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Living with the Divine Trinity (2) God Operating in Us
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C 
The Spirit of Jesus Christ refers to the Spirit of the suffering Jesus and the resurrected Christ—Phil. 1:19:
1 
Because the Spirit of Jesus has particular reference to the Lord’s suffering, and the Spirit of Christ to His resurrection, the Spirit of Jesus Christ is related to both His suffering and His resurrection; the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of the Jesus who lived a life of suffering on earth and of the Christ who is now in resurrection—Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9; Phil. 1:19.
2 
The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of God becoming “the Spirit” mentioned in John 7:39—the Spirit of Jesus Christ through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, that Spirit with both the divine element and the human element, with all the essence and reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ.
 


Morning Nourishment
  Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

  John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

  The Spirit of God was there from the beginning (Gen. 1:1-2), but at the time the Lord spoke this word, the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19), was not yet, because the Lord had not yet been glorified. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected (Luke 24:26). After Jesus’ resurrection, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Jesus Christ, who was breathed into the disciples by Christ in the evening of the day on which He was resurrected (John 20:22). The Spirit is now the “another Comforter,” the Spirit of reality promised by Christ before His death (14:16-17). When the Spirit was the Spirit of God, He had only the divine element. After He became the Spirit of Jesus Christ through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Spirit had both the divine element and the human element, with all the essence and reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Hence, the Spirit is now the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ as the living water for us to receive (7:38-39). (John 7:39, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
  The Spirit of Jesus Christ [in Philippians 1:19] is the Spirit mentioned in John 7:39. This is not merely the Spirit of God before the Lord’s incarnation but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit with divinity, after the Lord’s resurrection, compounded with the Lord’s incarnation (humanity), human living under the cross, crucifixion, and resurrection. The holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25, a compound of olive oil with four kinds of spices, was a full type of this compound Spirit of God, who is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Here the Spirit is not the Spirit of Jesus as in Acts 16:7, nor the Spirit of Christ as in Romans 8:9, but the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is mainly for the Lord’s humanity and human living; the Spirit of Christ is mainly for the Lord’s resurrection. To experience the Lord’s humanity we need the Spirit of Jesus. To experience the power of the Lord’s resurrection we need the Spirit of Christ. In his suffering Paul experienced both the Lord’s suffering in His humanity and the Lord’s resurrection. Hence, to Paul the Spirit was the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the Triune God. Such a Spirit has and even is the bountiful supply for a person like Paul who was experiencing and enjoying Christ in His human living and resurrection. Eventually, this compound Spirit of Jesus Christ becomes the seven Spirits of God, who are the seven lamps of fire before His throne to carry out His administration on earth for the accomplishment of His economy with the church, and who are the seven eyes of the Lamb for the transfusing of all that He is into the church (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).

  Because the Spirit of Jesus has particular reference to the Lord’s suffering, and the Spirit of Christ, to His resurrection, the Spirit of Jesus Christ is related to both suffering and resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of the Jesus who lived a life of suffering on earth and of the Christ who is now in resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the reality of the One who lived on earth in humanity and of the One who resurrected from among the dead and who is now both in the heavens and dwelling in the believers and who will be the center of God’s economy for eternity. The reality of such a Jesus and such a Christ is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 857-858)

  Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” ch. 2; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 80, 88
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