John 14 continues directing the disciples away from the flesh and toward the Spirit. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; even the Spirit of reality...you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you....I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you. Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you shall live also. In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (vv. 16-20). If you study these verses carefully, you will see that “another Comforter” is simply the Lord Himself coming back as the Spirit of reality. He said, “I go to the Father” (v. 12) and then “I am coming to you” (v. 18). The One who was coming was the very One who was going away! Not only the Spirit of reality “shall be in you” (v. 17); in that day the disciples would know “that I am...in you” (v. 20). “The Spirit of reality” and “I” clearly refer to the same Person.
Do you realize that the Spirit is the reality of Christ? When you have the Spirit, you have Christ. When you call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit comes. By calling “Lord Jesus,” you have the Person of Jesus, who is the Spirit.
The Lord’s earthly life lasted thirty-three and a half years. After that period of time, He was ready, by undergoing death and resurrection, to become the Spirit. The last Adam, the One who was the Word become flesh, in resurrection became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45, Gk.).
On the evening of the very day He was resurrected, He came back to the disciples as the Spirit. Though the disciples had the doors shut for fear of the Jews, Jesus somehow appeared in their midst. In this new form He did not need to come in through the door. After talking with them and showing them His hands and His side, “He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit” (see John 20:19-23). Here is the last Adam in resurrection, as the life-giving Spirit being breathed into the disciples.
The resurrection mentioned in the New Testament is this very resurrected One. He is both God and man. While He was on this earth, He lived in humanity by God. Then He entered into death. With Him man and all creation passed through death. His death was all-inclusive. Likewise, He brought us all with Him into resurrection.
Noah and the ark typify this all-inclusive death and resurrection. Noah, his family, and all the creatures entered the ark, which represents Christ. The ark and all those who were inside then passed through the death waters. When the ark landed on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4), all those who were within also came to rest there. In typology this is Christ in resurrection. Not only did Christ enter into resurrection; all those included in Him-mankind and all of creation-did also.
The resurrection into which Christ entered through death is the all-inclusive Spirit. These words may seem strange, but some verses may help to make the meaning clear. When the Lord spoke of “rivers of living water” flowing out of those who came to Him and drank, “this He said concerning the Spirit, Whom those who believed in Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39). We know that Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected. What Spirit is this that “was not yet” before the resurrection?
The anointing ointment described in Exodus 30:23-25 (see also Life Message Eight, pp. 75-76) is a picture of this very Spirit. Before the death and resurrection of Christ, the Spirit of God was in type only the olive oil. But now the olive oil has four spices added to it, making it a compound ointment. What are these four spices which have been compounded into the Spirit of God? They represent the humanity, death, and resurrection of Christ. This enriched Spirit is the resurrection, the endless and indestructible life. Our life has an end, but the resurrection is an endless life. This indestructible life is the all-inclusive Spirit, the Spirit of God compounded with the death, resurrection, and humanity of Christ. This compounded Spirit is the Lord Jesus today.
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