THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church
Message Three—The Essence and Sphere of the New Testament Being the Spirit
Scripture Reading: John 14:10, 13, 16-20, 26; 20:22; 15:26; 2 Cor. 3:17-18
I. Bible readers all know that the Bible speaks of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Holy Spirit is one of the three major subjects of the Bible; we want to see the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit,” from the viewpoint of the entire Bible—John 7:39; Phil. 1:19: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
A. At the very beginning, in Genesis 1, after telling us that God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible goes on to say that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; God’s act of creation was performed by the Spirit of God, that is, carried out by the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters—v. 2. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
B. After speaking of the Spirit of God, the Old Testament refers to the Spirit of Jehovah numerous times; the Spirit of Jehovah indicates the reaching of God to man: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
1. The book of Judges frequently says that certain judges rose up to fight for the children of Israel because the Spirit of Jehovah had come upon them—3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
2. Furthermore, the prophets rose up to speak for God because the Spirit of Jehovah had come upon them also—2 Sam. 23:2; 1 Kings 18:46; 2 King 3:15; Ezek. 1:3; 8:1; cf. Isa. 61:1. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
3. In Joel 2:28-29 God promised, saying, “And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh…Indeed even upon the servants and the maids / In those days I will pour out My Spirit;” in the Old Testament the pouring out of the Spirit is typified by rain, as in Hosea 6:3, which says that God would pour out His Spirit at two times as the fulfillment of the autumn, or former, rain and the spring, or latter, rain—cf. Hosea 6:3. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
4. The Old Testament speaks of the Spirit of God only to this extent, concluding at the end with a promise, which is that God will pour out His Spirit as rain upon His elect—Job 29:23; Prov. 16:15. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
C. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is the first divine title ascribed to the Spirit of God; at the time of the New Testament, for the initiation of the gospel of God, the preparing of a human body for the Savior required that the Holy Spirit impart the divine nature into humanity, making man holy for the carrying out of God’s plan of redemption; hence, the mention of the Holy Spirit in the beginning of the New Testament is related to the conception of Christ—Matt. 1:20. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
D. Jesus had the Holy Spirit in the essential aspect as His intrinsic nature from His conception and birth, but it was at His baptism that the Holy Spirit in the economical aspect descended upon Him as His outward power—Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35; 4:14, 18; Matt. 12:28. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
E. On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, in which the Son came as another Comforter and breathed the Holy Spirit, who is His transfiguration, into His disciples—John 14:16, 26; 20:22: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
1. Another Comforter being the Holy Spirit whom the Father sent in the Son’s Name. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
2. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of His promise that the Father would give them the Spirit of reality as another Comforter. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
3. Another Comforter, the Spirit of reality, being the consummation of the Triune God. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
4. The Triune God has been consummated as the Spirit, who enters into us with the Father, in whom is the Son; because of the Spirit’s entering into us, we are in the Son and consequently, the Son is also in us; this is the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—in us to be experienced by us as our blessing and to become our enjoyment, which is Christ in us as the hope of glory; therefore, to experience Christ is to experience the Triune God—14:20; Col. 1:27. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
5. Christ, who is the Spirit; by calling on the name of the Lord, our spirit touches the Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God; as a result, we can enjoy the Lord’s riches; this is to experience Christ—Rom. 10:12. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
F. The Lord passed through the processes of death and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit; in this Spirit are the elements of the Lord Himself, His death, and His resurrection; since the Lord is the Spirit, He can come into us, and all His riches can be subjectively experienced and enjoyed by us—2 Cor. 15:45b; 3:17. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
G. When the Trinity is referred to in the beginning of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the Spirit is called “the seven Spirits who are before His throne”; the seven Spirits are moving and speaking in the church today—1:4-5. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 5)
II. In the New Testament there are four main passages which speak in a clear way concerning the Triune God—Eph. 2:28; 3:16-17; 4:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
A. The first passage is Ephesians 2:18: “For through Him [the Son] we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father” ; this verse clearly mentions the Son, the Spirit, and the Father: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
1. If we want to understand what Ephesians 2:18 says concerning our having access through the Son, in the Spirit, and unto the Father, we must have an even deeper study of the Bible: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
a. The Son came to the earth from and with the Father, but He was conceived and born of and through the Spirit as His essence; thus, the Son did not come alone; instead, the Father and the Spirit came with Him—John 5:43. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
b. In this incarnated One there are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; therefore, this One is the Triune God. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
2. When Ephesians 2:18 speaks of these three steps, it is telling us not that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three different persons but that they are one God in three aspects: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
1. The aspect of His redeeming us, the aspect of His applying redemption to us, and the aspect of His coming into us for our enjoyment; this is to have access through the Son, in the Spirit, and unto the Father. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
2. Through the Son is through the Triune God, in the Spirit is in the Triune God, and unto the Father is unto the Triune God; this is how we enjoy all the fullness of the Triune God. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
B. The second passage in the New Testament that speaks of the Triune God is Ephesians 3:16-17, which says, “That He [the Father] would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ [the Son] may make His home in your hearts through faith” : (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
1. This is the apostle Paul’s prayer that the believers may experience the fullness of God according to the riches of the Father’s glory that they may be filled unto all the fullness of God—v. 19b. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
2. The Father hears Paul’s prayer and grants the believers to be strengthened through the Spirit into the inner man; then, Christ can make His home in the believers’ hearts—vv. 16-17a. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
3. It is truly marvelous that Paul prays to the Father, but when the Father answers his prayer, He comes through the Spirit; yet the One who makes His home in the believers’ hearts is the Son; the result is that the believers are filled unto all the fullness of God—not merely the fullness of the Son or of the Father or of the Spirit but the fullness of God—3:19b. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
4. If we understand the scriptural principle, we will see that whatever goes from us to God begins with Christ, and whatever comes from God to us begins with the Father; ephesians 3:16-17, however, speaks of God coming to us to make His home in our hearts; therefore, the direction is reversed; it begins with the Father, it is through the Spirit, and finally the Son comes to make His home. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
C. The third passage in the New Testament which speaks of the Triune God is Ephesians 4:4-6, which says, “One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” here we see the Spirit, the Son, and the Father: (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
1. This God is not only the God who created us but also the Father who regenerated us; He is our God and Father, who is over us and through us and in us. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
2. This is how the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—become our reality and experience in our living as the foundation and element of all our living. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
D. The fourth passage in the New Testament which speaks about the Triune God is 2 Corinthians 13:14, which says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” : (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
1. Actually, these are three aspects which we experience at the same time; in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit there is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ brings the love of the Father to us. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
2. Love is the hidden source; when love is expressed, it becomes grace; the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the pouring out, the transmission, and the application, which applies to us the love that the Father manifests and that is expressed in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; thus, love, grace, and fellowship are actually one. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)
3. The preceding four passages of the New Testament clearly reveal the Triune God, and all prove to us that both the experience of Christ and the experience of the Holy Spirit are in reality the experience of the Triune God. (The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, msg. 6)