Without the Spirit in our spirit all the matters we have covered about Christ living in us, about His being so many different items for our enjoyment, and about what the church is, cannot be prevailing.
How can Christ live in us? It is by His being the Spirit in our spirit. It is the Spirit that lives in our spirit. How can Christ be enjoyed by us in the many different aspects we have mentioned? If He were not the life-giving Spirit, all that He is would be objective and remote. Because He is the Spirit, whatever He is we may enjoy in our spirit. How can the church be the mystery of Christ, the Body of Christ, and the new man? Again, it is by the Spirit in our spirit.
Only by the Spirit in our spirit will all the crucial points in Paul’s completing ministry become prevailing. Again and again Paul refers us to the Spirit and to our spirit. His writings thoroughly cover these two spirits.
The Old Testament mostly uses the term “Spirit of God,” as in Genesis 1:2. Further on in the Old Testament we find the term “Spirit of Jehovah” (e.g., Judg. 6:34). At the end of the Old Testament there is even the remarkable term “Spirit of grace” (Zech. 12:10). Spirit of holiness is also mentioned (Isa. 63:10, 11; Psa. 51:11; lit.). “Spirit of God” and “Spirit of Jehovah,” however, are the two commonly used Old Testament terms.
In the New Testament mostly the terms Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, and the Spirit are used. Paul uses many other terms as well. “Spirit of God” is found in his writings (Rom. 8:9), but now He is no longer brooding over the waters; He “dwells in you.” The brooding Spirit today is indwelling us. What a change from Genesis 1!
Paul also uses the term Holy Spirit a number of times in his Epistles.
Luke 1:35 gives us the first mention of the Holy Spirit. He is introduced at the time when the Lord Jesus was conceived by a human mother. This is because something common is to be made holy. In this same verse the One to be born is called “that holy thing.” The Holy Spirit came into a human being to conceive something holy. When the Holy Spirit came into us common human beings, we too could be made holy.
In Acts 16:7 (lit.) it says, “The Spirit of Jesus suffered them not.” This term is found only in this verse. It indicates that when the Lord Jesus was walking on this earth, the Spirit of God was with Him. Jesus was a man, yet the Spirit of God was with Him. This Spirit became the Spirit of Jesus to live a human life.
Romans 8:9 has the term Spirit of Christ. While the Spirit of Jesus relates to human living, the Spirit of Christ relates to resurrection life. On earth the Lord Jesus lived a human life by the Spirit of Jesus. Now that He has entered into resurrection, He lives a resurrected life by the Spirit of Christ.
Philippians 1:19 has the expression “the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” This is the all-inclusive, compound Spirit. Do not think that there are several different Spirits, all with different names: the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There is only one Spirit. His different names indicate different aspects of this all-inclusive Spirit.
When He is called the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this name includes the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, and the Spirit of Christ. In the Spirit of God there was only divinity, but now the Spirit of Jesus Christ includes humanity also. In addition, His human living, His death, and His resurrection are included.
Again I refer you to the anointing ointment in Exodus 30. The oil alone speaks of the Spirit of God, or divinity. But four spices were to be added to the olive oil and compounded with it to make an ointment. With these ingredients added, the oil was no longer a single element.
To the oil was added myrrh, which speaks of Christ’s death; cinnamon, signifying the effectiveness of His death; calamus, which typifies His resurrection; and cassia, representing the power of His resurrection. These four spices plus the one hin of olive oil tell us that God (represented by the number one) is joined to man (represented by the number four); that is, divinity is added to humanity.
The amount of spices used in the ointment is also meaningful:
(1) Myrrh - 500 shekels (v. 23)
(2) Cinnamon - 250 shekels (v. 23)
(3) Calamus - 250 shekels (v. 23)
(4) Cassia - 500 shekels (v. 24).
These four spices are of three units of five hundred. Three speaks of the Triune God. Why is the second unit of five hundred shekels divided between the cinnamon and the calamus? This is an indication that the second of the God-head was split on the cross.
From this Old Testament picture we learn that in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this compounded Spirit, there is divinity, humanity, human living, the death of Christ—even the cutting on the cross—and its effectiveness, the resurrection of Christ and its power. Surely this compound, all-inclusive Spirit has a bountiful supply!
His resources, which are with us and available to us as a bountiful supply, include divinity; a proper, uplifted humanity; the proper human living; Christ’s wonderful death and its effectiveness; His resurrection and its power, especially its repelling power.
This all-inclusive Spirit with such a bountiful supply is with us!