Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church E-Book

Stephen W. Hiemstra

• Herausgeber: T2Pneuma Publishers LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

If the Bible is an outreach document written by and for missionaries, then the Holy Spirit is the instrument of that evangelical call. The Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church examines the Bible’s description of the Holy Spirit from before Pentecost and the call the church in view of current challenges. 

Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church is written in a devotional format with a reflection, prayers, and questions for study.  

Hear the Words; Walk the Steps; Experience the Joy! 

Cover art by C. Hiemstra (2023), The Lighthouse, Used with Permission

In Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church Stephen Hiemstra teaches us about the third person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood person of the Godhead, but also the most essential. Jesus told us he would not leave us orphaned, and he asked his heavenly Father to send the comforter, the Holy Spirit who will teach you and remind you of all the things Jesus spoke. There can be no spirit-filled life without the Holy Spirit. We live in his dispensation until Jesus returns. God’s peace, encouragement, guidance, and authority to minister all originate from the Holy Spirit.

Stephen’s books are exceptionally written, and each nugget of wisdom is captioned with thought-provoking questions that deepen our understanding of and draw us closer to God. This book is an indispensable addition to his Image of God series that will deepen your spiritual walk with the Lord.

Eric Teitelman

House of David Ministries

“A footloose Holy Spirit” and an “Avian image of God” splash vivid word pictures on a canvas depicting the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Stephen Hiemstra, in Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church, writes of the Holy Spirit’s essential role in the Body of Christ in a lively manner that is both scholarly and comprehensible for those who wish to understand more about the third person of the Trinity. 

Sharron Giambanco

The Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church helps believers to dive deeper into the Holy Spirit's role in establishing the early church and churches today. Stephen Hiemstra’s book covers topics related to the Holy Spirit with a special focus on the Gospels of Luke and John, as part of Hiemstra's Image of God series.

Sarah Hamaker

Author, The Cold War Legacy series

Leseprobe

Contents

Endorsements

Other Books by the Author

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Introduction

Synopsis

The Postmodern Dilemma

Old Testament Images

The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts

The Church in Paul's Writing

The Spirit in John-Revelation

The Postmodern Dilemma

Synopsis

Modern Challenges to the Church

Unity of Heart and Mind

Collecting Some Data

Analyzing the Data

Defining the Church

The Postmodern Challenge

Old Testament Images

Synopsis

Authors and Words

God's Promise to Abram

Exodus, Wandering, and Entry

The Deuteronomic Cycle

Scoring Covenants

The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts

Synopsis

Introduction to Acts

The Call of the Church

The Footloose Holy Spirit

Temple Abandonment

Images of the Church

Luke's Paraclete

The Church in Paul's Writing

Synopsis

Visions of the Church

The Holy Spirit and Scripture

Walking in the Spirit

Selecting Church Leaders

Cautionary Tale

Spiritual Mentoring

The Spirit in John-Revelation

Synopsis

The Word

Spirit-Driven Care

Worship

Conclusions

References

About

Notes

In Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church Stephen Hiemstra teaches us about the third person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood person of the Godhead, but also the most essential. Jesus told us he would not leave us orphaned, and he asked his heavenly Father to send the comforter, the Holy Spirit who will teach you and remind you of all the things Jesus spoke. There can be no spirit-filled life without the Holy Spirit. We live in his dispensation until Jesus returns. God’s peace, encouragement, guidance, and authority to minister all originate from the Holy Spirit.

Stephen’s books are exceptionally written, and each nugget of wisdom is captioned with thought-provoking questions that deepen our understanding of and draw us closer to God. This book is an indispensable addition to his Image of God series that will deepen your spiritual walk with the Lord.

Eric Teitelman

House of David Ministries

“A footloose Holy Spirit” and an “Avian image of God” splash vivid word pictures on a canvas depicting the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Stephen Hiemstra, in Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church, writes of the Holy Spirit’s essential role in the Body of Christ in a lively manner that is both scholarly and comprehensible for those who wish to understand more about the third person of the Trinity.

Sharron Giambanco

The Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church helps believers to dive deeper into the Holy Spirit's role in establishing the early church and churches today. Stephen Hiemstra’s book covers topics related to the Holy Spirit with a special focus on the Gospels of Luke and John, as part of Hiemstra's Image of God series.

Sarah Hamaker

Author, The Cold War Legacy series

Image of God Series:

Image of God in the Parables1

Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church

Image of God in the Person of Jesus

Christian Spirituality Series:

A Christian Guide to Spirituality2

Life in Tension3

Called Along the Way

Simple Faith

Living in Christ

Image and Illumination

Masquerade Series:4

Masquerade

The Detour

Christmas in Havana

Jeez and the Gentile5

Prayerbooks:

Everyday Prayers for Everyday People

Prayers6

Prayers of a Life in Tension

IMAGE OF

THE HOLY SPIRIT

AND THE CHURCH

Stephen W. Hiemstra

Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church

Copyright © 2023, 2025 Stephen W. Hiemstra

ISNI: 0000-0000-2902-8171, All rights reserved.

With the exception of short excerpts used in articles and critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, printed or electronic, without prior written permission of the publisher.

T2Pneuma Publishers LLC

P.O. Box 230564, Centreville, Virginia 20120

www.T2Pneuma.com

Names: Hiemstra, Stephen Wayne, author. Title: Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church / by Stephen W. Hiemstra. Series: Image of God Description: Includes bibliographical reference and index. | Centreville, VA: T2Pneuma Publishers LLC, 2023. Identifiers: LCCN: 2023918986 | ISBN: 978-1-942199-86-1 (paperback) | 978-1-942199-46-5 (KDP) | 978-1-942199-77-9 (epub) Subjects: LCSH Holy Spirit. | Christian life. | BISAC RELIGION / Christian Theology / Pneumatology Classification: LCC BT121.2 .H54 2023 | DDC 231/.3--dc23

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Many thanks to my editors, Sarah Hamaker and Jean Arnold, for their prompt and precise work.

Cover art by C. Hiemstra (2023), The Lighthouse, Used with Permission.

Cover by SWH

The earth was without form and void,

and darkness was over the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering

over the face of the waters.

(Gen 1:2)

If the Bible is an outreach document written by and for missionaries (Schnabel 2004, 5–6), then the Holy Spirit is the agent of that evangelistic call. The Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church examines the Bible’s description of the Holy Spirit from before Pentecost and the call of the church in view of current challenges.

My recent book, Image and Illumination (2023), asked the question: “What does it mean to be created in the image of God?” focused on Christian anthropology. Embedded in this question is the metaphysical question: Who is God? The New Testament addresses this question with three pictures of God: The person of Jesus, Jesus' teaching about God the Father in the parables, and the founding of the church on Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. In this book, I focus on the image of the Holy Spirit and the church.

The Postmodern Dilemma

Nietzsche was the son of a Lutheran pastor and knew what it meant to be a Christian, but he rejected it. Today we confront sons and daughters of Nietzsche—the patron saint of postmodernism— who overlook his insanity, eagerly grasp his will-to-power teaching, and have no clue as to what Christianity is about.

The simultaneous declines of life expectancy, standards of living, and fertility rates—presumably, preventable problems—parallel a curse for ignoring the Mosaic covenant:

“You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit.” (Deut 28:30)

Delbert Hillers (1964, 78–79) characterizes these afflictions as futility curses. Today’s new age religion might call these bad karma, but the Bible suggests that luck has nothing to do with it—they result from turning your back on the living God.

Loving the wrong things so much that you fail to attend to the natural priorities in life—health, family and work—suggests a spiritual problem at the heart of these ostensibly secular issues.

In the midst of cultural meltdown and churchly amnesia, ecclesiology—study of the church—remains untiled soil.

Old Testament Images

While the church as we know it is a product of the New Testament, antecedents of the church can be found in the image and work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. The avian image of God’s spirit found in Genesis 1:2 contrasts primordial chaos with a God who brings order. The Holy Spirit embodies God’s agency in the world and brings order through his words in creation, covenants to his people, and promises to his elect.

The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts

The Holy Spirit is footloose in the Book of Acts as named and unnamed disciples carry the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). At the council of Jerusalem, in spite of much opposition, the Gospel is provisionally opened to Gentiles (Acts 15:19–20). The Gospel reached the farthermost parts of the Roman Empire and beyond within a single generation. The purpose of the Holy Spirit in evangelism is to identify those called to be the church, often called “The Way” in the Book of Acts (e.g. Acts 19:9, 19:23, 24:14, 24:22).

The Church in Paul’s Writing

The Apostle Paul’s work as an evangelist is mixed with the heart of a pastor in his letters to the churches. Listen to Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth: “To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” (1 Cor 1:2) The phrase—called to be saints together—suggests both that our purpose in being called is to become more holy and that this process can only be attained jointly with others called by God. Spiritual formation is accordingly an important role for the “called out ones,” which is Pau’s favorite name for the church.

The Spirit in John-Revelation

The agency of the Holy Spirit works in the church to identify and form Christians. Part of this identity is vision-casting, as we see in John’s writing. John’s writing has at least three distinctives with regard to the Holy Spirit: A high view of scripture, images of pastoral care, and multiple pictures of spirit-inspired worship. Much like heaven and earth are formed together, hearts and minds must be formed together, if the faithful are to realize their faith.

Christian Spirituality

The unity of heart and mind poses a special challenge in today’s world where heart and mind are frequently treated as separate with one or the other being emphasized. Neglect of the heart leads to a stale, distant faith while neglect of the mind leads to a superficial faith with little application to daily challenges. The image of a Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—reminds us that heart and mind are best taken together.

Image of the Holy Spirit and the Church is the second book in my Image of God series. The first book, Image of God in the Parables, studies the image of God the Father found in Jesus’ parables. This book focuses on the role of the Holy Spirit. This book is written in a devotional format with a reflection, prayers, and questions for study. Because the questions have been developed to enhance understanding of the reflection, some readers have started their devotions by reviewing the questions.

Soli Deo Gloria

∞

Spirit of God,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours because you sustain and provision all living things, live within us, and grant us all manner of spiritual gifts. Be ever near.

Forgive our lack of spiritual knowledge, unwillingness to practice forgiveness, and unbecoming, haughty nature. Father of all holiness, create in us clean hearts.

Thank you for teaching us the spiritual gifts of “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.”(Gal 5:22–23) May we ever share these gifts with everyone we meet.

Grant us discerning hearts and minds that we might love the things that you love and hate the things that you hate.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

∞

Questions

1. What three images of God do we find in the New Testament?

2. What is a son and daughter of Nietzsche?

3. What is the first mention of the Holy Spirit in scripture?

4. What are the two primary objectives of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament?

The introduction provides a summary of the book. It starts with a problem statement for the postmodern church that focuses on the battleground of the human heart darkened by sin, and proceeds to cite evidence from the Old Testament of the Holy Spirit’s influence. The remaining sections outline the Holy Spirit’s influence in the writings of Luke, Paul, and John.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God

or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking,

and their foolish hearts were darkened.

(Rom 1:21)

The battleground of the church is the human heart.

Just before God sent the flood to wipe out all of humanity, except for Noah and his family, we read:

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Gen 6:5–6)

Notice the phrases, “every intention of the thoughts of his heart,” and “grieved him [God] to his heart.” Clearly, God has feelings and sin saddens him.

The word heart in the Hebrew is lev (BDB 4761), which means either “The inner man in contrast with outer” or “The inner man, indef., soul, comprehending mind, affections and will.” The Greek translation in the Septuagint is cardia (BDAG 3926) that means either “Heart as seat of physical, spiritual and mental life” or “Interior, center, heart.” The biblical heart is according closer to the term, soul, and clearly involves both mind and body, not simply a body part or an emotional center.

The Apostle Paul’s Use of Heart

The Apostle Paul uses the concept of the heart to define salvation: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9) He also employs heart language—foolish hearts—in citing the antithesis of faith, as cited in Romans 1:21 cited at the beginning of the chapter. This thesis and antithesis uses of heart in Paul’s writing implies that the heart is the focal point of spiritual warfare.

Consider Romans 1:21. Normally, we open an argument with a statement of the thesis: The heart is the battlefield over which the question of faith is decided. Because Paul starts, not with the thesis as expected, but the antithesis—foolish hearts—our hearts are not a blank slate that our parents and teachers simply write on. Sin darkens our hearts, making the work of Christ on the cross necessary.

The Problem of Sin

Original sin refers to the rebellion of Adam and Eve in disobeying God to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17). This act defined Adam and Eve as lawbreakers and tainted the family tree. While Paul writes about “foolish hearts,” there is also a curse: “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts.” (Rom 1:24) “Lusts of their hearts” is rephrased two verses later as “dishonorable passions.” (Rom 1:26) Original sin is a heart problem of loving the wrong things.

The heart is accordingly not neutral ground. God’s general revelation, often pictured as in Psalm 19 as having an idealized vision of creation, has been rejected. Paul writes: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Rom 1:20) Men and women did not honor God, were ungrateful, and were futile in their thinking (Rom 1:21). Furthermore, “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Rom 1:23)

The current fascination with the occult, gender, and recreational drugs are not necessarily innocent obsessions, in part, because they represent confused hearts—hearts not loving the right things. Paul follows these “debased minds” down the slippery slope to their logical conclusion:

“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Rom 1:29–31)

While your list of evil acts may not be the same as Paul’s, the point is that sin leaves no one untouched whose heart is allowed to gravitate to its own dishonorable passion.

Founding of the Church on Pentecost

The church began with the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost marked fifty days after Passover and celebrated the barley harvest (or first fruits; Lev 23). It was a time of joy because the fasting and hunger from the previous winter—the normal situation for most people before the Industrial Revolution—would finally end. In this context, we read:

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1–4)

Several observations here are important. First, the disciples were “all together in one place.” The church’s formation was a communal experience. Second, the Holy Spirit is the agent of this transformation “from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind” and the one filling each of them. Third, “tongues as of fire” enabled them all to speak in “other tongues.”

While the Holy Spirit inaugurates the church collectively, later that same day the Apostle Peter applies the agency of the Holy Spirit also to individuals, saying: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) The church provides a forum for repentance, baptism, and communion, but it is the Holy Spirit that is the agent of transformation in the believer following God’s special revelation in Jesus Christ.

∞

Holy Spirit,

All praise and honor, power and dominion, truth and justice are yours, because you engendered faith in us and founded the church at Pentecost.

We confess that we have not lived into our salvation or shared it with those in need. Forgive us our selfishness, our pride, and our neglect of your church.

Thank you for Pentecost, for the many spiritual gifts, for your provision and sustenance, and for your presence and protection.

Draw us closer to you ever waking hour. Open our hearts, illumine our thoughts, and strengthen our hands in your service.