Colossians 1:18 says that Christ is “the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead.” This means that Christ is the first in resurrection; as the Head of the Body, He occupies the first place in the church. God has two creations: one is the old creation, which refers to the creation of the universe; the other is the new creation, which refers to the bringing forth of the church (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:15). Christ is not only the Firstborn of the old creation but also the Firstborn of the new creation.
First Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam is Christ. In incarnation He became flesh for redemption (John 1:14, 29); then in resurrection He was transfigured and became a life-giving Spirit for the imparting of life (10:10b). Christ has to be such a Spirit that He may impart life to man. In the evening of the day of His resurrection, when He came into the midst of the disciples and breathed into them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (20:19-22), He breathed Himself into them as the life-giving Spirit, thereby imparting Himself into them as their life and everything.
At the beginning of the New Testament, the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35). After the resurrection of the Lord, the Spirit of God became “the Spirit” (John 7:39), the life-giving Spirit. This Spirit is also the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Hence, Acts 16:7 mentions “the Spirit of Jesus,” Romans 8:9 mentions “the Spirit of Christ,” and Philippians 1:19 mentions “the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The Spirit of Jesus is mainly related to the Lord’s humanity and human living; the Spirit of Christ is mainly related to the Lord’s resurrection; the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of God compounded with the Lord’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. This compound Spirit is typified by the holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25, a compound of olive oil and four kinds of spices. How could the Spirit of God become the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ? It was accomplished through His incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection.
Furthermore, the Lord Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit whom He had received from the Father, and He gives the Spirit not by measure. 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.” The exalted Christ’s receiving of the promise of the Holy Spirit was actually His receiving of the Holy Spirit Himself. Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit essentially for His existence in humanity (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20) and was anointed with the Spirit economically for His ministry among men (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18). After His resurrection and ascension, He needed to receive the Spirit economically again that He might pour Himself out upon His Body to carry out His heavenly ministry on earth for the accomplishing of God’s New Testament economy.
John 3:34 says that Christ “gives the Spirit not by measure.” This shows that the Son dispenses the Spirit to the believers without measure. As the Head of the church, Christ not only pours out the Holy Spirit but also dispenses the Spirit to the believers without measure.
The creeds were written in such a simple way that all these crucial points were omitted. I believe that some of those who formulated the creeds saw these points but, since they were not able to explain them thoroughly, they did not dare to speak about them. How do you explain the fact that the Lord is the Spirit? How do you explain the fact that the Son is called the Father? The more you say, the more mistakes you make; therefore, it is better not to say anything. It is probably because of this that they wrote in a very concise way. Consequently, those who later read the creeds suffered a great loss. Our burden is to find out all the crucial points.
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