Understanding the Holy Spirit (and the Trinity) (Kind of)

This last Sunday we got to explore the "Birthday of the Church" and the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is often the least understood of the Trinity - almost as confusing as the concept of the Trinity itself. How can God be three and one at the same time? And how exactly do we understand God as Holy Spirit?

Part of the problem is that humans and human language are limited and God is limitless. As a result, all of our language about God tends to fall short. The best we can do is to say what God is like - understanding that any of our metaphors will be deficient in some way.

With that said, however, the best images we have for the Trinity describe the interrelated expressions of the "three persons" of the Godhead acting in perfect unity. See the table below for examples.

Father	Son	Holy Spirit
Revealer	Revelation	Revealedness
Speaker	Word Spoken	Speaking/Breath
Lover	Beloved	Loving
Source/Fount	Stream	Living Water

In each of these examples, there are differences in the three terms and yet it is impossible for any aspect to function or exist without the other. And in each of these, the Holy Spirit plays the critical role of unifying action. In the Bible, it is the Holy Spirit which hovers over the waters of creation, inspires God's people to create and live, and empowers believers to live out their purpose of worship and witness.

May we receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit to us with gladness! And may we yearn to know God more and more.

[For more on the Holy Spirit, check out this great video from The Bible Project].

For more insightful videos on the Bible and biblical concepts, check out their videos on YouTube or learn more about their ministry and how to support it at thebibleproject.com.