Monday, Oct. 24

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Monday

I don’t know what you think about when you hear the term “Holy Spirit”.  Perhaps you grew up in a church where you didn’t talk much at all about the Holy Spirit and you were suspicious of anyone who did.  Or maybe you grew up in a church that talked a lot about the Holy Spirit and you are completely comfortable with the idea of being filled with or led by the Spirit.

Francis Chan recently wrote a book about the Holy Spirit entitled “Forgotten God”.  I don’t know if the Holy Spirit is forgotten or not, but I am convinced he is largely ignored by many Christians today. I think many Christians don’t really know what to think about the Holy Spirit and therefore they don’t think much about him at all.

In order for us to grasp the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have to answer the question; just who or what is the Holy Spirit?  Is the Holy Spirit a spiritual force that we can tap into, like in the movie Star Wars?  Is it just a way of talking about the activity of God?  What really do we mean when we talk about the Holy Spirit?

Last week we learned that the primary word for Spirit in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word ‘Ruach’.  The word can be translated as breath, wind, or spirit, and it literally means “moving air”. 

Genesis 1:2 - 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. 

Genesis 2:7 - the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Job 33:4 - The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Psalm 33:6 - By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

The OT is full of references to the Spirit of God at work in the lives of His people.  However, we really don’t begin to get a complete picture of the identity Holy Spirit is until we come the New Testament. 

The H.S. grieves - Ephesians 4:30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

The H.S. envies - James 4:5, Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

The H.S. can be insulted or angered - Hebrews 10:29 , How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

The H.S. loves - Romans 15:30, I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

The H.S. can be lied to - Acts 5:3, Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

The H.S. speaks - Acts 13:2, While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

The H.S. has fellowship - 2 Cor. 13:14, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Clearly the Holy Spirit is not a force or an energy field, nor is it just a symbolic way of talking about the activity of God.  The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that the Holy Spirit is a person.  It is the 3^rd person of the Trinity.  It is the divine, personal resident in the heart of every believer.  This is not just academic theology, it is incredibly important for those of us who are Christians.  When the Bible talks about us being filled by the Spirit or led the by the Spirit, it means that we are filled and led by a person, not by an impersonal force!  


Jeff Frazier