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Great Doctrines
of the Christian Faith
The Holy
Spirit-part 1
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity through
whom God acts, reveals His will, empowers individuals, and discloses His
personal presence in the Old and New Testament. In the Old Testament, He is
refered to most often as The Spirit of God, as in the following
verse:
Gen 1:2
(KJV)
And the earth was without form,
and void;
and darkness was upon the
face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters.
The word "Spirit" in both the Old and New Testaments has
the meaning of "breath", so the name "Spirit of God" could also be called "The
Breath of God". It is interesting to note these 2 instances of God breathing
into man...in the first instance, God creates man's body, and then "breathes"
into his nostrils the breath of Life:
Gen 2:7
(KJV)
And the LORD God formed man
of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life;
and man became a living
soul.
In the second instance, Jesus Christ, breathes new
Spiritual Life into His disciples, and equips them for service:
John 20:21-22
(KJV)
Then said Jesus to them
again, Peace be unto you:
as my Father hath
sent me, even so send I you.
{22} And when he had
said this,
he breathed on them,
and saith unto
them,
Receive ye
the Holy Ghost:
The name "Spirit of God" is only one of
the names given to the Holy Spirit. This name occurs 14 times in the OT and 12
times in the NT. The name "Holy Spirit" occurs for the first time in Psalm 51:11
where it says,
Psa 51:11
(KJV)
Cast me not away from thy
presence;
and take not thy Holy Spirit from
me.
Incidentally, in v v 12, 13, and 14, there are actually
3 descriptions of the Holy Spirit, with the names, "a right spirit", "thy Holy
Spirit", and "thy Free Spirit" being used.
The Name, Holy Spirit, occurs only 2 other times in
the Old Testament, in Isaiah, who is recounting the deliverance of the Children
of Israel from Egypt by he Mighty hand of God:
Isa 63:7-12
(KJV)
I will mention the
lovingkindnesses of the LORD,
and the praises of the
LORD,
according to all that the LORD
hath bestowed on us,
and the great goodness toward the
house of Israel,
which he hath bestowed on them
according to his mercies,
and according to the multitude of
his lovingkindnesses.
{8} For he said,
Surely they are my people, children that will not lie:
so he was their Saviour.
{9} In all their affliction
he was afflicted,
and the angel of his
presence saved them:
in his love and in his pity he
redeemed them;
and he bare them, and carried them
all the days of old.
{10} But they
rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit:
therefore he was turned to be
their enemy, and he fought against them.
{11} Then he
remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying,
Where is he that brought
them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock?
where is he that put his
Holy Spirit within him?
{12} That led them
by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm,
dividing the water before
them, to make himself an everlasting name?
As we travel throughout the Bible, the revealing of
the Person and work of the Holy Spirit is a "progressive" revelation, meaning
that it is "here a little, and there a little". This is actually the way
most major doctrines of the Bible are revealed, here a little, there a little,
so that we can more easily understand them.
The Holy Spirit is first named simply, "The Spirit of
God", as we saw in Genesis, sort of a generic name. And throughout
the scriptures more and more is revealed, also by descriptions and
activities and names, until in the last book of the Bible, He is revealed as
"The Seven Spirits of God", or "the Sevenfold Spirit of God". Seven is the
number of "perfection", and perhaps this is the declaration that we now have the
full revelation of the Holy Spirit. And apparenlty so we don't miss the lesson,
He is called by that name 4 separate times. Observe:
Rev 1:4
(KJV)
John to the seven churches which
are in Asia:
Grace be unto you, and
peace,
from him which is, and which
was, and which is to come;
and from the seven Spirits which
are before his throne;
Rev 3:1a (KJV)
And unto the angel of the church
in Sardis write;
These things saith he that hath
the seven Spirits of God,
and the seven stars;
Rev 4:5
(KJV)
And out of the throne proceeded
lightnings and thunderings and voices:
and there were seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne,
which are the seven Spirits
of God.
Rev 5:6
(KJV)
And I beheld, and, lo, in
the midst of the throne and of the four beasts,
and in the midst of the
elders,
stood a Lamb as it had been
slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven Spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth.
So let's follow the occurances of the name "the Spirit
of God" through the Bible as it occurs some 26 times from Genesis to 1 John (the
last occurance) and see what God is revealing about His Spirit to us.
The Spirit of God Interacts with the Created World
Gen 1:2b-
"And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters."
The Spirit of God can indwell people
Gen 41:38
(Speaking of Joseph)..
-And
Pharaoh said unto his servants,
Can we find such a one as
this is,
a man in whom the Spirit of God
is?
The Spirit of
God can give gifts of creative artistic and mechanical
skills
Exo 31:3-5
(KJV)
And I have filled him with the
spirit of God,
in wisdom,
and in understanding, and in
knowledge,
and in all manner of
workmanship,
{4} To devise cunning
works,
to work in gold, and in
silver, and in brass,
{5} And in cutting of
stones, to set them,
and in carving of
timber,
to work in all manner of
workmanship.
Exo 35:31-35
(KJV)
And he hath filled him with the
spirit of God,
in wisdom,
in understanding, and in knowledge,
and in all manner of
workmanship;
{32} And to devise
curious works,
to work in gold, and in
silver, and in brass,
{33} And in the cutting of
stones, to set them,
and in carving of wood, to make
any manner of cunning work.
{34} And he hath put in his
heart that he may teach,
both he, and Aholiab, the
son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
{35} Them hath he filled
with wisdom of heart,
to work all manner of work,
of the engraver, and of the
cunning workman,
and of the embroiderer, in blue,
and in purple, in scarlet,
and in fine linen, and of the
weaver,
even of them that do
any work,
and of those that devise cunning
work.
(To be continued on Part
2)
IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH DEVOTIONALS
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