16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 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. (John 14:16-17)
With this statement Jesus began his priestly and intercessory (mediation or request in favor of another, especially a prayer or petition to God in behalf of another) work by requesting that God send his Holy Spirit to live inside of us, his people of faith. The Greek word used here is paraclete which means advocate or helper. The original Koine Greek word is παράκλητος and it's pronounced just as it's spelled. (just kidding: it's pronounced paracletos) It not only means a helper or advocate (like a representative in court) but it also means one who consoles or comforts, one who encourages or uplifts. (I really like the word paraclete)
How awesome is that! Not only did Jesus come to die in agony for our sins, to take our place in punishment for our sins and stupidity and evil thoughts and actions, to save us from eternal damnation, but he's also sending a helper to guide and comfort us. But wait! There's more!
Not only is the Holy Spirit a helper sent from God, he really is God too. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity - or is He the second person of the Holy Trinity? I always thought He was the third person of the Holy Trinity because He comes last in the sign of the cross I learned in Roman Catholicism, but He's actually mentioned in the bible long before the bible mentions a messiah:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Gen 1:1-2)
He was there at the beginning, but then so was Jesus:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2)
To be honest the whole Who's On First line of thought when concerning the Holy Trinity is silly at best, and I can't wait to enter heaven to truly appreciate the Holy Trinity in Their/His full glory. But here they all are, all three members of the Holy Trinity at the beginning of everything. That should settle the UFO conspiracy fans when they question what "Us" and "Our" means in Genesis 1:26:
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Or maybe not, the mark of a true UFO conspiracy fan is the ability to sprint off on to a new theory with lightning speed. However to fully appreciate the bible one needs to read it on a spiritual level and here's where the Holy Spirit really shows His stuff. Did you ever find yourself reading the bible and re-read a verse or chapter that you've read many times in the past and suddenly that verse or chapter suddenly becomes crystal clear, the meaning just leaps off the page at you? It happens to me quite often, and I'm sure it happens to all saved Christians. This is the Holy Spirit at work, doing just one of His myriad of tasks, teaching. As Jesus said:
“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 that I said to you. (John 14:26)
Without the Holy Spirit's teaching, the Bible is a very difficult book to understand, and that's something that can be hard for us Christians to understand when we see the slander and blasphemy of Gods word spread out across the internet. These sad individuals are completely uninspired by the Holy Spirit, and have probably have turned their backs on the Holy Spirit, then they attempt to read the bible and make commentary on it and when you read their comments it's just heartbreaking how far off they are. They end up showing us how sad their lonely lives must truly be.
Teaching is only one of the Holy Spirit's tasks, there's many others including strengthens us, leads us, guides us in truth, and glorifies Christ. There's so much more to the Holy Spirit than I've been taught (which was limited to a bird and a tongue of fire) and as my knowledge of the Holy Spirit grows I'll be here sharing that knowledge.
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