Articles

The Spirit who Gives Life

‘This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing’

Acts 2:32

This Jesus, the risen Jesus, is pouring out on us what he received from the Father: The Holy Spirit.

And who is the Holy Spirit?  What do we see in Acts Chapter 2?

The Holy Spirit is a new wind. A refining fire. In other words, a new life.

Christians, we must be clear about the Holy Spirit. What is the gift of the Holy Spirit? Is it the capacity to speak in a foreign language as we saw earlier in Acts 2? Is it the capacity to heal people of their illnesses as we shall see later in the book of Acts? Is it the capacity to speak in a special prayer language as Paul may seem to imply in 1 Corinthians?

We can argue at length, as Christians seem wont to do, about these questions. But in our arguing, we miss the main feature of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It’s life. The life of the resurrected Jesus.

The Holy Spirit confers on us the life of Christ pouring out the life of Christ in our hearts.

What does Jesus himself say in John 6:63? –

‘It is the Spirit who gives life’

What does the apostle Paul say in 1 Corinthians 15:45? –

‘The last Adam [namely Jesus Christ] is a life-giving Spirit’ . . .

And how about Romans 8:10-11? –

‘The Spirit is life and he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit who dwells in you’.

Do you have the life of Jesus Christ in you through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit in your hearts, filling you will fullness of gladness?

Is that you? Fullness of gladness. Has resurrection life taken possession of you?