Dear Brethren,

Very few people in this confused world understand what God’s Spirit is all about.  The Bible reveals that God controls every last thing – every single element in the universe through His Spirit.  After He created the heavens and the earth, God declared in the second verse of the Bible how He gets things done by His life’s force and vigor:

Genesis 1:2 …The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

We in God’s Church are the only ones who are able to come to a deeper truth vis-à-vis God and His Holy Spirit.  Vis-à-vis is a French phrase that means “with regard to,” but interestingly, it also means “face to face,” as when the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend.  (Exodus 33:11)

1Corinthians 2:9-10  God has revealed unto us those things He has prepared for them that love Him by His Spirit: … yes, the deep things of God.

Paul tells us that we only have partial knowledge at this time, but in the resurrection we will see God face to face.  How can mere man presume to ever see God face to face?

1Corinthians 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

John reveals that when we see God face to face we will see Him as He is (1John 3:2).  And that will be in His supreme authority and power to control all that has ever happened, is happening, and will ever happen.

Let’s remember that everything that has ever happened from creation until now is for one single purpose – and that is for God to bring many sons and daughters to glory in His eternal Kingdom (Hebrews 2:10).  God’s Spirit is so much more than His ability to create and move things about the universe.  God is Spirit and He exists in the spirit realm where no man has ascended (John 3:13) which is eternal – not like our temporary existence in this physical world.  The Bible is the story of how God is bringing true believers across that great gulf that separates the two (Luke 16:26).  That chasm is as great as the one between death and life!  To traverse that divide we must literally be born into that spirit realm (John 3:3).  And to be chosen to be born again we must have acquired the attributes and characteristics of God’s Spiritual nature.  So, what is God’s Holy Spirit like?

God’s Spirit is the one Spirit that the Father and Jesus Christ share with each other and with us.  God’s Spirit is His life, mind, and yes, His life’s force and power, but much more than that.  His Spirit is His love, His all-presence, His all-knowing, His personality, His manifold traits, His character – it is every characteristic of God like His gentleness, compassion, generosity, mercy… the list is endless.

God’s desire is to share His Spirit with us, for the promise of His Spirit is unto us, and to our children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.  (Acts 2:39)

We are totally unable to comprehend every characteristic of God’s Spirit with our limited human intellect, for God is too great.  The complete attributes of God's Spirit are beyond the grasp of our finite minds.  And yet, we are to do our utmost to acquire the same perspective on everything as God has and be exactly like Him in every way that we are able.

Man begins to make the transition from his physical existence to growing in Spirit toward the flawlessness of Christ when he receives the first token of God’s Spirit at his baptism and the laying on of hands.  In order for a Christian to be able to achieve that great leap from man-kind to God-kind, God gives baptized Christians a security pledge of His Spirit – His Life, making us His Godly children.

God’s Spirit in a Christian begins the conversion process, which culminates in our being born eventually into the eternal Family of God.  God’s Spirit is the gift of God unto eternal life. (Romans 6:23)  It is God’s Will that we enter His Kingdom as His Spirit-born eternal Children.  To those who are called, chosen and faithful He will say,

Matthew 25:21  Well done, thou good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter you into the joy of thy Lord.

***

Sermon:

"Face to Face with God"