Lessons In Truth - Lesson 11 - Annotation 7
What is the Holy Spirit?
7. The Holy Spirit, as paragraph 24 of our text points out, is "God in movement" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 11:24). We read this definition in the book, Jesus Christ Heals 182:
"To the Christian metaphysician the Holy Spirit is just what the name implies, the whole Spirit of God in action."
The Holy Spirit is the third phase of God's three-fold nature that we call the "Holy Trinity or the Godhead," for it is the Expression or Breath of God. It is God moving in man and throughout the universe to accomplish His will or plan of Absolute Good.
The Holy Spirit is not just a mysterious religious term. As the "whole Spirit of God in action" it is comparable to that phase of our own nature that acts, moves, and breathes forth all that we are.
The first phase of the Holy Trinity or Godhead is God as Mind, as Creator, as Father of all. The second phase is the idea of that Mind which is God the Son, spiritual man, or as Paul puts it "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). Spiritual man is the idea of God Mind that contains all the ideas inhering in that Mind. There has to be a moving force to express or bring forth God's plan, so the "whole Spirit of God" moves into action through spiritual man and this movement or expression we call the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit ("the whole Spirit of God in action") moves in us it is our inner Teacher, the Spirit of truth, speaking to us through the voice of intuition, that teaches us all things; it brings all things to our remembrance; it is our guide that will lead us into all Truth, for as we are told in the Gospel of John,
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit is the "breath of the Almighty" that "giveth them understanding" (Job 32:8). Other names for the Holy Spirit are: the Helper, the Revealer of the Divine Presence, the Inspirer, the Comforter.
It is vital for us to remember that there is but one God but there are three phases of God activity. These three phases must work together to bring forth the final manifestation. In every outer form we seek, there must first be mind, then idea, then expression, in order to bring forth the visible manifestation.
When we consider mankind as related to the Holy Trinity or Godhead, we see Jesus Christ as the visible manifestation of perfect man:
God the Son = Idea, the Christ, the Word, spiritual man
God the Holy Spirit = Expression
and these three phases lead to manifestation of the Godhead which we find in Jesus Christ of whom Paul says "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). In John's Gospel Jesus Christ is referred to as "the Word ... made flesh" (John 1:14 A.V.)
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Preceding Entry: Do apparent failures sometimes lead to success?
Following Entry: Is cultivating a cousciousness of our oneness with the Father more important than demonstrating things?
