In the previous message, we saw what the Spirit is to God and to Christ. In this message we want to fellowship concerning the Spirit and the cross. The Spirit and the cross are both the consummation of Christ’s redemptive work. Christ has completed His redemptive work, and the result of this work is the Spirit and the cross.
The Spirit after Christ’s redemptive work with His death and resurrection is not the same as He was before Christ’s death and resurrection. Before His death and resurrection, the Spirit was merely the Spirit of God. But afterwards the Spirit became the consummated Spirit. After Christ’s redemption, the Spirit is called the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7), the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), and the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19). Before the death of Christ, there was the Spirit of God but not the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Acts 16:6 and 7 say, “And they passed through the country of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come down to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” In these verses both the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus are mentioned. The interchangeable use of the Spirit of Jesus with the Holy Spirit reveals that the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a general title of the Spirit of God in the New Testament; the Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God and refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross.
We can see the particular functions of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus in Acts 16:6 and 7. The Holy Spirit forbade Paul and his co-workers, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. The Holy Spirit is the sanctifying Spirit. Sanctifying is always a matter of forbidding. The Holy Spirit’s forbidding separates us, sanctifies us. The Holy Spirit’s work is to sanctify us by constantly forbidding us. If we hear the Holy Spirit say “no” to us from morning to evening, we are blessed because we are being sanctified. We need to hear the Holy Spirit’s “no” again and again for our sanctification.
The Spirit of Jesus either allows us or does not allow us. To allow is to let you go. This is for accomplishing something. The Spirit of Jesus is always sending us to accomplish something. We have to go to do the will of God just as the Man Jesus did. Jesus was a man who was always under the cross. In order to work for the Lord, we must be sanctified, on the one hand, and we must be under the cross, on the other hand. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of a person who was continually under the cross. The same Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus. The Holy Spirit says “no” to sanctify us, and the Spirit of Jesus says “go” to send us out to accomplish the will of God under the cross.
The Spirit is also the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The emphasis of the Spirit of Christ mentioned in Romans 8:9 is upon the resurrection and the imparting of life. In Philippians 1:19 Paul mentions the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul spoke this when he was in prison. He needed a bountiful supply not only of the Spirit of Jesus but also of the Spirit of Christ, that is, of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is mainly for the Lord’s humanity, human living, and death. The Spirit of Christ is mainly for the Lord’s resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus Christ includes both of these aspects. When Paul was in prison, he needed the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the Triune God which includes the elements of the Lord’s death and resurrection. It was by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that Paul’s salvation was consummated. He said in verse 19, “For I know that for me this shall turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Paul’s being sustained and strengthened to live and magnify Christ was his salvation (vv. 20-21).
The Spirit of Jesus Christ is a compound Spirit. The compound ointment in Exodus 30:23-25 was a full type of the compound Spirit of God, who is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This ointment was a compound of oil with four spices. The oil signifies the unique God. The four spices signify Christ’s humanity, human living, and His death and resurrection. Today the Spirit of Jesus Christ is not just oil but an all-inclusive ointment. This compounded Spirit is the result, the produce, the issue, the coming out, of Christ’s redemptive work.
The complete and full redemptive work of Christ began with His incarnation and was completed with His resurrection. When Christ entered into resurrection, as the last Adam, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). This life-giving Spirit is not merely the oil but the ointment. In this life-giving Spirit, there is incarnation, human living, the all-inclusive death, and resurrection. On the evening of Christ’s resurrection, He came back to the disciples, breathed into them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The Holy Spirit, the Holy Breath, is the very compounded Spirit, the consummation of Christ’s redemptive work.
After the book of Acts, the New Testament covers these two basic items—the Spirit and the cross. The ultimate consummation of Christ’s marvelous work in the universe is the Spirit and the cross, the all-inclusive death of Christ. Through His all-inclusive death, Christ has dealt with everything negative and has redeemed all things (Col. 1:20). In His marvelous resurrection, He became the Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed and consummated God. Such a Spirit is the positive aspect of Christ’s redemptive work.