The Spirit of God is Upon Us – Knowing and Partnering with our Triune God

“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2, ESV)

The Old Testament brings forth bold and inescapable hope when we see how Jesus is promised and revealed. The Gospel is interwoven effortlessly into our scriptures, and what an intentional gift that is! Encountering Jesus is sacred. As the Old Testament builds anticipation, I am eager for Jesus to enter the scene so I can witness the ways people experience Him. To be the woman at the well, or the blind man healed feels unimaginable. I catch myself wishing He were right here with me. I feel the aches and pains of being on this side of eternity as my heart knows to yearn to be with Jesus, and yours does too. We are the woman who fights the crowd to touch the edge of His garment, but in our story sometimes it feels as though He is just out of reach. Encountering Jesus is sacred, but so many of us have not discovered how, and so we live in dissonance. 

Often, people are first introduced to Jesus, and that is good—He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. For some reason or another, some are never truly introduced to life in Christ that embraces Triune theology. Each Christian tradition handles this differently, which makes our understanding of God even more complex. While I don’t believe there is such a thing as “too much Jesus,” I do believe there is such a thing as misunderstanding our Triune God. Knowing Jesus but not honoring Him as the Triune God is like going to a dance recital with your eyes shut. You know someone is dancing, but you don’t know what they look like, where they are in the room, or what they are doing at all. You get the impression that the dance is beautiful, but you can’t see why. You can’t appreciate it, you can’t get to know it, and you surely could never participate in it. I want to use this metaphor to unpack one reason knowing Jesus can be even more transformational if we let Him help us understand the Trinitarian dance. 

What happens in Isaiah 11 is incredible. You have our Father in heaven partnering with His creation to foretell of His Son who is embraced and empowered by God’s Spirit. This is just one of many passages that show us the harmony and majesty with which our God is Triune. God affirms the way that His Son is empowered by God’s Spirit. Fast forward into the New Testament, and Jesus reinforces this fellowship:

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-15)

Here, Jesus shares the way for us to actually experience Him fully now. No longer are we reaching for the garment and falling too short. Jesus grants us a way not only to touch the garment, but to let His power and presence fill us all in truth, just like the woman in Mark. The Trinitarian dance on display can feel tricky, but what I find beautiful is Jesus affirming that because of the promised and immutable fellowship of the Triune God, there is no time where we experience the presence of God where Jesus is not. The Father, Son, and Spirit are in eternal conversation. If we are a people who receive and are led by the Spirit, we are a people who truly live in Christ. 

The challenge of understanding and living this reality is the way we embrace our learning and partnering with the Spirit, or lack thereof. Jesus is clear that His best for us is to let His Spirit be upon us, just as the Spirit is upon Him. In this kind of embrace, we will experience Jesus more fully, and in doing so, bear His image more truthfully. Our Triune God invites us into the center of His dance where the Father, Son, and Spirit fill us with life and transform us in Christ. 

One compelling example of someone who has joined the Trinitarian dance is Stephen in the book of Acts. In Acts, the Spirit mobilizes and empowers God’s people to partner in expanding God’s church. Stephen knows Jesus dearly, honors the Father fearlessly, and partners with the Spirit to accomplish critical spiritual and relational experiences for himself, others, and the church. 

Living by the power of the Spirit allowed Stephen to bear the fruit of the true power, peace, and presence of one who has opened his eyes and entered the Trinitarian dance. The Spirit helps Stephen not only know God’s word, but also become a part of God’s grand story in a way that lets him and others truly experience Jesus. 

We too have been invited to join the dance and the eternal conversation of our Triune God. While learning to jump into the Trinitarian dance can feel clunky and new, it is all the more worth it when you embrace the ways that Jesus desires for you to encounter Him truly and fruitfully now. Encountering Jesus looks much like learning to be in step with the Spirit. No longer must we reach for His cloak. He has released His power and presence to reside inside of us through the Spirit. I pray that the scriptures and the Spirit lead you in truth to open your eyes to see the dance and, with God’s Spirit upon you, embrace the courage to join in.