When Jesus tells His disciples about the work of the Spirit, He explains that the Spirit will hear from Jesus Himself, who in turn has heard from the Father.
The Voice of the Spirit within Us
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will . . . not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.
John 16:13
We don’t understand the mysteries of the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit, but we do know each has a distinct role in our lives.
When Jesus tells His disciples about the work of the Spirit, He explains that the Spirit will hear from Jesus Himself, who in turn has heard from the Father.
They share all things, but the Spirit isn’t the initiator; He’s the connection between the will of the Father and the souls of His followers.
At times, Scripture refers to Him as God’s Spirit, and at other times as the Spirit of Jesus. Either way, He knows the heartbeat of the Trinity.
Why is it important to understand the distinction of the Spirit? Because He’s the one to whom we relate.
We often strain to hear God’s voice externally, but the Spirit resides within us. That’s why His voice in our lives is rarely audible, as it was with Moses or Samuel, at Jesus’ baptism, or at Paul’s conversion.
Far more often—in fact, almost always—it’s that river of living water flowing out of us, like a well bubbling up from the deep source of life in our human spirit. When God speaks, it usually comes from within.
Many Christians fear this dynamic because it’s so subjective. They forget, of course, that all relationships are subjective.
All relationships require time and wisdom to translate the heart of the speaker through the filters of the hearer, and even then we sometimes hear only what we want to hear.
Nevertheless, this is the dynamic God has chosen: personal, subjective, and highly relational.
We don’t need to be afraid of it. We can learn to recognize the voice that takes the will of the Father and the Son from outside of us and echoes it inside of us. The Spirit really will tell us what He has heard.
Holy Spirit, speak to me the things of the Father and the Son. You showed Jesus what the Father was doing and what He said; do so with me, too. Present the ideas of heaven within my spirit.