Now we must see that in addition to being the Triune God, our God is a God who is mingled with man. John 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh; that is, God was incarnated to be a man. Then, Matthew 1:23 tells us that this man would be called Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” In incarnation God and man are one; they are mingled together. According to 1 Timothy 3:16, this is a great mystery, which is God manifested in the flesh.
Christ is God, and Christ is also man. We have seen that Christ was born to be a human child, a man-child, yet He is called Mighty God. Therefore, God is not only God; He is now also a man. The Jews, the Hebrews, do not worship a God who is mingled with man, because they consider that Jesus Christ was merely a man and was not God. The difference between the God whom Christians worship and the God whom the Jews serve is that in the case of the Jews, God is merely God Himself without being mingled with man. However, our God today is a God who is mingled with man. For this reason 1 John 4:1-2 tells us to prove whether the spirits are of God by asking them to confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. We need to confess that God today, the God in whom we believe and whom we serve and worship, is a God who is mingled with man. In Him there is not only the essence of God but also the essence, the substance, of man.
We should not think that Christ was incarnated as a man only for a period of thirty-three and a half years, that when He died on the cross, He put off the flesh, and that He is now in heaven as God without humanity. Christ is indeed in heaven today (Mark 16:19; 1 Pet. 3:21-22), but He is not there only as God without the human nature. Rather, He is in heaven as God mingled with man. The word of Stephen in Acts 7:56 proves this: “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Today Christ in heaven is still the Son of Man; He is still God mingled with man.
The God whom we serve is very different from the God whom the Jews serve. They serve the only God, the Creator, without anything of the human nature mingled with Him. We, in contrast, serve the same only true God, the Creator of the universe, yet our God also has the human nature mingled with Him. Now, the true and only God is mingled with the human nature. On the one hand, He is absolutely divine; on the other hand, He is human. Perhaps you have never praised the Lord in this way: “Lord, I praise You that I am human, and You are human too. I am a man, and You also are a man. You are the same as I am.” We need to know our God as a God who has mingled Himself with our nature. As God’s children who are born of Him, we can praise the Lord in another way as well. We may tell him, “Lord, You are divine. I praise You that I also have the divine life. I am human, and You are human also. You are divine, and I also have the divine life.” May we all be impressed with the fact that God today is a God who is mingled with the human nature.
Moreover, we should not think that the Holy Spirit today is only the Spirit of God with no involvement with the human nature. As an illustration, we may use a cup of plain water, which, after tea is added to it, becomes “tea-water.” Although it is still water, it is not merely water but water with something added. Today God is still God, but He is God with the human nature added to Him. Before His incarnation He was God only, just like plain water. Now He is still God, but He is God mingled with humanity. The Spirit of God before the Lord Jesus was incarnated as a man may be compared to plain water. He was merely the Spirit of God with the divine nature alone. But after the Lord was incarnated, and after He passed through crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Holy Spirit came down as a Spirit who includes not only the nature of God but also the nature of man. In the Old Testament, when the Holy Spirit came down upon a person, He was merely the Spirit of God with the divine nature. Now, in the New Testament time the Spirit enters into us and descends upon us not only with the divine nature but also with the human nature.
We see this also in Acts 16:6-7, which says, “They passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” The Spirit of Jesus mentioned in this passage is different from the Spirit of God in the Old Testament, because the name Jesus implies God with man. “The Spirit of God” was a title commonly used for the Spirit in the Old Testament, but “the Spirit of Jesus” is a title for the Spirit in the New Testament. Jesus is not only God; He is even more a man. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of Jesus, who is a man. Therefore, the Spirit of God today includes not only the divine nature but also the human nature. This matter has been hidden and almost lost in Christianity. Many Christians today do not realize that the Holy Spirit whom we have received is not only a Spirit of the divine nature but also a Spirit of the human nature.
Through the preaching of the gospel an unbeliever may be very much moved by the Holy Spirit and decide to receive the Lord Jesus. Let us consider who this Lord Jesus is whom he will receive. He is not only God, nor merely the Triune God, but the Triune God who includes man, the Triune God-man, the Triune God mingled with man. In other words, this unbeliever will receive the Triune God and also a man. When he receives the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit will enter into him. This Holy Spirit includes not only the divine nature but also the human nature. Even before this unbeliever receives Him, the Savior, the Lord Jesus, has been mingled with man already. Therefore, he receives not only the Triune God but also a man, a man with the Triune God, and the Triune God in a man. Furthermore, the Spirit who enters into him is not only the Spirit of God but also the Spirit of man, a Spirit with whom there is both the divine nature and the human nature. This matter is neglected among Christians today.
We would emphasize the fact that the God whom we worship is the Triune God mingled with man. Today He is not only God; He is also man, the God-man. Moreover, His Spirit today is not only the Spirit of God but also the Spirit of man. Within His Spirit there is the divine nature, and there is also the human nature. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of divinity and of humanity as well. This is the God whom we serve, and this is the Spirit whom we have received.