Not only so, the Bible speaks first of Christ being God and then of Christ becoming man. God becoming man is truly a mystery. In the universe, there is such a One who lived on the earth two thousand years ago for thirty-three and a half years. Today, as you read the Gospels in the New Testament, you may not sense that these records are very marvelous. But if you would quietly consider that one day the Creator of the heavens and the earth actually became a man and grew up in the despised city of Nazareth in the home of a poor and lowly carpenter, you would realize how wonderful this is! The Creator of all things did not come to the earth for a short visit, as He did with Abraham in Genesis 18. Instead, He lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years.
In Genesis 18, when Abraham was cooling himself at the tent door, three men came, two of whom were angels and the third was Jehovah God. Most people know only that Jesus became flesh to be a man two thousand years ago. But in reality, He came to visit Abraham in the likeness of a man four thousand years ago, even before He became flesh. Abraham washed His feet and served Him a meal with fine flour and a calf. The Southern Baptists published an article about their faith, quoting many Scripture verses as the basis of their faith. Concerning Christ, one of the verses quoted is Genesis 18:1. They said that the Jehovah in Genesis 18:1 was Jesus Christ. Some may question, “How could He have the form of a man at that time, and not only so, even have the reality of a man?” He was there, and Abraham washed His feet; He even ate the meal which Abraham’s wife Sarah prepared for Him. The Bible is truly mysterious, and God is likewise mysterious. Even the theologians cannot explain these things.
We can only receive the spiritual and mysterious things according to the plain words of the Bible. The Bible states plainly that He was God who became a man. Then, at the fullness of thirty-three and a half years, according to the day, month, and year prophesied in the Scriptures, that is, on the fourteenth day of the first month when the lamb of the Passover was slain, the Lord Jesus was killed on the cross. When He was crucified, He was truly the passover Lamb who died for us to deal with our sins. He was buried and was resurrected on the third day, and at the time He was resurrected, He became the life-giving Spirit. First, He was God who became a man, that is, the last Adam. He passed through thirty-three and a half years of human living and eventually died on the cross. After passing through death and resurrection, the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. The first step was that God became a man, and the second step was that this man became a Spirit. On the evening of the day of His resurrection He came into the midst of His disciples as a spirit, yet with bones and flesh. This is truly beyond our understanding. Not only is God a mystery, even we ourselves are a mystery which we cannot comprehend.
On the one hand, the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus was God who became a man as our Savior to bear our sins on the cross. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that He died and resurrected, and in His resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us. Now that we have Him in us, we can have an unveiled face before Him. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we are like mirrors continually beholding and reflecting the Lord. Not only so, this reflecting causes us to be transformed into His image, even as from the Lord Spirit. This Lord is now the Spirit, who is in us transforming us into His glorious image. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We are one spirit with the Lord in our spirit, not in our mind, emotion, and will. Thus, Paul said to Timothy, “The Lord be with your spirit” (2 Tim. 4:22). This may be a simple statement, yet it is a great blessing. This statement implies two important points. First, the Lord must be Spirit. If the Lord were not Spirit, how could He be in our spirit, and how could He be with us? Second, we also must have a spirit in us. It is in our spirit that the Lord is with us. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” There are two spirits within us: one is our spirit and the other is the Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, I believe that you all are now clear. Today, our Lord Jesus, who was God, became a man who died on the cross to be our Savior to deal with our sins. Furthermore, He was resurrected from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit to dwell in us and be mingled with our regenerated spirit. Hence, there are not two spirits in us because actually these two spirits have been mingled into one spirit, just as tea and water are mingled into one. If you want to drink tea, you do not drink water first and then tea. When you drink, you get both the tea and the water because they have been mingled into one. Now the Lord as the Spirit has been joined and mingled with our spirit into one spirit. Thus, Romans 8:4 says, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” We are those who walk according to the spirit. In Greek, there is no definite article before spirit; hence, it is difficult for the Bible translators to determine whether the spirit here refers to the Spirit or to our spirit. Why? This is because the two have become one—the two spirits have become one spirit. Just as in making tea, it is difficult to say whether it is tea or water in the cup.
The Greek word for walk in the phrase walk...according to the spirit denotes our living, our moving, our conduct, our actions, and our existence. The Bible teaches us and tells us that all those who are saved know that there is God in the universe. This God became a man to die for our sins and was resurrected to be the Spirit to dwell in our spirit. Now what He requires of us is that in our living, our walk, our conduct, and our every word and action we have our being according to the mingled spirit within. If you remember this and practice it, you will be truly blessed. To walk according to the spirit is not to walk according to human effort. Whenever you walk according to the spirit, the Spirit comes out and the Lord Jesus is lived out because He is in your spirit. Hence, we should all practice to live according to the spirit. Walking according to the spirit should be the motto of our living. How good it is to do everything, whether big or small, according to the spirit!