Christ Speaks for God by Becoming the Anointing Spirit to Transform us for God’s Building

Christ as the Word of God speaks for God through His becoming the anointing Spirit for the transformation of God’s redeemed people into stones for the building of God’s house in an organic way today; we need to follow the inner anointing and be under the saturating and moving of the Spirit to be made into living stones for God’s building! Amen!

What a wonderful Christ we have, as revealed in John chapter 1!

If we read this chapter we see the five major events in the history of the universe: creation, incarnation, redemption, anointing, and building. In all these five major events, Christ as the Word of God speaks for God.

John 1:1 says that in the beginning – referring from eternity past, before the universe was created – was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We may read this and move on to the next verse, but if we dig deeper into this verse and in the whole chapter we will realize that Christ as the Word of God did many things to speak for God.

In all He did, all the processes He went through, and all the work He accomplished, He spoke for God to explain God, define God, and express God.

He spoke for God in eternity past to express God, and He spoke for God when He created all things.

God created all things in Christ, through Christ, and for Christ, and in His creation of the universe, Christ speaks for God.

Just look at the creation today: you will be amazed at the wonderful things of God’s creation, and you will see God’s divine characteristics and His divine power being expressed.

Christ speaks for God also through His incarnation; when He was incarnated, He as the Word of God became flesh and tabernacled among us.

When we see Christ in His incarnation and human living, we see God being expressed, explained, and defined.

Just read the Gospels: you will see how God was being manifested through Jesus Christ.

Christ speaks for God as the Word of God in His crucifixion, that is, through His redemption.

Wow, when we look at the crucified Christ, what can we say but, Amen, Lord, thank You!

Christ’s death on the cross speaks volumes; it tells us not only of God’s love for us but also of His intention to redeem us and to open a new and living way for us to enter into God.

Christ as the Word of God speaks for God to express God, make God real to us, and explain and define God.

In this article, we want to see the fourth major event in the history of the universe, which is Christ becoming the Spirit.

In His becoming the Spirit, Christ as the Word of God speaks for God and expresses God’s desire to anoint and transform man into living stones for the church as the building of God.

Christ Speaks for God through His Becoming the Anointing Spirit for the Transformation of God’s People into Stones for God’s Building

John 1:32 says, And John testified, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abode upon Him.

This points to Christ becoming the Spirit. Christ as the Word of God speaks for God through His becoming the anointing Spirit for the transformation of God’s redeemed people into stones (John 1:32-42) for the building of God’s house (Bethel – see v. 51) organically for the New Testament.

The Spirit descending upon Christ shows us that Christ was to become the Spirit for life-giving and for transforming (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:18).

Christ becoming the anointing Spirit speaks to us how God carries out His economy in an organic way by means of His divine life for His divine purpose according to His heart’s desire.

The Spirit descended as a dove upon Christ as the Lamb; first, Christ is the Lamb of God, and then, He is the descending dove.

Why is Christ the Spirit? Christ became the anointing Spirit for the transformation of God’s redeemed people into stones for the building up of God’s house organically.

We thank and praise the Lord for Him going through death for us, for His death on the cross brought in our redemption, and now we can believe into Him and be justified before God.

We have been redeemed through the Lord’s precious blood, and we can receive His divine life by believing into Him.

Now that we are believers in Christ, those who are born of God (John 1:12-13), what is next?

What is happening in our Christian life now that we are saved?

According to John 1 we see that Christ became the anointing Spirit to transform us from clay into precious stones, even living stones for God’s building.

On the one hand, we thank the Lord that He has redeemed us; however, through redemption we still remain men.

On the other hand, we need to be transformed into the image of Christ to be the same as He is.

In order for us to become the same as Christ is, we need to be transformed.

We are being transformed by Christ as the anointing Spirit who daily adds Himself to us and moves in us to organically discharge all the old elements of the self, the natural man, and the flesh, and to add the divine element of God to our being.

We were created by God in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26) and we were redeemed by Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), but we need even more to be transformed by the anointing Spirit.

The dove, the anointing Spirit, regenerates the created man, anoints and transforms the natural man into living stones, and unites and transforms man.

We need to be transformed from clay into living stones.

Regeneration is the first step; when we believe into the Lord, we are given the authority to become children of God, those who are born of God (vv. 12-13).

Now that we are regenerated, we need to be transformed into stones for God’s spiritual building, His house.

For this, Christ has become the anointing Spirit to come into our spirit and anoint us by adding all that God is into our being for our transformation.

As we daily behold the Lord with an unveiled face, He discharges every negative element in our being, and He adds what He is to us to make us into the same image as He is for the building up of the church as the house of God. Amen!

May we spend time with the Lord daily and follow the inner leading of the anointing in our spirit so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ and be transformed into living stones for God’s building!

Lord Jesus, thank You for becoming the anointing Spirit to come into our spirit and transform us for God’s building! Hallelujah, by faith in Christ, we are regenerated with His life to be children of God, those born not of the flesh or the will of man but of God! Amen, Lord, we are born of God to be children of God, and now we want to grow in life unto maturity and be transformed! Transform us more into Your image today. Transform us for God’s building. We open to You as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit; impart more of God as life into us. We open to You as the anointing Spirit: anoint us daily and add all that God is into us. We open to You as the transforming Spirit: transform us into the image of Christ so that we may become the same as He is for the building up of the church! Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to follow the teaching of the inner anointing in our daily living. We open to You without any reservation: transform us into Your image and make us living stones for God’s building!

Not Living in the Principle of Antichrist but Living by the Anointing under the Saturating and Moving of the Anointing Spirit for God’s Building

When we speak of the anointing Spirit seen in John 1:32 we need to realize that so many times we do not follow the anointing but rather, we are in the principle of antichrist.

We need to be watchful to not allow anything in our daily living to replace Christ as the anointing Spirit in our spirit (1 John 2:20, 27).

Christ is the anointed One who became the anointing One, and He is also the anointing; He has come into us as the anointing.

However, it is possible for us to live in the principle of antichrist, that is, to be anti the anointing; anti means against, in place of, instead of (vv. 18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). Oh Lord!

It is possible for us as believers in Christ to live in the principle of antichrist; John says that there are many antichrists today.

To live in the principle of antichrist means that, even though we have the moving, working, and operating of the Spirit within us, we do not listen to the Spirit but rather, we replace the anointing Spirit with something else.

To be anti-Christ is both to be against Christ and to replace Christ with something else.

We may replace Christ with ourselves; we may be the ones making the decisions, doing things, and speaking everything.

Our goodness may replace Christ, and our virtues may also replace Christ.

If we replace Christ with something of our own behaviour and character, we are practicing the principle of antichrist in the sense of allowing certain things to replace Christ Himself (see Phil. 1:21; 4:4-9).

For example, our culture may replace Christ; instead of us living in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, and one with Christ, we may simply live out our own culture.

We may just live according to what we are by nature and background, having no regard for Christ.

The Europeans have their culture, the Asians have their culture, and the Africans have their culture.

Every country has their own culture. Culture is good when we grow up, for it preserves us humanly.

But when Christ comes, we now should live according to the anointing, not according to our culture.

If we are American, we should not live according to our American culture, and if we are Japanese, we should not live according to our Japanese culture. Our culture must be Christ.

This doesn’t mean we throw away all the rules and regulations for a proper living and live wildly, thinking we are “led by the Spirit” in a strange way; rather, as we take care of the things related to our daily living, we live by the anointing Spirit and enjoy the inner anointing.

Our culture is becoming Christ; Christ is our way of living, and living by the anointing is our way of life.

How much we need to repent for having a daily living in the principle of antichrist!

As we allow the Lord to shine on us and show us what aspects of our culture and of our natural man have replaced Christ as the anointing in us, we will repent the Lord for not living Christ.

When the Lord shines on us in regards to our daily living, we will repent for having a daily living in the principle of antichrist.

We will realize that we allow our culture, religion, ethics, and natural concepts to replace Christ as the inner anointing.

This means that we are against the anointing, anti-the-moving, working, and saturating of the Triune God within us. Oh, Lord Jesus!

When we do not live by the anointing Spirit, when we don’t live under the anointing by contacting the Lord to be saturated and filled with Him, we live in the principle of antichrist, for we allow things, persons, and matters to replace Christ.

Christ has become the anointing Spirit to transform us for God’s building; however, we need to heed the inner anointing by freshly contacting the Lord to be anointed with the Triune God.

May we seek to be freshly painted with God, having layer upon layer of God added to us, so that we may live according to the anointing and be transformed into the image of Christ for God’s building.

At Peter’s conversion, the Lord gave him a new name, Peter—a stone (John 1:42), and when Peter received the revelation concerning Christ, the Lord revealed further that He was the rock—a stone (Matt. 16:16-18).

By these two incidents, Peter received the impression that both Christ and His believers are stones for God’s building (1 Pet. 2:4-8). Amen!

As we heed the inner anointing and live one spirit with the Lord, allowing the anointing Spirit to transform us, we become living stones for God’s building.

He is the living stone; we come to Him and are transformed into living stones.

He is the foundation stone upon which we all are built, and He is the cornerstone joining and holding together the building of God. Amen!

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as the anointing Spirit to be the anointing leading us and guiding us in all things. We want to heed the inner anointing. We do not want to replace You with anything of ourselves or with anything of our behaviour, character, or culture. Oh Lord, save us from practicing the principle of antichrist in the sense of allowing certain things to replace Christ Himself in us! May we not live according to our culture or according to any religious or ethical practices but live according to the anointing! Oh Lord Jesus, we open to You day by day, even moment by moment. We want to live and walk in, with, through, and by the anointing. We want to have the moving, working, and saturating of the Triune God within us. Transform us more into Your image today. Oh Lord, anoint us and transform us into living stones for the church as the house of God. We come to You as a living stone to be made into living stones for God’s building!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of John, msg. 4, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2024 July Semiannual Training), week 6, Christ as the Word of God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The test of many antichrists having come – a portion from, Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (2), Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – Israel in God’s Economy (5) – The Main Prophecies concerning Israel before the Lord’s Coming, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Traditional theology and the principle of antichrist, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – A complete picture, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 40, by Witness Lee.
  – The Anointing: What It Is and How You Can Experience It, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Antichrist in the temple of God, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Chapter 26, by Witness Lee.
  – Purified for New Jerusalem by Cooperating with the Lord, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The spirit of antichrist in today’s Christianity, article by John Pester in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Knowing God’s Will, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – ’Tis by this inner life-anointing / I in fellowship may move; / In God, the light of truth, I’m walking, / And the love of grace I prove. / In my spirit the anointing dwells, / O the anointing dwells and / teaches everything; / In my spirit the anointing dwells / And ever teaches everything. (Hymns #266 stanza 4 and chorus)
  – Following the inner feeling, / Living in the overflow, / Moving in the rich anointing, / Not by what we think or know, / Nothing through intent or motive, / Or with purpose duly done, / But just following this feeling, / Living by the living One! / Thus we’re sanctified completely, / Saturated thoroughly; / Not the old religious concept: / Separated doctrinally. / But ’tis Christ Himself within us, / Added to our every part, / All supplying, satisfying, / Making home in all our heart. (Hymns #1136 stanzas 4-5)
  – Thy anointing Spirit / Me shall permeate, / All my soul and spirit / Thou wouldst saturate; / Every part transforming / Till conformed to Thee, / Till Thy life shall bring me / To maturity. (Hymns #841 stanza 3)