These days we’re enjoying The Central Line of the Bible – the central revelation in the Holy Scriptures. Yes, we need to pay attention to every word in the Bible and say Amen!, but on the other hand we need to emphasize the central matters in the Word of God! One of the most crucial and practical items in the central line of the Bible is THE SPIRIT.
The all-inclusive Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) – now we are one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17) and the Spirit witnesses with our spirit (Rom. 8:16) that we are children of God! All that God is and has is embodied and expressed through Christ the Son, and all that the Son is, has accomplished, has attained and obtained, is realized by the Spirit.
The Spirit is the realization and the application of all that the Triune God is and has in Christ! The Spirit applies to us all that the Triune God is in Christ, all that the all-inclusive Christ is, and all that Christ accomplished, obtained, and attained – all that God is and has is made real and experiential to us by the Spirit.
This is why the Spirit is so important in God’s economy! This Spirit was breathed into the disciples after the Lord’s resurrection (John 20:22) and is now the breath of life for us to enjoy and live by. Because of the degradation of the church, the Spirit has been sevenfold intensified to counteract this degradation and to produce the overcomers in the churches(Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).
Now the Spirit is the seven Spirits – the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God – to intensify God’s organic salvation and produce the overcomers for the building up of the Body of Christ! Hallelujah, what a Spirit!
The Bible reveals so much about this wonderful Spirit as the consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God! This morning I was reminded of a few aspects and functions of the Spirit, as quoted in the book, The Ten Great Critical “Ones” for the Building Up of the Body of Christ:
- The Spirit is the application of what the Triune God is and has to us, His people, to accomplish God’s organic salvation! The Spirit sanctifies and separates God’s chosen people from the world, and leads them to repent and believe in Christ (1 Pet. 1:2). The Spirit regenerates us (Titus 3:5; John 3:5); the Spirit sanctifies us with God’s holy nature (Rom. 15:16), renews us (Titus 3:5), transforms us in Christ’s glorious image(Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and conforms us to the image of the Firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29); the Spirit also seals us(Eph. 1:13) until we are fully transfigured in our body(Phil. 3:21).
- The life-giving Spirit gives life to the word of God (2 Cor. 3:5-6) so that we may minister the Word as life;
- The Spirit is the Spirit of the New Testament ministry of righteousness (2 Cor. 3:8-9);
- This Spirit imparts righteousness, peace, and joy into the believers as the reality of the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17);
- The Spirit is the flow of God and the flowing Triune God (John 7:38-39) to transmit in His fellowship the grace of Christ and the love of God (2 Cor. 13:14);
- The Spirit dispenses the reality of God as grace into the believers (Heb. 10:29);
- The Spirit sets apart and sends out the apostles (Acts 13:2, 4);
- The Spirit leads the apostles in their trips for gospel preaching and spreading (Acts. 16:6-7);
- The Spirit prophesies through the prophets concerning the apostles’ sufferings and persecutions (Acts 21:11);
- The Spirit leads the apostles to speak things concerning God’s dealings with His people (1 Cor. 7:40);
- The Spirit distributes different gifts to the believers (1 Cor. 12:4-11);
- The Spirit speaks to all the churches and calls for the overcomers who overcome the degradation in the church (Rev. 2:7, 11);
- The Spirit is the essence of the Body of Christ and works in and on the believers for the constitution of the Body of Christ in oneness (Eph. 4:3-4).
These are just some of the many functions and aspects of the application of the Spirit on the believers! If you read the Bible with the “glasses of God’s economy” on, you will see that the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God is embedded and wrapped up in all that God is, has, and does for His people!
All we need to do is open to Him and enjoy Him by exercising our spirit! He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17) – we can worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness (John 4:24). Hallelujah, what a Spirit!
O, Lord, You are the Spirit – how near and dear to me! How we enjoy Your marvelous availability! Keep unveiling us to see who You are and what You are doing! We want to enjoy all Your rich aspects and Your working in us! Continue in Your work of sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification! Impart into us all that God has planned and Christ has accomplished! Amen, Lord, we just want to exercise our spirit to be one spirit with You – that we may enjoy all You are! We love You as the Spirit!
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