Acts 2:1-4
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.
If there is a God, it is reasonable to think that he wants to be with us. The story of the Garden of Eden expresses the First Way of Being, the original intention of being together with Him, in communion, as long as we were decent enough to be in his presence (nope).
The Second Way of Being was to have us start outside the Garden, outside of His presence, dealing with us remotely or through messengers.
If you believe that He came to live with us through Jesus, then that is His Third Way of His Being with us. God acting in the world directly; healing, feeding, pronouncing the Kingdom.
As Jesus was finishing His mission here, He promised the Fourth Way of Being with God, through our very selves. In the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus says,
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…
…You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
The Miracle at the Feast of Pentecost celebrated the giving of The Spirit. To us. To allow Him to work IN US and THROUGH US. We are the new temple.
1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
The painting doesn’t capture the glory of the moment.
(can we experience a Fifth Way of Being in the afterlife?)
.
.
.