The verses in Galatians listed in the Scripture reading above unveil the experience of Christ in four aspects. First, 1:16a says, “To reveal His Son in me.” Then 2:20 says, “It is Christ who lives in me.” Verse 19 of chapter 4 says, “Christ is formed in you.” Then 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” After being revealed in us, Christ is now living in us, and He is being formed in us. Moreover, we are clothed with Christ. Christ is our inner life and content, and He is also our outer expression. He is in us as our life, and we are in Him as our expression. In this way we are one with Him.
How can Christ be revealed in us, live in us, and be formed in us, and how can we put Him on? It is only by the Spirit. Apart from the Spirit it is not possible to experience Christ in this way. In addition to showing us that God’s intention, desire, and pleasure are to reveal Christ in us, have Christ living in us, have Christ formed in us, and clothe us with Christ, the book of Galatians speaks much concerning the Spirit. The Spirit in this book has a specific position, because without theSpirit it is not possible for us to experience Christ.
Verse 8 of chapter 3 says, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles out of faith, announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham: ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’” We may consider that the gospel began to be preached at the earliest by John the Baptist. However, this verse tells us that the gospel was preached to Abraham in Genesis 12. The key to understanding Galatians 3 is to know what the blessing is that God announced to Abraham. Verses 13 and 14 say, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree’; in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” To receive the promise of the Spirit is to receive the Spirit who was promised. Therefore, the blessing that God promised to Abraham is the Spirit, who would be given to the nations in Christ.
These two verses speak of two matters. On the negative side, Christ has redeemed us, and on the positive side, the purpose of redemption is that we may have the Spirit whom God promised. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Then verse 32 adds, “John testified, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abode upon Him.” Here we have the Lamb and the dove. The Lamb is for redemption, and the dove is the Spirit. On the negative side, the Lamb redeems us to bring us back to God, and on the positive side, the Spirit fulfills God’s eternal purpose. The blessing that God promised to Abraham is that He would give the Spirit to the nations through Christ as the seed of Abraham.
In John 1, the dove descended upon the Lamb. The Lamb signifies redemption, and the dove signifies the life-giving Spirit. This indicates that the life-giving Spirit comes to us on the basis of the redemption of Christ. Since God is Triune, when we consider who the Spirit is, we must trace Him back to Christ. Then when we ask who Christ is, we must trace Him back to God. God is the fullness, Christ is the embodiment and expression of the fullness of God (Col. 2:9), and the Spirit is the reality of all that Christ is (John 14:17). Stated another way, God the Father is the source, God the Son is the expression, and God the Spirit is the transmission (2 Cor. 13:14). Therefore, the Spirit is the reality of the Triune God;that is, He is the reality of all that the Triune God is, all that He has accomplished, and all that He has obtained and attained. The central item and blessing of the gospel preached to Abraham was that God would give this Spirit to all the chosen ones.
In this Spirit is God the Father, God the Son, the divine nature, the human nature, and Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion for redemption, resurrection with the power of life, glorification, ascension, enthronement, headship, lordship, kingship, and transcendence. All these are realized in the all-inclusive Spirit. God promised Abraham that He would give such a blessing to all the nations through faith. The nations who believe in Christ as the unique seed of Abraham are blessed by this Spirit. If we realize the Spirit in this way, Galatians 3 will be open to us.
Galatians 3:2 and 3 say, “This only I wish to learn from you, Did you receive the Spirit out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Verse 5 continues, “He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?” Bountifully supplies is one word in the Greek text; it is the verb form of the noun in Philippians 1:19, which speaks of “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” God not only gives us the Spirit but supplies the Spirit to us bountifully. There is a difference between giving and supplying. To give may be only once for all, but to supply is to give continually. Like a power plant that constantly supplies electricity, God continually supplies the Spirit to us. At the time of Abraham, God promised the Spirit described in Galatians 3. Then after Christ came and accomplished redemption, this promised Spirit was given to us and is now being supplied to us. We have received this Spirit, and now having begun in the Spirit, we need to go on to be perfected in Him.