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The Holy Spirit’s Work

In John 14–16, Jesus was trying to trying to prepare His disciples for His death, resurrection, and ascension. He wanted to stir up a passion in them to continue to walk in faith, no matter what they encountered. He knew their expectations would not always align with their experiences, and that they would endure hardships and suffering. He told them, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

Jesus could have stopped there, and it would have been enough. But He went on to talk about the Holy Spirit. He said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth (John 14:16–17).” In these verses, and in John 14:26, Jesus invoked the triune Godhood.

The Holy Spirit is God. So, what does He do? He’s our Helper and Teacher, reminding us of the words and promises and truth of Jesus. He’s always pointing to Jesus. A litmus test to discern whether something is of the Holy Spirit is to ask yourself, “Is it pointing to Jesus or is it pointing to you?”

in 2020 we lost a theological faith giant named J. I. Packer. This is what he said:

The Holy Spirit’s distinctive new covenant role . . . is to fulfill . . . a floodlight ministry in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ . . .

I remember walking to a church one winter evening to preach on the words “he shall glorify me,” seeing the building floodlit as I turned a corner, and realizing that this was exactly the illustration my message needed.

When floodlighting is well done, the floodlights are so placed that you do not see them; you are not in fact supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you see it properly. This perfectly illustrates the Spirit’s new covenant role. He is, so to speak, the hidden floodlight shining on the Savior.

God, help me to know Jesus better through the light of the Spirit.