The Spirit of God

The Spirit of God the Father
The Bible clearly tells us that God has a Spirit

1Thes 4:8__God has given to us His Holy Spirit

Man and his spirit is comparable to God and His Spirit.

The spirit of man is in man; the Spirit of God is in God.
However, Paul doesn't say, "the Spirit of God which is in Him."
Because God's Spirit is not confined to any one place; it is omnipresent, everywhere.

Yet Paul is making an important comparison between man's Spirit and God's Spirit.
The spirit of man knows the things of a man because it is his conscious mind, his thoughts.
Man's spirit is not a different person; so also God's Spirit is not a different person.
The Spirit of God is the conscious mind of God, aware of the thoughts within Him.

"In giving us His Spirit, God gives us Himself, making Himself a fountain of divine influences,
to give health and life to the world." 7T p. 273.1

God is Omnipresent
God is at this moment and at all times personally present everywhere in the universe.

God's Spirit is God's Presence. It is not a mysterious force; it is His personal presence.

But God has a form, He is depicted as sitting on His throne in heaven.
Therefore, this Person must not be all there is of God. He is more than just a Person.

His personal Presence, His living Spirit fills the entire universe.
He always has and He always will.
Not as some ethereal "Force" or "collective consciousness"
But a personal, warm, caring and loving Father, the God of all creation
Who is as much a person as you are a person but with infinitely greater powers.
One of those powers is His ability to be literally in all places at the same time.

"The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. "The Lord's throne is in heaven" (Psalm 11:4); yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand." EG White, Education, p. 132

The woman at the well in Samaria debated which place to worship: Jerusalem or Gerazim?

But we will never change our spirits! Our characters are what make us us.
My spirit is the real me, my identity, the sum of life's memories and experience.

So, too, God's Spirit, His mind, His software is what make Him Him.
It is His identity, His character, His love. It's what allows Him to fellowship with us.

1Jn 1:3____And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

We fellowship with the Father and His Son through their Spirit.
The Spirit is the communication channel through which we commune with God.
Fellowship cannot be possible when conducted through an intermediary middle man.
You can have fellowship with the middle man, but only indirectly with anyone else.
Nor can you have fellowship with a power, an influence, a feeling.
John the beloved had personally seen and heard and touched the life of Jesus.
He said that our fellowship is truly with the Father and His Son.

God's Spirit, like His love, are both personified qualities of Himself.

The Spirit of God is the mind of God
Paul quotes Isaiah in this way:

"I then stated that this was according to the mind of the Spirit of God for the Workers to change from field to field..." Manuscript Release 185, p. 15 (Letter 23, 9-23-1885).

So God has two personalities; He is both a Spirit and a personal Being.

"God is a Spirit; yet He is a personal being; for so He has revealed Himself… I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus' countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father's person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, "If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist." The Faith I Live By p. 40; Ministry of Healing, p. 413.

"the Maker of all things…created the human soul, with its capacity for knowing and for loving. …No intangible principle, no impersonal essence or mere abstraction, can satisfy the needs and longings of human beings in this life of struggle with sin and sorrow and pain. It is not enough to believe in law and force, in things that have no pity, and never hear the cry for help. We need to know of an almighty arm that will hold us up, of an infinite Friend that pities us. We need to clasp a hand that is warm, to trust in a heart full of tenderness. And even so God has in His Word revealed Himself." The Faith I Live By p. 54

The Spirit of Christ
The Spirit of God also dwells in Christ, His Son

The Spirit of God is manifested in Jesus as power (horns) and wisdom (eyes)
which He sends to His church throughout all the earth.
There are seven horns and eyes because His is omnipotent and omniscient.

The Spirit of God is an extension, a finger of His power, that comes to us through Jesus.

The Spirit of God flows through Christ, who sends it to us.

We respond to this personal message by addressing the One who sent it: God the Father.
In the OT His Spirit was sent through Christ to the prophets.

The Lord is that Spirit...the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"This refers to the omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ, called the Comforter"
14 Manuscript Releases p. 179

"The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency, that through His grace we might be complete in Him." 14 Manuscript Releases p. 84

The Father Sends His Spirit
Our study here will focus on the divine Spirit of God.
It originates from the Father and comes to us through His Son.

"Think of Christ's humiliation…He united humanity with divinity: a divine spirit dwelt in a temple of flesh. He united himself with the temple. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," because by so doing he could associate with the sinful, sorrowing sons and daughters of Adam." Youth's Instructor, December 20, 1900 - See also 4BC, p. 1147.

"thing" is a supplied word in KJV, i.e., that holy refers back to the Holy Spirit
the Spirit of God shall be born as the Son of God. Since the Spirit is God's presence...

Matt 1:18__she was found of child of the Holy Spirit (or child of God's Spirit)

The Word and The Spirit
When Christ speaks of His words being spirit He is referring to His person, His divine character.

" 'It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life' (John 6:57, 63). Christ is not here referring to His doctrine, but to His person, the divinity of His character." EGW, 1Selected Messages p. 249

Thus, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, the person of Christ, the divinity of His character.

Jesus is the Word of God because He speaks for His Father and does the works of His Father.
Jesus, the Word of God, is personal because He came from God Himself.
The express image of His person. He is God's contact with humanity,
___showing us what the Father is like, giving us an example of His character,
___teaching us about His law and His will for our lives.

Jesus is the Word of God also because He "proceedeth out of the mouth of God"
...the very mind of God.

"Prove the very mind of God, as those who are striving for eternal life, and who must have a knowledge of His will. You can reveal the truth only as you know it in Christ. You are to receive and assimilate His words; they are to become part of yourselves. This is what is meant by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. You are to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; that is, what God has revealed." Counsels on Health p. 371

"Receive into the heart the truths of God's Word. Only thus can you have the mind of God." Manuscript 105, 1902.

"Christ and his Father were one; in all the Father's requirements Christ cheerfully acquiesced. He had the mind of God." Gospel Workers p. 14

The Spoken Word and Breath of God
The Word of God came from God because He spoke the Word.

The word of God "came upon" many people in Scriptures bringing them a message.

Jesus is the living Word of God. "God's thought made audible" Desire of Ages p. 19
But then "the word was made flesh" and became God's Word made visible.

The Spirit of God was also manifested on several occasions in a visible form.
At the baptism of Jesus, the Spirit of God appeared in the form of a dove.
At Pentecost the Spirit of God appeared as tongues of fire and a rushing wind.
Besides wind, the Spirit of God is represented by various symbols: water, rain, dew, oil, leaven.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the Word of God was manifested in both a visible form and symbols.

The Word of God comes from God and discerns thoughts and intents;
The Spirit of God comes from God and searches the mind of God and knows the things of God.
The Word of God and the Spirit of God have the same source: God Himself.

Notice their close similarity:

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.

Jesus, the Word of God, is also the Spirit of God.

"The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only-begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated with Christ's nature. We are made one with God in Christ." EGW Selected Messages book 1, p250 - 251

"The Spirit was given as a regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of man to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own character upon the church." EG White, Review & Herald, May 19, 1904

From the evidence of Ellen White statements, person and personality share a degree of equivalence.
Thus, the Spirit could just as well be said to be the third personality of the Godhead, Christ's Spirit.

"The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin." EGW, DA p. 324

"Christ declared that after his ascension, he would send to his church, as his crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take his place. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit-the soul of his life, the efficacy of his church, the light and life of the world. With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin." EG White, Review and Herald, May 19, 1904

"They have one God and one Saviour; and one Spirit-the Spirit of Christ-is to bring unity into their ranks." EG White, Testimonies Volume 9, p. 189

The third person of the Godhead is the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the soul of His life.
The Son will come in His Spirit as the former and latter rains.

God is the Supreme Source, from whom all blessing flow: Eph 4:6
The Spirit flows from God, through the Son, to us.
Zecharia's vision of the two olive trees in chapter 4 demonstrates this truth.
The olive oil flows from the two olive trees (Father and Son) and unites at the lampstand.
The olive trees stand on each side of the lampstand are "the two anointed ones"
"which stand by the LORD of the whole earth" Zech 4:14.

God Lives within Us
God's desire is to have His Spirit live in us in close intimate communion.

Since God the Father dispenses His Spirit to us through Christ, both dwell in us.

John 14:23__We [Christ and the Father] will come and make our abode with [those who] love [Christ]

But most of the time, since the Spirit comes through Christ, it is Christ that is featured.

The Mystery of God
God's mystery is to be eventually finished.

What is the mystery of God?

God living in man is the mystery of godliness.
Jesus was the first to manifest God in the flesh.

Jesus came to manifest the mystery which had been kept secret from the beginning of the world.
His Father was living in Him. He said, "I live by the Father" "He is in me and I am in Him"
But God's ordained plan is to fully restore the image of God in restored humanity.

Marriage is a model for the mystery of God.
Two become one, united in one flesh, one body.
As husbands love their wives, so Christ loved the church.
So also His desire is to beocme one with His church.

Only those who have experience the spiritual marriage relationship can really understand.
The disciples didn't understand, so Jesus reveals to them the mystery of God's kingdom.

In the fullness of times, when the 7th angel begins to sound (his trumpet?)
God will make known to us the mystery of His will.

God's plan is to place His word in our hearts. He is the sower.

His mystery will remain a mystery until the fullness of the Gentiles comes.

Part of the mystery (of Christ) is the unity of all believers in the same body…
one flesh, including the Gentiles.

The mystery of the ages is Christ living in us.

When we are knit together in love, the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Chirst…
will bring comfort to our hearts.

We are told Who the Spirit is.

"In giving us His Spirit, God gives us Himself, making Himself a fountain of divine influences, to give healthand life to the world." EGW, 7T 273

"The Saviour is our Comforter. This I have proved Him to be." EGW, 8 Manuscript Releases 49

"We are to make supplication according to the will of God, relying on the precious Word, and believing that Christ not only gave Himself for but to His disciples. The record declares, "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). {YRP 26.2} Jesus is waiting to breathe upon all His disciples, and give them the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from Himself to His people. He would have them understand that henceforth they cannot serve two masters. Their lives cannot be divided. Christ is to live in His human agents, and work through their faculties, and act through their capabilities. Their will must be submitted to His will, they must act with His Spirit that it may be no more they that live, but Christ that liveth in them. Jesus is seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy Spirit He is giving to them the glory which the Father has given Him, that He and His people may be one in God. Our way and will must be in submission to God's will, knowing that it is holy, just, and good." Signs of the Times, Oct. 3, 1892.

But not what the Spirit is.

"It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, 'the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father.' It is plainly declared regarding the Holy Spirit that, in His work of guiding men into all truth, 'He shall not speak of Himself.' John 15:26; 16:13." Acts of the Apostles, p. 51

"The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them; but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden." Acts of the Apostles, p. 52

Indeed, the nature of the Holy Spirit and how God can dwell in us is a mystery,
but the identity of God's Spirit is plainly taught in Scripture and confirmed by inspiration.

Presence and Power of God
"The divine Spirit that the world's Redeemer promised to send, is the presence and power of God." EG White, Signs of the Times, November 23, 1891

After quoting the Great Commission of Matt 28.."But they would not be left to fight alone. He assured them that He would be with them; and …they should move under the shield of Omnipotence. … One mightier than angels would be in their ranks--the General of the armies of heaven….assured that My presence will be with you even there …I will be with you always…guiding, comforting, sanctifying, sustaining you, giving you success in speaking words that shall draw the attention of others to heaven." Acts of the Apostels p. 29

Even as the presence of Jesus is the presence of the Father:

"The Father then made known that it was ordained by Himself that Christ His Son, should be equal with Himself; so that wherever was the presence of His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of the Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had invested with authority to command the heavenly host." EG White, Story of Redemption, p. 13.

"After His ascension He was to be absent in person, but through the Comforter He would still be with them..." Desire of Ages p. 277.

"Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church." Desire of Ages p. 671

"Like the wind, which is invisible, yet the effects of which are plainly seen and felt, is the Spirit of God in its work upon the human heart. That regenerating power, which no human eye can see, begets a new life in the soul; it creates a new being in the image of God." The Faith I Live By p. 55

"It is the glory of God to give His virtue to His children. He desires to see men and women reaching the highest standard; and when by faith they lay hold of the power of Christ, when they plead His unfailing promises, and claim them as their own, when with an importunity that will not be denied they seek for the power of the Holy Spirit, they will be made complete in Him." Acts of the Apostles p. 530

"Christ breathed on His disciples, and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' This is the great gift of heaven. Christ imparted to them through the Spirit His own sanctification. He imbued them with His power, that they might win souls to the gospel." Sons and Daughters of God p. 294

"He would give all gifts in one, and therefore the divine Spirit, that converting, enlightening and sanctifying power, would be his donation." 6SDABC p. 1052 (Original source: Southern Watchman, November 28, 1905)

A Living Person: Christ
"The Spirit had been waiting for the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ." 6SDABC p. 1055.

"The more fully they receive enlightenment of the living Spirit, the more nearly will they harmonize in their understanding of what is truth." 14 MR p. 176 (Letter 7, 6-11-1891).

"There is, thank God, an ever living Spirit to guide us into all truth." 491 MR p. 83 (Letter 93, 9-30-1896).

Christ's Representative
"He [Christ] determined to give his representative, the third person of the Godhead." 6SDABC p. 1052 (Original source: Southern Watchman, November 28, 1905)

Quotes John 14:16,17 "the Holy Spirit should come to do a mighty work as His representative." AA p. 47

"The Lord Jesus acts through the Holy Spirit, for it is his representative. Through it he infuses spiritual life into the soul..." Review & Herald, Feb 10, 1903 Vol. 4 p. 492 col. 2.

"Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be His successor on earth." "By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high." Desire of Ages p. 669

Jesus is the Latter Rain
" The plant, the child, grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life -air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such is Christ to those who trust in Him. He [Christ] is their "everlasting light," "a sun and shield." Isaiah 60:19; Psalm 84:11. He [Christ] shall be as "the dew unto Israel." "He [Christ] shall come down like rain upon the mown grass." Hosea 14:5; Psalm 72:6. He [Christ] is the living water, "the Bread of God . . . which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. John 6:33." Steps to Christ, pp. 67, 68

"As the plant receives the sunshine, the dew, and the rain, we are to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit. The work is to be done "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zech. 4:6. If we keep our minds stayed upon Christ, He will come unto us "as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3. Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 66, 67)

A Manifestation of Himself
"No circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer." "By the Spirit, He said, He would manifest Himself to them." Desire of Ages p. 670

"What was the strength of those who in the past have suffered persecution for Christ's sake? It was union with God, union with the Holy Spirit, union with Christ." "When for the truth's sake the believer stands at the bar of earthly tribunals, Christ stands by his side. When he is confined within prison walls, Christ manifests Himself to him and cheers his heart with His love." Acts of the Apostles p. 85

"Christ as He is manifested by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New Testament" Christ's Object Lessons p. 126

An Influence
"The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul. We do not see Christ and speak to Him, but His Holy Spirit is just as near us in one place as in another. It works in and through every one who receives Christ." 12MR p. 260 (Manuscript 41, 1897).

"So mightily can God work when men give themselves up to the control of His Spirit." "Christ declared that the divine influence of His Spirit was to be with His followers unto the end." Acts of the Apostles p. 49

"The Spirit came upon the waiting, praying disciples with a fullness that reached every heart. The Infinite One revealed Himself in power to His church." "And under the influence of the Spirit, words of penitence and confession mingled with songs of praise for sins forgiven. Words of thanksgiving and of prophecy were heard." Acts of the Apostles p. 38

A Union
"As the chariot of angels received Him, His words had come to them, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end.' Matthew 28:20." "Their union with Him was stronger now than when He was with them in person. The light and love and power of an indwelling Christ shone out through them, so that men, beholding, marveled." Acts of the Apostles p. 65

An Agency
"Morning by morning, as the heralds of the gospel kneel before the Lord and renew their vows of consecration to Him, He will grant them the presence of His Spirit, with its reviving, sanctifying power. As they go forth to the day's duties, they have the assurance that the unseen agency of the Holy Spirit enables them to be 'laborers together with God.'" Acts of the Apostles p. 56

"Through the agency of His Spirit and His angels He ministers to the children of men." Ministry of Healing p. 417

"The angels of God are ascending, bearing the prayers of the needy and distressed to the Father above, and descending, bringing blessing and hope, courage, help, and life, to the children of men...The miracles of Christ for the affliced and suffering were wrought by the power of God, by the ministration of the angels. And it is through Christ, by the ministration of His heavenly messengers, that every blessing comes from God to us." Desire of Ages p. 143

"Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power." Desire of Ages p. 671 1898

"The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency. The God of heaven uses His Spirit as it pleases Him; and human minds, human judgment, and human methods can no more set boundaries to its working, or prescribe the channel through which it shall operate, than they can say to the wind, "I bid you to blow in a certain direction." The Faith I Live By p. 52

A Medium
"It is through the medium of His Spirit that God works upon the human heart, and when men willfully reject the Spirit and declare it to be from satan, they cut off the channel by which God can communicate with them." 5T p. 634.

An Office
"The office of the Holy Spirit is to take the things of Christ as they fall from His lips, and infuse them as living principles into the hearts opened to receive them." 14MR p. 174 (Letter 40, 1890).

The Advent pioneers clearly understood the identity of the Holy Spirit.

"Finally, we know the Divine unity of the Father and the Son from the fact that both have the same Spirit. Paul, after saying that they that are in the flesh cannot please God, continues: "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. 8:9. Here we find that the Holy Spirit is both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. E. J. Waggoner, Christ And His Righteousness, pp. 19-24. 1890

"The Spirit of God is spoken of in the Scriptures as God's representative- the power by which he works, the agency by which all things are upheld. This is clearly expressed by the Psalmist...Psa. 139:7-10. We learn from this language that when we speak of the Spirit of God we are really speaking of his presence and power." J. N. Loughborough, Review & Herald, September 13, 1898

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God because it comes from Him. It is His Spirit.
The Spirit of God is personal because it comes from God Himself who is a person.
It is His contact with humanity, speaking to our minds,
leading us, guiding us, convicting us, instructing us, teaching us, reminding us of the words of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ because it comes through the Son, from the Father.
The Holy Spirit is both the Spirit of God the Father and the Spirit of Jesus Christ the Son.
The Holy Spirit is the means by which God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son live in us.

Continued: The Godhead