Is the Holy Spirit eternal like the Father and the Son? Or is His existence limited to the history of our planet? When Jesus went home to His Father He told His disciples, I cannot be with you any longer, but I will send you a substitute (i.e. the Holy Spirit). When in Heaven, our direct contact with Jesus (and His Father) will be re-established and, hence, a substitute seems superfluous.
If that is not the case what then is the role of the Holy Spirit?
This paragraph was sent to me by my Danish grandfather (Farf). We would both be interested in what any of you have to think about this...
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6 comments:
if the Holy Spirit is part of the trinity He is certainly eternal in existence. And the Holy Spirit was part of Creation (before sin) so I am thinking that He has other roles that we don't know about besides His pointing to Jesus and truth.
(sorry for barging on your blog :p)
I would say something similar. Besides, unless when in heaven we will get telepathic communication, the Holy Spirit can still speak to us when Jesus and God aren't around.
On a side note, isn't it a little funny...we always think of meeting Jesus in heaven, but not God...at least I've never really thought of seeing God walking around or going and sitting in His lap. He always seems...more holy? unapproachable? sacrosanct? I don't mean I can't pray to Him, but we certainly make Jesus more "user-friendly". Sorry...I know that's completely off topic :)
Please don't apologize for "barging" onto my blog, Lorrie. All visitors are welcome. :-) I'm glad to see ragamuffin participating too.
Here are some thoughts I had about the topic:
There are many verses in the Bible which talk about the holy spirit. I looked up several of them in the book of John, and found that my Bible (NASB) renders the translation "helper" instead of "substitute". Looking in my Greek New Testament and dictionary, I found that the word used is "paracletos": a noun derived from "paraclesis", meaning "calling to one's aid, imploring, comforting, encouraging." John 14:16 says "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;" In essence, God sent Jesus to the earth in order to implore, comfort, and encourage us, because we could not stand the presence of the omnipotent. In turn, God sent us the Holy Spirit to continue His helpful support after the physical departure of Christ. Therefore, I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to think of the Holy Spirit as a mere substitute for Christ. At least, no more of a substitute than Christ is for God. They are both channels through which God reaches us, and are part of His very character. If Christ will remain with us throughout eternity, I think the Holy Spirit will too.
"In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the water." Genesis 1:1,2 (Tyndale) Apparently, the Spirit at least existed prior to creation week.
For extended enlightment on the subject please search out an old forgotten book: "The Coming of the Comforter" by Leroy Froom. I believe the ABC would have some, or could order for you.
It is an excellent study into purpose and mission of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, as well as deepening ones understanding of His place in the Trinity.
It helped me find solid answers to many of these same questions.
Also Pastor Shane Anderson has a thought provoking series on "How to Recieve the Latter Rain"
Ask Joel for the site you could download these sermons from.
"and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever" John 14:16
I appreciate the comments.
Clearly the Holy Spirit as part of the Trinity has always existed and will be with us for eternity.
The current issue of the Signs of the Times gives the final answer to my question:
"Although the Old Testament speaks of the Holy Spirit it doesn't give Him the focus He receives in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is described as the creative energy hovering over the chaos of water..."
And "Evidently, God's Spirit filled our first parents....."
Finally, "When we receive Jesus as our Savior we also receive the Holy Spirit, and God makes Him His seal in our lives, guaranteeing the reality of our final destiny."
(Graeme Loftus).
That says it well.
Farf
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