The Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God

This afternoon, I was reading about the Holy Spirit in the chapter of a book for Student Ministries. After reading a little more, I fell asleep. When I awoke, the thought came to me: The Holy Spirit is a gift, someone that we receive.

Then I thought about how in the gospels, the kingdom of God is also described as something we receive. "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these," Jesus says in Mark 10:14. "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

So I wonder. What is the connection between the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God? One thing I see here is that we receive both of them. Sometimes I think of the kingdom of God as something to be built or extended, but the language of the Bible suggests that instead, the kingdom of God is something we receive and enter. The kingdom of God, like a seed, grows, but it is God--not we--who do the growing. In the same way, we do not seize or try to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit. Instead, the Holy Spirit leads us.

In our Life of Holiness class this summer, Dr. Lodahl pointed out the leading role of the Spirit in Jesus' life. Jesus, "full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil" (Luke 4:1-2). Then "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit," where he taught in their synagogues (Luke 4:14).

The Holy Spirit did not work only in Jesus. On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the discples were all together in one place, and the sound of a violent wind came from heaven, filling the whole house. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in various languages. Many people were perplexed, and Peter addressed the crowd, saying that they were not drunk, but were fulfilling what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

"In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
(Acts 2:14-21)

Peter then preached the Lordship of Jesus, who died and was raised from the grave by God. Peter called them to repent and be baptized "in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38-39).

Here Peter says that when we respond to the gospel--the good news that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and raised to life again--we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Afterwards, Luke explains that "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

It seems that as a result of the pouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, people were responding to the good news of Jesus and forming a community where they shared with one another, breaking bread and worshiping God.

The Spirit did not end there. Jesus says in John 16:12-13, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." As the story of Acts continues, the Spirit teaches the early Christians new implications of the gospel.

"Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, 'The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.' The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: 'Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.'"

The gospel is for everyone, as proven by the gift of the Holy Spirit being given to both the Jews and the Gentiles. This is the "mystery of Christ" that, in Ephesians 3:5-6, Paul says "was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus."

This "mystery" of unity and reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles seems to me good news that flows out of the good news! It is good news because everyone can join the family of God, and in this family of God, there is no partiality between rich and poor, slave and free, male and female (Galatians 3:28). The social implications of the body of Christ are good news, and although they are not the gospel, they are a result of the gospel.

I write this to try to better understand the Holy Spirit and perhaps find some connection between the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? What does it look like?

Does Jesus' ministry--empowered by the Holy Spirit--embody the kingdom of God? His ministry involved preaching to the poor, gathering the disciples, and healing the sick, among other things.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
(Luke 4:18-19)

Also empowered by the Holy Spirit, the early church continued Jesus' ministry, as told in Acts. They did wonders and miraculous signs and preached the good news, except instead of preaching the "good news of the kingdom," as Jesus did, they preached the "good news of Jesus." What is the difference, and what is the relation between the two? Are they the same?

We know that holding the two in common was the presence of Holy Spirit, who gave them boldness. It is this same Holy Spirit who revealed to Paul and other apostles the "mystery" of the gospel being for both Jews and Gentiles, and it is this Holy Spirit who continues to be a gift to us, comforting and leading us into all truth.