Through His death on the cross, Christ accomplished God's redemption, signified by the shedding of His blood, and released His divine life, signified by the flowing of water out of Him (John 19:34). This is the fourth step of His coming. In the fifth step of His coming, Christ, as the last Adam, became the life-giving, life-dispensing Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) through His resurrection. Now, whoever believes into Him may have the eternal, divine life (John 3:16, 36a; 20:31). This is the sixth step of His coming.
In order for God to reach the destination of our spirit, many steps were required. The almighty God in the heavens came down from His heavenly dwelling and passed through many problems, obstacles, and hindrances in order to reach our spirit. He laid down His life in His human nature, dying in the form of a serpent in order to deal with our serpentine nature. He accomplished redemption, which solved the problems of Satan, the world, the sinful nature, the self, the old man, sin, and sins. Christ's redemption was like the construction of a modern highway. The highways in the United States were built by straightening curves, leveling hills, and bridging gaps and rivers. Christ's redemption has bridged all the gaps, leveled all the hills, and straightened out all the curves. The shedding of Christ's blood has accomplished an eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12).
In addition to the shedding of His blood, water flowed out of Him (John 19:34). The flowing of the water out of Him indicates the release of His divine life through His death and resurrection. In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). The One who was incarnated, who lived a human life on this earth, who was crucified and buried, who went into Hades, and who walked out of death and was released from death, Hades, and the grave, became a life-giving Spirit. As the lifegiving Spirit, He can now enter into man.
The process of Christ's becoming the life-giving Spirit may be likened to the process whereby a melon becomes juice. Some years ago in Taiwan, I brought a large melon home for my children. In a joking way, I asked them to tell me how they could get that big melon into them. They were puzzled by my question and were unable to tell me how the big melon could get into them. Eventually, I cut the big melon into small slices. Because the melon was in small slices, my children could easily eat it. Though my children enjoyed the slices, I went further and pressed the slices until the juice of the melon came out. Everyone could then drink the juice. This made everyone very happy. Eventually, the entire melon was processed, and it soon disappeared within the stomachs of my children. After a few hours, the big melon reached every part of their being.
In a similar way, God has been processed in order to reach man's spirit. All the steps of God's coming are the processes needed for Him to become the "juice" for man to drink. Christ was "cut into slices" on the cross and "pressed" through death and resurrection until He became "juice." As the life-giving Spirit, He is like melon juice. Now we can drink Him. The New Testament gives a strong charge to the believers to drink Christ. In John 7:37 the Lord Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink," and in Revelation 22:17 the Spirit and the bride say, "Let him who is thirsty also come...take the water of life freely." As the Spirit, the Lord is ready for all of us to drink Him. By believing in the Lord Jesus, exercising our spirit to call upon His name, He reaches our spirit. How marvelous! This is the initial step through which God becomes man's life in the New Testament.