| The Purpose of God The Holy Spirit “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show wonders in the Heavens and in the Earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of The LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of The LORD shall be delivered…” Joel 2:28-32a The above scripture is repeated almost verbatim in Acts 2:16-21 at the revelation of God The Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This happens 49 days after Resurrection Sunday and delivers on God The Father and God The Son’s promise of Acts 1:4 and John 14:26. But what or who is The Holy Spirit and why did God send Him? The Holy Spirit is not an “it” but a He. He is another portion of the person of the One True Living God that has been revealed to us through the Holy Scriptures: God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. We can see Him operating in the Old Testament in King Saul and King David and others. But now He is revealed to humanity in a different way in response to Jesus’s death on the cross. God changes the way He deals with men; from legality to intimacy. Here is a list of some of the purposes that God The Holy Spirit accomplished and continues to accomplish by coming in response to Christ’s death. 1. God The Holy Spirit is an “Authenticator”. Or in other words He has the power to authenticate or confirm the validity of a thing. In this case, by His coming God The Holy Spirit authenticates Jesus God The Son. By His coming, God The Holy Spirit reveals that God The Son Jesus was exactly who He said He was and that He did exactly what He said He did. He is and was The Son of God. He is God. He is the King of kings, the Messiah, the long awaited One, The Holy One, The Great I AM. Additionally, as God The Holy Spirit indwells in us, He authenticates that we are indeed spiritual children of The Most High God. It is God in us, The Holy Spirit, that secures our place in eternity with God. 2. He is a “Transformer”. He transforms us from enemies of God into friends of God. It is through our relationship with God The Holy Spirit that we move from glory to glory and are progressively transformed more and more into the image of Christ. Additionally, it is He, God The Holy Spirit that in many ways distinguishes the Old Testament from the New Testament. Examples of this truth are: a) the presence of God being with His people versus being in His people, b) God having a legal relationship with His people versus a personal relationship, c) God spoke only to the prophets versus leading all of His spiritual children, d) there were few priests and The Spirit was on them versus we are all priests and The Spirit is in us, and (e) the comparison of The Spirit being transient or moving from one person to another versus The Sprit being stationary as living in each of us individually. 3. He is our Advocate. He is our helper. He is on our side as we are on His. He is for us as we are for Him. He is our advantage. It is He that makes the difference. 4. He is our Comforter. He will relieve our stress and anxiety by pointing us to the Truth of the person of Jesus Christ and His word. God The Holy Spirit is alive and active. He descends and He quickens. He brings joy and He searches all things. He strengthens us and proactively works against the plans of the devil. He leads us in a way that is higher than we are. Our authentic spiritual birth in Jesus God determines our eternity. And God The Holy Spirit helps facilitate the manifestation of the truth of this revelation through practical living. We should walk by the power of God The Holy Spirit. We should be filled with Him. And we should never try to stop His activity. God The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Jesus Christ and to help us to live a life that does the same (glorify Jesus Christ). It is Him who leads us to all Truth. He is our advocate and helper. We can depend on Him to bring us through life’s challenges and trials. Be encouraged to develop your relationship with Him. Visit our website at www.HOWICP.org for more information on how to reach your full spiritual potential. |
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