The Father of Jesus wants to draw near and relate to us as our personal Father.  He wants to be a living reality in our daily lives.  He comes close to us as Father by the Spirit.  The Spirit of God’s Son makes the Father so real to us that we cry Abba Father, which was the cry of the Father’s Son during his earthly life.

Jesus also wants to draw near and relate to us personally as our brother.  He too wants to be a living reality in our daily lives.  He comes close and relates to us personally by the Spirit.

Jesus said that it was better for his disciples that he go away from them.  For when he returns to his Father he will send the Spirit to them.  The Spirit who would make Jesus real to them.  Indeed, the Spirit who would be the living reality of Jesus himself within them.  With the coming of the Spirit Jesus would be more real to them than when they knew him in the flesh.  We too know Jesus as personal reality by the Spirit within us. And in living union with him we draw near to the Father in personal intimacy.

The mark of being filled with the Spirit is personal relationship with Father and Son as sons and daughters in the Spirit.  By the Spirit we become deeply aware of the Father’s nearness to his Son and the Son’s dearness to him.  And by the same Spirit we become deeply aware of the Father’s nearness to us and our dearness to him in union with his Son.