From the beginning, Christ was God, and God is Spirit. Then God as Spirit became a man to die on the cross to bear our sins and accomplish redemption. After this, He was resurrected, and in and by resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. What then is the difference between the Spirit that was from the beginning and the life-giving Spirit? Are they two Spirits or one? We may illustrate the answer in the following way. Originally, I may have a cup of plain water, but if I gradually pour some juice into it, followed by some milk, tea, honey, and a little salt, eventually I will have a wonderful drink. It is still the water I had originally, but now there is a difference. At first it was purely, plainly, and uniquely water. Now it is still water but with certain elements added to it. Christ as Spirit in eternity was the “plain water,” but the life-giving Spirit has further elements added to Him, including incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
The life-giving Spirit is still the original Spirit, but many wonderful elements have been added to Him. Without crucifixion, redemption, resurrection, and ascension the original Spirit could not come into man. It was not until Christ accomplished redemption, passing through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension that He came into man. How wonderful this is! Now Christ as God is the all-inclusive Spirit with redemption, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
Christ as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit with many wonderful elements added to Him. This is the Spirit in the book of Acts who was spreading to produce the Body of Christ. In the Acts this wonderful Spirit is no longer only the Spirit of God. Acts 16:6-7 says, “And they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” In the Acts the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, has become the Spirit of Jesus, who is Christ Himself. It is through the spreading of this wonderful all-inclusive Spirit that the church, the Body of Christ, came into existence.
We need a new understanding, comprehension, and view of all the matters in the book of Acts. What is taking place in this book is the spreading of Jesus as the wonderful Spirit to produce the Body of Christ, which is the church. If we consider this book and the churches in the early days with this point of view, we will have a new understanding. This wonderful Christ mingled Himself with many human beings, including Peter, John, James, Paul, Timothy, and thousands of believers in the early days. All the believers in the Acts were joined to Christ and made one with Christ as the Spirit.
As we have seen, 1 Corinthians 15:45 tells us that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, and 2 Corinthians 3:17 says that the Lord is the Spirit. In addition, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” I hope that you will keep all three of these verses in mind. Here we have Christ as the Spirit in our human spirit, and these two spirits are mingled as one. Christ today is not only the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God but also the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit who gives life with many wonderful elements added to Him, including incarnation for redemption, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and even His enthronement, headship, and lordship. This Spirit comes into our spirit, and these two spirits become one. This oneness is the reality of the church, the church life, and the building up of the Body of Christ. In the early days Peter, Paul, and all of the apostles lived and worked in this oneness. In other words, they lived and worked in this Spirit, that is, in the mingled spirit—Christ as the life-giving Spirit mingled with our human spirit to be one spirit. Now after the book of Acts we have this wonderful mingled spirit in the Epistles.
The foregoing is the foundation and preparation to consider the twenty-two Epistles from Romans through the book of Revelation. In these books we have the definition, explanation, and revelation of this wonderful mingled spirit. In the four Gospels Christ was in the flesh for the purpose of accomplishing redemption. After He accomplished redemption, He was transfigured into another form, the Spirit. Now as the Spirit He comes into our spirit to mingle Himself with our spirit as one in order to be our life, our everything, and our all in all for our experience. In order to experience Christ as our life, our everything, and our all in all in an all-inclusive way, we must realize that today Christ is the wonderful Spirit who indwells our regenerated human spirit. This is the revelation, explanation, and definition found in the twenty-two Epistles. In these books Christ is no longer flesh but Spirit. Redemption has been accomplished, and now He is the Spirit who gives life for us to enjoy, experience, and partake of.
Accordingly, we may summarize our burden for these messages with four sentences: (1) In the Gospels, Christ was life outside of us. (2) In the Acts, Christ is life coming into us. (3) In the Epistles, Christ is life within us to build us up together. (4) In Revelation, Christ is life within us to flow out of us for eternity. This is the revelation of the entire New Testament. All of these matters are contained in one fact, that is, that Christ as the life-giving Spirit mingles Himself with our human spirit to be one spirit.