In this chapter, we come to the second Epistle of the New Testament, 1 Corinthians. In the first Epistle, the Epistle to the Romans, is the Spirit of life. In this first Epistle to the Corinthians is the life-giving Spirit. The very Christ we see in the four Gospels is now the “pneumatic Christ,” the all-inclusive Spirit, in the Epistles. First Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam is seen in the four Gospels, and the life-giving Spirit is seen in all the Epistles. Therefore, the very Christ as the last Adam in the Gospels is now the pneumatic Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit.
In the two sections of the Gospels and the Epistles in the New Testament, we see the same Person in different aspects. In the four Gospels we see this Person as the Son, with the Father, by the Spirit. In the Epistles is the same Person becoming the Spirit, as the Son, with the Father. In every book of the New Testament, we see the same Person. We do not have two Saviors, two Redeemers, two life-giving Spirits, two Masters, or two Lords. Our God is uniquely one. We only have one Redeemer, one Savior, one life-giving Spirit, one Master, and one Lord. What we see in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament is altogether just one wonderful, all-inclusive, excellent, marvelous Person.
Do not think that in the four Gospels is Christ and in the Epistles is the Spirit who is separate from Christ. We must realize that essentially Christ and the Spirit are one, but economically they are two. Eventually they are a wonderful, unique, and excellent Person; economically this Person was the Christ, the last Adam in the four Gospels, and He is now the pneumatic Christ, the Spirit, in the Epistles. As Christ in the four Gospels, He accomplished incarnation, He passed through human living, He died the all-inclusive death, and He entered into resurrection. By all these steps, He accomplished an all-inclusive redemption in God’s economy. After accomplishing the redemption of God, He became the life-giving Spirit, not to remain on the cross, but to come into our being, to stay with us, remain in us, and mingle Himself with our being to be our life, our life-supply, and our everything to make us humanly divine and divinely human, thoroughly mingled with the Triune God in God’s economy.
We have seen that the Spirit of life is unique. This title is only used once in the New Testament in Romans 8:2. The life-giving Spirit is also unique. This same type of expression, of course, is used a few times in the New Testament. John 6:63 refers to “the Spirit who gives life.” Second Corinthians 3:6 says, “the Spirit gives life.” First Corinthians 15:45, however, is the only place in the New Testament which specifically says the “life-giving Spirit.” The One in Romans who is the Spirit of life is the life-giving Spirit in 1 Corinthians. The title of the Spirit of life does not convey any thought that He is moving and working. The title of the life-giving Spirit, though, indicates that the Spirit of life is moving, working, and imparting life.
In John 6 there are two expressions concerning Christ— He is the bread of life (v. 35) and He is the living bread (v. 51). When I was young, I was very much bothered by these two expressions and asked myself what the difference was between them. The bread of life refers to the nature of the bread, which is life; the living bread refers to the condition of the bread, which is living. For example, the physical bread in a bread basket is not the living bread. This is the bread of life. However, when we eat some of this bread and it gets into our stomach, immediately the bread is living in our stomach to nourish us, to impart the life element into us, and to distribute all kinds of vitamins into our being through our blood vessels. After being eaten, the bread of life becomes the living bread that lives, moves, and works in us.
The Spirit of life denotes that the element of the Spirit is life. On the other hand, the life-giving Spirit denotes the same Spirit moving, working, and living in us to impart life into us. This does not mean that in Romans the Spirit of life does not work, but the stress in Romans is different. The stress in 1 Corinthians is that the Spirit of life is now working within every member of Christ. The Spirit of life is working and moving in the being of the believers; it is the life-imparting Spirit, and its work is to give life into your being.