The Holy Spirit’s Purpose was to Glorify Jesus

dove by nzmu at freeimages.com

It seems that some churches major in the Spirit.  Their worship services focus on manifestations of the Spirit.  They claim to speak in tongues and seek for the Spirit to come into their services in a powerful and miraculous way.  Faith-healers claim they can heal the sick and give sight to the blind through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the Church of Christ over the last 20 years there has been an increase in the focus on the Holy Spirit.  Some talk about the Spirit often in their worship and teaching.  Sadly this has often led to some accepting and promoting charismatic beliefs contrary to Scripture.

The point of this little post is not to focus on modern day workings of the Holy Spirit or to give a theological treatise on the Holy Spirit, but to point out that the Holy Spirit’s work was to glorify Jesus.  The Spirit’s work is to point people to Jesus.  When Jesus was telling about the Spirit’s coming to the Apostles, he says, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14).

The Spirit’s purpose was to glorify and promote the life and work of Jesus.  He inspired the Apostles to write four gospels and the rest of the New Testament which extols the redemptive work of Jesus.  The church is to focus on Jesus.  The Spirit is equal in divinity with Christ and the Father.  The Spirit has a great purpose today to indwell Christians and help in our weaknesses.  But the Spirit’s primary work in the past and today is to glorify Christ.  This is where our focus should be too–on Jesus!

While it is helpful to study the Spirit and understand His work, we should not focus on His work to the neglect of Christ.  Our preaching and teaching should extol the glory of Christ.  We don’t want the proverbial tail to wag the dog!  We must keep the focus on Jesus, that is what the Spirit did through inspiriting the Holy Scriptures.

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