The mission of the Spirit in this world is to glorify the Son. Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit.
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14)
When the Spirit came at Pentecost, the most Spirit-transformational moment in history, inaugurating the church, who did the disciples go out and preach about? The Spirit? No. Jesus. The Holy Spirit is here to glorify the person and position of Jesus. He is not here to draw attention to himself. He is here to highlight the glory and beauty of the Son.
I heard a good illustration of this once. If you’ve been to the downtown of any major city, you know how they illuminate the major landmarks. Think of driving down Lakeshore Drive in Chicago at night. What do you see? Lots of lights, particularly the Museums, the Fountain, Soldier Field, and other architecturally beautiful buildings. These spotlights make brilliant these limestone buildings at night. Looks really cool.
Does anyone drive around the Loop and see these buildings and say, look at the wattage on those lamps? Wow… would you look at those spotlights. Do they offer tours in Chicago to see the spotlights? No. The lamps are there to draw attention to something else.
When the Holy Spirit is in control of a person or in control of a church, the focus of the person or the Church is Christ because that is why the Holy Spirit is here, He will glorify me.
I am going to come back to this point but it is a necessary parameter when it comes to spiritual gifts and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Is it possible to become too focused on the spotlight instead of what the spotlight is spotlighting? I have already said I think the pond of Christianity the majority of our church folk come from have focused too little on the Holy Spirit. There is an opposite danger as well. Here’s the balance. When we are in the Holy Spirit, our creed is Christ.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
© 2010 Steve DeWitt. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author, (2) any modifications are clearly marked, (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, (4) you include Bethel’s web site address (http://www.bethelweb.org/) on the copied resource.
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