From our last discourse, we have been made to understand that The Holy Spirit, embodying the manifest holiness of God, is the compensation and activation of Adam’s Edenic spirit.
The first significant event that marked the transference of this spirit into man was the events in the Book of Acts which was the postclimax of Jesus’ death to fulfill the prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit. John 14.26 – “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
This event was the Day of Pentecost when the disciples were in one accord in an upper room after being seized by the onslaught of persecution upon Christians. From the heavens, a mighty rushing wind invaded the room and what appeared to be cloven of tongues of fire came to rest upon their heads, marking the infilling of the Holy Ghost and the fulfilment of prophecy.
The scriptures noted as they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. This was just one of the expressions of the Holy Spirit among many others.
The Personality of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is otherwise called the Holy Ghost which should not be confused for an absentia of essence but the fullness of essence itself. The Holy Ghost, comically, is the only ghost that’s not a ghost. Neither is the Holy Spirit an apparition, a gust of wind nor some phenomena. It is a Person; possessing fundamental qualities attributable to mankind—the Holy Ghost is the reincarnated Person of Christ breathed into Man.
God’s earnest desire is to see man emerge as an image of him: an unembellished blueprint of Him. But when Man’s spirit of God in him died, that image ruptured too. To restore the image of God into Man, the inoculation of this spirit was necessary. To procreate a renewed divine harmony. Divinity and mortality fused into perfect oneness through The Person of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19 – “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?“
The Holy Spirit is a Person.
He sees.
He speaks.
He hears.
He grieves.
He laughs.
He cries.
And this is because of His personified character of God. The Holy Spirit is not an “It” contrary to the half-knowledged concept of most theology. The Holy Spirit awakens the spiritual essence of Man. That he may recalibrate into the divinity that God has designed for Him.
Also Read: A NEW LIFE: THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF MAN
The Gifts of The Holy Spirit
With the infilling of the Holy Spirit, also came the distribution of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are the embodiment of God’s divinity in power, fulfilling the prophecy that;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Acts 2:17-18
These gifts supplement the perfection of the virtues of Christ in believers. With every believer comes the potential to activate these gifts but they can only be activated if such a believer is docile in obeying these divine inspirations. In other words, the manifest ability of the Holy Spirit is actualised to the degree of the strength of koinonia between man and God.
They are 9 in number, and divided into three sections namely:
A. The Gifts of Revelation.
1. Word of Wisdom
2. Word of Knowledge
3. Discerning of Spirits
B. The Gifts of Inspiration.
1. Prophecy
2. Speaking in Tongues
3. Interpretation of Tongues
C. The Gifts of Power.
1. Gift of Faith
2. Gift of Healing
3. Working of Miracles
Fruits of the Holy Spirit
The Fruits of the Spirit as highlighted in Galatians 5:22 are the virtues of:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self-control
These attributes allude to the transformative experience that often comes with the Holy Spirit. One imbued with the Holy Spirit will demonstrate these characteristics. This is the evidence of the Spirit, more than the gifts.
In the same way, a tree can be known by the fruits it bears, a spirit-filled man can be known by the fruits he bears. Seeth a man genuinely embodied with this Spirit, he shall naturally show forth these divine attributes.
Thank you for the deep teaching on the person of the Holy Spirit