In John 3:5 Jesus is quoted as telling the Pharisee named Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
The water represents cleansing and the Spirit represents regeneration. Is the function of the Spirit confined to regeneration of the cleansed? In John 14:16 Jesus tells, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever". The Greek word used for helper is parakletos which means an intercessor, consoler: advocate, comforter. Thus the function of the Spirit is not confined to regeneration and Sanctification but far more. The Spirit has been mentioned in the Old Testament about 34 times (KJV) where the Spirit is associated with creation, prophesy, strength, victory.
In the New Testament the Spirit is mentioned for the first time in Matthew 3:16. After Jesus was baptized and as he came out of the Jordan River the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove and landed on Him. Does that mean Jesus was an instrument of the Holy Spirit and nothing more?
No, Jesus was already Jesus, the Son of God. The Dove coming down onto Jesus may be considered a symbol of anointing of Jesus as God's chosen or elect. The anointing oil poured upon the heads of Kings and Priests in Israel followed the pattern of the Hebrew letter Kuf, from one ear across the front of the head to the other ear. That is similar to the dove's wings when it is hovering and the wings are open. Unlike any other bird the wings of the dove are opened pointing in the front. The Holy Spirit remained with Jesus all the while He remained on earth.
Only after His ascension to Heaven would the Spirit be sent to the early church to guide them, lead them. In other words Jesus was the divine blessing of God in the flesh meant to return on the Judgement day. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit form of God's grace meant to remain with the believers and guide them to God. The coming of the Holy Spirit is compared to a dove in the given verse.The dove is a sacred bird as given in the Bible. The bird represents cleansing from the early beginning. In Genesis 8:7-9 we find Noah on the arc after the great flood and he sends forth a dove. Initially the dove returns after hovering over the water but the second time it returns with an olive twig. (Genesis 8:11). Thus both the dove and the olive branch continued to be symbols of regeneration and cleansing. Olive oil was thus the chosen oil for the anointing. But the dove is reintroduced as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The dove served as both sin ooffering and burnt offering in the Torah. (Leviticus 1:14, 5:7, 5:11, 12:6)
Some of the characters of the dove similar to the Holy Spirit are:
i. Doves are white in colour and represent purity and righteousness (Revelations 19:8)
ii. Doves are caring and affectionate creatures who never retaliate. (Matthew 5:39-44)
iii. The dove cries out in distress (Romans 8:26-28)
iv. The dove can be sent away on hearing strange noise persistently as the Spirit can be oended and made to depart. (Genesis 6:3; Ephesians 4:30; Mark 3:29; 1 Sam 16:14)
Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill noted that there are nine main feathers on the left and right wing of a dove. The feathers correspond to each of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit as given in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 and the nine fruits of the Spirit as given in Galatians 5:22-23 He also noted that there are five main tail feathers on a dove representing the fivefold ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers (Ephesians 4:11).
It is an established statement that the Holy Spirit comes with its gifts. In Revelations 1:4 we find mention of the seven spirits. These refer to the sevenfold activity of the Holy Spirit. These may also refer to the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit as given in Isaiah 11:2-3 given as
a. the Spirit of wisdom,
b. the Spirit of understanding,
c. the Spirit of counsel ,
d. the Spirit of might,
e. the Spirit of knowledge ,
f. the Spirit of the fear of the LORD and
g. the Spirit of joy and delight.
Seven or nine a direct evidence of the gifts of the Holy Spirits was seen by the early church on the day of the Pentecost. The gift that they received was that of speaking in different languages.
When the Spirit touched me all those many years back I received the gift of faith so that not knowing I believed and believing a thirst grew in me to know, to understand. Over the years I poured over every religious philosophy I could lay my hands on. I tried religion like one tries cuisines but I knew that my Jesus stood with me as I experimented with religion, my faith being constant in Him. My God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). Still my God is all merciful and all just. Because of His mercy and because of Jesus interceding on my behalf year after year as I experimented with religion the Spirit brought my faith back to me again and again so that today I can submit myself wholly to the one true God of the world.