Most professing Christians believe that a person who dies will immediately go to heaven or hell or purgatory. But the Bible teaches us about the resurrections from the dead. The Old Testament reveals that God will bring the dead back to life, but that this does not mean that all will be resurrected at the same time, or to the same condition. The New Testament confirms that there will be more than just one resurrection. This sermon explains why.
Holy Spirit
The Mystery of Understanding
Why is it that you can understand what millions of people cannot comprehend today? Why is it that you came to repentance and faith and a desire to obey God? Do you realize that you have been specifically called and chosen by God to become part of His firstfruits in this day and age? And do you also recognize the tremendous responsibility which accompanies your calling?
You teach that both the Father and the Son are God. What about the Holy Spirit? Isn't the Holy Spirit also God — the Third Person within the Trinity?
The short answer is, no — the Holy Spirit is neither God nor a Person. Rather, the Holy Spirit is God’s POWER emanating from God the Father AND from God the Son.
The Trinitarian concept of Greek Orthodox Christianity is that God is one Person who manifests Himself in three “modes of being” — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They basically teach that God is only one BEING — but that He can represent himself in three different ways — as a person can be functioning in his capacity as a bank executive, as a father and as a husband. However, as we have seen in previous Q&As, (Who Was Jesus When On Earth?, What Was Jesus Before His Birth as a Man?, Is Jesus God? and How Can There Be Two Gods?) this concept is biblically incorrect. God is not just one Being, but God is a Family, consisting of TWO Beings — the Father and the Son. God is not schizophrenic, nor is He suffering from a bipolar personality, speaking to Himself in His “capacity” as Father to His “capacity” as Son, and vice versa.
The Trinitarian concept of Roman Catholic Christianity, which has been almost universally adopted by Protestant churches, is that God is “one Person in three Persons.” This is an utterly confusing and illogical idea, which makes no sense at all. How can one person consist of three persons? God is not one Being, but a FAMILY, consisting of TWO persons–not three–and the Holy Spirit is NOT a Person.
Also, the Roman Catholic church teaches that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all equal in authority. This is biblically incorrect, as we saw in the previous, above-quoted Q&As (and we will again address this point herein). The Father is the HIGHEST in the Godhead.
We discuss the erroneous Trinitarian concepts of the Roman Catholic church and most Protestant churches in our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”. We show that even Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians admit that the Trinity is nowhere taught in the Bible:
“The Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth… wrote in, ‘Doctrine of the Word of God,’ p. 437: ‘The Bible lacks the express declaration that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are of equal essence and therefore in an equal sense God Himself. And the other express declaration is also lacking that God is God thus and only thus, i.e., as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These two express declarations which go beyond the witness of the Bible are the twofold content of the church doctrine of the Trinity.’…
“Dr. William Newton Clarke, who wrote a book entitled, ‘An Outline of Christian Theology’… states… on page 167, when discussing the first few verses of the first chapter of the book of John: ‘There is no Trinity in [John’s prologue]; but there is a distinction in the Godhead, a duality in God… ground for the divineness of the Spirit is nowhere shown. Thought in the New Testament is never directed to that end’…
“German theologian Karl Rahner… [said] in a book called, ‘The Trinity,’ on page 22: ‘…in reality the Scriptures do not explicitly present a doctrine of the “imminent” Trinity (even John’s prologue is no such doctrine).’
“… the New Catholic Encyclopedia supports Professor Rahner’s and Prof. Barth’s statements. In an article entitled, ‘Trinity,’… [it admits:] ‘The [Old Testament] clearly does not envisage God’s spirit as a person, neither in the strictly philosophical sense, nor in the Semitic sense. God’s spirit is simply God’s power… The majority of [New Testament] texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God…'”
After explaining in our booklet that the Roman Catholic church adopted the concept of the Trinity from pagan Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, we point out that none of the New Testament writers include the Holy Spirit, when passing on greetings from God. They ONLY refer in that context to the Father and the Son. This would have been quite an insult, if the Holy Spirit were also God.
We continue quoting from our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:
“Another Biblical proof against the Trinity is that the Holy Spirit is nowhere identified as God. No one is recorded in Scripture as having prayed to the Holy Spirit.”
As we pointed out in the previous, above-quoted Q&As, we are generally to pray to the Father, as He is the Highest in the God-Family. But we do this in the name of Jesus Christ (John 15:16), who is our only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5-6). In addition, there are a few recorded incidents when Christians prayed to Christ (compare Acts 7:59-60). But there is no record in the Bible that anyone ever prayed to the Holy Spirit.
Let us focus on another important proof that the Holy Spirit CANNOT be God or a person. We quote again from our booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:
“Notice in Matthew 1:18: ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.’
“God’s inspired Word tells us clearly that the Holy Spirit made Mary pregnant. Notice the words of an angel to Joseph, as recorded in Matthew 1:20: ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived… in her is of the Holy Spirit.’’
“Turn now to Luke 1:32 and 35, where we find more of the inspired words of the angel to Mary: ‘He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David… The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’ These Scriptures in Matthew and Luke tell us that, IF the Holy Spirit were a person and God, then Christ would have been the SON of the Holy Spirit, and NOT of the Father.
“However, John 1:14 says that it was the Father who begot Christ: ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’… we see that GOD the FATHER begot Christ through the power of His Spirit. This proves that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person—otherwise, we would have a contradiction here, with Christ having two fathers—the ‘Father’ and the ‘Holy Spirit’—and with the ‘person’ and third member of the ‘Trinity,’ the Holy Spirit, being Christ’s ‘main’ Father.
“Remember, too, that the angel told Mary in the book of Luke that Christ would be called the Son of the Highest. If the Holy Spirit were a person, then the Holy Spirit by which Mary was impregnated would be the HIGHEST in the Godhead. This, of course, is absurd! No one who believes in the Trinity has EVER stated that the Holy Spirit is the highest! Quite to the contrary, they claim that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all EQUAL. That none is HIGHER than the other. “
Another proof that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person is the fact that the Holy Spirit, which dwells in converted Christians, is not only the Holy Spirit of the Father (compare John 14:16-17), but also of Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1;19). Quoting from our booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:
“That the Spirit of the Father and of Christ dwells in us becomes very clear when reading Romans 8:9: ‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of GOD dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of CHRIST, he is not His.’ Here we read that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and when we do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, we are not even Christians…
“Notice Christ’s words in John 14:23: ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’ Both the Father and Jesus Christ live in us. John 14:16-18 confirms too that not only the Father, but also Jesus Christ live in us… through the Holy Spirit…”
Remember this: The Spirit of the Father and of the Son lives in us. If the Holy Spirit were a person, then two persons would live in us (the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Holy Spirit of the Son). In that case, the Godhead would not consist of only three persons, but of four — God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit of the Father, and God the Holy Spirit of the Son. But no one teaches, to our knowledge, that God consists of four persons.
In passing, it is true that the Bible speaks of “one” Spirit, as it speaks of the fact that the Father and Jesus Christ are “one.” We explain the concept of “oneness” in our booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:
“When we read that there is one Spirit, then the reference is to the oneness or harmony between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is exactly the same when Christ said, ‘I and the Father are one’ (John 10:30). Christ did not mean, the Father and He were ‘one’ being—but that they were ‘one’ in purpose and goal and mindset and character. When Christ spoke these words, He was clearly a separate person from God the Father. Christ said in John 17:11, that we all should be one, as the Father and Christ are one in spirit—not in the sense that we all would become one being, but rather, that we all be of the same spirit. God the Father and Christ are one in spirit, and so are we to become one in spirit.”
When the Bible speaks of “one” Spirit, it cannot and does not mean that the Holy Spirit is one God being. Rather, the Holy Spirit is “one” in that it is God’s power, emanating from both God the Father and Jesus Christ, and the Father and Christ are “one” — totally unified.
Another biblical proof that the Holy Spirit CANNOT be a person can be found in John 7:37-39. It reads, in the Authorized Version: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth 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 Ghost [better: Spirit] was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Note that the word “given” is in italics—this means, it is not in the original Greek; it was added by the translator. Other translators recognize this fact and render the passage in quite a different way. The New Revised Standard Version states: “…for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” The New American Bible says: “There was, of course, no Spirit yet…” The New Jerusalem Bible reads: “…for there was no Spirit as yet…” The Moffat translation says: “…as yet there was no Spirit…”
When we check this in the Interlinear translation from the Greek, we find the following phrase, “…for not yet was Spirit Holy, because Jesus not yet was glorified.”
German translations are all fairly consistent in their renderings. The revised Luther Bible, the Elberfelder Bible and the Menge Bible all state, “The Spirit was not yet there…” The Zuercher Bible even states, “…the Holy Spirit did not exist yet…” They point out in the Appendix: “Some have translated, ‘the Holy Spirit was not yet given,’ because they were offended by the literal original text.”
But how could this be?
We explain this, as follows, in our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:
“.. only a glorified God being can give His Holy Spirit to others. When Christ spoke those words, the Holy Spirit of the Father was clearly there and dwelling in Him — but Christ was referring here to Himself. He said, ‘Let him who thirsts come to ME.’ And Christ was a man when He said that, and as a man, having given up His glory, He could not give the Holy Spirit, emanating from Him as a glorified God being, to others. Remember, it was the Holy Spirit of the FATHER (as distinguished from the Holy Spirit of Christ) that dwelled in Christ, and through which Christ did the marvelous works (cp. Acts 10:38-39).
“For Christ to bestow His Holy Spirit on others, He needed to be glorified first… As long as Christ was not glorified, He had no Holy Spirit of His own to bestow on others. That’s why the Holy Spirit of the glorified Christ was not there yet — ONLY the Holy Spirit of the Father was there.
“But then, after Christ’s resurrection and glorification, both the Father and the Son dwell in us through their Spirit — the Holy Spirit — which emanates or proceeds from both the Father and the Son.”
In our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?,” we are also discussing several passages which are sometimes used to “prove” the Trinitarian concept. But aside from the fact that Catholic and Protestant theologians admit that the Bible nowhere teaches this concept, we show in our booklet why those passages do not support such a teaching.
For instance, we discuss a spurious uninspired text, to be found in the first letter of John in some older Bible renditions. That passage was added by deceived copyists to “prove” the concept of the Trinity. We also debunk the erroneous and quite silly argument that the Holy Spirit must be a person, since it is referred to as “He” in the New King James Bible. This rendering is just a matter of an arbitrary choice by some modern English translators (The Authorized Version does refer to the Holy Spirit as “it,” not “He.”).
It is important that we understand that God is NOT a Trinity. This false concept does not only convey a totally wrong picture of God — it also hides the purpose of man’s existence. Most don’t understand and believe that it is man’s destiny to become God.
God is a Family — presently consisting of the Father and the Son. Through the power of His Holy Spirit, we can become a part of God’s Family. Rather than being a closed Trinity since and for all eternity, God is enlarging His Family by reproducing Himself in man. The concept of the Trinity that teaches that God is — and that He has always been — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, hides and obscures the fact that God is a GROWING Family.
In the beginning, there were two God beings, God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. But Christ is also referred to as the FIRSTBORN among MANY brethren. It is the potential of man to become members of the God-Family — sons and daughters of God the Father, and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
We will discuss this awesome truth in a subsequent Q&A.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
Physical and Spiritual Change
There is a spiritual change that we experience at the time of our baptism. We also experience another type of change, a physical “change” when we assemble together on a holy day, by giving to God in thanks what is owed to Him.
Benefits
Are their tangible benefits to having God’s Spirit and being a Christian in this life?
Electricity and God's Power
The simple things that we need in our lives, like electricity for example, can be taken for granted, but on the contrary, it’s only when we lack electricity that it’s importance is recognized. There can be an interesting correlation between electricity and the manifestation of God’s power, the Holy Spirit.
Bearing Good Fruit
How can we come to have good fruit? The Bible mentions bearing good fruit in many places. So just how can we come to have the right fruits?
Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father, from the Son, or from both?
This question has been the cause of controversy for many centuries and generations. While one major Christian denomination teaches that the Holy Spirit only proceeds from the Father, but is given us through the Son, another major Christian denomination holds that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.
To answer this question from the Bible, we must first of all realize that the Holy Spirit is not a Person or a Personage, but the POWER and the MIND of God. It is through the POWER of the Holy Spirit that God creates and acts, and mightily sustains what He has created. For more information on this vital subject, please read our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?“
On the other hand, God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are powerful Personages or God beings. Both the Father and the Son ARE God. And it should therefore come as no surprise that both the Holy Spirit of God the Father AND the Holy Spirit of God the Son are dwelling in converted Christians. The Bible clearly teaches, then, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND the Son, and that BOTH are bestowing THEIR Holy Spirit on us.
Notice the following excerpts from our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”:
“Acts 2:33 states: ‘Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Christ] poured out this which you now see and hear.’
“Notice, it says here that Christ received the Holy Spirit from the Father, and that Christ then poured out the Spirit from the Father. This is confirmed, too, in John 15:26, where we read Christ’s words: ‘But when the Helper comes, whom [better: which] I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who [better: which] proceeds from the Father, He [it] will testify of me.’ Again, we are told here that Christ sends us the Holy Spirit from the Father (cp. also John 16:7).
“Notice also Christ’s words in John 14:16-17: ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He [better: it] may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth…for He [it] dwells with you and will be in you.’ Here we see that it is the Father who will give us the Holy Spirit. He does so through Christ, as we read earlier…
“Titus 3:5-6 confirms that the Father gives us the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ: “[God] saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom [better: ‘which,’ cp. Authorized Version] He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
“We also see, however, in John 14:26, that the Father Himself sends us His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ said: ‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom [better: which] the Father will send in My name, He [it] will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.’
“Notice that it is not only the Holy Spirit of the Father that dwells in us. We also see that it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us. Gal. 4:6 tells us: ‘And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father.”‘ We see here that God the Father sent the Spirit of His Son, Jesus Christ, in our hearts, and because it is the Spirit of His Son, we can call God our Father. Notice it, too, in Phil. 1:19: ‘For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.’ Again, it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us…
“That the Spirit of the Father and of Christ dwells in us becomes very clear when reading Rom. 8:9: ‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.’ Here we read that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and when we do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, we are not even Christians.
“So putting all those passages together, we can see that the Spirit of God the Father and of Christ dwells in us, and that both God the Father and Jesus Christ send us, or pour into us, the Holy Spirit. But how can that be? Isn’t there only ONE Spirit?…
“There is clearly only one Spirit, just as there is only one baptism, one faith, one hope and one body (cp. Eph. 4:4-5). But consider this: Although there is only one baptism, there are many individuals being baptized. And even though there is only one body, there are many members in that body (cp. 1 Cor. 12:14). And we know that the ONE God consists of the Father and the Son, that is, God is not just one person.
“The same is true for the Holy Spirit. There is ONE Spirit, but both God the Father and Jesus Christ are Spirit beings, and the Holy Spirit emanates from both of them. That is why we read about the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ. When we read that there is one Spirit, then the reference is to the oneness or harmony between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is exactly the same when Christ said, ‘I and the Father are one.’ (John 10:30). Christ did not mean, the Father and He were ‘one’ being—but that they were ‘one’ in purpose and goal and mindset and character. When Christ spoke these words, He was clearly a separate person from God the Father. Christ said in John 17:11, that we all should be one, as the Father and Christ are one in spirit—not in the sense that we all would become one being, but rather, that we all be of the same spirit. God the Father and Christ are one in spirit, and so are we to become one in spirit.
“Notice Christ’s words in John 14:23: ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’ Both the Father and Jesus Christ live in us. John 14:16-18 confirms too that not only the Father, but also Jesus Christ live in us, through the Holy Spirit, when Christ told His disciples, ‘I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper…, the Spirit of truth…[that] will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.’ God the Father and Jesus Christ have both come to us, and they both have made their home with us. They do this through the Holy Spirit that flows from both of them into us.”
The Bible teaches that both the Father and the Son live in converted Christians. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul encourages us to examine ourselves to make sure that Christ is in us. We read in John 15:4 that Jesus “abides” or “lives” in true Christians. As Christ abides or lives in us through the Holy Spirit, so God the Father abides or lives in us through the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed in 1 John 3:23-24: “And this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ… Now he who keeps His [God the Father’s] commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He [God the Father] abides in us, by the Spirit [which] He has given us.”
In addition to the passages quoted above, please note that we are specifically told that God the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). Acts 15:8 reiterates that God the Father gives the Holy Spirit.
More clearly, 1 John 4:12-13 explains: “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and HE IN US, because He has given us OF His Spirit.”
We are called the sons of God when we are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14)–as Jesus Himself was led by the Spirit of God the Father (Luke 4:1).
When we are called upon to defend ourselves in courts for what we believe, then the “Holy Spirit” (compare Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12) will speak through us. The Holy Spirit is specifically defined, in this context, as the Spirit of the Father, as Matthew 10:19-20 says: “… For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit OF YOUR FATHER [which] speaks IN you.” But we also read t
hat it is CHRIST who will speak through us in that hour. Luke 21:14-15 states: “Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer. I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.”
That the Holy Spirit, dwelling in us, is both the Spirit of the Father AND of the Son, and that–through the indwelling Holy Spirit–we have become children of God and members of the Family of God, is also revealed in Ephesians 3:14-19:
“For this reason I bow my knees to the FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that HE would grant you… to be strengthened with might through HIS Spirit in the inner man, that CHRIST may DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS… that you may be filled with all the FULLNESS OF GOD…”
To summarize, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. The Father gives us OF His Holy Spirit, through or in the name of Jesus Christ–Christ being the only Mediator between God the Father and man. In addition, Christ Himself also gives us OF His Spirit, and so both the Father and the Son abide, dwell or live in us.
The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and God consists of two Beings–God the Father and God the Son. From this it follows that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God the Father AND of God the Son, and when the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us, then God the Father and God the Son–Jesus Christ–dwell or live in us THROUGH the Holy Spirit OF GOD.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
Is God really omnipresent, that is, everywhere at all times? Scriptures like Genesis 3:8-11 seem to suggest the opposite!
The question of God’s omnipresence has puzzled men for centuries and millennia, and diverse and sometimes incredible answers have been proposed.
One common idea in Orthodox Christianity is that God, as a Spirit being, is everywhere, as allegedly, Spirit has no form or shape–no limitations–no “parts.” God is understood to be–even though proponents of that idea would oppose such wording–a formless or shapeless “blob”–permeating everything.
This idea is clearly unbiblical. God HAS form and shape. God said that Moses saw the glorified “form” of the LORD (compare Numbers 12:8). God, when creating man, said that man was to be made in accordance with the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6). God is described as having a head, arms, a body, feet, eyes and hair, among other aspects. Man is made in the physical form of God–he is a physical reflection, if you please, of the Spirit Beings, God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. Please also note that Christ is described as the [Spirit] image of God the Father (2 Corinthians 4:4). He looks like God the Father; that is why He could say, even when He was here on earth in human form; “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In that same way–on a physical level–man is made in the image of God.
Given the fact that God has form and shape, He IS therefore at one given moment in only one place at one specific time. This means, when He is sitting on His throne in heaven, He is therefore not at that very same moment on earth, or on planet Mars, or in another galaxy billions of light-years away. This is why we read that God came down from heaven to walk on earth; that Jesus Christ, after His resurrection to a Spirit Being, ascended to heaven; that He was brought before God the Father in heaven to receive kingship and power; and that He will return to this earth, in power and glory, to rule all nations. Of course, we must also understand that God CAN “travel” from one place to another within a “split second.” But as we will see, when God is at a certain place, at that very same moment, He cannot be–as a Person–at a different place at the same time.
And still, it IS correct that God IS omnipresent–that is, that He is everywhere at all times, and NOTHING escapes His attention or is hidden from His eyes (Matthew 6:18).
Let us understand how this is possible.
David gives us the answer to this puzzle, which most professing Christians simply do NOT understand. He writes in Psalm 139:1-2:
“LORD, You have searched me and known me, You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought AFAR OFF.”
David knew that God could be “afar off,” and still understand all of his thoughts. How? Continuing in verses 3-6:
“You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before. And laid your hand upon me [i.e., He has given him protection and security]. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”
But David did not conclude that God’s miraculous omnipresence was due to God being everywhere like a form- and shapeless blob; he knew better than that. And so, he continues to explain HOW God is omnipresent, beginning with verse 7:
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?”
Here is the answer! God the Father and Jesus Christ are both Spirit beings. They both have form and shape, composed of Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is NOT a being–rather, it is the power emanating from God (compare Micah 3:8; Luke 4:14). It is through the POWER of God’s Holy Spirit that things are created. And God’s Holy Spirit does not have form and shape–God’s Holy Spirit does not exist in a bodily form. When God gave His Holy Spirit to the disciples gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, there was a representative appearance in the form of “tongues as of fire” (compare Acts 2:3). However, the Holy Spirit was also here represented by a sound, “… as of a rushing mighty wind” (verse 2). These accompanying manifestations were given as signs to accompany this glorious event of the giving of God’s power and nature–His own Holy Spirit!
God’s Holy Spirit is everywhere. It is true that we read of another incidence when John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descending “like a dove” on Jesus Christ, Mark 1:10. This, however, was just a vision from God, showing John that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, compare John 1:29-34.
God, a Spirit being, Who has form and shape, is everywhere through His Spirit. And so, David continues to meditate on this fact, as follows, in verses 8-12:
“If I ascend into heaven, You are there [through the Spirit of God]; If I make my bed in hell [Hebrew sheol, the grave], behold, you are there [through God’s Spirit]. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there your hand shall lead me [through God’s Holy Spirit], And your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ Even the night shall be light upon me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.”
We read in Genesis 1:1-3: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was [better: became] without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the SPIRIT OF GOD was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
God the Father gave the command, Jesus Christ, the Son, the Word of God, spoke the word, gave the order, and created light through the power of the Holy Spirit (compare Psalm 104:30: “You send forth your Spirit, they are created.”). We read that God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2), and Christ did so by using the power of His Holy Spirit to accomplish this. Job 26:13 says: “By His Spirit He [God] adorned the heavens.” In that sense, the “Spirit of God has made [Elihu], And the breath of the Almighty [gave him] life” (Job 33:4). God’s Spirit can be compared with breath or wind. Note that the New Jerusalem Bible translates Genesis 1:2 as, “…with a divine wind sweeping over the waters.” God’s Holy Spirit emanates from God. It is not a person, but the power of God–and through the Holy Spirit, God is and can be everywhere at all times.
An additional piece of this marvelous truth is that God lives in converted Christians through His Holy Spirit–the Spirit of God the Father AND of Jesus Christ the Son. This is HOW God–both the Father and the Son–can dwell in thousands of Christians all at the same time (John 14:23)–through His Spirit (compare Romans 8:9-11, 14-15; Galatians 4:6).
Turning now to Genesis 3:8-11, we find that God–actually in the Person of Jesus Christ, as no man has ever seen the Father (John 1:18; 6:46)–“walked” in the Garden of Eden. That must be understood quite literally. At that moment in time, Christ appeared to Adam and Eve in a physical manifestation, but through His Spirit, He was still everywhere. [Later, we find that Christ appeared to Abraham and Sarah, together with two angels, manifesting themselves “as” humans, to eat and to speak with them about their future son and to warn Abraham of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (compare Genesis 18:1-2, 13, 16-33; 19:1).]
When God asked Adam in Genesis 3:11, whether he had eaten from the tree of knowledge, that is not to be misunderstood in the sense that God did not know this. He most certainly did–nothing is hidden from His eyes–but God engaged Adam in a dialogue to see how he would react. He gave Adam a chance to express his sorrow and grief–to express repentance for what he had done; instead, Adam chose to blame Eve and God for his sin (compare verse 12: “The WOMAN whom YOU GAVE to be with me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I ate.”).
To summarize, God the Father and Jesus Christ DO have form and shape. They exist as Spirit beings. Jesus revealed this key understanding that “God is Spirit…” (John 4:24). As the record of the Bible shows, Jesus–along with other Spirit composed beings, that is, God’s holy angels–manifested themselves at times in human form. While the Bible does not teach that God’s angels are omnipresent, it is clearly revealed that through the Holy Spirit of God, emanating from both the Father and the Son, God IS omnipresent.
For more information, please read our free booklets: “Is God a Trinity?”, “God Is A Family,” and “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
Jonah Speaks to Us
The Book of Jonah has been viewed as mere Hebrew folklore and a fairy tale. Especially the story of Jonah in the belly of the great fish has been labeled as a myth. But even science confirms that it might have happened exactly as written. If that story was untrue, then the bible would be worthless. Jesus Christ confirmed the veracity of the contents of the Book of Jonah. And the book contains many valuable lessons for us today–if we are willing to listen.
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