This morning, I read again in John 14 what Jesus said to His disciples about the coming and pouring out of the Holy Spirit in and on God's people. Let me show you what I hear Him say.
First, listen to what He says about His own relationship with the Father.
John 14:6,7 – “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Then Philip asks: “Show us the Father.”
To which Jesus then answers: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in Me and does His works. Believe in Me because I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe based on the works themselves.”
In other words, Jesus tells His disciples, there is this “unity” between Him as the Son of God and God the Father. It is exactly this same “unity” that we will experience when God the Holy Spirit comes to live in each of us as believers.
That is why He says there in John 14: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
How then does it happen that Jesus Himself comes to live in us as God’s believing people after His ascension?
In John 14:25 and 26, Jesus explains this: “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you; but when the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is sent in my name, he will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
In verse 28, He then continues: “You have heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away, but I am coming back to you.’”
To drive the point even further, He explains it further in John 16.
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)
And: “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority; he will speak only what he hears, and he will declare to you the things to come. He will glorify me, for whatever he receives from me he will declare to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said, ‘Whatever he receives from me he will declare to you.’” (John 16:13-15)
Can I put my conclusion here on the table before you?
So many believers do not know exactly how to think or talk about the Holy Spirit. Yet it is very clear what God Himself says about the Holy Spirit in His Word. Listen to the following verses for yourself and hear how He reveals that He, as our God, is the one and only true God, yet He reveals Himself to us as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Listen to verses like 2 Cor.13:13: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
That is why Jesus himself tells us in Matt. 28:19 and 20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
So never doubt again the wonder that God himself lives in you as a believer in and through the Person of the Holy Spirit.