Who is the Holy Spirit?
Portions excerpted from "Who
is the Holy Spirit" by David Clayton.
God is Omnipresent. This means that He is at this moment, and at all
moments, literally and personally present everywhere in the universe.
Jeremiah 23:24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that
I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says
the Lord.
1 Kings 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold,
heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this
house which I have built!"
Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of us all, who is above all and
through all and in all.
This is not pantheism in the sense of some "universal intelligence"
or "collective consciousness." Nor is this God an ethereal
essence or an unfeeling, impassive presence. The Bible is speaking of
a personal, warm, loving Being who is as much a person as I am a person,
but whose powers and abilities are infinitely greater than mine. One
of these abilities is the capability of being literally in all places
at the same time. Who will dare to say that this is not possible for
God? Who will even suggest that this is not the plain teaching of the
Bible?
In John chapter four when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s
well, she asked Him a question which was very important to her but which
showed that she was as ignorant of the nature of God as many people
today are:
John 4:20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Her implied question was, "where is the true place of worship?"
or, to rephrase it, "where should we go to find God?" Jesus’
answer was that henceforth, men would no longer worship in either Jerusalem
or that Samaritan mountain. Why? Because "God is spirit.
. ." (John 4:24). What does that have to do with anything? Well,
when we recognize that God is spirit, then we will realize that He cannot
be limited to one place. Not to Jerusalem, not to that mountain, not
to Jacob’s anointed stone at Bethel, not to Moses’ burning
bush. Wherever we are, God is there (Ps. 139:7,8), therefore we worship
Him anywhere and everywhere. This is what is meant by spiritual worship.
Who am I? Man was made in the image of God and according to the Scriptures,
humans consist of both body and spirit. (See Ecc. 12:7; Eccl. 3:21;
James 2:26; 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Cor. 2:11; Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59) However,
while we may, and will one day change bodies, we will never change spirits!
"Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though
not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into
the grave. The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The
spirit, the character of man, is returned to God, there to be preserved.
In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in
His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of
life, and bidding the dry bones live. The same form will come forth,
but it will be free from disease and every defect. It lives again
bearing the same individuality of features, so that friend will recognize
friend. There is no law of God in nature which shows that God gives
back the same identical particles of matter which composed the body
before death. God shall give the righteous dead a body that will please
Him." --Ellen G. White, Maranatha, p. 301
What this tells me is that the real me is my spirit. My body is just
basically the house in which I live. Granted, the spirit cannot exist
in a conscious state while separated from the body except God performs
a miracle (2 Cor 12:2). However, all that makes me, ME, my memories,
my thoughts, my being, are contained in my spirit. In other words, my
spirit is my identity.
This is also true with God. God’s true state is a spirit who has
the capability of being in all places at the same time.
"The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a
state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by
ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy
beings, all waiting to do His will. Through these messengers He is
in active communication with every part of His dominion. By
His Spirit He is everywhere present. Through the agency of
His Spirit and His angels He ministers to the children of men."
--Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, p. 417
When you or I go out and teach the truth to someone and he is won to
the truth, do you say, "I won the soul," or do you say, "God
won the soul?" Of course we say, "God won the soul,"
don’t we? Why do we say this? Because we recognize that although
our voice was heard, our mouth spoke, our hands turned the pages of
the Bible, yet it was God who was doing the work through us. God did
it, but He did it through us. In the same way, Jesus created all things
(John 1:3; Col. 1:16), but it was really God in Him that did it (Eph.
3:9). Therefore God is really the One who created all things (Rev. 4:11).
He is the source of all power and all being.
"All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So
in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings; through
the beloved Son, the Father’s life flows out to all; through
the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love,
to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit
of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great
Giver, the law of life." --Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, p.
21
We see then that it is the spirit, the power, the life of God, but
working through Christ, uniting with His spirit, which comes to us as
both the spirit of God and of Christ. Then when that same Spirit indwells
me and works through me it is the work of God, Jesus and myself. All
three spirits united in one. "I in them and thou in me, that
they may become perfectly one. . ." (John 17:23).
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your
own;
John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you,
so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
