“The Word Became Flesh” (2)

[John 1:1-4, 9-14]

John 1:1 says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Here, the “Word” refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “The Word was with God” (verse 1) means that the Word was with God the Father, who is one alone. “The Word was God” (verse 1) means that the Word is equal to God the Father (the Triune God).

This is a basic meditation on the Triune God. Although the Bible does not use the phrase “Triune God,” the Bible testifies that God is triune. The Bible states that God is one only:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
“Now a mediator is not for one only, but God is one” (Galatians 3:20).
“Do you believe that God is one? You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19).

The devil does not believe God correctly. If we believe rightly that God is one, we should cry out “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6) and come near to God.

The Bible uses the word “God” in plural, not singular, in some places. Genesis 1:26 says:
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”
If “God” were singular here, it would say “my image,” “my likeness,” “I will make,” but the Bible uses plural—“our image,” “our likeness,” “let us make.” This is because God is the Triune God.

Isaiah 6:8 says:
“I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’”
Here, “I” is singular, referring to God the Father; “us” is plural, referring to the Triune God.

The Bible calls God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit “God.”
Psalm 110:1 says:
“The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’”
Here, “The Lord” refers to God the Father, and “my Lord” refers to God the Son. The Son is seated at the Father’s right hand, as we also see in Romans 8:34:
“Who shall condemn? Christ Jesus who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

In the Old Testament, the word “Jehovah” is used, but in the New Testament, it refers to the Holy Spirit:
“The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’” (Jeremiah 31:31).
“And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after He said, ‘This is the covenant I will make with them,’ …” (Hebrews 10:15-16).

Jeremiah 31:31 says “Jehovah,” and Hebrews 10:15 says “Holy Spirit.” In the Old Testament it is “Jehovah,” but in the New Testament it is the Son, Jesus Christ:
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls” (Joel 2:32).
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Joel 2:32 mentions “the name of Jehovah,” but Romans 10:13 says “the name of the Lord,” referring here to Jesus Christ the Son of God.

God the Father is God. Then is Jesus the Son also God? Then is God the Holy Spirit also God? Today we consider whether God the Holy Spirit is God, and next week we will consider whether Jesus the Son is God.

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is God. Acts 5:3-4 says:
“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’”

In verse 3, it refers to the “Holy Spirit,” but in verse 4 it says “to God.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is God.

Philippians 2:13 says:
“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Here, “He who works in you” refers to the Holy Spirit. It says that this Holy Spirit is “God.”

The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit has the same nature that only God the Father has. The nature of God the Father is eternal, and the Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as the “eternal Spirit.”

Hebrews 9:14 says:
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

The nature of God the Father is that He is omnipresent (present everywhere), and the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is also present everywhere.

Psalm 139:7-8 says:
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

The Holy Spirit is everywhere. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God.

The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit does things that only God can do:

(1) Creation:

Genesis 1:1-2 says:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Like God, the Holy Spirit also created the heavens and the earth.

Job 33:4 says:
“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Like God, the Holy Spirit also created man.

(2) Resurrection:

Romans 8:11 says:
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Like God, the Holy Spirit also raises the dead. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. When Jesus returns, the Holy Spirit will also raise our mortal bodies to glorious bodies. The prophet Elijah raised the son of the widow of Zarephath when he died (1 Kings 17:17-22), but that was a resurrection to the same physical body, not to a glorious body.

(3) Eternal life:

John 6:63 says:
“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”

The Holy Spirit also gives eternal life, which only God can give. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God!