The God Who GivesSample

Gift of the Holy Spirit  

I remember a nightly ritual I had when my kids were young. Every evening before I went to sleep, I walked upstairs, checked on my son and daughter, covered them if needed, and kissed their heads. I did this because I love them. There was something strangely sacred in those moments. With this in mind, I found it fascinating to read about Origen (185–254), who became one of the leading early church fathers. As a young boy he quickly became known for his deep spirituality; one retelling of his youth describes his father standing over his sleeping son and then kissing his breast with a sense of reverence, knowing that the Spirit of God dwelt within this boy. Origen’s father profoundly sensed what we easily forget—the strangeness, wonder, power, and joy of receiving God’s Spirit. The Christian claim to receive the Spirit, to have God “in” us, is a mind-boggling claim. 

Theologian Yves Congar, in his massive and important study on the Spirit, makes this startling assertion: “God gives himself to us, in such a way that, although it is purely through grace and we hardly dare to confess it, we really possess him.” We believe that God has given his Holy Spirit to dwell not merely throughout the world, but particularly in his children. 

As Jesus ascends, the Spirit descends; the Spirit of God is the presence of God. Without reservation the New Testament assumes that where the Spirit is, there is Christ, and encounter with the Spirit of God is encounter with Yahweh. There is one true God, who in his mysterious reality is three persons, each distinct from the other and yet existing in unbreakable unity and perfect oneness. This is why the apostle Paul can move fluidly between the Spirit, Christ, and the Father in Romans 8:9–11…he uses the phrases “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ” interchangeably. And this Spirit raised Jesus from the dead—thus distinguishing the Spirit from Jesus, even as he links them together. In other words, where the Spirit dwells, there is the wholeness of God. In this way, the biblical claim should stop us in our tracks, for none other than the triune God, the Holy God, makes his abode in us by his Spirit.