At the beginning of the New Testament, we see the Holy Spirit, but He was still not yet "the Spirit." This is unveiled in John 7:39, which says, "The Spirit was not yet." The Spirit was not yet because Jesus in His humanity had not yet been glorified. Because Jesus in His humanity had not yet been changed, the Holy Spirit who brought forth Jesus through His conception and birth still remained the same, without change. It was not until Jesus was resurrected into His glory, that "the Spirit" who shall flow out of the believers as rivers of living water began to exist. This truth is a big "missing" among Christians today. Andrew Murray said that when "the Spirit" came into existence, this was a "new era," a new age. He had the boldness to say that humanity had been constituted into the Spirit. From the time of Christ's resurrection, whatever has been constituted and wrought into Christ has been consummated in the Spirit. Today the Spirit of God is "the Spirit" who flows out of the believers in Christ as rivers of living water.

First Corinthians 15:45b says, "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." This is another "missing" among today's Christians. The last Adam was Jesus in the flesh. He lived in the flesh for thirty-three and a half years. Then through resurrection, He changed by becoming a life-giving Spirit. This word became in Greek is the same word used in John 1:14: "The Word became flesh." Thus, the Spirit changed from the Spirit of God to the Spirit who gives life, the life-giving Spirit. First Corinthians 15:45 is a great verse in the Bible. Today some in Christianity pay much attention to John 1:14, but they do not see that the last Adam, who was flesh, became something further. In the first step, He was the Word becoming flesh. In the second step, He was the flesh becoming the life-giving Spirit. We have to see this.

The third "missing" among today's Christians is that they do not see that the life-giving Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. At the completion of Christ's resurrection, He revealed this divine title to His disciples: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). He passed through incarnation, human living, and death and entered into resurrection. In resurrection the Triune God was consummated by Jesus becoming the life-giving Spirit. Thus, it was not until the resurrection was completed, that this title — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — was clearly revealed in full. The consummation of the Divine Trinity is the consummated Spirit.

Also, in the Bible there is a clear vision that the life-giving Spirit has been compounded. He is the compounded Spirit, and within Him there is not only the divine element but also the human element. This is why I treasure chapter five of Andrew Murray's book The Spirit of Christ. Andrew Murray had the boldness to stress repeatedly that humanity is now an ingredient of the Spirit. The compound ointment in Exodus 30 is a marvelous type of the compound anointing Spirit. According to this type, the death of Christ with its effectiveness and the resurrection of Christ with its power are ingredients of the compound Spirit. The Spirit today is an ointment. A single item cannot be an ointment. An ointment is a compound of a number of elements. This is the fourth "missing" today.

The fifth "missing" is the seven Spirits spoken of in the book of Revelation (1:4; 4:5; 5:6). To study the definition of the Spirit, we have to get into and stress these five "missings," which are covered in these messages. The life-giving Spirit is the compound Spirit, and this compound Spirit is the seven Spirits.