The Third Person

“The Holy Spirit searches out everything—he even knows God’s deepest thoughts—and he shows us God’s deep secrets.” (I Corinthians 2:10-11)

Food For Thought: We have relatively little trouble believing that God is a person, and that as a person, he longs to be in intimate relationship with us. Likewise, we have little difficulty believing that Jesus is a person, and that as a person, he desires to live in close, day-by-day relationship with us. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us trouble!

We have great difficulty believing that the Spirit has personhood. And if we cannot believe in him as a real person, it will be extremely difficult for us to embrace a day-by-day intimate relationship with him. And because of our difficulty believing his personhood and embracing a relationship with him, we miss out on so much that God has for us.

The Holy Spirit is a person. He is not an “it”; he is a “he”. He is God, the third person of the Trinity. And just as God took the initiative to reveal himself to mankind in the beginning and call out to himself a people, Israel, through whom he would reveal himself to the rest of the world; and just as God took the initiative and revealed his love for the world and plan of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ; so God is present in the world and revealing himself today in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, most Christians only passively known him and reluctantly embrace him. But God the Spirit is to be passionately embraced and known, and he invites us to do so. When we do, he begins to reveal to us the deep things of God…even God’s deepest thoughts. How wonderful is that.

Before Jesus left his earthly life and returned to his Father, he breathed on his disciples and said, “receive the Holy Spirit.” That same command-invitation is for you and me today. We need to receive by faith God the Holy Spirit just as by faith we received God the Father and God the Son. And when we do, we enter into an incredible journey of discovery as the deep things of God, which are only spiritually discerned (that is, discerned through the indwelling Holy Spirit), are revealed to us.

Have you embraced the person of the Holy Spirit? Are you walking in a loving, intimate, day-by-day communion with him? If not, as Jesus commanded-invited, “receive the Holy Spirit!”

Prayer: Gracious Holy Spirit, thank you for indwelling me, empowering me to live the life God has called me to live, and revealing to me even the deepest thoughts of Father God. My prayer is that you will take control of more and more of my life, filling me with your power and producing in me your fruit. May I know you more and more intimately and walk with you more deeply each and every day.

One More Thing… “The Spirit of God…first imparts love; He next inspires hope; and then He gives liberty—which is about the last thing we have in a good many of our churches at the present day…our formalism needs to be buried if we are to experience the liberty of the Holy Spirit.”—D.L. Moody