Abide

Read: John 14:16-26

Jesus’ time on earth was only for a short while, and while he was with the disciples, he instructed them on how they should live out their lives in accordance to his commands. And now that it was time for Jesus to depart and return to the Father, he was going to ask the Father to send another permanent helper to them, namely the Holy Spirit. For the disciples, this again probably did not make a whole lot of sense either considering the that Jesus said that he and the Father were one in the same but somehow separated in location, and that Jesus was going away to be with the Father. Here, Jesus said that he is going away, yet he is coming to them and will live inside of them. He also says in the same manner as that the Father is in Jesus, so will Jesus be in them. And he says in response to Judas’ question that he who hears Jesus’ commands hear not Jesus’ commands, but the commands of the Father. These things are only possible if Jesus is the Father and the Spirit too: that is all three of them, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God.

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will teach them all things and remind the disciples of the things that Jesus had taught too. The work of the Holy Spirit is to provide illumination and instruction on the things of God (also in John 16:13). Jesus talks about the role of the Spirit in John 3:1-13 when he is talking to Nicodemus. The spiritual truth that Jesus was speaking into Nicodemus’ life was only comprehensible when the Spirit was there to help him understand. (Paul expounds on this more in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16.) On the same token, the Spirit also compels worshipers in truth when they worship. Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to a spring of water welling up inside of someone rather than a well, which required one to labor to get the water out of (John 4:24). The Spirit does other things too: convicts Christians of sin (John 16:8) and intercede for Christians (Romans 8:26-27).

The Holy Spirit is God living in inside – that is making his abode – in every believer. In the same manner in which Jesus was in sync with the Father, so should Christians be in sync with God too. While the oneness of Jesus, God, and the Spirit is not entirely comprehensible, there can be some understanding of it in the manner in which the Spirit indwells every believer. The same functions the Spirit played in the lives of the disciples are the same functions that the Spirit plays in the lives of believers today. The Spirit brings one into a close relationship with God, teaches and reminds believers of the truths of God, convicts the believer of sin, and makes intercessions on the part of the believer. Increasingly, as a Christian mature, he or she becomes more in tune with the Spirit in one’s life. While Christians are not God, they can enjoy a close relationship with God in a similar manner in which the members of the Godhead share with God abiding in the life of the believer!

Lord, you have never left me or forsaken me because your Spirit lives inside of me!

Help me to recognize the work of the Spirit in my life so I can be in a close relationship with you!