We are conscious of God the Father and Jesus the Son, but not the same consciousness of God the Holy Spirit. We want to explore this topic afresh because it is important to have the same consciousness of the Holy Spirit in us and walk with Him as He intended.
Genesis 1:1-3
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. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
In the beginning God is introduced as three persons to us. We find God, the Spirit of God and verse 3 God said “Let there be light,” and there was light. Let’s understand what this means.
1 John 5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
We find again clearly that there are three who bear record in heaven. Who is the Word then?
1 John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Jesus is the Word. The believer should equally be conscious of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
2 Corinthians 13:14
The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.
Apostle Paul beautifully shared the three person of God as being with us all the time. The Holy Spirit is who we have intimate fellowship with now. Here is a question to ponder on. Have you ever wanted to have Jesus physically with you? The disciples had that experience of physically being with Jesus. They saw Him, touched Him and sat with Him. Yet, it was spoken by Jesus Himself:
John 16:7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Jesus said it was better for Him to go and for us to have the Holy Spirit. We have the better in the person of the Holy Spirit. We have limited Him to speaking in tongues – which is very important but there is more to the Holy Spirit than speaking in unknown tongues.
In Acts 2, we see the first manifestation of the Spirit in men. They spoke in diverse languages, not in tongues. They spoke languages they had not been learned in. What a sweet experience. It is important to have a multidimensional view of the Holy Spirit. It will be a game changer.
Romans 8:9
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
Everyone that is born again, belongs to Christ and has the Holy Spirit. What must we then know about the Holy Spirit?
1. The Holy Spirit is a person – John 16:7; John 14:16 Jesus addressed the Holy Spirit as another like Himself. The Holy Spirit was addressed as ‘He’ not ‘it’. He is not gas nor a feeling. As believers, we must have that consciousness of the presence of the Holy Spirit all the time. Psalm 139:7-12 David understood was conscious of the Holy Spirit with him all the time even though he did not have Him living within like we do today.
2. The Holy Spirit has emotions – Psalm 139:11-12 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. David understood that even in darkness, it is as light. He sees all and nothing is hidden from Him. We need to have that consciousness and not grieve the Spirit. The same zeal and emotions Jesus had are the same with the Holy Spirit in you. When we make bad choices or do not listen to the Holy Spirit, it grieves Him. Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. With this understanding, in love, we constrain ourselves from grieving the Spirit. We yield to the leading of the Spirit.
3. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit till the day of redemption – The second part of Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are securely secured with Him. This understanding gives us the confidence we have in Him that on the day of judgment we have nothing to fear because we are secured in Him.
4. He prays for us – Jesus prayed for Peter when the enemy wanted to sift him (Luke 22:31-32). In the same way, the Holy Spirit prays for us. Romans 8:26-28 gives us that understanding. There are times where we get a sense that something is wrong and it is not clear what it is but the Holy Spirit at that moment prays for you. And the Spirit knows God’s mind. It is important not to be lazy when you get a sense that something isn’t right but act in that moment. You have the Helper so let Him help you. 1 Corinthians 14:2,14-15 tells us that the Spirit prays with our Spirit speaking mysteries. It is our language. So we should pray with our Spirit and with our understanding also.
In conclusion, the Holy Spirit is a person. Everything that Jesus was to us, the Holy Spirit is to us now.