What Will the Holy Spirit Do in Heaven?
At WBBC we just finished a (sort of) short study
about the person and work of the Holy Spirit (which you can watch
here). As we wrapped things up I posed a question that led us to consider a
few other questions. The question I asked was, having studied how the Spirit
relates to us and works in us now what will He do in eternity? In seeking to
find an answer to that question we found ourselves asking several other questions
like will we see the Holy Spirit or the Father in heaven? And what will we be
like in heaven? So, what does the Bible say about these things? A good place to
start is at the very beginning, the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1-3). If you read the
descriptions of eternity at the end of the Bible (Rev. 21-22) you notice that
they sound strikingly like the Garden at the beginning of the Bible.
What will the Holy Spirit do in eternity?
Though the Bible doesn’t directly answer this question
we can gain some insight from what we know about the nature and work of the
Spirit now.
Create. We do know that the Holy Spirit was active in the creation of our current heavens and earth (Gen. 1:1-2) so we can probably safely assume that He will be active in the creation of the new heavens and earth (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1).
Empower. When God created all things He also created mankind to rule over His creation (Gen. 1:26, 28) but when we sinned our ability to do that faithfully was affected. As part of the great reversal of sin and its effects we’re told that those who endure to the end, the truly saved, will reign with Christ (2 Tim. 2:11-13) and in keeping with what we know of the Spirit’s nature He will empower us to rule with Christ-like wisdom.
Enliven. Another important work of the Spirit in the life of the believer is directing our heart to worship (Jn. 16:14) and it’s very clear that a significant part of eternity is spent in worship of God, and especially the Son as Saviour (Rev. 5:8-14). In eternity the Spirit will continue to direct us to worship but then it will be in purity without the hindrance of sin within us.
Teach. Many people assume that in heaven we will have complete knowledge and will have no need of further learning. If that is true that puts us in the realm of omniscience and that is in the realm of God. We are told that we will be able to know with clarity and without error (1 Cor. 13:12) but that isn’t that same thing as omniscience. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:6-7 that God will spend the ages to come teaching us of the riches, depths and wonders of His grace. Given the work of the Spirit within us now it seems right to believe the Spirit will still work within us to help us understand the mind of God (1 Cor. 2:6-12). Again, it’s helpful to go back to the beginning when mankind was still in the perfection of the Garden. It’s clear that God didn’t create Adam and Eve with omniscience but rather spoke with them every day (Gen. 3:8-10).
So, what will the Spirit do in Heaven, in eternity? It would seem He does very much like what He does now but without our limitation of sin.
Next, we'll try to comprehend the incomprehensible as we ask "Will we be able to see God in Heaven?".
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