Teaching Students About the Holy Spirit
Christians believe in the God who is three-in-one, or so we say. The traditional understanding of the Trinity is that God exists as Father, Son, and Spirit, who are three divine persons that are all equally God, sharing the same divine nature. Sometimes, however, it seems like that third person of the Trinity is left out of the picture, and when He does show up, He seems very mysterious and vague (fittingly, an alternative name for Him is Holy Ghost).
So how do we make sense of the Holy Spirit? Where do we see Him in Scripture? What does He do? And beyond that, how should we talk about Him?
There are a couple of important principles to remember when trying to understand and teach on the Holy Spirit.
His Identity
He is a Person
Because of the mysterious nature of the Spirit’s work, many people have a flawed idea that the Spirit is like the “Force” in Star Wars: something to harness for your benefit instead of a God to worship. But this is clearly not how He is portrayed in Scripture. The Spirit functions with the same kind of agency as the other two divine persons, taking part in unique actions that compose the Trinity’s work. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say that the Spirit is so intimately united with God that He knows the very mind of God and is the reason anyone else can know who God is and what He does (1 Cor. 2:11).
He is God
The Spirit is also fully God in the same way that the Father and Son are God, sharing the same divine nature. All of the attributes that are true of God (Omnipotence, Omniscience, Eternality, etc.) are true of the Holy Spirit. He is called the same kinds of names God is called, like “Lord,” “God,” and He is often specifically identified as “Spirit of God” or “Spirit of Christ,” (2 Cor. 3:17, 1 Cor. 2:10-12, Rom. 8:9-14) He also actively participates in things only God is said to do, like creation, redemption, and judgment, being perfectly united with the Father and the Son in everything they take part in.
His Actions
He Gives Life
The Spirit possess the unique role of finalizing the Trinity’s work. In everything God does, the Spirit completes it, bringing it to life. This is seen in Gen. 1, where the Spirit of God is “hovering over the surface of the waters”, waiting to bring to life what God makes. It is seen in Gen. 2, as the “breath” (the same word for Spirit in Hebrew) of God brings life to formed man. In the New Testament, Mary is told the Spirit will “come upon” or “hover over” her, bringing life to her womb in the miraculous virgin birth (Lk 1). Jesus attributes regeneration to the work of the Spirit (Jn 6), Paul calls Him the Spirit of Life (Rom. 8), and Peter claims He is the one who makes saints alive (1 Pet. 3). It is the Spirit whose role is to bring life where there was none.
He Gives Knowledge
In the Old Testament, Bezalel and Oholiab were given knowledge of how to fashion instruments for the Tabernacle (Ex. 31:1-6). The Prophets were given knowledge of the future to aid God’s people. In the New Testament, the Spirit illuminates the fallen condition of humans, convicting them of sin (John 15) and shining a light into their darkened hearts and minds (2 Cor. 4). He also works through the Word of God to sanctify Christians, opening the eyes of the heart to see the truths of God’s Word, refining them and exposing their sin for the purpose of spiritual flourishing. It is also the Spirit whose role includes bringing revelation and understanding.
He Gives Power
The Spirit also plays a prominent part in empowering God’s people to carry out His purposes. In the Old Testament, the Spirit would “rush upon” individuals, enabling them to do things they could not accomplish on their own: judges who delivered their people from numerous enemies (Judges 15:14), prophesying in the case of Saul (1 Sam. 10:10), or empowering David’s actions as he began his ascent to the throne (1 Sam. 16:13). In the New Testament, the Spirit works mightily through Jesus’s own ministry in the form of miracles, but He also works in ordinary Christians by giving not only guidance and comfort to God’s people, but gifts. The Spirit pours out unique gifts to believers (1 Cor. 12:4-11), equipping them for the work of the ministry and for building up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13). It is the Spirit who enables Christians to live out the mission of God in the world.
His Importance
Why should we focus on the Holy Spirit specifically when we are teaching our students? Because if we don’t then we will miss the beauty of the gospel itself. If the Spirit is not involved, we could never be saved. He gives us knowledge of our need for God by pointing us to Christ, but He also unites us with Christ. Christ’s righteousness only becomes ours because the Spirit. We are only covered by the work of Christ because the Spirit connects us to it by coming to dwell within those who trust in Jesus. What Christ made possible, the Spirit makes personal and actual.
But even further, how do Christians live out the Christian life? By depending on the Spirit who is at work in and through us. We trust His illuminating presence to help us understand God’s Word. We trust His presence within us when we don’t have the words to pray. We trust in His ability to comfort us in our difficult times in life. We trust that because He has sealed us by the Spirit, there are promises awaiting us in the future, an inheritance that cannot be lost: that the presence of God we catch a glimpse of now will one day be ours in full.
Apart from the Holy Spirit’s activity, we are hopelessly lost and alienated from God. Even if Jesus accomplished the work on the cross, it does not get applied to us apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. If He does not come to dwell within us, transforming us and remaking us to look more like Christ, we still would be without hope. But our God has welcomed us into His presence by sending His Spirit to us.
For youth workers, rightly understanding and teaching our students about the Spirit is vital, because He is God. Just as Jesus helps us see what God did to save us, the Spirit shows us how we can be saved. But He also is in us, enabling us to live for Christ, empowering us to do so, and interceding for us when we struggle in our attempts. Students need to see not only what the Spirit has done in the past, but why we need Him today.