STORY OF EVERYTHING

Week 3- Holy Spirit

Icebreaker: Who do you know who works behind the scenes and yet is very impactful? How do you appreciate them?

Recap: The Bible is about a story, a great story, a true story of everything pertaining to life. The story tells about the 3 in 1 God, the devastation of sin, and the story continues telling the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

I. The Spirit Early in the Story

Genesis 1:1-2 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

1. The Hebrew word for Spirit is ruah. It is translated not only as spirit, but also wind and breath. How do the descriptions of wind and breath describe the characteristics of the Spirit?

2. The Hebrew word for hovering is rachaph or perhaps brooding and fertilizing. (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database) How do brooding and fertilizing enhance our understanding of the work of the Spirit during Creation?

(In the Old Testament) “there were occasions when this divine power seemed to overtake and possess an individual fully, so that his or her words or actions far transcended those of normal behavior. Such a person was clearly marked as an agent of God’s purpose and given respect.” (Elwell, Walter A., and Philip Wesley Comfort. Tyndale Bible dictionary ) Examples include Joseph (Genesis 41:36), Bezalel (Exodus 35:31), various judges in the book of Judges, King Saul, King David, various prophets among many others.

II. Role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ Time

Luke 1:26-35 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

3. What role did the Holy Spirit play in the birth of Jesus? How did the Holy Spirit assure Mary?

Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

4. How would you describe Jesus Christ’s relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit?

Luke 4:14-19 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

5. What is the partnership of the Son and the Holy Spirit like at the onset of Christ’s ministry?

6. Why was it important that Jesus recognized the Holy Spirit publicly? (Verse 18)

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

7. Why was it crucial that the Holy Spirit led the Son to the devil’s temptation? We go through temptations too. How do we let the Holy Spirit lead us?

Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

1 Corinthians 15:55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

8. By what power was Jesus raised? What ultimate power does the Holy Spirit possess?

9. How does knowing the Holy Spirit has power over death help us to live well today?

III. The Holy Spirit in the Present Age

The Holy Spirit, the third person of the God-head, moved among various people and events in the Old Testament, indwells in all Christ’s followers today and then all people in the last days.

John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

10. What has God promised to those who believe in Christ? What value does the Spirit helping us and being with us forever provide?

11. If He’s in me, why don’t I feel Him?

IV. Reasons for the Gift of the Holy Spirit

a. The Holy Spirit is for Transformation (Metamorphosis)

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed (metamorphoó) into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

I John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.” NASB

12. What is God transforming us into? What role do we have to play in the transformation? What successes and/or struggles are you experiencing in your transformation? (Romans 12:1-2)

Romans 12:1–2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

b. The Holy Spirit is for Illumination (Guide)

John 16:13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. . . . and He will tell you what is yet to come.

13. If the Holy Spirit is my Guide why don’t I sense his leading? How is the Holy Spirit guiding you today? In what direction?

c. Holy Spirit is for Edification: (Build each other up)

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

14. How has God gifted you and how are your gifts being used to build up the Body of Christ?

d. Holy Spirit is for Proclamation (Bear Witness)

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

15. Who in your life do you want to ask the Holy Spirit to give you the power to witness the truth of Christ? How can the group pray for you and that person/people?

Story of Everything- Week 3- Holy Spirit