In 1 John 2 we see that Jesus, Christ, the Son, the Father, and the Spirit who is the anointing are all one. Jesus is the Man, the Redeemer, and the Savior. Christ is the anointed One, the Messiah. He is also the resurrected One, the Lord, and the Master. With Jesus we have incarnation, human living, and crucifixion. With Christ we have anointing, resurrection, and ascension. Furthermore, the Father is the source of life, the Son is life expressed, and the Spirit is life flowing. All are included in the all-inclusive Person, and all have been compounded into one ointment. This was the reason we spent much time to consider all the ingredients of the compound Spirit as typified by the compounded ointment in Exodus 30.
We have seen that in this ointment there are ten ingredients: the only God, typified by the one hin of olive oil; the Triune God, signified by the three units of the measure of the four spices; the Man Jesus, a creature of God with respect to His humanity, typified by the four spices of the plant life; the precious death of Christ, typified by the flowing myrrh; the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death, signified by the fragrant cinnamon; the precious resurrection of Christ, indicated by the fragrant calamus; the power of Christ’s resurrection, typified by the repellent cassia; the mingling of divinity with humanity, seen in the blending of the olive oil with the four spices; the power for responsibility, shown by the five elements of the compounded ointment and the three times five hundred shekels of the four spices; and the building element, seen in the numbers five and three. All these ingredients have been compounded to produce the compound Spirit, the anointing in 1 John 2:20 and 27.
In chapter two of his first Epistle the apostle John was innoculating the believers against any heresy, even a partial heresy concerning the all-inclusive Person of Christ. Even a partial heresy is antichrist. As he was innoculating the believers against heresy, John used a metaphor—the metaphor of the compound ointment in Exodus 30. In his writings John often uses metaphors, signs, or symbols taken from the Old Testament. For example, in the Gospel of John we have the tabernacle and the Lamb (John 1:14, 29), and in the book of Revelation we have the lampstand, the hidden manna, the tree of life and the tabernacle (Rev. 1:12; 2:7, 17; 21:3; 22:2). Now we see that in 1 John 2 he uses a unique metaphor—the compounded ointment, oil compounded with four spices—to portray an all-inclusive Person. The Spirit is now anointing us with all the elements of this Person. He is anointing us with every part, aspect, element, and ingredient.
We may use the matter of painting a wall as an illustration of the anointing of the compound Spirit. Suppose you are painting a wall with oil-based paint, paint that is a compound of oil and other elements. When this paint is applied to a wall, all the elements in the paint are applied also. In like manner, we may say that as the compound Spirit anoints us, He is “painting” us. He paints us with all the elements of this all-inclusive Person: the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the Man Jesus, Christ’s divinity and humanity, and His incarnation, living, death, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
We have already pointed out what Jesus, Christ, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit include. Jesus includes incarnation, human living, human suffering, and crucifixion. Christ includes the anointed One, resurrection, Lordship, and ascension. The Father includes the source of life; the Son, the expression of life; and the Spirit, the imparting, or giving, of life. All these elements are included in the compound Spirit with which we are being anointed. Day by day, the compound Spirit is anointing us with all these ingredients.
In chapter two of 1 John we see the elements of the compound Spirit: Jesus, Christ, the Son, the Father, and the eternal life. What these titles include is immeasurable.
The function of the compound Spirit is to anoint us. When the ointment of the Spirit works within us, it becomes the anointing. Because the ointment has been compounded, the anointing also has been compounded. Using again the illustration of painting a wall, we may say that when we paint a wall with oil-based paint, we do not paint the wall merely with oil, but with all the ingredients contained in this paint. Likewise, when we are painted with the divine paint, we are painted with all the ingredients included in it. Today the compound Spirit is anointing us with all the elements of the compound ointment. May this matter be clearly understood and richly experienced by all of us.