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Will we see the Holy Spirit in heaven?

There are various manifestations of the Holy Spirit in view of Acts 2 and certain passages in Revelation. Compare Rev. 1:4 which speaks of the seven Spirits which are before his throne. The following are comments on this verse from “Studies in Revelation” on our web site:

“The seven Spirits.” To whom or what does this refer? Some take this to refer to the seven angels who are before the throne, but it seems best to understand this as a reference to the Holy Spirit and the perfection or fullness of His actions and the manifold nature of His ministry. This fits both the context and the analogy of Scripture as demonstrated below:

(1) The book is presented as coming from three sources who seem to be presented as equal with one another. The last of these is clearly defined as Jesus Christ, the third member of the trinity. If the first is the Father, and the third is the Son, the second would in all probability be the Holy Spirit rather than seven angels. First, because only the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son, and second, though angels are involved in the visions of the revelation, only one angel was really involved in specific communication of the book to John (cf. 1:1).

(2) There is an obvious parallel to the seven-fold ministries portrayed in Isaiah 11:2. Why then is the Holy Spirit referred to as seven spirits? There is only one Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:4), but in the Bible, seven is consistently associated with perfection, fulfillment, and completeness. Evidently, because Revelation is the final book of the Bible, the culmination, the fulfillment, and climax of the ages. The number seven becomes prominent to demonstrate this.

Part of the problem here is in the mystery element of the Trinity or Trinunity of God. We will just have to wait until we are with the Savior to understand some of these issues. Today we see through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13).

Related Topics: Pneumatology (The Holy Spirit), Heaven

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