Engaging the Spirit

Before we begin our study of the Holy Spirit, we must consider who or what the Holy Spirit is. He is a part of the Holy Trinity. Now you will not find the word trinity in the Bible if you look for it. It is not there. It is a conceptual understanding of who God is.

When one first opens the Word of God and turns to the first chapter of the first book, Genesis, and reads the first two verses, he or she is immediately confronted with the Holy Spirit. For these first two verses read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God [emphasis mine] was moving over the surface of the waters.” Here we have the introduction of the Holy Spirit moving over the surface of the waters. Throughout the Old Testament, we will find the Spirit of God being referred to by a variety of terms such as the Spirit of the Lord. The New Testament will generally use “Holy Spirit.” In Genesis 1:26, the phrase, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image . . .’” [again, emphasis mine] references for the first time the multiplicity of God. This is referred to as the Trinity and will be discussed later.

Only in the Holy Word of God do we find the attestation of both the godhead and personality of the Holy Spirit. It is interesting to note that in the beginning, Gen 2:19, Adam is called upon to give names to all God had created, but he does not give a name to God. God, himself, has revealed to us who He is. No mortal man has ever been called to give a name to God.

The second part of the godhead is God (Jesus) the Son. Some people assume since Jesus referred to God as father, that meant the same relationship we humans have. However, in the Scriptures, human relationship begins with a father giving birth to a child. The Greek term is GENNAO; meaning the male role in the producing of offspring, or to beget, or procreate. In the gospels, mention is made of Mary’s pregnancy, but the term GENNAO is not used. The gospels shift from her pregnancy to the birth without any human intervention. The Apostle Paul references this in his letter to the Philippian Church; "Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8 God’s Word Translation). No mention is made of Jesus having a father involved in the procreation process. Like God, Jesus was, is, and always will be.

Jesus is the incarnation of God. He is God in human form. Some say he is God with skin on. The Apostle John begins his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1, 2). Jesus attested to the fact of the godhead when he said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (John 14:11).

The third part of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. We find a clear statement to this effect written by the Apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:4, 5). Then, a little way further, he wrote, “. . . The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10b, 11).

We need to understand there is an absolute equality between the three Persons of the Godhead. There is no difference in exaltation or importance. Some claim that since the Son is the manifestation of the Father, He is somehow inferior to the Father. This is false! The same group claims that since the Spirit is sent from the Father and the Son, he is of lessor importance than the Father and the Son. This is also false! The full name of the Godhead is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This has resulted in a number of confessions and creeds. The order of pronouncement makes no difference. You can place the three in any order since all three are equal. God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, and God the Father is the same as God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit.