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Understanding the Holy Spirit: The Forgotten Person of the Trinity

Have you ever felt like something was missing in your Christian walk? Like there's a gap between what Jesus promised and what you're experiencing? You're not alone. Many Christians today are living with an incomplete understanding of God—focusing on the Father and Son while neglecting the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit: More Than Just a Force

According to a 2022 survey, 60% of committed Christians believe the Holy Spirit is merely a force, not a person. This misunderstanding has profound implications for our faith. Jesus made an extraordinary claim that many of us struggle to accept: "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."

Think about that. Jesus said we're better off with the Holy Spirit than with Jesus physically present. Do you believe that? Most of us, if we're honest, would trade our current experience with the Holy Spirit for one face-to-face conversation with Jesus.

Where Was the Holy Spirit in the Bible?

The Holy Spirit isn't a New Testament innovation—He was present from the very beginning:

In Genesis 1:2, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" at creation

God "breathed into [Adam's] nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7)

The cloud that guided Israel through the desert was God's presence

The glory that filled the tabernacle and later Solomon's temple

There's a progression in Scripture of God drawing increasingly closer to His people. In the Old Testament, God's presence was powerful but distant—even Moses couldn't enter the tabernacle when God's glory filled it. The high priest could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year, and even then with a rope tied to his ankle in case he died in God's presence.

Jesus: God's Presence Among Us

Then Jesus arrived. John 1:14 tells us "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." The Greek literally means "tabernacled" or "pitched his tent" among us. Jesus was the living, breathing tabernacle filled with God's glory.

This explains why Jesus got in trouble with religious leaders. He did things only permitted in the temple, like forgiving sins. When standing in Herod's temple, Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." He wasn't talking about the building but his body—the true dwelling place of God.

You Are God's Temple Now

After his resurrection, Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). This mirrors Genesis when God breathed life into Adam. Jesus was commissioning his followers to be filled with the same Spirit that filled him.

Paul makes this explicit in 1 Corinthians 3:16: "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" Later, in 1 Corinthians 6:19, he says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you?"

This is revolutionary: what once filled the tabernacle, what filled Jesus, now fills you. The glory of God dwells within you.

Why Aren't We Experiencing This Power?

Jesus promised, "Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12).

Be honest—are you doing greater works than Jesus? Most of us aren't. Why not?

Billy Graham observed, "Everywhere I go, I find that God's people lack something. They're hungry for something. Their Christian experience is not all they expected." He concluded the church is "missing the Holy Spirit, longing for the Holy Spirit, and needing the Holy Spirit."

The Divided Church: Bible vs. Experience

For generations, there's been a divide between "Bible churches" and "Holy Spirit churches." Some focus on teaching Scripture intellectually but lack the experience of the Spirit. Others emphasize spiritual experiences but diminish deep biblical teaching.

This division breaks God's heart. The kingdom isn't either/or but both/and:

The Bible AND the Holy Spirit

Thinking AND feeling

Teaching AND experience

Contemplation AND charisma

Being Available to the Spirit

God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called. Like Will Champion, who became Coldplay's drummer despite not knowing how to play drums initially, God is looking for availability more than ability.

When you make yourself available to God, He may ask you to do things that seem beyond your capability. But the Holy Spirit doesn't embarrass you—He empowers you. When the Spirit guides you, He gives you the courage and words you need.

Life Application

This week, I challenge you to acknowledge the Holy Spirit as a person, not just a force, and to make yourself available to Him daily. Start each morning by saying, "Holy Spirit, I am available to you today."

Ask yourself these questions:

Do I truly believe the Holy Spirit is better than having Jesus physically present, as Jesus himself claimed?

When was the last time I consciously relied on the Holy Spirit's power rather than my own abilities?

What areas of my life am I holding back from God's Spirit?

What "greater works" might God be calling me to do through His Spirit?

Remember, the same Spirit who hovered over creation, who filled Jesus, now dwells in you. You are God's temple. What would change if you truly lived with this awareness every day?