The Apostles Creed #8

Today we find ourselves in lesson 8 in our series on the Apostles Creed and that means that we are out of the portion of the creed dealing with the direct works of Christ in His incarnation and exaltation which means that we are now in the final portion which begins by confessing that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead.

Now, the Holy Spirit is often misunderstood. In today’s world, we find some people misrepresenting Him in movements such as the charismatics of today and on the other hand, there are people who behave as though He barely exists at all. And so, as with all doctrines, we want to be careful from falling into either ditch here as they are both erroneous.

The reality is that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, He is personal, He is active, and He is God. Just as much God as the Father, and just as much God as the Lord Jesus Christ is.

Now, at the beginning, we need to ask ourselves this question:

Does the Bible actually teach that the Spirit is God?

And the answer is absolutely, it does.

For instance, in Acts 5:3–4 when Ananias is caught lying, Peter attributes the title of God to the Holy Spirit, it reads,

Acts 5:3–4 NKJV

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”

But this isnt’t all. In Matthew 28:19 we find Him being included among the other two persons of the Trinity.

Matthew 28:19 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Furthermore, in passage such as 1 Cor. 3:16, we find Paul stating that being indwelt with the Spirit is being indwelt by God.

1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

So, to put it simply. Yes, the Holy Spirit is God. He is the third person of the Triune Godhead.

A General Overview of the Spirit’s Work

As we look throughout the Bible, we find, as Abraham Kuyper puts it, “The peculiar work of the Spirit is the work of perfecting the will and purpose of God. The Spirit works within the creation and the creature to bring them to their appointed destiny and end.”

And we will see an overview of that in four points which are, the Spirit at Creation. The Spirit at Incarnation. The Spirit at Pentecost.

The Spirit at Creation.

In Genesis 1, we find an account of the creation of the world wherein God speaks all things into existence. It is there, in Genesis 1:2, that we read,

Genesis 1:2 NKJV

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

So, what we read here is in line with what Kuyper taught us just a minute ago. That the Spirit is found to be perfecting, or bringing to an appointed end, the creation or creatures of God. In this passage, we find that God has spoken all things into being and that God the Spirit is moving upon the face of the Earth bringing about the design that God intended. We learn more about His act in creation from Job. In Job 26:13 we read

Job 26:13 NKJV

By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

and in Job 33:4, we read,

Job 33:4 NKJV

The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

So, God creates all things, He places man upon the Earth to adore Him, serve Him, and glorify Him in filling the Earth with His glory. But what happens? .... That’s right, Adam and Eve sinned against God and from thereon we find the horrible results of sin laced throughout human history. Most notably, it is seen at the Tower of Babel. Early in human history mankind still spoke the same languages and in the story we find that they decide that they are going to build a massive tower as a means to bend God to their will so that they would be exalted without doing what He commanded them to do and what was the result of their sin? God split them up. He divided the lands, He confused our languages and from then on we see things as they are today. The world is under the curse and the sinfulness of men against God fills it with suffering.

However, there is a hope and we will see that as we look at:

The Spirit at the Incarnation

So, think of it this way. In Genesis 1, the Spirit moves in creation and out comes the world and Adam and Eve go an sin and from that comes heartache, and pain, and suffering as we endure the effects of our separation from God. But as soon as mankind sins, God makes a promise. And the promise is that He is going to provide a deliverer, a second Adam who would make all things right.

Well, in Luke 1:35, we read about the story of a young woman by the name of Mary, and Mary is approached by and Angel and he tells her that she is the chosen one who will birth the Son of God, the Savior of mankind. Well, in Luke 1:35, we read:

Luke 1:35 NKJV

And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Did you notice that? The Spirit will come upon you… This is the same action that we find the Spirit preforming in the beginning of creation. So what we find here is that something new is happening and that new thing is that the human body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, the Savior, is being knit together inside the womb of the Virgin Mary.

This same Spirit would descend as a dove at Jesus’s baptism and rest upon Him as well. And in the life of the Lord Jesus, we find the works of the Savior as He lives, dies, resurrects and ascends for our redemption.

But during Jesus’s life, He tells His discples in John 14:25-26 that yes, He will not be with them in the future, but that He and the Father would send the Spirit of God down to dwell with them and help them.

John 14:25–26 NKJV

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

And after His resurrection, as He speaks with His followers, He says this in Acts 1:4-8

Acts 1:4–8 NKJV

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And it is this statement that leads us to our third point, which is:

The Spirit at Pentecost

Well, just like Jesus promised, He did ascend into Heaven and He did send His Spirit down to His people. In Acts 2:1-4

Acts 2:1–4 NKJV

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now, if we skim through this, we will miss out on just how rich this event is for us all. So, we need to remember what we’ve learned here. In Genesis 1, the Spirit is seen in a creative act. But in Genesis 3-11 we see the sinfulness of man and ultimately the division of mankind because of their sin.

But in Jesus, we see the beginning of the new creation who promised us the Spirit and here in Acts 2, we find that this Spirit is once again hovering over, or filling people, again.

What is happening here exactly? Well, this is the reversal of the Tower of Babel. At Babel, nations were divided, but here the Church is united in Christ by the work of the Spirit. And at Babel, different tongues were found but in the Church, we speak the lanugage of Heaven in our souls.

Conclusion:

Now, this isn’t remotely close to all that needs to be said concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. However, if we dive into the personal work today, we won’t finish so we will have to hit that next week. What I want to primarily focus on today is how the Holy Spirit is found working in this way upon the people of God in Acts 2 in a corporate setting. This isn’t to say that He doesn’t work in hearts individually, because we all know that He does.

But the main point we should take away from what we’ve seen today is the fact that the Church is made up of the elect according to the wisdom of the Father, saved by the work of Christ, and we recieve the reality of His works by the ministry of the Spirit. Or to put it simply, we need to learn that God has built us into a body of believers called the Church and that we should be invested in it as He Himself is so lovingly invested in it.

With that said,

What do you think are some ways that we could be better members of the Church?

Also, what do you think are some ways that we as the Church should be living in our community since we are a different people?