The Spirit of the Father

This is Us… About the Spirit of God

It is awesome that the God who sits on the throne of the universe can at the same time move on his creation and affect the lives of human beings. Blessed are those who experience God by his spirit. The spirit of God is not a separate individual from the Father. It is the Father extending himself to us by his mighty power. The Father is all powerful and everywhere present.

What is done by the spirit of God has been done by the Father. It is the spirit that moves on Mary and causes Jesus to be conceived (Matthew 1:18, 20). Yet Jesus never says that a “Person” called the “Holy Spirit” is his Father. Rather, he consistently testifies that God himself is his Father. Jesus never prays to or talks with a “Person” called the “Holy Spirit.” His prayers and worship are always to his Father, the one whose spirit it is (Matthew 26:39; 26:42).

Jesus taught his people to pray to the Father:

After this manner therefore pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name (Matthew 6:9).

In the centuries after the Bible was written, Gentile Christians began treating God’s spirit as though it were another “Person” in itself. It was in the 4th century that they codified their confusion by declaring the spirit to be an individual in addition to the Father and that it was to be worshipped in its own right. This misunderstanding continues to this day among well intended Christians.

Happily, there has long been devoted Christians who have continued to do as Jesus did and as he taught his disciples. They worship the Father as the only true God. They hold with Jesus – that the holy spirit is the spirit of the Father himself:

For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father which speaks in you (Matthew 10:20 cf. Mark 13:11).

They understand that the spirit of God is holy and is therefore “the” holy spirit referred to in the Scriptures. They recognize that all the glory due to God is to be given to the one whose holy spirit it is – the Father. We are among those faithful Christians.

Experiencing God By His Spirit

By J. Dan Gill

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. — Genesis 1:2

The mightiest power in the universe comes upon an earth that is empty and without form. That power is the “spirit of God.”[1] It hovers over the surface of the waters and brings the energy of creation to bear on the globe. Yet, look at another scene:

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward (1 Sam. 16:13, NRSV).

Amazing! The same power that gave form to our planet now comes upon a lad in Judea. It is so mighty that it effected creation — yet, so gentle that it can affect an individual human life.

The Spirit of the Father

He who sits on the throne of the universe is present to work with his creation — he causes life to teem forth on the earth, and gives Israel’s future king extraordinary knowledge, understanding and wisdom. [Read More]