As we walk through the following verses of Scripture, layer by layer, we are going to unearth some very important truths about Jesus. This process is one that the prophet Isaiah describes in Isaiah 28, as to how we receive and unveil revelation from God… “precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:9–10).

I want to encourage you to read this next part slowly, maybe even a few times over, spending time to let the revelation of these concepts through God’s divine Scriptures settle into your heart and mind. Yes, that also means that for those of you who are listening to this at 2x speed, like I would be doing, should drop it down a little for the next few moments.

I would also highly recommend to you that you stop right here for a moment and ask Jesus to illuminate His living word to your mind as we begin to read His truths.

Ask for Him to send His Spirit to you to breathe revelation into your heart as we together unearth the deep revelations of who He is through His Word. Prayer is so important when it comes to studying God’s Word. We need Him to help us understand Him.

Paul writes along these lines in 1 Corinthians 2:14, saying, “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.”

That doesn’t mean that we natural people can’t know God. It just means that we can’t know God without His help. The word discerned in 1 Corinthians 2:14 in the original language means “seen, discovered, or distinguished.” All of this means one thing: we need His Spirit to help us see and discover who He is.

So let’s downshift together for the next couple of miles of the journey… setting our cruise low, rolling down our windows, getting ready to enjoy ourselves as we take in the scenery of Jesus.

The first passage of Scripture that we will begin to walk through together is John 14:16–18. Let’s dive in.

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16–18).

In John 14:16–18, Jesus has been preparing His disciples with the understanding that He would not be remaining with them forever in physical form. Soon, He would go away. And in His efforts to help them understand this reality, Jesus tells His disciples that once He has gone away (meaning His ascension into Heaven) that He would be sending them a helper. He called this helper “the Spirit of Truth,” a Spirit who Jesus says they would abide with forever.

In the very same conversation found in John 15:1–6, scrolling just a few verses past John 14, Jesus goes on to give His disciples a little more insight about Himself and about the relationship that they would have with Him once He was no longer with them. Let’s read this passage together:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:1–5).

In this passage, Jesus begins to teach them an important concept by using an illustration from nature.

Jesus tells them that He was a “vine,” and that they, His disciples, were the branches of that vine. And just as natural branches are required to abide in natural vines for life… they too, as spiritual branches, would need to abide in Him to experience true life in Him… the vine.

But how could they abide in Jesus if He was soon to leave the earth?

They were abiding with Him right now, but Jesus is pointing out that soon they would abide in Him. The only way that this would be possible is if Jesus was more than just a man… but also a divine Spirit.

Is that true? Let’s keep reading to find out.

It’s no mistake that Jesus begins to teach His disciples about the principle of abiding in Him immediately after informing them that He would soon be sending them a Spirit they would “abide with forever” (John 14:16). It is also no mistake that He craftily chooses to conclude His remarks about this Spirit that He says is soon to come by saying, “I will come to you.”

But this brings up some questions.

Is this Spirit of Truth that Jesus says would be coming to help and comfort the disciples another Spirit apart from Jesus? Or was this Spirit of Truth, in essence, the Spirit of Jesus, that is the Spirit of God that was in Jesus, that was to come and abide with them forever?

Let’s keep reading and allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

Even just a few verses prior to the one that we started off reading in John 14:16–18, in John 14:6 Jesus makes another very important and revelatory statement about Himself. In this statement, He sets up the context for His comments in John 14:16–18 about the helper and Spirit of Truth.

Here is what He tells them:

“I am the truth” (John 14:6).

That is a bold, and powerful statement!

So just before Jesus tells them that He would be sending the Spirit of Truth, which He follows up by saying that He Himself would be the one that comes to them… He also tells them that He is the truth…

A few verses later in John 14:26, Jesus gives even further clarification and context regarding the Spirit that He is talking about, as He tells them that this very Spirit is “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name” (John 14:26).

Okay. So, the helper and Spirit of Truth is the Holy Spirit, sent from the Father, in Jesus’ name.

Got it. Let’s keep moving.

Jesus goes on further to tell His disciples that they already knew this Spirit He was telling them about… and that this very Spirit of Truth was presently dwelling “with them” and would soon be “in them.”

Wait. So, they already knew the Spirit of Truth that Jesus said was soon to come to them? How is that even possible unless this Spirit had already been with them the entire time that Jesus was?

Truly, up to this moment, all that the disciples knew of Jesus was that He was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

We know this because a decent stretch of time before the scene that we are reading about in John 14, one day Jesus asks His disciples to tell Him who they believed that He was. And in response to this question, Peter, one of His disciples, replies, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Then Jesus, in response to Peter’s reply and claim, calls him “blessed.” He goes on to tell Peter that this revelation which has come to him is not a revelation that has come from any man, but from God Himself.

This becomes incredibly interesting when you begin comparing Jesus’ response to Peter’s revelation of His identity, in that it has come from God and not from man, to the comments that Jesus made about the Spirit of Truth that was soon to come, when Jesus says of this Spirit… “the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Could the revelation of Jesus’ identity that came from God alone to the disciples be the same source of revelation Jesus said they already knew the Spirit of Truth? Could this make more sense of Jesus’ statement in John 14:6 that He was the truth? And could this coincide with Jesus’ cap-off to His comments in John 14:18, after telling His disciples about the Spirit of Truth that was coming to them… that He was the one who was coming?

Was the Spirit in Jesus the Spirit of Truth?

At that time, the world couldn’t see the truth of who Jesus was. Only those to whom the Father had revealed this truth, could see it and understand.

This Spirit of Truth who was unknown to the world was well-known to the disciples. They had received this truth as revelation from the Father (God). But this brings us to another interesting moment, where just a few moments prior, in the same conversation that Jesus is having with His disciples in John 14… right after He has told them that He was the truth, and just before He tells them that He was sending the Spirit of Truth… that one of the disciples asks Jesus to show them or reveal to them who the Father is, to which Jesus plainly replies, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Was the divine Spirit that was in Jesus, the Spirit of Truth, the helper that was coming to them? Was the Spirit of God that was in Christ, the Holy Spirit that would soon fill their hearts? Was God, who is a Holy Spirit, and is our Father, in Christ?

According to Scripture… Yes.

After all, Colossians 2:9 says that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” that is, in bodily form. Even just a few verses prior to that statement, in Colossians 1:19, Paul reiterates and once again echoes the very same truth, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”

What does all of that mean? That whatever and all that God is, is fully and entirely revealed in the manifestation of Jesus. God, in human form, “who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Why is this important to know? Because when you know who Jesus is… that He was not simply just a man or a part of God revealed to mankind, but that He is the full revelation of God to humanity… this doctrinal belief changes everything about how you see and experience Him. Because truly, when you meet Jesus, you are meeting and experiencing GOD. The singular, indivisible, eternal Holy Spirit, revealed through the revelation of Jesus.

To cap off His comments about this helper and Spirit of Truth, Jesus tells His disciples that He would not leave them as spiritual orphans (as those without a spiritual father) but that He Himself would come to them. The apostle Paul refers to this same concept in Romans 8:15, saying that through the Spirit of God, we too can receive spiritual adoption, no longer being orphans… just like Jesus said. How amazing is that?

Let’s keep going.

Now, we turn our attention to Jesus’ words to His disciples in Luke 24:49, where He continues teaching His disciples about the same Spirit He was discussing in John 14. Except here, in Luke, He adds another layer to “what” and “who” this Spirit is, as He calls it “the promise of the Father.”

Let’s read what He says:

“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

Standing before His disciples, having risen now from the dead, and getting ready to finally lift up from their physical presence into Heaven, Jesus informs them that He is about to send this Spirit to them and that in order to receive it, they would need to go to Jerusalem and wait there until this moment was to take place.

I want you to notice something here. Jesus says that He would send the Spirit. Jesus was going to send the promise of the Father.

“But I thought that He said that the Father was going to send the Spirit in His name?”

Yes. But what is His name?

Jesus.

And who did Jesus say was in Him? Who was it that was seen at the very same time someone beheld Jesus?

The Father.

Is this beginning to make sense? I hope so.

Jesus is the full revelation of the Father. Because Jesus is “God”—in human form. Not a portion of God. All of God—the fullness of the Godhead—was in Christ, bodily. Jesus is the Father, “manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).

I think that Colossians 2:9 provides tremendous foundation for sound theology regarding who God is. That whatever God is—and indeed, he is much bigger than we can understand—is fully revealed in Jesus. It’s all in Jesus.

This is why when you pray, all you need to do is pray to Jesus. Because all that God is, and all who God is, is both revealed and made accessible, through Jesus Christ.

Eventually Jesus would ascend into Heaven and become seated on the throne of Heaven, at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). And when this would happen, Jesus would send the Helper, the Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, and Father, who was “in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” (1 Corinthians 5:19).

We actually read about this moment in the Bible. The moment that the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples in Jerusalem that Jesus said would happen, in Acts 2:1–4.

Let’s take a brief glance at it.

The disciples of Jesus were assembled together in a prayer meeting, in the upper room of a home in Jerusalem, doing just what Jesus had asked them to do… wait on Him to send the Spirit. When all of a sudden, it happens.

The Spirit that Jesus said was coming, that He was to send to them, was poured out upon them and entered into their hearts… just like Jesus said. Let’s read the account of this moment in the Book of Acts together.

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1–4).

I am still thrilled every time that I read this. The significance of this moment is huge.

Immediately following this momentous experience in Acts 2:1–4 of being filled with the Spirit of God, a crowd gathers to see what is taking place. As this happens, Peter seizes the moment. He stands up and begins to preach to them, explaining to them what is taking place. As he does this, he makes a very clear statement. He tells them that JESUS was the one pouring out this promise from the Father among them, which was His Holy Spirit.

He only knew this because this is what the Spirit had revealed to him––which Jesus, being the revelation of that Spirit in human form, had also taught him.

We’re almost there; hang tight.

Writing to the church in Colosse in Colossians 1:26–27, Paul declares that this experience of receiving the Spirit of God, which Jesus talked about in John 14 and Luke 14, and we have now observed having been poured out among the disciples in Acts 2, is “Christ in us” “the hope of glory.”

_“The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” _(Colossians 1:26–27).

Later in his letter to the church of Rome, Paul also writes in Romans 8:9–11, that the Spirit of God that dwells in us (which his audience had already experienced and personally received just like they did in Acts 2), is the same Spirit of God which was in Christ… the very same Spirit that raised Jesus up from the dead.

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9–11)

Why is this significant? Because Paul goes on to share that if the same Spirit that was in Jesus, which raised Him from the dead, also dwells in us, that we too will be raised up with Christ at His return to abide with Him forever.

This is the same return of Jesus that Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 and Titus 2:14, as our “hope”! Which makes all the more connection to what He wrote in Colossians 1:27: that Spirit of God which was in Christ is now Christ in us and is the “hope of glory.”

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–14).

Finally, in Ephesians 1:11–14, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus that this Holy Spirit of God, which is the very Spirit of Jesus, is the guarantee of our inheritance that God has prepared for each and every one of us as His children. An inheritance that we are to receive in full when Jesus returns for us, gathering us to Himself… for all eternity, “to the praise of His glory.”

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11–14).

Let's quickly review these truths from the Scriptures that we just have read together about Jesus:

Okay. Bible study over. What did we learn?

We learned that the Spirit the disciples received in the Book of Acts on the Day of Pentecost, was a not a different Spirit of God, but the same Spirit of God that was in Jesus––the Holy Spirit.

It’s important that we walked through that quick Bible study because, as we stated in Chapter 1: whatever it is that we believe about God will determine what of Him we actually experience. And the fact is, we will rarely ever experience more of God than whatever it is that we first believe that we can.

My hope is that the Scriptures have helped you believe that you really can meet Jesus through His Spirit, face-to-face. And that this has helped you understand more fully who Jesus is and how we interact with Him through His Spirit.

Ever since Jesus poured out His Spirit on humanity, people all throughout the Book of Acts and beyond, throughout every generation, ethnicity, location, social status, and people group have met and are still meeting Jesus all over the world through His Holy Spirit.

And yes, you can meet Him too.

Reflection Questions: