Who Is The Holy Spirit?

“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. And God said, ‘Let there be light," and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3

Elohim, a Hebrew word connoting multiple persons yet one being, created the world.
• God the Father, the voice Who spoke, was the designer of creation and the planner of redemption.
• The Word God spoke was God the Son, Jesus, the Light of the world.
• Today we will think about God the Holy Spirit, hovering over the face of the waters Who by His power brought forth life, the earth and everything in it, from the void. He is the agent of creation.

Throughout the Old Testament the writers spoke of the Spirit of God. Pharaoh recognized that Joseph had the Spirit of God to interpret dreams and run a nation. Later God told Moses He would fill two men with His Spirit in order for them to create all the artwork in the tabernacle and to teach other artisans how to do their work. When the Spirit of God would come in power on someone, that person would prophesy, beginning in Exodus, from Balaam to the elders in the desert camp, to king Saul and the prophets of the Old Testament. It was by the power of God’s anointing, His Holy Spirit, that kings and prophets were made and unmade. As the prophet Zechariah said, quoting God, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.’

John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, sent to prepare the way for Messiah and announce His arrival. God told the Baptist that when he saw the Spirit of God descend in the form of a dove and alight on a man’s head, that man would be the Messiah, the lamb of God. The apostle Matthew recorded that historic moment:

“When Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

• The voice Who spoke was God the Father, planner of redemption
• The man arising from the waters was His word, God the Son, Jesus, the Light come into the world
• And the dove that hovered over the word, and the waters, was God the Holy Spirit. The first time was to create the world. The second time was to save it.

The Holy Spirit is the third member of the trinity. As such He is equally God, equal in power and authority, with all the same attributes as God the Father and God the Son, eternal, infinite, all-present, all-powerful, all-knowing. He is in no wise less than, or lower than, any other person in the trinity, though He is spoken of less often.

Even though the word trinity is not found anywhere in the Bible, Jesus taught on this doctrine in the apostle John’s gospel.

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17

The Holy Spirit would be a gift from the Father, given by the Son. One God, three Persons. Each member of the Godhead, distinct in personality and activity, yet all working together with one mind in all things.

When Jesus said “another,” He meant “exactly the same other,” and interchangeable other. Jesus was sending the same personality that lived within Him to live within His disciples and all believers after them. The Spirit would be a Helper, or some translations say Counselor or Comforter. That word in the Greek means “One called alongside to help, to strengthen and encourage.” For that reason God the Holy Spirit is also called an ever present Advocate and Strengthener.

His chief work is found in John 15:26 and John 16:7-15; listen for the trinity

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me....

“...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. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

The Holy Spirit calls attention to the Lord Jesus and provides the way for people to testify about and glorify Jesus. One way to test the spirit of what’s going on in any meeting is ask whether Jesus Christ is being lifted up and glorified. If yes, then the Holy Spirit is at work in that place. If something else is being glorified, then no, the Spirit is probably not at work there.

The Holy Spirit’s work is found mostly in Acts and the letters of the New Testament. He calls men and women to faith in Jesus, making them alive with the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead. He is not at “it.’ He is not a force, like “Let the force be with you.” He is not a feeling. We can work up all kinds of passions and feelings, but as vivid as our emotions are, and as convincing as they may feel, that’s not the Holy Spirit. He is a whole person Who either literally lives within you, Who has literally come into your body and possesses you, filling you with the essence and vibrancy of God’s life. OR He hasn’t. You’ve just been flirting with God, but you have not received Him as your own.


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