"Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness'" (Genesis 1:26a).
Theologians have debated the grammar and identity of this "Us" for years. Many believe this refers to the fact that the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—has existed for all eternity.
In other words, "Us" means there is a relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
1. The Holy Spirit Affirms Jesus
At one level, trying to understand the Person and work of God's Holy Spirit is impossible. He is a supernatural Being, He is God, and yet different from God the Father, and God the Son.
One passage that helps me begin to understand the Holy Spirit is the baptism of Jesus: "And the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are My beloved Son. I take delight in You!" (Luke 3:22).
When we read this passage, we can get lost in the imagery of the dove. Artists and some denominations depict the dove in ways that suggest the form and function of the dove and miss the greater point: Jesus is praying, God the Father is speaking, and the Holy Spirit is descending. Jesus has been identified as the Son of God.
It is a very helpful passage seeing the Trinity expressed. Luke, under the Spirit's inspiration, records the moment Jesus is publicly identified as the God-Man. The icing on the cake: the Father and the Spirit are part of attesting Jesus' identity.
In my sanctified imagination, I don't see a bird landing on Jesus' head, but the indescribable Spirit coming down from heaven, descending like a dove (not as a dove). So, whatever the Spirit looked like, the way He descended was like the way a dove would descend.
One key work the Holy Spirit accomplished was to identify and authenticate that Jesus is the very Son of God, fully God and fully man.
2. The Holy Spirit Affirms Believers
We remember prior to Jesus' ascension, the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers permanently. As noted last month, in numerous Old Testament accounts, we read that God's Spirit may come upon or leave someone.
But in John 14:16, we see Jesus clearly explaining the Holy Spirit's coming and permanent indwelling: "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever."
Jesus is instructing His eleven disciples that He must leave and when He does, He will send His Spirit to be with them permanently. So, when you or I place our trust in Christ and Christ alone, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells us. He becomes what some have called "our permanent roommate."
As such, He is also referred to as a gift given to all believers. He is in the business of sanctifying us, making us more and more into the image of Christ, and less like our sinful selves.
3. The Holy Spirit Affirms God's Word
In 2 Peter 1:21, Peter explains that prophecies were not simply the result of an author writing something, but God's Holy Spirit that moving men to write the very Word of God (Luke 1:70; Acts 1:16).
While believers will always debate meaning and interpretation, is it a fair conclusion that if we worked to understand God's Word in the context in which it was written, and then how we apply it, might we find more agreement in His Word that His Spirit superintended?
The goal is not to make God's Word say what we want nor say something it does not say. The goal is to align ourselves with what He said. The beauty and power is that God spoke through His prophets at different times and in different ways, but clearly He has spoken though His Spirit and by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-3).
So, as we read the very Word of God, we have the added confidence that His Spirit inspired and oversaw the record of "thus saith the Lord." He has spoken clearly, precisely and without error.
Article courtesy of HomeLife magazine.