God is an incredible being. He is far beyond what our human brains can even comprehend. I think that’s why we struggle sometimes with the concept of God being three parts (aka The Trinity). The father – God, The son – Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. There is so much talk about God and Jesus Christ but what about the Holy Spirit. I hardly ever hear the Holy Spirit mentioned and yet his role is so important to our walk through this life.
So?
So who is the Holy Spirit? The best way to answer that question is to go straight to the source the Bible, and skip all the speculation. Let’s start at the beginning. Genesis 1:1-2 says, ” In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” This shows us that even before creation, the Holy Spirit was. It also solidifies that he is God. However, if you feel like you need more scripture to help strengthen that argument lets look at 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”. Or how about Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Now that we have established that the Holy Spirit has been here before the beginning and that he is of God, part of the trinity, let’s take a look at what His role is. Why is he so important to our walk through this life? Jesus was so adamite about the importance of the Holy Spirit that he didn’t even want the disciples to leave Jerusalem before they received Him as a gift (Acts 1:4-5)! He also told them it was better for them if he left so that the Holy Spirit could come (John 16:7)! Imagine that, what could be better than having Jesus to walk with and talk with and yet Jesus was pointing out here that it was better to have the Holy Spirit! Why could that be? I believe it’s because of all that He is and the fact that when you except Christ he comes and dwells inside of you!
He Is:
- A gift from God – Acts 2:38
- Hope and power – Acts 1:8, Romans 15:13
- Freedom – 2 Corinthians 3:17
- A counselor – John 14:26
- Teacher – John 16:13
- Gods’ love – Romans 5:5
- Our prayer partner – Jude 20
- Our leader – Psalm 143:10
- Gods’ thoughts – 1 Corinthians 2:11
- A witness to the truth – John 15:26
- Truth – John 14:17, John 15:26,
First, he is a gift from God to all who repent and believe. With this gift come all the other benefits! As Christians he dwells in you!
The way we can see that he is in us is through our actions and behaviors. The more we tune our ear to Him, the more we learn of the truth that he is teaching us, the more we will see our behavior traits change. However we have to be open and willing to grow in the things of the Lord, to listen to the truths that the Holy Spirit wants to teach us. When we open ourselves up to His work we will see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We are given, through the Holy Spirit a counselor who is always with us, an understanding of Gods love for us, a teacher to help lead us and guide us into all the truth, a witness to the truth. All these things are yours for the taking all you have to do is seek Him and you will find Him!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this gift that you have given us, we thank you that with the Holy Spirit living in us we can know your truth. Help us to open our ears to hear him speaking and our hearts open to the conviction of our sin. We want to be able to grow in all the truth and to have a counselor, a teacher to help us do so. Thank you for this wonderful gift!
Amen