1. He is One with God
The Holy Spirit is one of God the Trinity who accomplishes God’s providence. He is God the Holy Spirit.
God the Trinity refers to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They act in different way but they are one God. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit has the same characteristics of God the Father but acts as the spirit of God to fulfill God’s will.
God the Holy Spirit since existed before the eternity with God the Father. In Old Testament times, He acted as ‘the Spirit of the LORD’, and ‘the Spirit of God’. In the New Testament times, God acts as the Holy Spirit as the Counselor, and He will be with us to the eternity (Hebrews 9:14).
Now, let us consider the activities of the Holy Spirit who acts being one with God. first of all, Genesis 1:1-2 says, after God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. We can see that the Holy Spirit participated in the creation of God.
Also, He worked on priests, prophets, and kings to fulfill God’s will. He also worked on the history of Israel. Genesis 41:38 says that Joseph was a man in whom is the Spirit of God, and could help Jacob, Israel. In Exodus 31:3-5 God called Bezalel and filled him with the Spirit of God, so that the building of the Tabernacle was well done.
During the times of the judges, God appointed judges, filled them with the Spirit of the LORD, and saved Israel (Judges 3:7-10, 6:34). The Spirit of God fell on Samuel, the last judge and the prophet, Saul who was the first king of Israel, and his successor David (1 Samuel 10:10, 16:13, 19:20) to lead the history of Israel. Other than these, the Holy Spirit came upon many prophets to let them prophesy and fulfill God’s providence.
In the New Testament times, He came to those who were just and devout, and were waiting for the coming of the Savior to let them recognize Jesus (Luke 2:25-28). Also, Jesus was conceived, accomplished God’s will, and fulfilled the providence of salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, whoever accepts Jesus Christ will receive the Holy Spirit and receive the blessings of God’s children.
During the Old Testament times, God the Holy Spirit could not dwell in hearts of people because of their sins. So people received God’s help when the Holy Spirit ‘came upon them’ or ‘moved them’. But in the New Testament times, God the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us through the redemption of Jesus Christ, so we can receive God’s help directly.
Therefore, Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
The resurrected Jesus Christ, before He ascended into heaven, told His disciples the way to receive blessings, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). We can see that the Holy Spirit is one with God in this verse as well.
On the contrary, in Acts 5:3-4, Ananias and Sapphira sold their land but cheated the price. Peter said to them, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?” Peter rebuked Ananias that he did not lie to a man but to God, and he died. It is because cheating the Holy Spirit is cheating God Himself.
2. He is The Helper
The Helper means ‘the one who is called for help’. John 14:16-17 says, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
Because all mankind cannot see God due to their sins, God sent His only Son Jesus to this earth on behalf of Him in order to show Himself and to accomplish the human salvation. But because Jesus had to ascend into heaven after accomplishing the way of salvation, there had to be another helper.
Therefore, Jesus asked for another helper and God sent another helper after the ascension of Jesus Christ. He is the spirit of truth, namely the Holy Spirit.
The Counselor the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of God’s children who have accepted Jesus Christ and leads them to truth. John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” And 2 Timothy 1:14 says, “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” The Holy Spirit will abide with God’s children forever (John 14:16-17), teach us and remind us of God’s Word (John 14:26), convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-11), and guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
Though the Holy Spirit is invisible, He has the human characteristics. So, when God’s children follow the desire of the Holy Spirit and acts according to the will of God, He gives us joy and the fullness of the Holy Spirit to let us know that God is pleased. On the contrary, if we do not follow the desire of the Holy Spirit but commit sins following our former way of life, He lets us realize that God is not pleased.
The Holy Spirit helps in our weakness, makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26), comforts us (Acts 9:31), teaches us what to do (Acts 20:28), and pours out God’s love in our hearts to lead us to struggle against sin to the point of shedding blood and to live according to God’s will.
3. He is God’s Gift
When we receive a present, we are happy not because of the present itself but because we can feel the love of the person who gave the present. But the value of presents in this world will decrease as time goes no matter how valuable that present is, because it is not eternal. Now, there is a present that can be cherished forever, and what is it? It is the gift given by God who is eternal and full of love. It cannot be compared to any other valuable thing of this world or given by any person.
Acts 2:38 says, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” God gave us Jesus Christ and let us gain salvation and eternal life through faith. Jesus, who took the sufferings of cross and made the way of salvation, gave us a gift through His resurrection and ascension. It is the ‘Holy Spirit’. Why, then, does God call Holy Spirit a gift?
When God created man, He made him with spirit that was made in God’s image and can communicate with God, soul that is controlled by spirit and thinks according to God’s will, and imperishable body that is like the container for the spirit and soul. God then let man enjoy the authority of God’s child. Man could communicate with God and live according to God’s will. God made all the necessary environments for man and let him rule over all things with utmost freedom and abundance.
But due to the sin of disobedience committed by Adam, death came to man, and the spirit, which is the master of man, died. From then on, man lost the communication with God as well as the authority as God’s child. Man came to live in this cursed world in sorrow, pain, disease, poverty, and death being ruled by the enemy devil.
Since the master of man spirit died, the life of man, who had the dead spirit, became miserable. Because the body could not have eternal life, it had to die and go back to dust. He could not eat without the toils; he could gain children only through great pain of labor; he could not see God any more.
Furthermore, the descendants of Adam, who had dead spirit, were born with dead spirit, and they could not enjoy the blessings of God’s children. Nobody could escape from all the curses unless their dead spirit was revived.
That is why John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” It means only Holy Spirit can revive the dead spirit of man, namely, our dead spirit can revive only when we give birth to spirit through the Holy Spirit. Even the greatest man or any other method cannot revive the dead spirit of man and set him free from the cursed life.
The Holy Spirit, however, can give birth to spirit, so if we receive the Holy Spirit, our dead spirit will revive, recover all the blessings as God’s children that we lost due to Adam’s disobedience, and put an end to the cursed life. Anyone who realizes this truth would desire to receive the Holy Spirit. If he knows the way to receive the Holy Spirit, he will definitely do it. If he just knows the fact that the Holy Spirit has the key for us to become children of God who is almighty and full of love, and can give us all blessings. If God promises him to give the Holy Spirit, he would way for that day with so much happiness.
The Holy Spirit is so valuable and precious to mankind because He has the power to solve all the problems of life on this earth from the roots. God does not discriminate anybody. He gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to anybody who accepts Jesus Christ and receives the forgiveness of sins, and lets him recover the lost authority of God’s child. It is like getting back a lost child, so even God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit with joy and blesses us to grow up as God’s children.
Therefore, God lets us know that the Holy Spirit is the gift from God in the Bible. Acts 5:32 says, “the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him,” Acts 10:45, 11:17, 15:8 say that the Holy Spirit is given even to the Gentiles. In Acts 8:17-20, Peter rebukes the one who thought he could buy the Holy Spirit with money.
The Holy Spirit is one with God and comes as a gift to God’s children who accepted Jesus Christ and received the forgiveness of their sins. He is such a precious one who leads us to truth as the Helper. Therefore, we should accept the Holy Spirit in our heart to gain the right of God’s children and eternal life. We should enjoy the blessing as God’s children; we will enjoy health and everything will go well with us as our spirit prospers by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
