One-of-a-Kind Ministry

The Holy Spirit is a spirit-being. Angels are spirit-beings too. They’re spirits with an angelic nature, so they do not have the divine nature. The Holy Spirit does have the divine nature, and that sets him apart from angels.

It’s probably not hard for you to imagine what an angel looks like. An angel is often strong, glorious, beautiful, and has wings. Similarly, the Holy Spirit has his own body which is strong and glorious. That’s something we proved in lessons 2, 3, and 19. Feel free to click on the links and review those lessons. We’ve reviewed the passages that prove that the Holy Spirit has abandoned his body for a period of time in lesson 24. But today's lesson proves something different: that the Spirit yearns to inhabit our bodies.

There’s something very unique about the Holy Spirit—something which is not seen among other spirit-beings. He does something which other spirit beings like angels, God, you, or I do not do. Only he wields the power to dwell in countless bodies at once. The Spirit has this one-of-a-kind ministry. Call it omnipresence. He can be anywhere he likes.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your Presence? If I go up to the Heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there (Psalm 139:7-8).

A Ministry From God

This ministry, the ministry of indwelling human beings, was given to the Holy Spirit by his Boss, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s exactly why we say that Jesus is in us—because the Holy Spirit lives in us under Jesus’ orders, command, and authority.

Jesus (of course) got his commands by God, the Almighty God, our Father. So that when we say that God is in us what we mean is “through the Holy Spirit whom he sent.”

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; NKJV).

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him (John 14:23; NKJV).

Think about this: Theologians try to sound smart by telling us that God and Jesus are omnipresent (meaning, in all places at all times), but the reality is that both God and Jesus dwell in Heaven in real tangible “heavenly” bodies (as Paul puts it).

This truth about God and Jesus is rarely taught in churches, which puts us under even more obligation to state it clearly. We must declare it with boldness because if we don’t, God and Jesus will remain misunderstood, and the Holy Spirit will remain the enigmatic “Third Person” the false teachers frame him as.

Heavenly vs. Earthly Bodies

Human, angelic, and divine beings have bodies. That’s a fact. Paul details for us the differences between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. He also calls those heavenly bodies spiritual bodies. We need to understand the reality of such bodies. Let’s call them heavenly-spiritual bodies since both adjectives are given to us in the Bible.

Here’s the key passage which teaches us about these bodies:

But someone will ask, ‘How are the Dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 

Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the Resurrection of the Dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:35-44).

Now, this topic (the topic of spiritual bodies) is supremely important because it reveals who God is. A large contingency of people in the Church don’t want you to know who he is. They’ve made up one of the biggest lies of the modern Christian Church, that “God is spirit, so he does not have a body.” People desperate to make God a mystery Being—and to keep him unknown—cling to this lie.

God’s Spiritual Body

However, if they read their Bibles, they’ll see that God has a heavenly body—a spiritual body. Here are some of the Bible’s descriptions of God’s literal physical body, a heavenly body:

… high above on the Throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 1:26-28).

… there before me was a Throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the Throne. (Revelation 4:2-3).

… the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire (Daniel 7:9).

The Image of God: Us

You and I have been created in the likeness and image of God. We have eyes, ears, hands, feet, and hair on our heads because God has these features on his body. We are beautiful creatures because God is beautiful. We are the crowning jewel of Creation precisely because the Almighty has made us like him.

Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:26, 28).

God walks, eats, sits down, stands up, and even flies. If he cannot do these things, then do you have more ability than he does? You can walk, eat, sit down, stand up but God cannot? Will you (in your low view of God) prohibit him these activities?

The difference between you and God is not that he does not have a body and you do. The difference is the human and divine natures. God's body is described for us on numerous occasions in the Bible and it says that he looks like a man. Will you not believe those passages?

Look to Jesus

You can also understand the difference between a natural and spiritual body from the lesson Jesus gave the disciples when he appeared to them after his resurrection. Someone with a spiritual body can be touched. He can eat too.

‘Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence (Luke 24:39-43).

That was a telling encounter. It shows what we will be like when we’re resurrected because Jesus is the first fruits of the Resurrection. What the Bible means by first fruits is that Jesus is the standard for the fruits that will follow in his harvest. The harvest of souls is the Resurrection, and if the first fruits (Jesus) has a physical heavenly body then we will get one too.

… the fact is, Christ has been raised from the Dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man death came, by a man also came the Resurrection of the Dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; NASB).

Now and Then

It’s a fact: We will become in the Resurrection what Jesus is now. We’ll obtain our heavenly bodies (remember: these are also called spiritual bodies), when we see him. That’s the transformation that occurs in the twinkling of an eye at the Rapture! You get a new body, an eternal body.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is (1 John 3:2; NASB).

The Scriptures prove that someone with a spiritual body can be hugged. This spiritual body is a real body. It’s physical. Mary Magdalene clung to Jesus after she saw him resurrected. Jesus had to ask her to let him go. Why? Because he needed to be able to return to his Father, bodily!

Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…’ (John 20:16-17)

Every Body Wants a Body

Every living being—every spirit (including and starting with the One True God) has his or her own body. In the absence of a body, all spirits seek a body to inhabit. Case in point: You have a body today, but if you die, you will reside in the Realm of the Dead as a soul tomorrow. A soul is like a ghost—it doesn’t have a body.

If you understand that truth, the truth that you will dwell as a spirit-being until you’re resurrected, then answer this question: How will you feel when you’re in Hades? What’s the main thing you’ll want? It’s no secret. The Bible tells us how you’ll feel. The main thing you’ll long for will be a body!

… I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the Earth and avenge our blood? (Revelation 6:9-10)

What do the souls in Hades say as they pray to God? “How long… until you judge… the Earth?” What are they waiting for down in Hades? Justice—an end to their subjection to Death. But they long for more than justice. They want a resurrection. They won’t be content until they get their bodies back again. In fact, that will be their vindication.

Jesus’ Cry From Hades

The feelings of people in Hades (they are there right now) match the feelings our Lord Jesus had when he was in Hades. Do you remember what he did while he was there? He cried out to God. And what did he ask God to do for him? He asked God to free him from Death. His body was resting in hope, that is, the hope of the Resurrection, and he asked for his body back.

Jesus’ body had been embalmed in the hope of the Resurrection, and he trusted that God wouldn’t abandon him in Hades. He was confident that he’d get his body back again—so confident that (as a spirit in Hades) he prayed fervently for it. Knowing that it was God’s promise, Jesus was inspired to cry out and pray all the more.

God raised him [Jesus] from the Dead, freeing him from the agony of Death… David said about him [Jesus]: ‘… my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the Realm of the Dead (Acts 2:24-27).

What’s the point?

The point is that nobody enjoys being bodiless. Jesus didn’t like it. Those who are in Hades now don’t like it. And you’re not going to like it either. Not that Paradise is a bad place, it’s just that every spirit-being longs to dwell within a physical body. That’s what Jesus wanted, and it’s what the souls in Hades cry out for. We have studied the Bible verses that describe their circumstances—but did you know that the Holy Spirit doesn’t like to be without a body either?

Expanding His Reach

You have already studied the Spirit’s freedom of expression, his freedom of movement, and his freedom of will. You know that he does what he wants, but have you ever thought about why he wants to dwell within us? Think about it.

The Holy Spirit is no fool. He does not simply act upon an impulse or a desire. He acts in wisdom. And wisdom guides him to seek to dwell in bodies—yours, mine, and anyone else who has trusted in God’s Promise:

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezekiel 36:27).

‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts’ (Jeremiah 31:33).

... wait for the Gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5).

The indwelling is not the Spirit limiting himself. Rather, he is expanding his reach by indwelling us. The Holy Spirit has decided to indwell people so that he might expand his power and influence. If the Holy Spirit dwells within believers he multiplies his effect through us. We become an extension of God’s righteousness. We become God’s instruments when the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

If you haven’t done so yet, invite the Holy Spirit to dwell within you. He’s waiting for you to do so. Repent, be baptized, and ask a pastor to lay his hands on you and pray for you to receive the Holy Spirit.