Jesus said in John 20:21-23
“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
The Holy Spirit is our connection to heaven, he’s the deposit and down payment guaranteeing the good things to come. In the old testament the Holy Spirit would come upon people which would enable them to do great things. But this breath Jesus breathed on the disciples was the promise of the Spirit of God in us.
Jesus said in John 14:15-17
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
This Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Jesus said in John 14:26-27
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
The Holy Spirit which the Father sent in Jesus’ name will teach us all things and will remind us of what has been said. It’s interesting that Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever”. Another advocate meaning Jesus was the current advocate. Jesus said, “You are truly my disciples if you obey my commands.”
A disciple is a learner or observer. Jesus taught, modeled and demonstrated what a son, citizen and ambassador of the kingdom of heaven on earth looks, thinks, and acts like. The Holy Spirit is our access to that knowledge and demonstration that Jesus modeled.
Jesus in John 16:7-15 says
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Jesus came at just the right time for a short time to restore our relationship and function in and with God. The Holy Spirit needed to be sent to us to restore who we were always meant to be. Jesus needed to go to the Father in order to send him. Jesus said, “When he(the Holy Spirit) comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” The work of the Holy Spirit is here on earth. Our work is here on earth. Our assignment is here on earth.
My good peoples we are made to work and thrive on earth.