THE HOLY SPIRIT
As a child, I did not come from a Christian home. My parents did not go to church, but I do remember going to a Methodist Sunday School for a while in Surfers Paradise on Queensland's Gold Coast where we were living. Then, as a teenager at about age fourteen I started attending the local Church of England youth group with another friend from school. That led to us being asked by the rector (minister) to become 'servers' - I suppose similar to altar boys in the Catholic Church. The church had two Sunday morning services - 7am and 9am. We were involved in the 7am service. Eventually, through a school holidays church 'coffee shop' outreach, I heard the gospel message clearly as one of the youth group leaders sat until about midnight one night sharing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ with me. I prayed the "Sinners' Prayer" and, at that point in time, my Christian life began. I knew that something had happened in my life. I literally did sense the experience of being 'born again' as the Bible says in John 3:3&7. I went home feeling invigorated, and woke up the next morning feeling a sense of God's nearness, and a real sense of His cleansing from my sin.
I knew from my Sunday School lessons earlier, and from attending the church services and hearing the Word of God preached that the God of the Bible was referred to as the Trinity, and that Christians believe, on the basis of the Word of God in a tripartite God - One God in Three Persons - God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 1:26 as part of the creation narrative, the Bible says: Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness........"
I could understand something of the concept of God being Father, and could also understand something of the person of Jesus through the Christmas story and signifance of Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - even before any church or Sunday School involvement I probably had some exposure to Christian teaching, through Bible-in-Schools programs as well.
But, I remember the Holy Spirit being a total mystery to me. Actually as a child, with the King James Version of the Bible being the main Protestant Scripture source, the Holy Ghost was the terminology most heard - which sounded to me a little spooky. As a child, and into my early teens, ghosts were scary ethereal figures that haunted old dilapidated houses, and were the stuff of nightmares!
However, when I became a Christian, I learned that the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, as we mostly refer to Him now is a vital member of the Godhead - Yes, He is a He, not an IT, not some vague force, but a Person with Personality.
When Jesus was about to finish His earthly ministry, He told His disciples in John 14:15-18
"If you love Me, keep my commandments,
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; but you know Him
for He dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you".
The Bible tells us that when we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, when we confess our sin and our need of a Saviour and accept the work of Jesus shedding His blood and dying on the Cross, the sinless Son of God dying in our place, we are "born again" by the work of the Holy Spirit as he makes alive our human spirit which until that time has been unresponsive to the Spirit and Word of God. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Jesus' disciples were sad when He told them He was going away, but He reassured them that He would send another Helper and that He would abide or dwell with them forever. The Greek word Jesus used for another Helper is allos which means another of the same kind. The Holy Spirit Jesus would send would be their Helper, Counselor, Comforter, and Guide. The Holy Spirit's coming assured them of continuity of what Jesus both did and taught.
Every man, woman or child who personally commits their life to Christ and is "born again" of the Holy Spirit becomes as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:17 a new creation in Christ, able to commune or have fellowship with our Father God.
BUT WAIT...............THERE'S MORE!
If you want to know more about how you can be "born again" and can experience the life God has planned for you - not an easy life, but a life in fellowship with your Creator God, a life led by the Holy Spirit, a life filled with purpose and promise for the future - contact one of the following ministry contacts:
www.vision.org.au (Click on the Grow your faith tab at the top of the page, then Looking for God?)
www.livingwaters.com
www.wayofthemaster.com
If you have made a commitment of your life to Jesus Christ, please let me know in the comment section below.
However, when I became a Christian, I learned that the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, as we mostly refer to Him now is a vital member of the Godhead - Yes, He is a He, not an IT, not some vague force, but a Person with Personality.
When Jesus was about to finish His earthly ministry, He told His disciples in John 14:15-18
"If you love Me, keep my commandments,
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; but you know Him
for He dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you".
The Bible tells us that when we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, when we confess our sin and our need of a Saviour and accept the work of Jesus shedding His blood and dying on the Cross, the sinless Son of God dying in our place, we are "born again" by the work of the Holy Spirit as he makes alive our human spirit which until that time has been unresponsive to the Spirit and Word of God. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Jesus' disciples were sad when He told them He was going away, but He reassured them that He would send another Helper and that He would abide or dwell with them forever. The Greek word Jesus used for another Helper is allos which means another of the same kind. The Holy Spirit Jesus would send would be their Helper, Counselor, Comforter, and Guide. The Holy Spirit's coming assured them of continuity of what Jesus both did and taught.
Every man, woman or child who personally commits their life to Christ and is "born again" of the Holy Spirit becomes as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:17 a new creation in Christ, able to commune or have fellowship with our Father God.
BUT WAIT...............THERE'S MORE!
If you want to know more about how you can be "born again" and can experience the life God has planned for you - not an easy life, but a life in fellowship with your Creator God, a life led by the Holy Spirit, a life filled with purpose and promise for the future - contact one of the following ministry contacts:
www.vision.org.au (Click on the Grow your faith tab at the top of the page, then Looking for God?)
www.livingwaters.com
www.wayofthemaster.com
If you have made a commitment of your life to Jesus Christ, please let me know in the comment section below.
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