“Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people” (Hag. 1:14a). Here we see the response of God’s elect, who were stirred up by the Lord in the order of God’s authority. When they responded by being stirred up in their spirit by the Lord, we all were included.
In the Minor Prophets there are both the divine Spirit, the consummated Spirit of God, and the human spirit, the stirred-up spirit of God’s elect. The divine Spirit has been poured out, and our human spirit (the key to experiencing and enjoying Christ) responds to such a Spirit by being stirred up.
We may feel that our spirit was stirred up early in our Christian life but that it is no longer stirred up. However, this is not true. Unconsciously, the spirit of every regenerated believer is stirred up. If we go to a place of worldly entertainment, our spirit will be stirred up to tell us to leave that place. Whenever we grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30), we have no peace. This is the stirring up of our spirit. When we read the Bible, we feel calm and peaceful. Even in this calmness, our spirit is under the stirring up by the Spirit. Every day we cannot avoid the stirring up of our spirit. The Bible reveals that once the consummated, compound, life-giving Spirit comes into us, He will never leave. As He dwells in us, He is often a “troublemaker,” stirring us up either negatively or positively. If we take care of this negative or positive stirring up, we will be revived, and we will be strengthened and encouraged to carry out the God-ordained way.
The Minor Prophets also reveal that God’s Christ is our enjoyment. The enjoyment of God’s Christ is actually the enjoyment of God Himself.
We may enjoy Christ as the Desire of God’s elect (Mal. 3:1b; cf. Hag. 2:7a). Whether we are hot or cold toward the Lord, we desire Christ. Can you say that you have no desire for Christ? Every day we desire Christ.
We may enjoy Christ also as the Angel of the covenant (Mal. 3:1b). For Him to be the Angel means that He is a serving one. In His coming back, Christ will be the Angel of the covenant. He enacted the new covenant with His blood at His table (Matt. 26:26-29; Luke 22:20). In the new covenant, God is imparted into us as life and as our life supply, and we have the forgiveness of sins (Jer. 31:31-34).
Christ not only enacted the new covenant through His death, but in resurrection He executes the new covenant as its surety (Heb. 7:22), making it real to us. In particular, He assures us that our sins have been forgiven and that we have Him as our life and life supply signified by the bread at the Lord’s table. Day by day we may enjoy Him as the surety of the new covenant.
As the Angel of the covenant, Christ dispenses the riches of the covenanted Triune God into His elect. According to Acts 26:18b, we have received not only the forgiveness of sins but also “an inheritance among those who have been sanctified.” This inheritance is the Triune God Himself with all He has, all He has done, and all He will do for His redeemed people. The Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ, who is “the allotted portion of the saints” as their inheritance (Col. 1:12).
Finally, Malachi 4:2 tells us that we may enjoy Christ as the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings.
As the Sun of righteousness, Christ is our enjoyment for growing in life, in the dispelling of the darkness. Just as the shining of the sunlight enables plants to grow, Christ’s shining as the Sun of righteousness is for our growth in life.
As the Sun of righteousness, Christ is our enjoyment also for healing in life, in the effacing of unrighteousness. Before we enjoy this healing in life, unrighteousness prevails, but through this healing unrighteousness is effaced and is replaced by righteousness.