RESURRECTION!

R is for redemption.

E is for eternal life.

S is for the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit is a Person, part of the Triune Creator. This concept of three-in-one is hard for us to wrap our minds around, but it must be accepted by faith as it is clearly taught in Scripture. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct in how we know and understand them, and in their roles in the work of redemption, yet there is but one God.

The Westminster Confession of Faith explains it this way.

In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: (1 John 5:7. Matt 3:16–17, Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14) the Father is of none, neither begotten, not proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; (John 1:14, 18) the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. (John 15:26, Gal. 4:6).

Like many things we take on faith, we can’t explain the Holy Spirit, but we can know Him and experience His presence in our lives. We have this privilege because of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus made a promise to His disciples. He explained that He must die and be raised again, and return to His Father in heaven, but He would not leave them alone. Once He was resurrected and ascended to the Father, He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. In this way, we are never alone. God is always with His children, for He dwells in us.

John 14:16-18 – I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 15:26 – When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.

John 16:5-14 – But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Jesus prayed a very specific prayer for us in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He went to the cross. He was anticipating how the Holy Spirit, who would be given as a gift to all who put their faith and trust in Him, would knit us together as one with our Creator, just as the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are one.

John 17:19-23 – I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Was the Holy Spirit alive and working in the lives of men and women before Jesus died and rose again? Yes! There are many scriptures in the Old Testament that speak about His work. He is eternal, for He is God. But the unique relationship of the Holy Spirit indwelling men came only after the resurrection. It began at Pentecost as He came in power on those first, faithful 120 followers gathered in the upper room, just as Jesus had promised, and He continues to come in power upon all who put their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

Acts 2:29-33 – Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

Romans 8:14-17 – For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

The fact is, Jesus Himself was raised by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this same Holy Spirit lives in us. It is because He lives in us that we have the hope and anticipation that we, too, will be raised from the dead to live eternally!

Romans 8:10-11 – If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 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 ever doubt that Jesus was really raised from the dead?

The evidence is the Holy Spirit in you! Jesus had to be raised again and return to heaven, pouring out His own blood on the altar of heaven for the sins of the world. The response of the Father indicated His acceptance of this payment. He sent the Holy Spirit, just as His beloved Son asked!

Romans 15:13 – Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.