Although I recognize that the Holy Spirit is a person of the godhead, I've always thought of Him more in practical terms. That He serves the purpose of teaching, reproving, correcting and training us in righteousness as we read the Bible. That He helps us understand Scripture. That He prays to God through Jesus what we do not even know to pray. That by the Seal of the Holy Spirit we know we belong to Jesus. I've thought of the Holy Spirit primarily in terms of His function.
When I read I Corinthians 2 this time, the words settled in on me: "Who knows a man but the spirit of the man?" Even though I know that God sacrificing His son, Jesus, and giving us the Holy Spirit is so we can be in a personal relationship with Him, I have only thought with mind and heart of God the Father and Jesus the Son in relational terms. It dawned on me while reading I Corinthians that intellectually I see the Holy Spirit as relational, but practically, I see Him in terms of His practice and function.
My point is that for the first time I grasped with my heart that we have the Holy Spirit from the Father because only the spirit of God can know God fully (Just as only the spirit of a man can fully know a man). God the Father is offering us the most deep and interpersonal connection we could ever know by having His Spirit within us. He could have stopped with the sacrifice of His Son. He could have stopped with giving us His word, the Bible. Our God wanted more than that, He wants more than that. He wants the deepest level of intimacy in relationship with us that is possible. The only way for that was for Him to give us His Spirit. There is no other way to know Him deeply.
What a treasure we have to have a God who is so interested in being close to us. What a treasure we have to be indwelt by the Spirit of God, to be able to know Him deeply. How vulnerable that makes Him to being hurt or grieved by our sinfulness. For me, this is a new level of appreciation and gratitude for God and who He is.
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