The Holy Spirit of God

Over the next 13 Wednesday nights, we are going to be studying what the Bible has to teach us about the Holy Spirit. My hope is that I will grow in knowledge and in relationship with the Spirit of God and that I will pass on what I learn in a way that helps others do the same. So, for the next thirteen weeks, I will be blogging as I study the scriptures that give us insight into who He is, what He is like, what He does and what I need to do in relation to Him.

A quick search on Google and Youtube lets me know that there are many different understandings of the Holy Spirit, so I don't take this effort lightly. Jesus said, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7) He says that it is to our advantage that He go away and that the Spirit come be with us. I am sure His disciples were scratching their heads at this statement. I can hear Peter say something like.... "never Jesus, it could not be better for you to go and the Spirit come". And John, the disciple whom He loved would say something like... "but Jesus, you are love and we love you and you love the world, how could you leaving be to our advantage?". But that is what He said, so it is true. The Helper, the Comforter, the Spirit does something for us and with us that Jesus sees as to our advantage.

We are introduced to the Holy Spirit of God in the beginning. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:1,2) The very name used in first verse of the Bible demonstrates that God is one, yet more than one. The first name that God is identified by is Elohim, which is the plural of El. Often times Elohim is used with singular verbs, indicating that God is one. So we have a "plural " God which acts in singular ways. Verse 2 tells us that the "Spirit of God" was there and active during the creation process. And then in verse 26, God says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness". Who is the "us" in "Let us"? My hope is that through this study, we will understand the "us" better and grow in our relationships with the Father and the Son, but in particular the Holy Spirit.

Many people are afraid of the Spirit of God. They have seen or heard things from friends, on television or read articles on their computers that makes them want to distance themselves from God's Spirit. To say the least, this is unfortunate. Jesus calls Him the "Comforter" or the "Helper". That doesn't sound like someone to fear or distance our selves from.  Descriptions of the Spirit include things like the Spirit of ...Truth (John 14:7), Wisdom and Understanding (Isaiah 11:2), Grace (Hebrews10:29), Promise (Ephesians 1:13) and Holiness (Romans 1:4). He doesn't sound like someone that we should run from.

Whatever your preconceived notions are about the Holy Spirit, whatever you have heard or read in the past, whatever fears I may have; may we put those aside as we begin our study and let God's word speak truth to us. May we each determine to be open to His leading and teaching and may we grow in our understanding and in our relationship with Elohim.