Granting that all persons in the godhead are perfectly united in thought, purpose, and action, God should not be thought of as being the Father, only. It is true that certain contexts point to one or the other, but unless distinguished in the text, when speaking of God, He includes all three. One simple effort to distinguish the role of each person in the godhead is to attribute a dominant task to each. Using Paul’s language in Ephesians 3:10-ff, let’s describe them. The “manifold wisdom of God” is known to the principalities and powers in the heavenlies by the product of God’s grace, the called-out class of people. This redemptive plan is said to be “according to the eternal purpose which “He” purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by faith. It is clear that Paul distinguishes the God of verse 10 whose purposes and wisdom is made known from “Christ Jesus our Lord.” However, Christ Jesus our Lord had a beginning when born of the virgin Mary, while the Word of John 1 was and is the creator and sustainer God. He became flesh in the person of Christ Jesus our Lord. The dominant role of God, the Father is the designer of the eternal purpose and plan while the other two execute and communicate that eternal purpose. Without the Word, nothing would be carried out and followed through to its end. He declares the godhead by demonstrating His will with a personal touch. He may take the form of a “Son of Man,” “the angel of the Lord,” or Jesus Christ.
It is essential to remember that the word “spirit” does not always refer to the Holy Spirit but to the human spirit. Unlike the Holy Spirit, our spirits are neither perfect nor carry the limitless attributes of deity. But, because we have conscious personality, as does the Holy Spirit, we have thought, will, emotion, and faculties of mind to process information and choose what we will do with it. As a result, communication is possible with God, while communicating with other human beings is possible according to our physical nature. Regarding God’s contact with us, we are assured that God cannot lie (cf. Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18, Num. 23:19) when communicating to man. However, human beings can and do lie to the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 5:3), who is grieved by human responses or the lack thereof (cf. Ephesians 4:29). The Holy Spirit is a divine personality, not some impersonal force or attitude.
The Spirit, therefore, declares the godhead by communicating the divine eternal plan through words. Rather than being demonstrated by a living example in Jesus, the thoughts of God are declared by the Spirit’s revelation. Such revelation may be direct communication as in Eden or during the Patriarchil period, through dreams, or through chosen men and women who were moved to speak whatever the Spirit revealed to them.
In this illustration, we have the designer/architect, the drafter (the Spirit), and the builder (the Word Incarnate). In particular, the Spirit is hopeful that the mind and purposes of God be etched in our hearts rather than on a blueprint, in a book or in our ears. Once their will and mind is allowed to permeate our will and mind so that our lives are described as “walking after the Spirit,” it can be said that God indwells us (all three). The fulness of God that envelope all three is put forward in Ephesians 3:14-19. First, verses 14-16 reads, “ For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Notice all three persons are reflected in these verses: the Father to whom we pray, Jesus Christ of whom the whole family is named, and the Spirit who strengthens the inner man with power. Then, to add to this description of Jesus, he adds in verses 17-19, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
They are perfectly one. Therefore, Deuteronomy 6:4 reads, “Jehovah, our God (Elohim, plural) is one Jehovah.” We could add more about their roles in creation and redemption and illustrate the distinctions given them in Scripture, but our purpose is to describe the work of the Holy Spirit in the last days. While He is seen in the Old Testament, there can be no doubt that his most significant presence in the text of Scripture was in those days. This promise of the Spirit in those days were miraculous measures that would testify to the arrival of the last days that marked the fulfillment and culmination of the scheme of redemption.
