THE CRUCIAL POINTS OF THE MAJOR ITEMS OF THE LORD'S RECOVERY TODAY
Message Four
The Consummated Spirit
Scripture Reading: John 1:14, 29; 7:39; 20:22; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Gal. 3:14; Phil. 1:19
I. The term the consummated Spirit implies that the Spirit has been processed and thus has become the consummated Spirit—John 7:39; Gal. 3:14:
A. According to the revelation in the Bible, the Spirit of God eventually became the consummated, all-inclusive, and compound Spirit—Phil. 1:19.
B. Regarding the consummated Spirit, the negligence, ignorance, deficiency, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation on the part of Christian teachers has reached the climax; thus, there is the need for the truth concerning the consummated Spirit to be recovered.
II. The consummated Spirit is the Triune God after He has passed through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection—John 7:39:
A. The process through which the Triune God passed to become the Spirit is an economical, not essential, matter—1:14; Heb. 9:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b:
1. With God, change can never be essential; it can only be economical.
2. In His economy God has changed in the sense of being processed; although God has changed in His economy, He has not changed in His essence.
B. Processed refers to the steps through which the Triune God has passed in the divine economy; consummated indicates that the process has been completed; and the consummated Spirit implies that the Spirit of God has been processed and has become the consummated Spirit—John 7:39.
C. The consummated Spirit is the compound of the Triune God, the man Jesus, His human living, His death, and His resurrection—v. 39; Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:10-11; Phil. 1:19.
III. Concerning the consummated Spirit, there are three major and crucial points:
A. The Spirit of God has been compounded to become the compound ointment, as revealed in Exodus 30:23-25.
B. The Spirit was "not yet" before Jesus' glorification in resurrection, as revealed in John 7:39:
1. The Spirit of God was there from the beginning (Gen. 1:2), but the Spirit as "the Spirit of Christ" (Rom. 8:9), "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:19), was "not yet" at the time of John 7:39, because He was not yet glorified.
2. The Lord Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected, and through this glorification the Spirit of God became the Spirit of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Jesus Christ—Luke 24:26; Phil. 1:19.
3. The last Adam, who was Christ in the flesh, became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection; since then, the Spirit of Jesus Christ has both divine and human elements, including the reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ—1 Cor. 15:45b; Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9.
C. The Spirit is considered to be the seven Spirits of God to function as the seven lamps before the throne of God and the seven eyes of the Lamb, as revealed in Revelation 1:4; 4:5; and 5:6.
IV. The consummated Spirit was breathed as the holy breath into the disciples by the Son in resurrection—John 20:22:
A. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ became flesh to be the Lamb of God and that in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit; thus, in His resurrection Christ breathed Himself as the consummated Spirit into the disciples—1:29; 20:22:
1. The Holy Spirit in John 20:22 is the Spirit expected in 7:39 and promised in 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; and 16:7-8, 13; this indicates that the Lord's breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of the promise of another Comforter.
2. The Christ who breathed Himself into the disciples is the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b.
3. By breathing the Spirit into the disciples, the Lord Jesus imparted Himself into them as life and everything.
4. The Holy Spirit in John 20:22 is actually the resurrected Christ Himself, because this Spirit is His breath; therefore, the Spirit is the breath of the Son.
5. The Lord is the Spirit who gives life, and this Spirit is our breath; the Word, who was God, became flesh to be the Lamb of God, and in resurrection He became the holy breath for us to breathe in—2 Cor. 3:6, 17; John 1:29; 20:22.
B. The consummated Spirit as the breath is everything to us in living the Christian life; only the breath, the Spirit, can be a Christian and can be an overcomer—Gal. 3:2-3, 14; Phil. 1:19; Rev. 2:7.
V. The consummated Spirit is the divine and mystical realm into which we may enter and in which we may live—John 7:39:
A. The three of the Divine Trinity are self-existing, ever-existing, coexisting, and coinhering, and as such, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are a divine and mystical realm—Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14.
B. The divine and mystical realm into which we may enter is not simply the divine and mystical realm of the Triune God but the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit—Phil. 1:19.
C. With the Triune God Himself as a divine and mystical realm, there are no "complications," but in the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit there are a number of "complications," all of which are blessings to us—Exo. 30:23-25:
1. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we have not only divinity but also the humanity of Christ, the death of Christ with its effectiveness, and the resurrection of Christ with its power—Phil. 3:10.
2. In the wonderful realm of the consummated Spirit, the compound Spirit, we have whatever we need—Exo. 30:23-25.
D. As believers in Christ, we may live in and experience the consummated Spirit as the divine and mystical realm:
1. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we receive the Spirit as the unique, all-inclusive blessing—Gal. 3:14.
2. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we receive the transmission of the ascended Christ and the supply of His heavenly ministry—Eph. 1:22; Heb. 8:1-2.
3. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we experience God's organic salvation and reign in life—Rom. 5:10, 17, 21.
4. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we live in the kingdom of God as the realm of the divine species—John 3:3, 5.
5. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we live in the fellowship of the divine life, which is the reality of living in the Body of Christ—1 John 1:3, 7; Acts 2:42; Rom. 12:5.
6. In the divine and mystical realm of the consummated Spirit, we are mingled with the Triune God for the keeping of the oneness—John 17:21, 23; Eph. 4:3:
a. The real oneness is in the Triune God—John 17:21, 23.
b. The genuine oneness is the mingling of the believers with the Triune God.