The God who was uncreated and eternal, through incarnation, brought God into man, and through death and resurrection brought man into God. After the Lord’s resurrection, the Bible calls Him the Spirit. The Lord who became flesh, who died and resurrected, and who was glorified is now the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). The definite article—the— in the Greek text of 2 Corinthians 3:17 indicates that the Spirit is the unique Spirit in the universe. The Spirit is God Himself, and the Lord is the Spirit. The Spirit referred to here, however, is different from the uncreated, eternal Spirit, because in this Spirit referred to here there is both divinity and humanity. Andrew Murray once said that there is both divinity and humanity in the glorified Spirit. The Lord being the Spirit is one of the accomplishments of the Lord becoming flesh, dying, and resurrecting.
Today Jesus is both in the heavens and on the earth. He is omnipresent because He is the Spirit. He is the Spirit, so He is beyond time, space, and all things in the universe from eternity to eternity. When as the Spirit He comes into contact with a person’s spirit, that person is saved. Everything having to do with the spirit and all spiritual reality hinges on the contact and mingling of the Spirit with our spirit.
During China’s War of Resistance against Japan, there was a man who was known for being ferocious. He was so mean that no one dared to approach him. However, one day this changed, and he told everyone joyfully, “The Lord Jesus has saved me.” Formerly, this person was so evil that he was very cruel even to his mother. But one day he heard the gospel, and mysteriously, he began to have a lack of peace within him. He began to feel that he was a person who did not honor his mother, and all the scenes in which he had treated his mother cruelly flashed before his eyes. One night he cried without control. The next day he knelt before his mother, telling her in tears, “Mother, I am rebellious and incurable, but today the Lord Jesus has entered me and given me the feeling that I have failed you.” People who saw this man weep were able to see in his tears that he had changed and was not the same. Why did he change? He changed because he received the Lord’s Spirit into his spirit, and when the Lord’s Spirit touched his spirit, he received the feeling, the consciousness, of life. This consciousness of life enabled him to realize his wrongdoings and confess to his mother. This is the story of many Christians. This is also spiritual reality.
The Lord in whom we believe is living. When we believe in Him, His Spirit stirs within us and touches our spirit. This brings about a response, an action, which may be to repent or confess. This response is expressed in a simple way in a person’s living and is not something that we can outwardly demand of him or place upon him as a restriction. The genuine Christian living is something that comes from the living Christ, the living Spirit, who enters into man, touches man’s spirit, and lives out from him. This produces an expression, which before man is love and before God is fear and spirituality. This is spiritual reality.
We should never say that to be a Christian is a suffering. It is true that we have to rid ourselves of drinking, smoking, favoritism, and bribery, and that we must also honor our parents and love our neighbors. To do these things may be truly a suffering. We have to know, however, that genuine Christians do all these things not by outward regulation or teaching but by the inner power of life. History tells us that in the two thousand years of church history, because of this living Spirit, the more that Christians have suffered persecution, the stronger they have been inwardly. This is because even if the whole universe were to rise up to oppose the Spirit, it would not be able to overcome Him. Over these two thousand years there have been many kings who have persecuted Christians and the church. However, today all these kings have passed away, and the church is still here. The God of creation becomes a living power in those who believe in Him. He will never be defeated, and whoever opposes Him will suffer. He is the living God, the One who is without measure.
Today this God is the Spirit who is living in us and is one with us. Since we have such a Spirit in us, there is no difficulty that we are unable to overcome. Since we have such a Spirit in us, there are no situations that we are unable to pass through. Thus, we have to say, Hallelujah! The God who is the Spirit is in us, and He is greater than the world (1 John 4:4).