
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the three persons of the Trinity. For years it was “Holy Ghost,” but that changed in the last 50 years or so. God’s Holy Spirit is one of the great mysteries of the faith and more often than not misunderstood and under appreciated.
Jesus was fully MAN and fully GOD. He set aside his deity and came to us as a servant, but the accounts of his life are filled with amazing healing, turning the water into wine, walking on water, etc.
Did Jesus the MAN do this, or was another person at play in all of these remarkable moments? When he read from the scroll of Isiah in the synagogue and spoke the words,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,”
who was He referring to?
Certainly with a snap of his fingers Jesus could have done anything He chose to do, but that’s not how things happened. Jesus the MAN was completely subservient to His Father. Jesus the MAN derived all of His power from the Holy Spirit, to give all of the glory to God. He didn’t even want people to say who did the miracle. The point is He wanted His followers to understand that they could do the same through the power of the Holy Spirit. All credit to God.
The Holy Spirit works in many ways
The Holy Spirit takes on Kingdom work in a variety of ways. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that convicts us of our sin and gently guides is to salvation in Christ. The Holy Spirit informs, instructs, and most of all reveals all truth.
Sometimes that truth is something that is going to happen in the future. It was the Holy Spirit that inspired the Old Testament writers to predict, with astonishing accuracy, what would come to be. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed the future to the New testament writers, none more impressive than the Revelation, penned by John.
The Holy Spirit dwells within believers. 1 Corinthians 3:16 states,
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
The Spirit illuminates. Believers often tell of not being able to understand a passage of Scripture, but suddenly, out of nowhere, comes understanding and insight. That’s the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit helps us to do God’s work
The Holy Spirit also gives special gifts to people to do God’s work. Some can preach, or play music, or teach, or just have the gift of hospitality that reaches out to others. The Spirit works quietly and sadly people OFTEN miss God’s presence. It’s not like the Holy Spirit announces Himself, rather He works in the background, suggesting, guiding, nudging a believer along.
Interestingly, we even miss the point when reading about the Holy Spirit. For example, the Gospel of Luke could rightfully be renamed “The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ.” Luke’s Book of Acts is actually the “Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.”
The Holy Spirit softens our harden hearts
The Holy Spirit works to soften the hearts of people, pointing out their frailties and pointing them to Christ. Absent the presence of the Holy Spirit, man would be devoid of conscience. That little reminder that something you are about to do is wrong is not an accident.
The Spirit renews the minds of believers, gives them new perspectives, strengthens their faith and forever seals their relationship with God the Father.
The study of the Holy Spirit is an endless task, but a very satisfying one. Who better to turn to if you want to understand the nature and character of God?
The Holy Spirit waits your invitation to guide you to new understanding, new hope and new assurance. Jesus, the man, did not perform miracles. The Holy Spirit did.
Jesus intentionally set aside His deity to allow the Holy Spirit to work through Him. Why? Because Jesus wanted that same power to work through us. That’s the most remarkable truth about the Holy Spirit.