What is the relationship between the death of the Lord Jesus and the descending of the Holy Spirit?
This question is very much related to salvation and the gospel. Therefore, we must examine it carefully.
A great number of people have an erroneous concept concerning the Holy Spirit. They think that they have to pay a great price to be filled with the Holy Spirit and that it requires a great deal of self-affliction and desperate begging before they will feel happy. Once they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they think that they will be good Christians and have the power to preach the gospel. If we study the Bible carefully, however, we will see that it never tells us this. The Bible tells us that there is only one price for having the Holy Spirit and that it has already been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God sent the Holy Spirit. The descending of the Holy Spirit is the result of the death, blood, and merit of the Lord Jesus. It is not the result of any price we can pay, nor is it due to our own merit.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He told the disciples that the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13) because, at that time, the Holy Spirit had not yet come. After the resurrection of the Lord, He breathed into the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Since that day, there is no longer a need to ask for the Holy Spirit; the need now is to receive the Holy Spirit.
A servant of God once said, “The Holy Spirit has already come. If the water pipe which conveys the Holy Spirit is blocked, just remove the obstacle, and the water will flow. We must consecrate ourselves not just once, but continuously.” Based upon the Lord’s blood, death, resurrection, and ascension, the Holy Spirit has come. We need to remove the obstacles by consecrating ourselves to the Lord. When we remove the obstacles, we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Consecration is the way to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but the flow of the Holy Spirit is based upon the Lord’s blood. Only the Lord’s blood can bring the outflow of the Holy Spirit. If the water pipe is empty, removing an obstacle will not produce water. In order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must consecrate ourselves. The more thorough our consecration, the more we will be filled. However, the water pipe has water only because of the blood of the Lord Jesus.
The Old Testament records that when the Israelites were in the wilderness, Moses smote the rock and water flowed out of the rock (Exo. 17:6). First Corinthians 10:4 says, “And the rock was Christ.” The outflow of the Holy Spirit is not based on our consecration, but on the death of Jesus Christ. Leviticus 14 is the record of the cleansing of leprosy. The priest first took the blood from the sacrifice of the trespass offering and put it upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of whoever was being cleansed. Then the priest put the oil in his left hand upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot. The rest of the oil in the priest’s hand was put upon the head of whoever was being cleansed (vv. 14-18). The blood refers to redemption, while the oil refers to the Holy Spirit. The coming down of the Holy Spirit on the leper was not because he declared that he was cleansed, but because of the blood. He was anointed with oil only after he was pronounced as being cleansed.
In order for our ears to listen to God’s voice, our hands to do His work, and our feet to walk His path, we must first be cleansed by the blood. Based on the Lord’s redemptive work and His blood which washes away all our sins, the Holy Spirit comes to fill us and enable us to work and have the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is not the result of our own doing; it is based on the blood of the Lord.
This matter is not explicitly revealed in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament it is clearly revealed. John 7:37 through 39 says, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” At that time, the Holy Spirit was not yet because Jesus had not yet died, resurrected, and ascended. The Holy Spirit had not yet come because Jesus was not yet glorified, not because there was a lack of prayer and desperate begging from men. Acts 2:33 says, “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.” From this we see that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was the result of the death, resurrection, and exaltation of the Lord Jesus. The coming of the Holy Spirit is due to the Lord Jesus Himself; it is not due to our desperate begging.
We have seen many people begging and afflicting themselves in order to have the power of the Holy Spirit. Others think that only special Christians can receive the power of the Holy Spirit and that a common Christian cannot receive this power. They think that receiving the power of the Holy Spirit is something extraordinary. Of all that God has given us, nothing can compare with the Holy Spirit. Its price is very high, but it has already been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection. This is why we can receive the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s blood is the price, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of the Holy Spirit. We must also remove all the obstacles on our side. The water may be plenteous, but if the water pipe is clogged, it is still unavailable. If we understand the source of the Holy Spirit, and if we realize that the price has been paid, we will not need to beg desperately.
Galatians 3:13 and 14 say, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, ‘Cursed is every one hanging on a tree’; in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” This tells us that the Lord Jesus was hung on a tree in order to allow the blessing of Abraham to come to the Gentiles. What does it mean for the blessing of Abraham to come to the Gentiles? It means that we can receive the Holy Spirit promised to us by God simply through believing.
If you feel weak, if your spiritual life fluctuates, if you frequently stumble, if your strength fades day after day, and if you do not have the power of the Holy Spirit, you need to know that the Lord Jesus Christ has died and His blood has been shed. All that you need to do is come forward to the presence of God to receive the promised Holy Spirit. You can thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ which has already paid the price, and you can receive the power of the Holy Spirit. You do not need to live a fluctuating life. However, you must pay attention to one thing: if there is any obstacle on your part that has not been removed, or if your consecration is not thorough, you still cannot receive the power of the Holy Spirit.
We do not have to force ourselves to pray for the Holy Spirit. We should receive what the Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished, believe, and appropriate it by faith. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ was sent to accomplish God’s will and that the Holy Spirit has already been poured upon us.
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