The Truth about the Spirit of God
We have to understand this because it’s extremely important for us to be able to identify the difference between our God, the God that we serve, or the God that John 17:3 says is “the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent,” (the One whom the only true God has sent). We will be discussing this in detail as we go further, but right now we’re going to focus on the Spirit of God and try to understand what Scripture is trying to reveal to us in the simplest form.
We’re going to start in Genesis 1:2. It says:
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
In this verse we have the phrase “the Spirit of God.” Most of the time when individuals read this phrase, they think about a third being other than Christ and the Father. They think about a third entity involved in a Godhead, a Godhead group of three divine entities or beings which all share the position of Almighty God. This is completely impossible to come up with when reading Genesis specifically. It says, “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The word “of” is a possessive word. It means that the word prior belongs to the word afterwards. So when we look at Genesis 1:2, it has three uses of this phrasing. It says, “And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The word “face” is referring to the surface so it is the surface of the deep. Then it says, “The Spirit of God moved upon the surface of the waters.” You have waters and then you have the surface of the waters. The surface of the waters is not separate from the waters. It’s just a specific characteristic of the actual water. So when we look at the phrase “the Spirit of God,” it’s simply saying that it’s a spirit, a spiritual presence, or a spiritual manifestation of the Father. The Father’s Spirit is the Father’s spiritual presence. It’s not another being’s presence; it’s not another entity’s presence. It is the Father’s actual spiritual presence.
We use this phrase all the time in regards to the spirit of the devil or the spirit of Satan. When you say that the spirit of Satan is inside an individual, you’re not talking about a different being other than Satan; you’re talking about a spiritual manifestation of Satan inside an individual. So why would we do that in regards to the phrase “the Spirit of God”? It’s simply because the majority of the world has this idea of a teaching that occurred during the Council of Nicaea that the Spirit is an actual being of itself, separate from the individual – separate from the Father – and it’s referred to as the Spirit of the Father (but it’s not the Father).
In English, that wouldn’t make any sense at all, nor in Spanish. If I say, “casa de Jahdiel,” I’m talking about Jahdiel’s house or a house belonging to Jahdiel. It’s not a different entity. In the Hebrew language, when the meaning of a phrase is written, that meaning is perpetuated throughout the Scriptures. Therefore, we’re going to see if the “Father’s spiritual presence” makes more sense in the phrase “the Spirit of God.”
Let’s continue to explore this idea. In Daniel 5:14 it says,
I have even heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in you.
This verse is taken from Daniel during a time when Belteshazzar saw the writing on the wall and was told that Daniel had the spirit of the gods and he was able to interpret. Belteshazzar did not serve the only true God. He served Baal as well as Ashtaroth, just to mention two. Those were his gods. When he said “that the spirit of the gods is in you,” he was not referring to a different entity than the gods that he served. Here, “the spirit of the gods” is referring to the spiritual presence and power of Baal and Ashtaroth, not of a separate being. Thus, in this verse, the phrase “the spirit of” is consistent with Genesis 1:2.
Let’s continue to see if reference to the one true God’s spirit is referred to in this way as we continue. In Psalm 51:11 it says,
Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me.
This statement is a rephrasing. David said something and then he rephrased it. He says, “Take not your presence from me.” In essence he is saying, “Take me not away from your presence and don’t take Your presence away from me.” We see here that he’s using the same phrase interchangeably by using different words. “Don’t take me away from your presence” and “Don’t take your Spirit away from me,” using the terms “presence” and “Spirit,” referring to the same thing.
We’re going to see if David is consistent with this idea. In Psalm 139:7-10 he states,
Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence?
Here David is using the words “presence” and “spirit” interchangeably once again in his writings. Thus we see that “the Spirit” is the spiritual presence and power of the Father. It’s not a separate being from the Father. It’s just a spiritual manifestation of His presence and power.
We can see more of this idea in Psalm 139:8-10 where it says,
If I ascend up into heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
We see here he’s referring to His omnipresence. “Everywhere I go, your spiritual presence and power are there.” So “the spirit of God” is referring to His spiritual power and presence.
As we continue to look at this idea, we’re going to get a clearer understanding, harmonizing Hebrew Scriptures with Greek Scriptures, Old Testament Scriptures with New Testament Scriptures.
We’re going to look at Matthew 3:16-17. It’s very clear that Jesus was here on earth, and as He’s here on earth, He goes and gets baptized, getting ready for His ministry. It says in verse 16,
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Most people say that three beings can be seen here, but we have just explained what “the Spirit of God” is. Christ saw the spiritual presence and power of God coming down on Him and the voice from heaven, which is where His physical body is, says, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now, if Jesus Himself saw a third being coming on Him, He would have acknowledged this, but he saw the spiritual power and presence of God coming on Him.
We see this in John 8:28-29 which says:
Then said Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Why is He saying that the Father is with Him? It’s because at His baptism He saw the spiritual power and presence of His Father come on Him, and it was confirmed by His Father’s voice from heaven.
Let’s continue to see if this idea is true. In Matthew 16:16-17, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you think the people think I am?” Then He asked, “Who do you think I am?” It says here in verses 16 and 17:
And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood [your own knowledge] has not revealed it to you, but my Father which is in heaven.
We know that the Spirit of God leads us into all truth (John 16:13), but here we have the Father being identified as the individual revealing this truth to Simon about His Son or the Father bearing witness for His Son.
Let’s continue. John 20:17 says,
Jesus said unto her [this is after He had resurrected], Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
We see here that not only is He saying, “Don’t cling to me; I have to go to My Father,” but He is identifying His Father, just as in John 17:3, as God, and not only as God, but as His God as well as our God.
Let’s look at John 15:26 which says,
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me. (Emphasis added.)
The Spirit is the spiritual power and presence of the Father. Jesus said, “The Father is with Me.” He did not say that a third being was with Him. He said that “The Father is with Me.” He glorified the Father. He never glorified a third being, neither did the Father ever glorify a third being. They only glorified one another and glorified us. There’s no third being in the Godhead. The Spirit of the Father is the spiritual omnipresence and power of the Father.
Hopefully, we can pray and analyze this idea because it is very pivotal in understanding the difference between our God and any other god, or a Trinity-god. Many have this idea in which the Trinity and this idea of the Godhead is different.
Let’s look at Colossians 2:9 which says:
For in him [in Christ] dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Does it say, “in the Son dwells the Father, Son, and the Spirit bodily”? No. (We will do another study on the term “Godhead.”) Here it says that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him (and the word “Godhead” here means divinity. The fullness of divinity which is in the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of God, was in Christ.
Let’s continue to look at this idea. As Christ was on this earth, it was His Father’s Spirit who was in Him. It was His Father who was with Him.
We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:19. It says,
To wit, that God [the Father] was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
So it says “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” If that’s not enough proof, we have the identity of the only true God and Jesus Christ according to John 17:3, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6.
It says,
For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many) [false gods and false lords], but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
So we are in the Father, by the Son; in God, by our Master. It’s quite clear that there’s a distinction between the two individuals. We know Scripture says there is one Spirit. If Scripture uses the terms “the Spirit of the Father” and “the Spirit of Christ” interchangeably, that means there is only one Spirit but it works in two different ways.
Earlier in this study, we saw that the Spirit of the Father is not a different entity from the Father Himself. The Spirit of the Father is the spiritual omnipresence and power of the same individual – the Father. Now we’re seeing certain phrases in the New Testament which identify the Spirit of God as the Spirit of Christ. We’re going to clarify why that phrase is being used in the New Testament as well as look at there being only two beings (and not three) presented – the Almighty God and His Son. I will be dealing specifically about Christ being the only-begotten Son in a future study.
We’re going to start by looking at where these two phrases – “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ” – appear in Scripture. They first appear together in Romans 8:9-11:
But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
We see here that the phrases “the Spirit of Christ” and “the Spirit of God” are used interchangeably. We know that there’s only one Spirit; there aren’t two Spirits. The Father and the Son do not have two separate Spirits. There’s only one Spirit, the Scripture proclaims.
Earlier we saw that this Spirit belongs to the Father. Here, it’s also being referred to as an attribute which Christ obtains and utilizes. Let’s go into a little bit more detail of why the Scriptures are referring to “the Spirit of God” as “the Spirit of Christ.” First, however, we have to understand certain things which are connected to why Christ said certain things. For example, in John 20:17 we read,
Jesus said unto her, [This is when He resurrected. Mary Magdalene is at the tomb with Him.] Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Here we have a confusing issue that many people try to discuss. Why is He saying, “Don’t cling onto Me because I didn’t ascend to My Father yet?” There are quite a few people who have explained it correctly. He was saying He has to go in order to send the Spirit of God. The question is, Why does He have to go? We see that the Spirit of God was already on this earth. It was already working by the Father. The Father was in Christ. The Father sent His Spirit down at His baptism. It’s not that the Spirit of the Father has only been around since the time of Genesis 1 so why is He making this statement, “I must go in order to send the Spirit”?
Another statement to consider is John 7:37-39,
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Very interesting. This is clearly referring to when Jesus was on this earth. Let me not ask any questions; let me go right into it… Jesus was on this earth. He could not allow His Spirit to be just anywhere because He was in human form. The Spirit belongs to the Father. This is why He says, “I must go to the Father.” He must go to the Father to obtain this Spirit.
Let’s see if the disciples understood this idea. In Acts 2:32, 33, at the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit, received power, preached with power, received tongues of fire on their heads, and spoke in different tongues in order to be able to spread the gospel.
It says in verses 32 and 33 of Acts 2,
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which you now see and hear.
What is it that they were now seeing and hearing? They were now seeing the Spirit poured on them, the spiritual gifts that were only given by the Spirit. Peter clearly understood that when Christ was resurrected, He ascended to His Father to obtain this Spirit, turned to us, and gave us this Spirit.
The amazing gift, along with the promise of the Father’s spiritual presence, is also His Son’s spiritual presence.
We see this in Acts 3:19, 20. It says:
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he [the Father] shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
We see here that the Son is also referred to as the Spirit of God because He not only receives the Spirit of God when He sits on the right hand of God but He also is now amongst the Father’s spiritual presence which allows His spiritual presence to be omnipresent as well. Thus we have the spiritual manifestation of the power and presence of both the Father and the Son. This occurs through the Spirit, one Spirit flowing from the Father through the Son to us.
We’re going to look at more Scriptures to solidify this truth. We’re going to look at John 14 which seems to be stirring up a lot of confusion. John 14:23 says,
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode [home, temple] with him.
Here it says the Father will love you and Christ, who loves you also, will make their home inside of you. We know that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, or the communion of the Holy Spirit, which means that the Spirit that flows from the Father to the Son to us (as we see in Acts 2:33) is what’s allowing Christ and the Father to dwell inside of us, and not only to dwell inside of us but also to make our bodies their temple.
Let’s continue. In Colossians 1:26 and 27 it says,
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
“Christ in you” – that was the mystery in the Scriptures. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, you can see only the Spirit of the Father, but now it’s manifested fully, it’s made known. That doesn’t mean it never existed prior to this, but now it is “made known” that the Spirit is Christ, along with His Father, inside of us.
Let’s continue to see this idea. Paul himself said in Philippians 1:19,
For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ…
You see, the Spirit is not a separate entity. It is the omnipresence of the Father and Son inside the soul. Let’s look at John 14:16 to make this point even clearer.
It says,
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Christ Himself made a declaration saying, “Therefore speak I to them in parables…” (Matthew 13:13). We also read “…without a parable spake he not unto them” (Matthew 13:34). We see here that Christ is speaking in a manner in which they will have to understand later on. They will have to receive understanding from the Spirit of the Father. Peter received from the Father the understanding that Christ was the Son of the living God. Jesus said it Himself, “…Flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).
There are many times in the Scriptures in which Christ, referring to His crucifixion, referred to Himself as “He” and “Him”, saying,
And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again, Matthew 17:23.
For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles…, Luke 18:32.
And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again, Luke 18:33, emphasis added.
It shouldn’t be confusing that in John 14:16, Christ is using the pronoun He once again, but because of indoctrination, the traditions of man, and the drilling of our minds about this “mystery” of the Spirit of God, we are continuously bombarded with these philosophies of this third, mystical being. But in actuality, He’s referring to Himself.
He says,
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter…
We read in Acts 3:19, 20 that He says when the refreshing comes from the presence of the Father, He will send Jesus Christ. But the word “another” is pretty hard to just move around. The word “another” here means a different type of the same thing. If you understand what we’ve been discussing about the Spirit of the Father, we’re referring to the Spirit of the Father as a spiritual manifestation of the presence and power of the same entity, which is the Father. Here, the word “another” in Greek is allos, which means a different type of the same thing. It’s not like heteros, which means the same thing, but allos, which means a different type of the same thing.
As we continue to move forward, where else do we have the word “another” referring to a different type of the same thing? We’re going to look at 1 Samuel 10:6 which shows the Spirit of the Lord has always been here, but in the New Testament, it is a manifestation, or a revealing, that the Spirit of Christ is along with the Father inside of us.
1 Samuel 10:6 says,
And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.
Verse 9 in the same chapter says,
And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
It says that He turned Saul into “another man.” We know that he didn’t actually turn into a different being but spiritually he became “another man.” He became a godly man, a Spirit-filled man, a man with “another heart.” We know that he had the same heart, but he had a different type of heart now, just like he became a different type of the same man. This is clear. No one is going to say, “I’m another man.” In our language, we say, “I’m a different man,” meaning you are another man, according to 1 Samuel 10:6.
Let’s continue. The word “comforter” (parakletos) means advocate. We see that we have one advocate with the Father, and Scripture identifies this advocate as Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:1 says,
My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate [comforter (parakletos)] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Many are saying that this other advocate is a mediator, a type of intercessor that brings us to Christ. We don’t need anyone to bring us to Christ. Christ Himself has come down to obtain us, to get us, to reconcile us back to the Father. He is the mediator.
1 Timothy 2:5 says,
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
So there’s one God, the Father, and then there’s one mediator between the Father and man, and that mediator is Jesus Christ. There’s no other mediator. There’s no other intercessor.
Now as we continue to dissect John 14, let’s see clearly that this Spirit which Christ obtained from the Father is Christ Himself, along with the Father.
It says in John 14:17,
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.
So here He’s talking about the Spirit of truth. He says, “The world can’t receive the Spirit of truth because the world doesn’t know Him, but you know him.” We read earlier that He said that they did not receive the Spirit of truth because He was not yet glorified, but He was actually there, just in a different form. Now He’s saying, “You know Him (referring to Himself) because He’s dwelling with you, and He shall be [in the future] in you.”
Let’s continue to read. Verse 18 says,
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Verses 19 and 20 explain it even more:
Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me [talking about His death]: because I live, you shall live also [when He’s in them]. At that day [referring to the day of the outpouring of the Spirit of God] you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
They know that the Spirit comes from the Father, so on that day when the Spirit is poured out (Acts 2:33), Peter reveals His understanding by saying that this is Christ who obtained the Spirit from the Father and now is shedding His Spirit, as well as the Father’s Spirit, on us today.
Here it is saying that on that day (Pentecost), “you will know that I am in My Father (in My Father’s Spirit) and you are in Me and I am in you (by My spiritual presence).”
Some may say that I’m stretching this point a little too far, but let’s look at what the disciples understood a little bit further. Let’s look at
John 14:21-23. Verse 21 says,
He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
The Spirit is the spiritual manifestation of Christ’s presence and the Father’s presence as well as power. Verse 22 says,
Judas said unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (Emphasis added.)
We see here that His disciples, even with all of this mention of another comforter referred to as “He”, still understood that it was Christ Himself who was going to manifest Himself to the disciples and not to the world. Even the disciples understood that it was not another being but it was Christ Himself in a different manner.
Let’s continue to read. John 16:7-16 says,
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient [beneficial] for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged [which is Satan]. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. [So the Spirit of truth will not speak of Himself. Whatever He hears, He will reveal to the disciples.] He [the Spirit] shall glorify me [Christ]: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
So Christ said the Spirit shall take from “mine” and give it to you. Now look at verse 15. He’s clarifying what taking “of mine” actually means. It says,
All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
He’s saying that the Spirit will take the Father’s things and reveal them to you. We know that when Jesus was walking on this earth, He kept saying, “I do not speak anything of myself. I speak what the Father has spoken. I do what the Father has shown me.” Here we have the Spirit doing exactly the same thing – taking what’s the Father’s and revealing it to us. It is not a different being taking something from Christ and showing it to us; it is a being taking from the Father and showing it to us.
Then it says in verse 16,
A little while, and you shall not see me: and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father.
Here it says “you shall not see me (visibly) anymore.” But at the end He says, “…a little while, and you shall see me…” “I’m going to die but then in a little while you will see me because I go to the Father.”
So He’s not referring to when He resurrected and He was with them for 40 days. He’s referring to when He went to the Father and poured His Spirit on the disciples. So the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself, according to Acts 2:33, receiving the promise of the Spirit of God from the Father, turning to us and pouring out this Spirit on us. It is not the Spirit of the Father alone. It is the manifestation and understanding that the Father, along with the Son, is manifesting a spiritual presence and power to us. Their spiritual presence and power is falling on us.
Let’s review a few verses. In John 14:23, Jesus says,
If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
We know that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Many people believe that it is one entity who is dwelling inside of us, but it is actually the spiritual presence and power of both the Father and the Son in us, by their Spirit. There is one Father, one Son, and one Spirit. But we have one God and one Master to whom was given all things to manifest to us. Everything that is the Father’s belongs to Christ; Christ is taking everything from the Father and giving it to us.
In Romans 8, the Spirit is referred to as an intercessor. verses 26 and 27 say,
Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
We read 1 Timothy 2:5 earlier. Now let’s look at it again as a way of review so we won’t be clouded by what we used to know. Let’s look at what the Scriptures are revealing to us.
1 Timothy 2:5 says,
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1 Corinthians 8:6 says,
…To us there is but one God…[and identifies Him as the Father] and we in him; and one Lord [Master] Jesus Christ…and we by him.
We need to understand that this power and this Spirit belong to the Father and that He has given it to the Son in order to bestow it on all of His children.
We can clearly see this in Matthew 28:18,
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
It’s given to Him. Christ is exalted to the right hand of the Father. The Father has bestowed all power on Him to deliver it to us.
Authority is also given to the Son. It says in John 5:22-27,
For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son: So all power and judgment is given to the Son.That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honours not the Son honours not the Father which has sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him [the Father] that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself;
So we see here that the Father has given the Son power, judgment, and life. In verse 27 it says,
And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Christ has authority because He is the Son of man. He is our High Priest and has suffered what man goes through. How can a different Spirit understand the problems and pains of fallen humanity? How could Jesus go to heaven and send a different entity, a different being, who has never even felt what we feel? How can such an entity intercede for us? How can he mediate for us? How can he come in between us and the Father? It is only Christ, as the Son of God, who can come between the sons and the Father. Christ, being the Son of man, can come between man and God. As we saw in 1 Timothy 2:5 earlier, no one else can be an intercessor or mediator between God and man.
All this power, all this authority, all this judgment, and even life itself (immortality) have been given to the Son who can now designate who He would like to give life to, who He will execute judgment for, who He will have authority over and who He will give authority to.
Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15 because all of these things are given to Him at one point.
It’s very important for us to understand the position of the Son of God. It says in verses 24-28,
Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. [Christ is coming. He’s going to put all this down.] For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. [When that life that Christ has, when He designates immortality to His people, death is destroyed and He has no more enemies. Sin and death will be eradicated.] For he [the Father] has put all things under his [Christ’s] feet. [Read Psalm 110:1.] But when he has said all things are put under him, it is manifest [clear] that he [the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him. [which is acknowledged and the glory goes to the Father for putting all of these things under the Son’s feet.] And when all things shall be subdued unto him [the Son], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [the Father] that put all things under him [the Son], that God may be all in all [once again identifying the Father alone as God].
(If you’re still a little confused about the word God and why Christ has the title God, go back and look at my study on Elohim and you will see there’s a very simple reason why not only Christ has the title Elohim but also His children have this title.)
So here we have all these things given to Christ and then after death is destroyed, all these things are given back to the Father so God can be all in all. Christ has all these things so it can be manifested that the Father accepts us.
John 17:3 (paraphrased) says,
This is eternal life, that we may know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.
To solidify this point, let’s look at a verse in Galatians which says that we are sons of God and that we have received
the Spirit of Christ in us.
It says in Galatians 4:6,
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Because the Spirit of the Son and the Father is in us, we are now children of God and can refer to God as Abba and Father. We must understand that it is Christ who gives us this power, Christ who comes into our hearts, Christ who is with us always,
even unto the end of the world.
We see this in John 1:12,
But as many as received him [Christ, if we receive the Spirit of Christ], to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name:
We see here that when we receive Christ in our hearts, we receive power to become sons of God. There’s only one being who desired the position of Christ, and that being is Satan. Some people have this idea that there are three beings, that there’s this third being that is not mentioned in the Scriptures, that is not spoken about, that is not revealed, and yet he is obtaining all the praise and glory which the Son of God is supposed to obtain. It’s the Son who is supposed to be in us; it’s the Son who is supposed to give us power; it’s the Spirit of the Son who is supposed to create in us a new heart and a new mind. But we give this glory to another being who does not exist or who does exist and is deceiving us. It is the Deceiver; it is Satan. Satan is the only one who tried to exalt his throne and tried to be like the Most High when there is only one individual like the Most High – the Son of God. Now, because the Spirit of His Son is in our hearts, now we are also like the Most High. We are children of the Most High (Psalm 82:6).
We are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
I ask that you pray and look at this study very closely, all of the verses that have been presented here. The Spirit of God is the Spirit that belongs to the Father. Jesus Christ has ascended up to the Father to obtain that Spirit and pour it on us that the Father and the Son may make their abode inside of us through the Spirit. We thank God for their presence, for their power, and for that gift of the Holy Spirit.
I hope that you were enlightened. I believe with all my heart that God will reveal the truth. If there are any corrections or if you have suggestions that might improve this study, please contact me at [email protected]. I hope that this has been a blessing for you.