May the Force be with you;" Is a popular quote
from the Star Wars movies.
If you asked the
average Christian how they think about the Holy Spirit, most of them would say
they think of the Holy Spirit much like the “Force” in Star Wars. They believe
that the Holy Spirit is some sort of neutral, invisible spiritual power or
energy somehow working in the world, or as a force that did something a long
time ago. But the Holy Spirit is so much more. Friends, if you’re a Christ
follower the force is not with you- God the Holy Spirit is; He’s not a force.
So what or who
is the Holy Spirit?
First, the Holy
Spirit is not a “force” or energy or an “it,” He’s a Person. He has
characteristics of a person. The Holy Spirit is a Person, with mind, intellect, will and
emotions.
He’s intelligent
and has an intellect. 1 Corinthians
2:10-11 says, “No one knows the mind of God except the Spirit of God who
searches all things.”
He has feelings.
Just like when someone does something that causes us sadness and grief, we produce
a similar emotional response in the Holy Spirit when we disobey Him or reject
Him or refuse His leading. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with
whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” He has a will. In 1 Cor.
12, the Apostle Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the One who wills, or
determines, how He distributes spiritual gifts to Christ followers. He does so
by an act of His will.
He’s a Person
and He’s God; the Holy Spirit has the attributes of God. He is all-powerful, all
present, and all-knowing. He has the very mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit is
God; He is co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal with the Father and the Son.
(1 John 5) I Corinthians 3 it says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” So the Holy
Spirit is a person and He is God. He’s the person of God without a physical
being.
But here’s the
most amazing part of all of this: The Father and Son in the person of the Holy
Spirit dwells inside of every Christ follower. The moment we confess our sin
and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we, become members of God’s family and
the Spirit immediately takes up residence inside of our bodies. You become a
living, walking, breathing temple and the Spirit of God dwells inside of you.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in
you, whom you have received from God?”
So what does
this mean to us as Christ followers? Plenty,
everything; it means we have 24/7 unlimited access to the Father and Jesus. It
means we have the power of the living Christ dwelling inside of us. The point
of the Christian life is not about us following all the rules or trying hard to
“be good.” The Christ life is about Jesus living in and through us by His
Spirit and us becoming more and more like Jesus. And the Holy Spirit wants to
produce inside of us the very life, heart, personality and character of Jesus. J.B.
Phillips writes, “Every time we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit,’ we mean
that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human
personality and change it.” WOW!
