Our Spiritual Worldview will determine what we experience spiritually and will determine how we understand spiritual events.
Last week, we saw from Scripture a man named Simon saw acts of the Holy Spirit before him and thought that it was some kind of spiritual use of power he could be trained in. So he offered Peter money so he could have the Holy Spirit too. His spiritual worldview lead Simon to see the Holy Spirit as a force to be manipulated rather than the person he is.
The Holy Spirit is a person – not a force, or some kind of spiritual power, we can manipulate. Last week we saw that when we know the Holy Spirit as a person, we can know the power that God desires for each believer to have.
This brings us to today. Who is the Holy Spirit? To many of us – the Holy Spirit is just vague. As we understand who the Holy Spirit is we can know the power of the Spirit. Mysterious Paradox: Holy Spirit a person, yet the inseparable God. Our human mind wants to reject a paradox. But the Holy Spirit is a paradox to us - A person, yet the inseparable God. We can never fully understand how this reality is. If we see the role of the Holy Spirit within the Godhead, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we can then see the significance of the Holy Spirit in our lives - a significance we scarcely understand. It is the person of the Holy Spirit who empowers our lives. To be in close relationship with him is what – you are missing…….
The trinity is very difficult to understand. Muslims claim we worship three gods, and they only one. Most people who know even a little about Christianity know of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We hear it at baptisms, funerals even in songs on the radio. But what does it mean?
Heresy and the Trinity.
Early on in Christianity – there was quite a bit of speculation about what the trinity means. The nicean creed was finally written and agreed upon the trinity as being one substance, but three persons, all equal, divine.
Arius said that God the Father ("unbegotten"), always existing, was separate from the lesser Jesus Christ ("only-begotten"), The Father, working through the Son, created the Holy Spirit, which was subservient to the Son as the Son was to the Father.
Arius made the mistake of ranking the trinity and making equals, unequal.
Sabellius, (also known as modalism) is the second-century belief that the three persons of the Trinity are merely different modes or aspects of God, rather than three distinct persons. One God who is seen in three different ways. Historic Sabellianism taught that God the Father was the only person of the Godhead, there are no distinctions.
Today we see a modern form happening: the Oneness doctrine. Itsays that this one member of the Godhead is Jesus. The Oneness doctrine claims that when Scripture describes the Father or the Holy Spirit, it is actually Jesus, who is only revealing Himself as one of the other modes of God. Some Oneness followers call this the "Jesus Only doctrine".
So WE see the Father, Son and holy Spirit as fully equal, as one and as different persons, distinct from each other. If we look at the activity of the trinity we can see how each applies in our life.
Activity of The Trinity.
Revelations 5:1-7 gives us a glimpse into the activity of the trinity. It describes the trinity, their relationship, & their work .
Basis: Calvin.
To the Father is attributed the beginning of activity.
To the Son – wisdom council and ordered disposition of all things.
To the Spirit – power and efficacy of that activity.
The Trinity works together to accomplish.
Father: Initiator of all things.
Rev 5:1
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne
a scroll with writing on both sides
and sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice,
“Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
3 But no one in heaven or on earth
or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
The Father- is who sits on the throne is a symbol divine seat of power and authority. He holds the Scroll. He issues the divine decree the symbol of Gods intention. Notice: The Father holds the scroll but does not open it. Is he able? – yes. But the Greek here means qualified. Who is qualified? Jesus.
The father initiates – how will his will be accomplished? Through the Lamb.
Son: Accomplishes the Father’s will.
6 Then I saw a Lamb,
looking as if it had been slain,
standing in the center of the throne,
This is clearly Jesus Christ. God the father chooses to create all things, but it is through the son that this is accomplished. John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. God willed the redemption of all humanity.John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The fathers will. Accomplished by – Jesus Christ.The scroll – from the Father, fulfilled by the Son Jesus Christ, 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. The Holy Spirit: Makes God’s Power effective in our lives. We read at the end of verse 6, He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Seven is the symbol of heavenly perfection. Seven horns = complete, this means Authority. Seven spirits, does not mean seven different spirits, it means the perfect spirit – the Holy Spirit. Notice what the spirit does: Sent out into all the earth. The Holy Spirit brings to fruition that which God accomplished in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes God’s power effective in our lives.
Trinity in action.
Father – initiates.
Son accomplishes.
Holy Spirit – brings to fruition.
So – where is God? If we can grasp this – our lives will be changed.
God is all around us,
Father – at throne of heaven.
Son – Jesus, sits beside him in authority.
Holy Spirit – sent to work God’s will on earth.
Through the Holy Spirit The Inaccessible God is Accessible.
Understand – When we have a real spiritual experience, it is through the Spirit of God, our spirit communicates with God through – the Holy Spirit. You want to be accessible to God, then depend upon the Holy Spirit. He is our seal of assurance. Ephesians 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal,
the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.
When we believe, we are given the Holy Spirit who comes upon us and then we are spiritually marked. This is permanent – will not go away. We live in a world where God’s presence is hidden, so this is his seal, God’s promise to us. God’s will for our life is accomplished through the Son Jesus Christ and made effective in the person of the Holy Spirit. If I am not in touch with the Holy Spirit, how can I have an effective Christian life?
Where is our effective Christian lives?
This is nothing new:
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, (He is speaking of the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives the spirit giving us wisdom and revelation to understand) so that you may know him better.
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart
may be enlightened in order that you may know
the hope to which he has called you,
the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
The Holy Spirit is our connecting point; Miss him and I can honestly say
we will not get it. Our priority then is, knowing and understanding the Holy Spirit.
Next Week: The empowering work of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit we are spiritually empowered.
