The Gift of the Holy Spirit

I think God enjoys drama, good drama, in the healthy sense of raising everyone's expectations
for what he says is a truly spectacular event. He had Noah build this ginormous boat out in the middle of dry land, for about 100 years -- that's better than a billboard saying "Hey, there's gonna be a flood!" He met Moses in a bush that wouldn't burn up, and he gave the Israelites the law in a sound-and-lights display that probably hasn't been equaled since.

So it's no surprise that when the Holy Spirit came (Acts 2), there was the sound of rushing wind, the disciples saw tongues of fire on each person, and they all spoke with foreign languages they had not learned before. The Lord wanted plenty of attention on the importance of this event! The sound of wind was a clue that this was the Spirit, as 'wind' and 'spirit' are the same word in Hebrew and Greek; and the tongues of fire showed how the person and power of God was given to each one, not just parked on top of Mount Sinai as before (Ex. 19:18). The new languages were pretty handy to the disciples at that point because they were able to speak to everyone in their own mother tongue (Acts 2:7-12).

Yes, all those 'special effects' made the day of Pentecost a day the apostles would not soon forget. As we look back on that day, it gives the rest of us a marker for a new turn in God's plan for us. What was the progression? First, he chose a man, Abraham; then chose a nation descended from him as his special people. Then out of that nation, God himself -- the Son, the second Person of the Trinity -- was born into human flesh so that God could be with us, Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). After Jesus' life and ministry, his death for us and his resurrection for us, the next step was for God himself to live within (not just among) us. The Holy Spirit's presence in us is the mind of Christ (I Cor. 2:16) as Jesus promised us in John 14:16-18, that the Comforter would come to be with us and because of that, we would not be alone, but that Jesus would be with us.

So as we live today, we are not left to figure things out on our own, but we are being taught just like the disciples were taught as they walked along the roads in Galilee and Judea. We can hear Jesus teach us, as we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. We're going to look at that listening more, next time.