In Christ’s crucifixion, not only were all things terminated on the cross, but the divine life was released. The divine life was released out of the one grain of wheat to produce many grains, the many sons of God. Now we are no longer sinners and no longer the old man. We no longer belong to the old creation, but we are now sons of God and members of Christ. Ultimately, we are the church, the Body of Christ.
In His resurrection, Christ imparted the divine life into our being. He brought the Triune God into our being to cause us to be born of God (1 Pet. 1:3). Furthermore, in resurrection He became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to enter into our being and to be one with us (1 Cor. 15:45b; John 20:22; 1 Cor. 6:17). Now the resurrected Christ is living within us (2 Cor. 13:5; Rom. 8:10). How wonderful!
After His resurrection, He ascended to the heavens to be made the Lord of the entire universe, that He might possess the universe (Acts 2:36; 10:36). In His ascension He was also made the Christ of God to carry out God’s commission (Acts 2:36). Furthermore, He was made the Head over all things to the church and for the church (Eph. 1:22). This was for the formation of the church. Then, in His ascension He poured out the all-inclusive Spirit, who was Himself, even the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God, upon His Body (Acts 2:33). In this way, He baptized His members in the Spirit into one Body (1 Cor. 12:13).
Now, within us we have the essential Spirit, the Spirit’s divine essence, and upon us we have the economical Spirit, the Spirit of God’s economy. In other words, within us we have the processed Triune God as our essence, and upon us we have the processed Triune God for His economy. Within us we have the Spirit of life, and upon us we have the Spirit of power. Within and without, inside and outside, we are full of the Spirit. This is vital to the church life. The church is not an organization or merely a human society. The church is the living Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22b-23). It is an organic matter. It is an organism full of the Triune God, saturated with the Triune God, and clothed with the Triune God. The Triune God is within us as life, and the Triune God is upon us as clothing. Within we have the Triune God as our infilling, and without we have the Triune God as our clothing. Hallelujah, this is the church!
At this point I wish to say a word concerning the factor of the Spirit.
In the Bible the Spirit is first called the Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2). Actually, the Spirit of God is just God Himself. Let us use the current of electricity as an illustration. The current of electricity is simply electricity itself. The current of electricity is electricity in motion. If electricity is not in motion, there is no current of electricity. In like manner, the Spirit of God is God moving. When electricity moves, it is the current; when God moves, He is the Spirit.
We should not make the mistake of separating the Spirit of God from God Himself. To do so would not be logical. It is impossible to separate the current of electricity from electricity itself. If we could separate the current of electricity from electricity, there would be no current. In the same way, we cannot separate the Spirit from God, because the Spirit is simply God Himself in His move. If we separate the Spirit from God, there would be no Spirit. Therefore, whenever we read in the Bible concerning the Spirit, we need to realize that the Spirit is God Himself in His move.
Throughout the ages God has moved in different ways. First, God moved in His creation. Speaking of God in His creation, Genesis 1:2 says, “And the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters” (lit.). This verse indicates clearly that in God’s creation the Spirit is called the Spirit of God.