The Spirit of God’s anointed one
In Ephesians 4:4, Paul refers to the
one Spirit that is common to all Christians, saying:
“Endeavouring to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you
are called in one hope of your calling; One lord, one faith, one baptism, One
God and Father of all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6)
This one Spirit that all Christians
partake of is the Spirit of God’s anointed one. “God has sent forth the Spirit
of His son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6)
Notice that it is the Spirit of God’s
anointed one (God’s Son) that cries “Abba, Father.” Since the attributes of God’s
anointed one are revealed through God’s anointed one’s Spirit, and God’s
anointed one’s Spirit is in us, then the attributes of God’s anointed one are
revealed through us as well. That is why the scriptures also say:
“For you have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)
It is the Spirit of God’s Son that
cries “Abba, Father,” yet as that Spirit is revealed in us, we also cry “Abba,
Father” (Romans 8:15). In this way, it is God’s anointed one who has the
communication with the Father, but we are made partakers of that communication
as the Spirit of God’s anointed one is revealed in us.
“For through him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18) (c.f. Ephesians 3:12)
Since it is the Spirit of God’s
anointed one that cries to God through us, then it is in response to that same
Spirit that God answers. This does not mean that God’s anointed one is in need
of the things that we are in need of when we pray, but it rather means
that the Spirit of God’s anointed one is interceding unto God on our behalf
(Romans 8:26-27).
“And in like manner the Spirit joins
also its help to our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as is
fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot
be uttered.” (Romans 8:26 Darby)
There is a certain sharing and union
that occurs between our spirits and God’s anointed one’s when God’s anointed
one’s Spirit is revealed in us. God’s anointed one helps us, but it is as if
the help that he gives to us does not simply come in the form of advice on how
we should do a thing, but it instead comes in the form of God’s anointed one’s
own characteristics and attributes being revealed through us. It is like we are
needy vessels, and God’s anointed one indwells us by his Spirit so that we can
share in all that is his.
God’s anointed one’s Spirit is so
intricately joined to the spirit of a Christian that Paul says:
“But he that is joined unto the lord
is one spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:16-17) This results in
the attributes of God’s anointed one being revealed through the one who is
joined unto him, as their own spirits are brought into subjection to the leading
of the Spirit of God’s anointed one. Thus, it is God’s anointed one who is
revealed in us, and we are vessels through whom he is revealed (i.e. members of his
body). This is what Paul referred to when he said:
“I am crucified with God’s anointed
one: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but God’s anointed one lives in me.”
(Galatians 2:20)
•Paul
said, “I live; yet not I, but god’s
anointed one lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)
•God’s anointed one said, “The words I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father
Who dwells in me, He does the works” (John 14:10).
Just as we partake of the attributes
of God’s anointed one, so also God’s anointed one partakes of the attributes of
God. In a similar way that we are “one Spirit” with God’s anointed one, so also
God and His anointed one may be said to be “one Spirit” as well.
The Spirit of God proceeds from God, but
since it is sent through His anointed one then the Spirit of His anointed one
and the Spirit of God are joined. Hence the Spirit that we receive is the
Spirit that is of God and of His anointed one.
Note: The Spirit of God’s anointed
one could not fill us without being joined to the Spirit of God. It is only by
the omnipresent ability of the Spirit of God in His anointed one that the
Spirit of His anointed one (which has been united to the Spirit of God) may now
indwell us. Hence, while it is true that God’s anointed one sent forth the
Spirit that proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), it is also true that “God
has sent forth the Spirit of His son.” (Galatians 4:6)
God sent his own Spirit (revealing
his own attributes) into His anointed one. The intertwining of the Spirit of
God and of His anointed one produces “one Spirit” in the same way that “he that
is joined unto the lord is one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:17) This “one Spirit”
consists of the attributes of God and of His anointed one. The Holy Spirit
that we receive is of God originally, but it is also of His anointed one
intermediately. The attributes of God are revealed in His anointed one, and the
attributes of His anointed one are revealed in us.
“For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man God’s anointed one Jesus.” (1 Timothy
2:5)
God’s anointed one receives the
things of God, and we receive the things of God’s anointed one (John 17:22). In
this way the things of God that we receive are also of His anointed one, being
sent to us through God’s anointed one. This is why Jesus prayed to God for all
Christians, saying:
“The glory which You gave me, I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and You in me,
that they may be made perfect in one.” (John 17:22-23)
This understanding also makes perfect
sense of God’s anointed one’s statements in John 14–16 as well:
•“And I
will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter, that may abide with you forever.” (John 14:16 KJV)
•“The
Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, shall
teach you all things.” (John 14:26 KJV)
•“But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the
Father, shall testify of me.” (John 15:26)
•“[The
Comforter] shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it
unto you. All things that the Father has are mine: therefore I said that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto
you.” (John 16:14-15)
The point of this last statement was
to show that the things of God have been given to God’s anointed one, and thus
the Spirit can reveal the things of God by revealing what is His anointed one’s.
“For God gives not the Spirit by
measure unto him (His anointed one). The Father loves the son, and has given
all things into his hand.” (John 3:34-35)
It is the Spirit of God, sent in His
anointed one’s name, by which both God’s anointed one and God indwells every
believer (John 14:23).
The Bible speaks of how a man and a
woman will become one flesh (not one spirit or soul), as Jesus said: “He which
made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause
shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they
two shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What
therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”(Matthew 19:4-6)
So, God’s anointed one says that a
man and a woman are no longer two, but one flesh after they are joined. This is
not to say that a husband and a wife are no longer distinct from one another,
but instead it emphasizes the bond and union that exists between the two.
In a somewhat similar way, the Bible
also says: “What? Know you not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body?
for he says the two shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the lord is
one spirit.”(1 Corinthians 6:16-17)
This is according to the will of God.
God’s Spirit operates in each of us as God sees fit. “There are varieties of
effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But one and the
same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just
as He wills.”(1 Corinthians 12:6, 11)
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