In message five we saw the functions of the Spirit in the Old Testament. In this message we want to see the functions of the Spirit in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Many more functions of the Spirit are revealed in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. The Gospel of John reveals more aspects of the Spirit than each of the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three Gospels are called synoptic because they correspond closely to one another.
The first function of the Spirit in the New Testament is the function of begetting (Matt. 1:18b, 20b). Matthew 1:20b says, “That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Something was begotten in Mary’s womb of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that begets. The entire Triune God was begotten of the Spirit in Mary’s womb. God was begotten in man. This is the greatest wonder and miracle in the whole universe! From the first day of Mary’s pregnancy, God was in her womb. According to the natural principle of God’s creation, He stayed there for nine months. Matthew 1:18 and 20 indicate that the divine essence out of the Holy Spirit had been generated in Mary’s womb before she delivered the Child Jesus.
The Spirit also has the function of baptizing (Matt. 3:11c; 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). Actually, according to the Word, the baptizer is not the Spirit. The baptizer is either Christ or His disciples, His believers. Why then do we say that the Spirit has the function of baptizing?
Matthew 28:19 reveals that we need to baptize the nations into the Triune God, and the Triune God is consummated in the Spirit. The Father is the source, the Son is the course, and the Spirit is the consummation. When we have the Spirit as the consummation, we have the Father as the source and the Son as the course. If we have the Spirit, we have the Son and the Father. To be baptized into the Triune God is to be baptized into the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God (1 Cor. 12:13).
The One whom we baptize people into is more important than the one who baptized them. The One into whom we are baptized is so important because in baptism we are mingled with Him. To be baptized into the Spirit means that the Spirit mingles us with Himself. When the Spirit puts us into Himself, we are brought into an organic union with the Triune God. This organic union with the Triune God is not accomplished by the baptizer but by the very element into which we have been baptized.
When we go out to preach the gospel, we baptize people into the Triune God, who has the Spirit as His consummation. Through this baptism, the Spirit mingles the baptized one with Him. This creates an organic union. In baptism, the baptized one is mingled with the Triune God. When we say that the Spirit has the function of baptizing, this is what we mean.
The Spirit also has the function of brooding for ministering (Matt. 3:16b; Luke 3:22; John 1:32). In Genesis 1:2 the brooding of the Spirit is for the producing of life. In the New Testament, the dove came down to Jesus and brooded over Him for His ministry. These two instances of the brooding of the Spirit show that the ministry of Jesus was for producing life. The ministering of Christ is to produce life. After this brooding, Jesus began to minister, and His ministry was always to produce life, to dispense life to all His contacts.