The Holy Spirit
We’ve proven numerous times that the Holy Spirit has a physical form; he has a body. So then, why is it so uncommon for him to manifest himself in this physical body?
Answer: It’s because the Holy Spirit is very obedient.
The Holy Spirit subjects himself to God and Jesus. His task right now is to dwell inside believers. His job is not to simply "watch over" believers. No—that’s a ministry for angels. Rather, God has assigned the Holy Spirit a much more excellent assignment: to indwell Christians.
The Holy Spirit is obedient to God and Jesus, so while he’s busy fulfilling the job God and Jesus have given him, he has made himself invisible. Ever since Pentecost, he has been more like the wind (and more like flames of fire) than an angel--even though, like an angel, he is a spirit and he has a body.
We won’t see the Spirit in his body until a determined time in the Kingdom of God. That time will have to be after the Millennium since he will still dwell in mortal believers until everyone has been finally resurrected into a new body with the divine nature.
In the meantime, the Holy Spirit has decided to be invisible. While he’s on this mission for God and Christ (they sent him together), he must dwell in many people at once—therefore he must be unrestricted--free from any physical limitations.
No Limitations
Now, let's be clear about this: The Spirit is completely free! He is not limited by anyone. Not even God limits him!
Who gave the Spirit the divine nature? God did—and God equipped the Spirit so that the Holy Spirit would be capable of doing virtually anything.
God has gladly given unlimited authority over us to the Holy Spirit.
Now, having limitless power and limitless capabilities from God, the Spirit has decided to limit himself for a time—so that he might serve God most effectively. What is the limitation he has self-imposed? Forsaking his body.
Why does the Holy Spirit limit himself corporally? To be most effective in his service to God. What is his service to God? Specifically, to live within every single believer everywhere in the World at once! He lives in each of us, making our bodies temples of God.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16)?
Guard the good deposit… with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us (2 Timothy 1:14).
... do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God... (1 Corinthians 6:19; LEB)?
Never Before in History
So, the unique power the Spirit exercises at this period in history is to dwell within mortals who believe in Jesus. How does the Spirit do that? By administering his baptism--we call it "the baptism of the Holy Spirit." It's the One Baptism of Ephesians 4:5.
Such power is unique. In the history of God's relationship to man recorded for us in the Bible, there’s no story of anyone else who has done such a thing! No angel or other created being has taken on such a responsibility. No other spirit has dwelled within human beings to empower them. No other has ever given human beings a new birth that makes us children of God.
Consider the greatness and power of angels. Are you astounded at their magnificence? Well, the Holy Spirit is much greater!
God and Jesus in Us
The Father dwells within Christians through the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures tell us that God is 'in all.' That includes God being in Jesus. Jesus affirmed that God was in him. Here's what Jesus said to Philip in the Upper Room:
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work (John 14:10).
But this privilege of God living within also includes each of us. If you have been baptized in Christ Jesus, God is in you too!
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them (1 John 4:16).
… One God and Father of all, who is… in all (Ephesians 4:6).
How Is This Possible?
Jesus describes how he and his Father come to dwell within us. He says that it happens when we decide to love. It happens when we begin to obey his teaching. It happens when we commit to being his disciples.
Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them (John 14:23).
God spends much of his time on his Throne in Heaven. Jesus is seated at his right hand. So how can they live within us? That's an excellent question and it needs to be asked more often.
God and Jesus live in us vicariously through the Holy Spirit. They do not live within us independently of the Holy Spirit--although they could (because the Father has all power and he shares it with his Son). But they choose to live in us through the Holy Spirit. He is completely faithful to the will of God and the words of Jesus Christ.
Christ in You
Now you should be able to understand why the Bible affirms that Jesus lives in us. What it means is that Jesus is in us through the Holy Spirit. The Bible affirms this many times, and here are seven of those occurrences:
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you (2 Corinthians 13:5)?
... Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
... that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17).
I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19).
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).
... if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness (Romans 8:10).
Behold, I stand at the door and knock! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, indeed I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20; LEB).
Angels Cannot Do This
Good angels have never lived in people—much less every believer in the world! Angels fly down from Heaven and return to God. Some angels are guardian angels, and may remain beside a believer for a time, watching over him or her. However, they never live in us.
If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble… See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in Heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven (Matthew 18:6, 10).
A Unique Ministry
The Spirit has a very special ministry: He remains in us. He doesn’t need to go back and forth, bringing reports to and from God, like angels do. He is capable of doing what they do, but he willingly chooses to dedicate himself to a very special task—to live in us.
... the Spirit of Truth. The World cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you (John 14:17).
And I will put my Spirit within you... (Ezekiel 36:27; ESV)
The Holy Spirit can live within us because the One God has given him the divine nature. You need the divine nature to do such things as this.
And be clear on this: God authorized the Holy Spirit--and only the Holy Spirit--to live within man. Nobody else has this commission, not even guardian angels. They watch over us from outside, only the Spirit can care for us from the inside.
Again, we ask “why?” Why did God give this ministry to only one spirit of the billions of spirits that exist? Could it be because the Holy Spirit is so obedient to God that God has learned to trust him? Yes.
Could it be that the Holy Spirit has earned this privilege? Sure. In God’s Kingdom, all the privileges, glory, and rewards God grants to others are based on merit. What the Spirit has, he most certainly has earned, and deserves.
Self-Examination
So, let's wrap it up with a personal question: Does the Holy Spirit live in you? Paul spoke to the Roman Christians, and pushed them to reflect on this. He wanted them to perform self-examination. Paul invited the Romans to check to see if truly the Holy Spirit was living in them.
... you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him (Romans 8:9).
The Spirit of Christ
Did you get that? Paul called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is subject to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit belongs to Jesus. Because of that, he can rightly be called the Spirit of Christ.
If the Holy Spirit does in fact live within you, then (by extension) Jesus Christ is in you. Christ is in you through the Holy Spirit he sent. Through Jesus' command the Holy Spirit came to the Church.
God's Love in You
In addition, if Jesus has given you the Spirit, God's love has been poured out into your heart. That's special!
... God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:5).
The Promise of the Father
What a gift we have in the Holy Spirit! Jesus called him the Promise of my Father. He's here to stay. Let him flourish within you. If you listen to him and let him guide you, he will teach you and empower you.
... he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' he said, 'you have heard from me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now' (Acts 1:4-5; NKJV).
Comments