Soulfood

Lauren Whitman

The Trinity is a mystery, and of the Three Persons the most mysterious seems to be the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Son feel more accessible and understandable. The Holy Spirit’s role in our lives is less clear.

Where is the Holy Spirit?

First, we will see how the Bible unveils the Holy Spirit over time.

Second, we will look at Paul’s writing on the Holy Spirit particularly in Romans 8.

From the dawn of Creation until the end of redemptive history, the Spirit creates and re-creates.

The Spirit is central to the work of creation and re-creation in redemptive history. He is present in the work of Christ, and He is given to Christ’s people to empower us for the Kingdom of God.

The Spirit shines on Jesus without putting Himself forward. He calls us to Christ, points us to Christ, and shows us Christ. The Spirit joins us to Christ (Rev 22:17)

When we point people to Christ, we join with the Spirit in shining light on Jesus.

Romans 8

The Spirit sets us free from the law of sin so that we can walk in obedience as he conforms us to Christ’s image. (Theme of Romans 8:1-11)

Example – When we seek forgiveness from someone we have sinned against, that is the work of the Spirit of life in us to make us more like Christ.

The Spirit works in many ordinary ways to connect us to Christ in an extraordinary manner.

The Spirit bears witness to our new-creation identity: we are now children who belong to God’s family. (Theme of Romans 8:12-17)

We feel loved by God when we see the Spirit working in our lives. We believe that the Spirit will not stop working in us until we are completely remade after the image of Christ. We belong to a family and nothing we have done or not done can undo that. Our sins, sufferings, fears, failures, etc do not define us. We are children of God! And the glory of God shared with His family outweighs our sufferings and struggles.

The Spirit groans with and for his people, as he waits eagerly with us for the fulfillment of our adoption. (Theme of Romans 8:18-27)

We wait eagerly and patiently. We are eager because what is coming is glorious. We are patient because we have confidence that it is coming.

Threefold groaning – creation, us, Holy Spirit. Groaning is hopeful!

The Spirit of adoption (telling us who we are – children of God!) enables us to groan. The Spirit is heightening our tension as He dwells in and with us to increase our longing for God as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit long for us. As our desire for God increases, our longing sharpens. But the Spirit is with us as the assurance that what we desire will be fulfilled – union with God.

When we can no longer bear the suffering we experience as we wait for the promise of eternity, the Holy Spirit carries us. “Will you carry me?” The Spirit always says yes. So we have hope! We are never without hope. We are never without power. We are never alone.

We are living in the age of the Holy Spirit. So we do not lose hope!