The presence of the Holy Spirit has beautified all created things. When God’s Spirit moved through the universe it was clothed with beauty. Therefore, God the Father declared that all that he had created was "good" (Gen 1:2,31). God’s presence gave life to created things, particularly man (Gen 2:7). All things on the earth become beautiful when the Spirit of God passes through them and bestows order and harmony. In other words, it is the constant dialogue of God the Father which he holds with created things, through the Holy Spirit, that gives meaning and completion to them. When the Israelites, who were building the Tower of Babel were led by the evil spirit instead of by the Holy Spirit, there was division among them and they lost sight of their goal. Their plans were disturbed (Gen 11:3-9), whereas the presence of the Holy Spirit always unites, and makes everything attractive and valuable (cf Acts 2:1-47;4:32-37).

The Holy Spirit can be seen in the Old Testament as the basic power which strengthens, and nourishes every created thing and man. Through the prayers of prophet Elijah God led the people of Israel from illusion to the truth. The Holy Spirit descended as fire on Mount Carmel and consuming the victim, the fuel, stones and mud and guided the chosen people from darkness to light (1 Kings 18:38-39). God, who created man from nothingness, sustained and nourished his people in the truth through the power of the Holy Spirit. God the Father descended in the fire of the Holy Spirit and delivered his own people from their slavery and adversity and raised them up. This is the summary of the book of Genesis (cf Gen 3:1). God the Father, spoke to the Israelites in the midst of fire, that is, in the Holy Spirit and led them along the right path (cf Deut 4:12). Appearing in the midst of the fire, God the Father admonished and nourished his chosen people. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is the divine power sent by the Father, appointed by him, to nurture the Israelite people as children of God. Balaam prophesied in the Spirit for the achievement of this purpose (cf Num 24:2). The elders and the judges of Israel led them in divine wisdom along the right path (cf Num 11:16; Judge 3:10;6:3411:29; 13:25; 14:16;15:14); The kings of Israel, strengthened in the Spirit, protected and safeguarded them (cf Judges 13:25; 14:19; Sam 10:10;11:6;16:13;1 Kings 18:12; 2Kings 2:16). Here the Holy Spirit is presented as a power that creates and nurtures a people, a world. The Divine Spirit, bestows new life and repairs and heals the wounds that are sustained during the course of their growth (Ez 36;24-28;37:1-10). When, in the onward march of creation, despair overtakes them, God’s Spirit gives them new hope and calls them to their destination (Joel 2:28-30). From the impurities imbibed in the process of growth, the Holy Spirit cleanses the people of God and preserves them in grace (Jn 20:1-7;31:31-34). In the opinion of Edward Shweizer, "The Holy Spirit enters through the prophets and the psalmists as the creator of a new world and a new race of mankind." Though the Holy Spirit is seen in the Old Testament chiefly as a power that nurtures creation, in the book of Wisdom, we see God’s Spirit pictured as an active person (cf Prov 8:22-31;Sir 1:1-10;4:11-9;15:1-10;24:1-22). Pope John Paul II says: "The individuality of the Holy Spirit is concealed in the prophet Isaias, in the whole of the Old Testament, in the revelation of the only one true God, and in the prophecies about the Messiah yet to come." This divine nature becomes clearer through the Christ-event. For the same reason the picture of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens and protects the people of God, is delineated better in the New Testament.
 
 

Christ the Bearer and Giver of the Holy Spirit

Through the special power of the Holy Spirit, the ‘Word’ was made ‘Flesh’ "The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God’"(Lk 1:35). When Jesus received baptism at the Jordan, the Father confirmed and witnessed to Jesus’ life in the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:17;Mk 1:11;Jn 1:32-34). In the fullness of the Holy Spirit the Abba experience of Jesus was deepened. He grew in the awareness that he is the Son of God and the Suffering Servant of Yawah. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, conquered and extinguished the worldly powers in the desert. Jesus’ authority over Satan and evil became evident on the occasion of the temptation in the desert. Jesus demonstrated that only in the Holy Spirit can the powers of darkness be annihilated (cf Mt 4:1;Lk 4:1-13).

Jesus not only triumphed over everything that makes man tainted (cf Mt 7:21-23) but he also established the kingdom of God in the Spirit. The anointing he received at the Jordan was for this purpose: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight of the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour" (Lk 4:16-18). The conviction that he is anointed according to the will of God, and is the Messiah, set Jesus apart as the spokesman of the kingdom of God. He proved that he was the Son of God (cf Mt 14:22-23) by feeding the poor (cf Mt 14:13-21), healing the paralytic (cf Mt 9:1-8) and walking on the water. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus called the sinners, sanctified them and re-established the lost relationship between God and man (cf Mk 2:13-17). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Jesus initiated the new sacrifice of the New Testament in the cenacle(cf Lk 22:14-21). Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit, completed the redemptive plan that was implemented by his Father ages ago (cf Heb 9:4). Jesus was raised from the dead by the same Spirit and was glorified (cf Acts 2:36; Rom 8:11; Heb 1:3; 1 Pet 1:21). St Paul says : "Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory"(1Tim 3:16). Yurgen Moltuman says, "The entire Paschal Mystery is linked together by the action of the Holy Spirit."

The life in the Holy Spirit and his glorification changed Jesus from a bearer of the Spirit to a giver of the Spirit. It is noteworthy that Jesus does not measure the Spirit he gives (cf Jn 3:34). It is clear that Jesus gives the Spirit from his conversation with the Samaritan woman. Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life"(Jn 4:13). It is to those who believe that he gives the Spirit (cf Jn 6:35,7:37-39). Jesus bowed his head on the cross and for the first time gave the Spirit to his mother and to John through the blood and water that flowed from his side (cf Jn 19:34-35). Jesus symbolically gave the divine Spirit to those who believed. Jesus who rose in the Spirit from the dead, gave the Spirit to the disciples by breathing on them (cf Jn 20:22-23). Here Jesus gave the Holy Spirit only symbolically, as a power, because he had not as yet ascended to the Father (cf Jn 20:17). But, when he was glorified, he gave the Holy spirit as a person like himself from the Father (cf Acts 2:1-4) "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear" (Acts 2:33). This was the promise of Jesus "...If I go, I will send him to you"(Jn 16:7). This great grace given by Jesus is confirmed by Pope John Paul II. "The ascension of Jesus was the beginning of a new presence of the Spirit". Thus with the Christ-event the personality of the Holy Spirit became radiant in its perfection. That is, the age of the Spirit was initiated through Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, some special individuals (priests, kings, prophets, judges) were given the Holy Spirit at special times for special purposes. In the New Testament, all believers and all communities are given the Holy Spirit for all time (cf Acts 2:1-4;30-31;10:44). Though the gifts of the Spirit were given before Christ, the Holy Spirit himself was given to individuals through the Christ-event at Pentecost. As a result, not only divine promises and charisms but also God himself were given to believers. Consequently, believers are enabled to know and imitate God’s purity and love. From all this one thing is certain-that Christ and the Holy Spirit are inseparably linked together. It was through the invisible activity of the Holy Spirit that Jesus became man, accomplished the Father’s will and was glorified. However, it was through the explicit action of Jesus that the personality of the Holy Spirit was expressed in all its completion in the believers and in the world.

The Holy Spirit who came through the Christ- event, introduced the Church in the world and guided the apostles to go forth from Jerusalem to the four corners of the world to fulfil the mandate of Jesus. Through the repeated special Pentecosts the divine Spirit convinced the disciples about universal evangelization and strengthened and encouraged them. (cf Acts 2:1-4;4:30-31;8:14-17;10:44-48;11:15-17). Thus the apostles became the instruments of the Holy Spirit to make the Paschal Mystery a life-giving source in this world. In short, Christ , through his incarnation, public life, passion, death, resurrection and glorification, received the Holy Spirit, was filled with him and gave him to the human race. Thus the human race and the universe were reunited to the Father and were glorified.