THE HOLY SPIRIT
THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY
Part One
As a child, I did not come from a Christian home. My parents did not go to church, but I do remember going to a Methodist Sunday School for a while in Surfers Paradise on Queensland's Gold Coast, where I grew up. Then, as a teenager at the age of about fourteen, I started attending the local Anglican church youth group with another friend from school.
That led to us being asked by the minister (rector) of the church to become 'servers' - I suppose similar to being altar boys in the Catholic Church. The church had two Sunday morning services - 7am and 9am. We were involved in the 7am service. Eventually, through a school holidays interdenominational church 'coffee shop' outreach where young Christians would go out on the streets of Surfers Paradise at night and invite people back to the coffee shop for free coffee and a chat - presenting the message of the Gospel - I heard the Gospel message clearly as one of the youth group leaders from my church sat with me until midnight one night, sharing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ with me. I prayed the "Sinner's Prayer," and at that point in time, my Christian life began.
I knew that something significant had happened in my life. I literally did sense the experience of being 'born again,' as the Bible says in John 3:3 and John 3:7, when Jesus was visited by Nicodemus at night.
Even though it was late at night, I remember going home feeling invigorated, and waking up the next morning feeling a tangible sense of God's nearness, and a real sense of being cleansed from my sin.
I knew from my Sunday School lessons earlier, and from attending the church services, and hearing the Word of God preached, that the God of the Bible was referred to as the Trinity - One God in Three Persons - God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 1:26 as part of the Creation narrative, the Bible says: Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness....."
I could understand something of the concept of God being Father, and could also understand something of the Person of Jesus Christ through the Christmas story and the significance of Easter, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - even before any church or Sunday school involvement. I probably had some exposure to Christian teaching also through Bible-in-schools programs as well. BUT I REMEMBER THE HOLY SPIRIT BEING A TOTAL MYSTERY TO ME!
Actually as a child, with the King James version of the Bible being the main Protestant Scripture source, the Holy Ghost was the terminology most used for the mysterious person in the Godhead. To be honest 'Holy Ghost' sounded to me a little spooky!
As a child, and into my early teens, ghosts were scary ethereal figures that haunted old dilapidated houses, and were the stuff of nightmares!
However, when I became a Christian, I learned that the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, as we mostly refer to Him now - is a vital member of the Godhead - Yes, He is a He, not an it or a thing or an impersonal force, but a Person with personality.
When Jesus was about to finish His earthly ministry, He told His disciples in John 14:15-18: "If you love Me, keep My commands,
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."
The Bible tells us that when we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, when we confess our sin and our need of a Saviour, and accept the work of Jesus shedding His blood and dying on the Cross - the sinless Son of God dying in our place (Romans 5:8), we are born again by the work of the Holy Spirit as He makes alive our human spirit which, until that time has been unresponsive to the Spirit and Word of God. The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Jesus' disciples were sad when He told them He was going away, but He reassured them that He would send another Helper and that He would abide or dwell with them forever. The Greek word Jesus used for another Helper is allos which means another of the same kind. The Holy Spirit Jesus would send them would be their Helper, Counsellor, Comforter and Guide. The Holy Spirit's coming would assure them of continuity of all that Jesus both did and taught.
Every man, woman or child who personally commits their life to Christ and is "born again" of the Holy Spirit becomes as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 a new creation in Christ, able to commune or felllowship with Father God.
BUT WAIT...........THERE'S MORE!
If you want to know how you can be "born again" and can experience the life God has planned for you - not an easy life, but a life in fellowship with your Creator God, a life led by the Holy Spirit, a life filled with purpose and promise for the future - contact the following for further help: Australia's Vision Christian "Pray For Me" prayer line, where someone will pray with you and don't forget to ask for a "New Believer's Growth Pack." The phone number is: 1800772936
If you live outside of Australia, go to: harvest.org/knowgod for more info.
If you have made a commitment of your life to Jesus Christ in response to reading this blog, please let me know in the Comments section below. God Bless!
