Who is the Holy Spirit

Happy Sunday. Today we continue in our study of the Holy Spirit. Today I'll try and answer the question: who is the Holy Spirit? An old Native American legend tells of a great chief who traveled far from his people, and he saw the ocean for the first time. None of his tribe had ever seen the ocean.

He requested a clay pot from his traveling companions. He waded into the ocean to fill the vessel. He was asked what he intended to do with the water. He replied, "My people have never seen the great water. I will carry this home so they can see what it is like."

I tell you the story as we begin because attempting to preach on the Holy Spirit is much like the great chief and the water. The subject is so infinite and our minds are so finite. For a moment I must talk a bit about the subject of the Trinity. The Trinity is a a finite way to define our infinite God.

I believe that we serve one God and that he exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. It's interesting to think in simple terms that God the Father is in heaven on the throne, and Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God in heaven, and that the Holy Spirit is everywhere. If you know your Bible well, you remember the stoning of Stephen found in Acts chapter 7. In verse 55 we are told that Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

In that illustration we see God and Jesus in heaven and the Holy Spirit in the life of Stephen. The problem is that when we divide and define, we limit God, and God has no limitations. The Trinity is a mystery that I believe with my limited mind. It's likely that most of us have a grasp and an image of God the Father and an image of Jesus, but when it comes to the Holy Spirit it might be hard to draw a picture.

Look at the first mention of the Holy Spirit in scripture. It won't take long. It won't take long for us to find the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Listen to the word from Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 and 2: "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."

The Hebrew word for Spirit of God is ruach Elohim. Elohim means God, and ruach means wind or even breath. The Holy Spirit is like the wind, energy and power that you do not see. The Holy Spirit is the breath giving us light, giving us life.

It's interesting to see that the Holy Spirit in Genesis gave life and order to a formless world. The reason that's interesting is that today you will hear in people's testimonies that when they became a Christian, their life became meaningful and had purpose. It went from nothingness to something special, and that is part of what the Holy Spirit does. In the future we will look at the work of the Holy Spirit.

Now let's head to the New Testament. In John chapter 16, Jesus is meeting with the disciples. His days with them are numbered, and the cross is right around the corner. Jesus told them that it is a good thing that he was going away, because the Holy Spirit would be coming. The disciples had to be confused. How could it be to their advantage that Jesus would go away?

I heard a pastor preaching from John 16 asked the question: who would you pick if you could sit and talk with Jesus or sit and talk with the Holy Spirit? Which would you choose? He surmised that most of us would pick Jesus, and I understand that choice. I look forward to one day seeing him with my own eyes. The pastor went on to say you should choose the Holy Spirit because of what Jesus said in John 16.

It's interesting to try and visualize what the Holy Spirit looks like. When Jesus was baptized by John, we're told that the Holy Spirit descended, taking the form like a dove. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit took on the form of flaming tongues on the day of Pentecost, and we'll look at Pentecost later. It's hard to draw a picture of the Holy Spirit. However, in the weeks ahead we'll draw a picture of the works and attributes of the Holy Spirit.

I read once that man has two great needs. One is forgiveness and the other is goodness. Our first need, forgiveness, was answered at Calvary. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven. Our need for goodness has been answered by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

God doesn't want us to come to Christ by faith and be forgiven to then go on and live a life of defeat, so he has given us the Holy Spirit. We need Jesus for our eternal life, and we need the Holy Spirit for our internal life. The Holy Spirit, if you're a child of God, is living in you right now, and it is up to us to get to know him and to welcome him into our lives. Notice I did not say it. The Holy Spirit is a person, not an it. The Bible makes that clear.

A.W. Tozer said, "Though every believer has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every believer." Isn't that true? Some believers are so connected, and some are not. God bless you as you stay connected. I hope you'll join me in the weeks ahead as we look at the Holy Spirit and scripture and and look at the Holy Spirit in our lives today.

Pray with me. Father God, we thank you for the life of Jesus. We thank you for your grace towards us. We thank you for the Holy Spirit, and we ask that you would help us to draw closer and to learn more and to live in the Spirit and be so connected to you. Help your word to come alive to us as a Spirit-inspired writers to write it. Help it inspire us to read and to understand.

Father, we ask that you would bless us on this journey together. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless.