(Hebrews 9:14) “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.”
Introduction
In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 we read these words, “Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord.” In our English versions of the Bible “God” appears in the singular but in the Hebrew it is always written in a plural form i.e., “Gods,” denoting that there are three persons in the Godhead. In this text and in hundreds of others the word used for God contains the idea of three persons in the one God. Literally Deuteronomy could be rendered, “Hear O Israel the Lord our Gods is one God.” This clearly reveals that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the three separate persons of the Godhead but equally all God and equal in Divinity. Both in the Old and the New Testament where God’s name is mentioned it is always written in plural form. Even though the Jews today do not believe that there are three persons in the Godhead their scriptures (The Old Testament) clearly show that whenever His name appears it is always in plural form, denoting three persons in the one God. The Holy Spirit Himself is more than just a supreme intelligent spiritual being. In the Bible he is described as being equal in Divinity to God the Father and God the Son. While He is subordinate to their commands He is still equal to them in nature and power. He will never act independently from God the Father or from God the Son. God’s Word is very clear. The Holy Spirit Himself is God the Spirit.
His Divine Nature
1. The Holy Spirit is Eternal.
(Hebrews 9:14) “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.”
From the moment of His conception in Mary’s womb the Holy Spirit of God indwelt the Lord Jesus Christ. It was through the creative power of the Holy Spirit that the Lord Jesus was formed in Mary’s womb. Right from the start of His life the Lord Jesus knew the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in His life. Later when Jesus began His public ministry the Holy Spirit anointed Him for his work. (Acts 10:38)
The Lord Jesus could have worked His miracles and His healing by virtue of His Divinity but chose to work as a man under the control of the Holy Spirit. He put Himself voluntarily in the place that Adam was in before the fall. This is why the devil tempted Jesus with the same temptations that he had used on Adam. As an example for us the Lord Jesus chose not to use His Divine power but operate entirely by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 3:21 4:1-2, 18-19)
Through the power of the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus was able to face the cross. Through the Spirit’s power He was able to walk in perfect obedience to the Law of Moses and to every moral and spiritual law required by God. Through the Spirit’s power He was able to walk perfectly upright before God even though He was severely tempted in every way that we are yet he was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) It was through the Spirit’s power that Jesus was raised to life again. (Romans 1:4 8:11) Notice in Hebrews 9:14 that the Holy Spirit is called “the Eternal Spirit” showing us very clearly that He has always existed from all eternity. Only He has the supernatural ability to take the blood of Jesus and to use it to purge our conscience from dead works consequently enabling us to serve the living God. We can only live the Christian life in the power of the Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 4:6) (Romans 8:4-14)
2. The Holy Spirit is Present Everywhere.
(Psalm 139:7-10) “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
The Holy Spirit is present everywhere at once. Wherever we go as a believer the Holy Spirit goes with us as our friend and guide. Whatever we face in life the Holy Spirit is there to face it with us. Not only is He with us He has already gone before us. The Holy Spirit is everywhere in the world and always available to intercede, comfort, heal, teach, guide and to strengthen us. Wherever we go we cannot escape His presence.
3. The Holy Spirit is All Powerful.
(Luke 1:35) “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
In this verse the creation of life itself is attributed to the Holy Spirit. The same one who hovered over the face of the waters to bring forth creation hovered over us to bring about in us the new birth. It was the same Holy Spirit who hovered over Mary to bring forth the Son of God. Mary was a virgin when she conceived the Lord Jesus Christ. It was God’s power acting through the Holy Spirit Himself that caused Jesus to become flesh in the womb of his mother Mary. This action of the Holy Spirit was a Divine and Supernatural work that He performed. He is the power of the Most High and only does whatever God does. This creative act of the Holy Spirit describes God Himself who is the creator and sustains all life in the universe.
4. The Holy Spirit is All Knowing.
(1 Corinthians 2:10b-12) “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. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
The Holy Spirit sees everything that happens in the world. He sees every thought and action of men. He understands clearly what we find hard to understand. He knows the thoughts and intents of the human heart. He knows the future because He is the “Eternal Spirit” who inhabits the past, the present and the future. Because He already knows the future He has already provided the strength and resources we will need to face it as believers. When the way is dark He knows the way through and if we will let Him He will take us by the hand and guide us and eventually bring us out into the light again. He knows what God is thinking at all times and reveals to us what God wants us to know.
His Divine Works
1. The Holy Spirit is involved in Creation.
(Psalm 104:30) “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.”
This verse describes the fact that the Spirit of God is working with God in creating and continually sustaining life. The Holy Spirit Himself is the chief agent in creation. We read in Genesis chapter 1:1-2, “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.” Notice that the Holy Spirit “hovered” over the waters. The Hebrew idea is that of a mother hen brooding over her eggs until the chicks are hatched. In the same way the Holy Spirit brooded over the earth while God brought forth the creation.
People do not realize that God gives to them the very breath they breathe. Their very life itself owes its ongoing existence to the Spirit of God. Job says, “The Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). Even though the majority of mankind live independently from a personal relationship with God they only continue to exist because of His goodness and love and because He wants them to repent before it’s too late.
2. The Holy Spirit imparts Spiritual Life.
(Genesis 2:7) “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Soul)”
(John 6:63) “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life.”
(Romans 8:11) “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.”
It was through the Holy Spirit that God breathed His eternal life into Adam causing him to become a living being. God imparted His own spiritual life into Adams soul. Adam received a mind and a heart that was in perfect union with his creator. The only difference being that God gave Adam a free will. Man was a formless and lifeless being until the breath of God entered him. God released His creative power with His words and the Holy Spirit hovering over Adam infused those words into Adams soul and Adam came alive to God.
When Adam sinned he lost the life of God and brought sin and death to the human race. Spiritually man became “formless” and “void” just like the earth was before God recreated it. The act of creation itself turning darkness and chaos into light and order is a picture of the new birth. When we were dead in sins and transgressions the Holy Spirit hovered over our lives and taking God’s Word made us alive to God. (Ephesians 2:4-5) (1 Peter1: 23) (James 1:18)
Unless the Lord Jesus breathes on the words of the Bible and makes them real to us then we will remain in spiritual darkness and ignorance where the things of God are concerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) The same Holy Spirit that hovered over creation to bring it to birth is the same Holy Spirit who hovered over us to bring forth in us the new creation. If we have died physically before Jesus comes again then at the resurrection the Holy Spirit will hover over our dead bodies and bring them back to life again clothing them with immortality and life. (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
3. The Holy Spirit is the author of Divine Prophecy in the Bible.
(2 Peter 1:20) “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17) “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and he will never lead us to do anything that contradicts God’s Word the Bible. The Word of God is the final authority in matters of doctrine and faith. The teaching of the apostles is complete. There is no new doctrine only a deeper understanding of what is already in the Bible. The only apostolic authority where doctrine is concerned is what the apostles have written in the Bible. The Bible is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses to enable us to test doctrine. If we don’t have right doctrine then we won’t have right behaviour. The Bereans had the right attitude; “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).
The Bible is “The Spirit breathed Word of God” and the only true and reliable source in matters of doctrine and faith. Any prophesy, teaching or spiritual experience that cannot be endorsed by scripture in its context is to be rejected! God’s Word is totally sufficient for all teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. If we want to be thoroughly equipped for Christian life and service then we need to have a thorough knowledge of God’s Word. We need the spirit of the Bereans! The scriptures must test every ministry, every prophecy and every utterance proclaimed as ‘a word from God.’ The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and will never endorse unbiblical doctrines because “The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The Bible also says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
4. The Holy Spirit Himself is called God.
(Acts 5:3, 4) “Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit….You have not lied to men but to God.”
In these verses the name of God is linked to that of the Holy Spirit. In lying to the Holy Spirit Ananias had lied to God. Both Ananias and his wife had deliberately despised the Grace of God. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians believers he mentions that some of them were sick and had died because of their casual approach to the Lord’s Supper. The case of Ananias and his wife seems to be an isolated case, however, we are reminded of the danger there is in deliberately and wilfully resisting the Spirit of God. (Hebrews 6:4-6 10:26-31)
When we resist the Holy Spirit and do not allow Him to have His way in our life we resist God and the Lord Jesus Christ as well. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead and to resist His will is to resist the will of God. God wants us to be always open and honest with Him. (Psalm 51:6) So then, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit has God’s nature and His Divine works as well. Because the Holy Spirit is God the Spirit He is worthy of our love, our respect, our faith and especially the surrender of our wills to Him.
