About God’s Presence with Us and in Us
An interview with Miguel G. Echevarria
EV: What led you to write this book? What problem or issue(s) are you seeking to address?
ME: In my own experience, when we talk about the Holy Spirit, if we talk about him at all, it is usually in reference to Spiritual gifts or miraculous or non miraculous gifts if the Spirit. I wanted to write a book that encompassed the work of the Spirit from creation to new creation, from Genesis to Revelation. With this framework, we see that the Spirit who was present in the original creation is the same one at work to bring about a new creation. The same Spirit who led the exodus is presently leading a new exodus. The same Spirit who empowered select people for service under the old covenant now empowers all God’s people for service under a new covenant. I want readers to understand that the Spirit certainly bestows and empowers spiritual gifts, but he does so much more!
EV: What is the thesis of your book?
ME: The central thesis of the book is that the collective witness of Scripture is that the Spirit has always been present with his people, either with us or in us, and sometimes both, to create, lead, redeem, empower, and restore.
EV: Who’s your target audience, and what are you most hoping they hear from it?
ME: My target audience is ministers, students, and interested lay people. I hope they read it and grow in their appreciation for the Spirit who is at work to make people into temples that will one day fill the earth with his presence.
EV: Did you have any “aha” moments while writing the book?
ME: I think my greatest “aha” moment is when I realized how fundamentally different God empowers his new covenant people. Rather than just empowering select persons for a particular vocation or purpose like under the old covenant, the Spirit permanently indwells and empowers all God’s new covenant people with various gifts for the edification of all people. The Spirit does not discriminate based on gender, age, or social station. He distributes gifts to all believers! We really are, after all, living in the days that Moses (Num 11:29) and Joel anticipated (Joel 2:28-29).
EV: What was the most challenging part of writing it?
ME: The most challenging part of the book is that there so much to say about the Spirit in the Bible. I had to settle for following the flow of Scripture, focusing on the most essential passages for my argument. Perhaps I will write a more comprehensive book in the future.
EV: If your book was made into a movie, what actor/actress would play the lead role?
ME: If I had to cast someone as the Holy Spirit, it would be Jeff Bridges from the 1998 film the Big Lebowski. Jeff played the leading role of “the Dude” in the film. One of his famous lines is “the Dude abides,” which reminds me of how the Spirit is with us and in us forever. Perhaps the Dude was supposed to be a spirit-like figure in the film. Perhaps…
EV: What kind of seminary/church classes should assign your book?
ME: I think courses on the bible or biblical theology courses would benefit from the book, as well as courses on pneumatology. I also think that the discussion questions at the end of the chapter make the book suited for small group studies.
About the Author
Miguel Echevarría (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.