The Holy Spirit's Eternal Function in God's Plan
As we ponder the eternal function of the Spirit, we are drawn into the grand tapestry of God's eternal plan, woven from the very fabric of Scripture. The Spirit's role is inextricably linked with the Father and the Son, as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared, "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me" (John 15:26). This procession of the Spirit from the Father, as also affirmed in John 16:7, underscores the Spirit's eternal relationship with the other persons of the Trinity.
In the eternal counsel of God, the Spirit is the divine Agent who applies the work of salvation, as Ephesians 1:3-14 so beautifully outlines. The Spirit's eternal function is to glorify Christ, as Jesus said, "He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you" (John 16:14). This glorification of Christ is not limited to the economy of salvation but is an eternal aspect of the Spirit's being, for the Spirit has always delighted in the beauty and glory of the Son, as reflected in Psalm 16:11, where the path of life is said to be in God's presence, in whose right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The Spirit's eternal function is also bound up with the divine decree, wherein God ordained the plan of salvation before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5, 1 Peter 1:20). As the Agent of creation, the Spirit was present, hovering over the face of the waters, as Genesis 1:2 so vividly describes. And in the new creation, the Spirit will forever be the One who sustains and animates the redeemed, as Romans 8:11 and 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 so wonderfully promise. Thus, the Spirit's eternal function is to apply the finished work of Christ, transforming believers into the very image of the Son, that we might behold the glory of the Lord and be changed into His likeness, from one degree of glory to another, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 so beautifully puts it.