed up all the time in Old Testament stories, at Jesus' baptism by John was the first time God's Spirit (His Breath) came to earth and remained here with someone permanently (Luke 3:21-24). Before that, one or maybe two people per generation, usually the prophets or kings, would have visits from the Spirit of God, but He never stayed permanently, except in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. When God's Word became flesh, He gave up His deity in order to die for our redemption (as I mentioned last week). When the Spirit came down upon Jesus, He reunited God's earthly soul with His Heavenly one, and brought with Him all the power that exists in God's Almighty breath. In that moment, Jesus regained His intimate connection with God and His miracle-filled ministry began.
But Jesus was still the only connection between God's power and man, since He had not yet died and bridged the gap for us. He was a living Holy of Holies, by which the Spirit moved, but I can't find a single time in scripture the disciples performed a miracle unless granted specific authority by Jesus while He was still alive (Matt. 10 & Luke 9). The power of the Spirit was poured out by the authority of the Word. But just before Jesus left and ascended back to Heaven, He promised He would send a Helper who would dwell with all believers forever (John 14:16-17), who would guide us into truth, not speaking on His own authority, but on the authority of God (John 16:13).
Our connection to God is by way of His Holy Spirit on the authority of Jesus Christ. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we have access to the same power of God as Jesus because the same Spirit that was in Him dwells in us. To make that even more powerful, when the Holy Spirit dwells within you, your soul and God's soul now occupy the same space, allowing Him to breathe His life into yours, molding you into the person He designed. But it all still rests on the authority of God. The Holy Spirit is our God "feed" on earth. It's by Him that we hear God, move in His will, receive any of His gifts, gain revelation and insight, and even pray. Jesus said that it was better for us that He leave so the Holy Spirit could come to us (John 16:7). If I trust Jesus with my life, why wouldn't I trust Him about His Holy Spirit and receive the fullness of what God has for me.
Father, thank You that You sent Your Spirit, Your Breath to earth so I could have Your guidance into truth. Help me to continue to align my thoughts and my desires with Yours by way of Your Spirit. Breathe Your life into me daily so that I can move in accordance with Your will. In Jesus' name, Amen.
There is definitely considerable amounts of discrepancy to go around within the church about the Holy Spirit. Every denomination has a different opinion about Him, even going as far in some cases as believing that He's crazy and needs to be ignored. I would argue that the Spirit is the most important part of the Trinity to a believer, but don't stone me for heresy just yet. I know that it's by Jesus' blood sacrifice that I am redeemed, and by the belief in that sacrifice that I am saved by grace, but it's the Spirit that remains in the world today and allows me to move in God's purpose.
In my continuing image of man metaphor, the Holy Spirit is God's soul. He is God's all-present, all-powerful, life-giving soul that dwells with us and in us. As I mentioned a few weeks ago in the post "Breathe Life into Me," the Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, which means breath. So the Holy Spirit is God's Holy Breath, that fills all the spaces around us and all of the sinful, breathless holes in us.
Although He showed up all the time in Old Testament stories, at Jesus' baptism by John was the first time God's Spirit (His Breath) came to earth and remained here with someone permanently (Luke 3:21-24). Before that, one or maybe two people per generation, usually the prophets or kings, would have visits from the Spirit of God, but He never stayed permanently, except in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. When God's Word became flesh, He gave up His deity in order to die for our redemption (as I mentioned last week). When the Spirit came down upon Jesus, He reunited God's earthly soul with His Heavenly one, and brought with Him all the power that exists in God's Almighty breath. In that moment, Jesus regained His intimate connection with God and His miracle-filled ministry began.
But Jesus was still the only connection between God's power and man, since He had not yet died and bridged the gap for us. He was a living Holy of Holies, by which the Spirit moved, but I can't find a single time in scripture the disciples performed a miracle unless granted specific authority by Jesus while He was still alive (Matt. 10 & Luke 9). The power of the Spirit was poured out by the authority of the Word. But just before Jesus left and ascended back to Heaven, He promised He would send a Helper who would dwell with all believers forever (John 14:16-17), who would guide us into truth, not speaking on His own authority, but on the authority of God (John 16:13).
Our connection to God is by way of His Holy Spirit on the authority of Jesus Christ. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we have access to the same power of God as Jesus because the same Spirit that was in Him dwells in us. To make that even more powerful, when the Holy Spirit dwells within you, your soul and God's soul now occupy the same space, allowing Him to breathe His life into yours, molding you into the person He designed. But it all still rests on the authority of God. The Holy Spirit is our God "feed" on earth. It's by Him that we hear God, move in His will, receive any of His gifts, gain revelation and insight, and even pray. Jesus said that it was better for us that He leave so the Holy Spirit could come to us (John 16:7). If I trust Jesus with my life, why wouldn't I trust Him about His Holy Spirit and receive the fullness of what God has for me.
Father, thank You that You sent Your Spirit, Your Breath to earth so I could have Your guidance into truth. Help me to continue to align my thoughts and my desires with Yours by way of Your Spirit. Breathe Your life into me daily so that I can move in accordance with Your will. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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