The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life

Introduction

The first main part of the Nicene Creed was about God the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

The second main part of the Creed was about the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father, who came down from heaven for us and for our salvation; and who was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; and he rose again on the third day; and he ascended to heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand, from where he will come to judge the living and the dead; and his kingdom will never end.

And the third main part of the Creed, which we’re beginning today, is about the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and Giver of life.

I’ve said before that the Council of Nicaea met in 325, which was 1700 years ago last year. And that Council produced the Creed of Nicaea. Then the Council of Constantinople met in 381 and expanded the Creed of Nicaea to form what we now know as the Nicene Creed. And one of the main changes between the Creed of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed is what it says about the Holy Spirit. The Creed of Nicaea says very little about him. In fact, after telling us about God the Father and God the Son, the Creed of Nicaea then went on to say: ‘And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit.’ Full stop. And that’s all it said about him. And then it went on to condemn all those who denied the divinity of the Son.

So, the Creed in 325 said next to nothing about the Holy Spirit or about the church and about baptism and about the resurrection of the dead. It ended rather abruptly.

And that’s because, when the bishops met in 325, the big issue they were facing was the Arian controversy over the divinity of the Son. And so, the focus of the Creed of Nicaea in 325 was the relation of the Son to the Father and how the Son has the same divine being as the Father. However, between 325 and 381 a new controversy arose, which was to do with the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit truly divine? Does he have the same divine being as the Father? That was one of the things the bishops who met in Constantinople wanted to settle. And the Nicene Creed, which emerged from that council, agreed that the Holy Spirit is God. They didn’t use the exact same phrase as they used for the Son. So, they didn’t say the Spirit has the same divine being as the Father. That’s what they said about the Son. But what they did say about the Holy Spirit makes clear that they were confessing and proclaiming that the Holy Spirit is God. They said about him that he’s the Lord and he’s the Giver of Life. And that’s what we’re thinking about this evening.

Biblical witness

Let’s begin by noting what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.

He’s mentioned right at the beginning of the Bible. It says in the first verse of the Bible that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; and the earth was formless and empty; and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And then it says in the second verse that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. So, he’s right there, in the beginning of the Bible.

In Genesis 41, Pharaoh said about Joseph, ‘Can we find a man like this in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Although Pharaoh was a pagan king, he bore witness to how the Holy Spirit gave wisdom and insight to Joseph. And in Exodus 31 and 36 we read that the Holy Spirit gave Bezalel and Oholiab the skills required to make what was needed for the tabernacle. And in other places, we read how various people were anointed with the Holy Spirit to serve as prophets or as leaders of God’s people. And in David’s confession of sin in Psalm 51, he asked the Lord not to take his Spirit from him. He knew that he needed God’s Spirit to help him to rule God’s people.

And then, when we turn to the book of Isaiah, we read about the coming Saviour–King on whom the Spirit will rest: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and power and of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And in Isaiah 61, the coming Saviour–King says that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on him.

In Ezekiel, God promises that the day is coming when he will give his Spirit to his rebellious people to change their hearts and to enable them to do his will. And Joel looks forward to the day when God will pour his Spirit on all flesh.

Those are just some of the places in the Old Testament where the Holy Spirit is mentioned. He was there in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth. He equips people with skills and knowledge and wisdom. And God promised to anoint, not just the Saviour–King with his Spirit, but he promised to anoint all his people with his Spirit.

When we turn to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit enabled Mary to conceive and to give birth to the Saviour. The Spirit came down on the Lord Jesus at his baptism in the form of a dove. After his baptism, the Spirit drove him in the wilderness to be tested by the devil. And the Lord began his public ministry by reading from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth and announcing that those words about the Holy Spirit resting on the Saviour–King have been fulfilled. So, he is the promised Saviour–King and the Spirit is resting on him.

The Lord Jesus said that he drove out demons by the Holy Spirit. And in John’s gospel he taught about the Holy Spirit and his work, including what we’ve been reading recently from John 3 about being born again of water and the Spirit.

Then, in Acts 1, the Lord told his apostles that they will receive the Holy Spirit to equip them for their witness. And in Acts 2, the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on the people in Jerusalem. And throughout the rest of the New Testament, we read about the Holy Spirit and his work. And in the final chapter of the Bible, it says that the Spirit and the bride (the church) both say to the thirsty: ‘Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.’ And so, from beginning to end, the Scriptures teach us about the Holy Spirit.

In terms of what the Creed says about the Holy Spirit being the Lord, we have what Paul says about him in 2 Corinthians 3. Paul is alluding to the time when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. And in 2 Corinthians 3:17, Paul says, ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit’. In other words, the Lord who came down on Mount Sinai to speak to Moses is the Holy Spirit. Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit is the Lord.

And in terms of what the Creed says about the Holy Spirit being the Giver of Life, we can turn to Job 33:3, where Elihu says, ‘the Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’ According to Elihu, the breath of God is another name for the Spirit of God. And Elihu is therefore saying that the Holy Spirit made him and gave him his life. This recalls what we read in Genesis 2:7, where it says that God made the first man from the dust and breathed into him the breath of life so that he became a living being. God therefore breathed into him the Holy Spirit so that he became a living being. And in Psalm 104:30, the psalmist says that when God sends his Spirit, all living creatures are created; and he renews the face of the earth. These verses bear witness to how the Holy Spirit gives us our life in this world.

The Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit, because he is holy and he’s the one who sanctifies us and makes us holy, renewing and perfecting us in God’s image.

And the word translated ‘Spirit’ in the Bible is also used to refer to the wind and to human breath. And it’s fitting to use this same word to refer to the Third Person of the Trinity, because in John 3 the Lord Jesus likens the Spirit to the wind, which blows mysteriously so that we can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going. And so, the Spirit works mysteriously in the world and among God’s people. And in John 20, the Lord breathed on his disciples and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ God breathed into Adam in the beginning so that he became a living being; and the Lord Jesus breathed on his disciples and filled them with his life-giving Spirit.

Lord

When we say the Creed, we confess and proclaim that the Holy Spirit is the Lord. And therefore we’re confessing and proclaiming that the Holy Spirit is God, because ‘Lord’ is God’s special covenant name. This is the name by which the God of Israel was known. So, the pagans might have said that their god was called Dagon or Baal or whatever. But the Israelites would say that their God was called the Lord.

The Creed also referred to Jesus Christ as the Lord. And by saying Jesus Christ is the Lord, the Creed was saying that he is God and whatever is true about the God of Israel applies to the Lord Jesus Christ. And since the Spirit is also the Lord, then whatever is true about the God of Israel applies to the Spirit as well.

So, Jesus Christ is Lord; and so is the Holy Spirit. And so is the Father. Since all three are Lord, then all three are gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That’s what God revealed about himself in the Old Testament. And what is true of the God of Israel is true of the Father and the Son and the Spirit, because all three are the Lord. And since all three are the Lord, then all three have bound themselves with a promise to be our God and to take care of us. That’s what God revealed about himself in the Old Testament. And what is true of the God of Israel is true of the Father and the Son and the Spirit, because all three are the Lord. By calling the Holy Spirit the Lord, the Creed is saying that he is God.

Giver of life

When we say the Creed, we confess and proclaim that the Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life. And he is the Giver of Life in three ways.

Firstly, he gives us our life in this world. I’ve already quoted from Job 33:3 where Elihu said that the Spirit of God made him and the breath of the Almighty has given him life. So, God made us and he gave us our life in his world by his Holy Spirit. Because of the Holy Spirit, we have life in this world.

Secondly, he gives us new life in this world. Through the new birth, the Holy Spirit implants new life in us, so that we’re able to turn from our sins in repentance and turn in faith to the Saviour. The new birth is the beginning of a new life in this world — a life of faith and obedience to God — which the Holy Spirit produces in us.

And thirdly, he gives us resurrection life. In Romans 8:11, Paul says that if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in us, then he who raised Christ from the dead at his resurrection will also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit. God will raise us from the dead by his Spirit.

In John 5:26 the Lord Jesus said that the Father has all life in himself. And then he said that the Father has granted the Son to have all life in himself. And the Son who has life in himself gives us eternal life by giving us his Spirit. As the Lord Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, the water he gives — and he was referring to the Holy Spirit — will become in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life. So, life comes to us from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. This matches what I said recently about there being an order to all of God’s works. The order is: from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit comes to us from the Father and through the Son to give us our life in this world; and to give us new life in Christ; and, one day, to raise our bodies to resurrection life.

Conclusion

When we say the Creed, we’re confessing and proclaiming that the Holy Spirit is the Lord. That is to say: with the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is God and we should therefore worship him as God. And we’re confessing and proclaiming that he’s the Giver of Life, because he gives us our life in his world and he gives us new life in Christ and he will raise our bodies from the dead at the resurrection so that we will live for ever in the presence of our God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.