In the Old Testament God had not yet been incarnated and had not yet passed through death and resurrection. Thus, when the Spirit of God came out in the Old Testament, He did not have the elements of humanity and resurrection. He did not have the elements of death and resurrection. In other words, the Spirit in the Old Testament age was solely the Spirit of God, not the Spirit of death and resurrection. The elements of humanity and resurrection were not in Him. Then in the New Testament the Word became flesh. The Bible records that the birth of the Lord Jesus was due to the Holy Spirit’s entering into Mary. When God is in heaven, He is God, but when He comes out, He is the Spirit. God is also the Word (John 1:1). The Word becoming flesh is God who is the Spirit becoming flesh. At that time the Spirit entered into man.
When God became flesh, He put on man, bore man, and added humanity. After His death and resurrection He went back, bringing humanity into heaven and into God. Thus, in His death and resurrection the elements of death and resurrection were added into Him. After His ascension He descended as the Spirit and came upon man.
In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon man directly from God, but the Spirit who came upon man possessed only the element of divinity, not the elements of humanity and resurrection. Then in the New Testament age God became flesh, died, resurrected, ascended, and descended as the Spirit upon man. At that time the Spirit of God had the elements of humanity and resurrection. Before God became flesh, the Spirit of God was merely the Spirit of God, lacking the human element. One day, however, God came out, entered into man to become flesh, passed through death and resurrection, brought man into Him, ascended to heaven, and descended from heaven. Consequently, the Spirit of God now has the divinity of God, the humanity of man, and the elements of death, resurrection, and ascension. Today the Holy Spirit who comes into us has the elements of death, resurrection, and ascension. This is so mysterious!
After the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit descended. Many Christians do not understand this. They think that the Holy Spirit after the Lord’s resurrection and ascension is the same as the Spirit in the Old Testament age. Before the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, God was in heaven, and He was simply God. But now after the Lord’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension, this One who is in heaven is not that simple. He is no longer merely God but a God-man. He is God who put on humanity. He is altogether different from what He was before His incarnation. Before His incarnation He was merely God. But because of His incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension, He now has other elements in Him and is no longer merely God but a God-man. In the same way, we saved ones had merely the human element before we were saved, but once we were saved, the divine element was added into us, and we became God-men.
Since we have the principle of incarnation in us and are God-men, our inward constitution is not that simple. It is not so simple because we have another element—the divine element. God has the human element added into Him whereas man has the divine element added into him. In this way the two—God and man, man and God—are mingled as one. In the Old Testament age the Spirit was simple, but in the New Testament age the Holy Spirit is not that simple. In the Old Testament age the Spirit was simply the Spirit of God, lacking the human element and not having passed through death, resurrection, and ascension. But in the New Testament age the Holy Spirit possesses the divine element and also the human element.
Before incarnation, whenever the Spirit came upon man, He came only with the divine element. Now having passed through incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension, the Holy Spirit brings with Him five elements—God, man, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Holy Spirit who came upon Mary possessed only the element of divinity, but the Holy Spirit who was already in Peter by the time of Pentecost had five elements.