By Phil Shahbaz, Pastor of Community Life
As a child, I would watch my father preach. I always looked upon him with hopeful eyes as he preached God’s word to God’s people. His church was a real life snapshot of Middle America, placed right at the center of a sleepy town called Turlock, California. The church had been built in the early 1920s. There was a never-ending staircase that unfolded as you made your way toward its solid oak doors. There was no steeple, but there was a tower that seemed to slice the church in half, ascend into the sky, and proudly display a white cross for all to see. On the inside, its hardwood floors echoed as you walked. The round, stained glass window beyond the pulpit functioned as the centerpiece. It was a representation of Jesus Christ, praying in earnest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The glass sparkled brilliantly and illuminated the church when the sun touched it just right. Then sometimes my father would end his sermon with these words:
“In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”
His words often prompted me to look at the stained glass. There was something about that glass that seemed holy and reverent. In my young mind, I saw in that glass all three parts of God: Jesus praying to His Father and the Holy Spirit illuminating them as we quietly worshiped.
As a child, it was that glass that made me wonder and question the role of the Holy Spirit. Not able to fully understand, I imagined the Holy Spirit as a force that God used to keep me safe. As an adult, I learned that the role of the Holy Spirit was much grander. The Holy Spirit was, and is, the living God. The Holy Spirit is always with me. The Holy Spirit is always shining down on me; no stained glass was required.
The Holy Spirit’s role within the church begins with the individual believer. Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are baptized by the Holy Spirit, and as a result, indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). How the Holy Spirit moves through that person is then a result of the individual’s willingness to give themselves over to the Spirit’s influence.
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity of God that Christians believe in. We believe in a Triune God that is one in essence but eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The LBF doctrinal statement states that “each part of God exists coequally in attributes, power, glory, and equally worthy of all obedience, worship, praise, and adoration” (Matthew 28:19; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 14:6,7; John 5:23; Acts 5:3-4).
In the Old Testament, God the Father chose to communicate directly with the prophets – guiding them, advising them, and communicating the law. For 33 years, God the Son communicated with us directly – teaching, healing, bringing a new message for both Jew and Gentile, and finally, dying on the cross and defeating sin through His resurrection. After Christ’s ascension, God the Holy Spirit now communicates with us directly. The Holy Spirit functions as the portion of God that intercedes on our behalf, communicates for us, and communicates through us as individual Christians and as the Body of Christ.
For each of us, the Holy Spirit’s work in our life is different. Some Christians place a high value on miraculous signs, the speaking of tongues, healing, and prophecy as evidence of the Spirit’s influence in our lives. These attributes are real and they are in fact the work of the Holy Spirit, to be used any time by the Spirit within the church. But make no mistake, the Holy Spirit’s presence in a person’s life is evidenced by the Christ-like character that they portray (Galatians 5: 22-25).
It has been years since I have seen that beautiful stained glass in my father’s church. Instead, I carry a vivid but meaningful memory with me. More importantly, the Holy Spirit that spoke to me as a child is still speaking to me as an adult, and always will.
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