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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:2
III. John 7:39 says, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified”:
E. This compound Spirit, as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), carries out the dynamic salvation of God organically in regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, and conformation, as we have seen in the previous chapters. In all these aspects the all-inclusive Spirit, as the life-giving Spirit, gives, imparts, dispenses, and distributes the divine life into the believers. This becomes the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for the believers to live Christ and magnify Christ (Phil. 1:19-21) and to practice the church life as unveiled in the last five chapters of Romans concerning the Body of Christ and the local churches. This is evidenced by Romans 14:17, which says that the righteousness, peace, and joy of such an all-inclusive Spirit are the reality of the kingdom of God in the church life.
F. Such an all-inclusive Spirit, as the Spirit of life, becomes the seven Spirits of God in the dark age of the church in its degradation. The seven Spirits of God are the one Spirit in His sevenfold intensification. The sevenfold Spirit is to make the faithful followers of Jesus Christ the overcomers to overcome the legality of Judaism, the apostasy of Catholicism, the deadness of Protestantism, and the lukewarmness of the Brethren that they may close the present age of the church (Rev. 2—3).
G. This processed Spirit eventually becomes the realization of Christ, the application of the pneumatized Christ, the pneumatic Christ in the believers’ experience of Him, and the ultimate consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God as the reality of the divine resurrection of Christ in God’s new creation.
H. This processed all-inclusive Spirit, as the processed and consummated Triune God, marries the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man, and they send a proclamation, as the proclamation of the consummated Triune God with His bride, the church, to the ones who are thirsty for the water of life (22:17). The two become a universal couple to be the union of God and man, a mutual habitation of God and man, and the expression of the mingling of God and man in its expansion as the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
I. The Nicene Creed is fundamental but not complete. It does not cover:
1. “The Spirit was not yet” (John 7:39).
2. “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45b).
3. “The Lord is the Spirit,” the transforming Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17-18).
4. The compound Spirit compounded with Christ’s divinity and His humanity and with His sweet death, the sweet effectiveness of His death, and His all-conquering resurrection with its repelling power (Exo. 30:23-28).
5. The sevenfold intensified Spirit (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).
In this chapter we want to see more concerning the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). The Spirit of life is a particular, extraordinary title given to the Spirit of God in the New Testament economy. In the Old Testament economy, the Spirit of God was just the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jehovah. But in the New Testament economy, the Spirit of God has become much more.
The compound Spirit, as the Spirit of life, carries out the dynamic salvation of God organically in regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, and conformation, as we have seen in the previous chapters. Regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, and conformation are the five major steps of God’s dynamic salvation. In all these aspects the all-inclusive Spirit, as the life-giving Spirit, gives, imparts, dispenses, and distributes the divine life into the believers. This becomes the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ for the believers to live Christ and magnify Christ (Phil. 1:19-21) and to practice the church life as unveiled in the last five chapters of Romans concerning the Body of Christ and the local churches. This is evidenced by Romans 14:17, which says that the righteousness, peace, and joy of such an all-inclusive Spirit are the reality of the kingdom of God in the church life.
Such an all-inclusive Spirit, as the Spirit of life, becomes the seven Spirits of God in the dark age of the church in its degradation (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). The compound Spirit was consummated to produce the Body of Christ, the church. But when the church becomes degraded in this dark age, this compound Spirit becomes seven Spirits. The seven Spirits of God are the one Spirit in His sevenfold intensification. This is like the Triune God. He is not three Gods but one God who is threefold. In the same way, the one Spirit is now sevenfold. The sevenfold Spirit is to make the faithful followers of Jesus Christ the overcomers.
We may have the boldness to admit that we are the faithful followers of Jesus, but whether or not we can be counted as overcomers in God’s eyes, we dare not say. The One who can make us the overcomers is the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Both the sevenfold Spirit and the overcomers are unveiled by the Lord in Revelation. The sevenfold intensified Spirit is for the overcomers. We can never be overcomers by our own strength or effort.
The faithful followers of Jesus have to declare that they overcome their accuser, Satan, not by their own overcoming but by the blood of the Lamb (12:11). Every morning I have the strong intention to overcome. But every day before going to bed I have to confess, “Lord, forgive me. I cannot stand before You by my overcoming. Neither can I overcome my adversary, my accuser, by my own merit. Lord, I can stand before You only by the blood of the Lamb. And I can stand against Your enemy and my accuser only by the blood of the Lamb.” When we try to overcome, we still make mistakes. Quite often we are not overcomers but defeated ones. Then we may ask, “How can we be overcomers?” The Lord says that we overcome because of the blood of the Lamb. Do not believe that by doing your best you can succeed in overcoming. Paul says that although he could not find anything wrong with himself, he could not justify himself until the Lord comes (1 Cor. 4:4-5). We have to realize that we always need the blood of Christ and that it is by the sevenfold intensified Spirit that we become overcomers.
The book of Revelation shows that we are to overcome the legality of Judaism, the apostasy of Catholicism, the deadness of Protestantism, and the lukewarmness of the Brethren that we may close the present age of the church. This is clearly unveiled in Revelation 2—3.
This processed Spirit, who has been processed through the incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection of Christ, eventually becomes the realization of Christ, the application of the pneumatized Christ, the pneumatic Christ in the believers’ experience of Him, and the ultimate consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God as the reality of the divine resurrection of Christ in God’s new creation.
The processed all-inclusive Spirit, as the processed and consummated Triune God, marries the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man, and they send a proclamation, as the proclamation of the consummated Triune God with His bride, the church, to the ones who are thirsty for the water of life (22:17). The two become a universal couple to be the union of God and man, a mutual habitation of God and man, and the expression of the mingling of God and man in its expansion as the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
Today many Christians appreciate the Nicene Creed, put forth at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. This creed is still recited weekly on Sunday morning in many places. The Nicene Creed is fundamental and scriptural, but it is not complete. This is because it does not cover the five following major points.
The Nicene Creed does not mention John 7:39, which says that the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
After I came to the United States thirty-two years ago, I was filled with the burden to speak concerning Christ as the last Adam becoming a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). In 1963 I wrote some hymns in our hymnal that declare this truth (Hymns, #493, #539, #745).
The Nicene Creed does not point out that “the Lord is the Spirit,” the transforming Spirit, as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.
Another great item missed by the Nicene Creed is the compound Spirit, compounded with Christ’s divinity and His humanity and with His sweet death, the sweet effectiveness of His death, and His all-conquering resurrection with its repelling power (Exo. 30:23-28). No one can deny that there is such a type in the book of Exodus, accompanying the type of the tabernacle, with the altar, the laver, the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, the incense altar, and the Ark. In Christianity there are interpretations of these things, but none of the writers of Christianity have ever fully touched the type of the holy anointing ointment. They have missed the truth concerning the compound Spirit.
The fifth major point missed by the Nicene Creed is the sevenfold intensified Spirit (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).
Now we can see that in the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, the Spirit of God is unveiled in stage after stage. The first mention of the Spirit of God is in Genesis 1:2, which says that the Spirit was brooding upon the surface of the waters. The Spirit of God is God Himself. The Lord Jesus said, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). The Spirit is the very essence of God, the very reality of God. So when the Bible unveils the Spirit of God, this means that the Bible unveils God to us.
The first stage of the revelation of the Spirit is the Spirit of God. Then the last stage is in Revelation 22:17, which speaks of “the Spirit.” In the Old Testament there are the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah. In the New Testament there are the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Eventually, at the end of the Bible there is only “the Spirit.” The title the Spirit is mentioned for the first time in John 7:39, which says, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified [resurrected].” But at the resurrection of Christ, the Spirit was consummated to be the life-giving Spirit. Thus, at the end of the Bible there is “the Spirit.” Concerning the Spirit of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, “the Spirit of God” is at the beginning, and “the Spirit” is at the end.
When the Bible speaks of the resurrection of Christ, it says that in resurrection this very Christ who was the last Adam, a man in the flesh, became the Spirit who gives life to us (2 Cor. 3:6b) and transforms us (vv. 17-18), the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). This life-giving Spirit is the issue of a man in the flesh who was called the last Adam. The last Adam is Jesus Christ, so the life-giving Spirit is the equivalent of Christ. Christ is God’s embodiment in man (Col. 2:9), and this Christ became the life-giving Spirit. Christ is the equivalent of God plus man, and the life-giving Spirit is the equivalent of Christ. Thus, no doubt, this life-giving Spirit is a compound Spirit — a Spirit of both God and man.
The compound Spirit is compounded not only with God and man but also with Christ’s death, the effectiveness of Christ’s death, Christ’s resurrection, and the power of Christ’s resurrection. So this compound Spirit is a compound of six elements: the divine element, the human element, the death element, the effectiveness element, the resurrection element, and the power element. Eventually, this compound Spirit becomes the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
This Spirit is the very Triune God who has been processed and consummated. He is the realization of Christ, who is God embodied in man. He is also the reality of Christ, the application of the pneumatized Christ, and the very pneumatic Christ in our experience of Christ. Thus, this life-giving Spirit, the compound Spirit, the sevenfold Spirit, is altogether the Triune God Himself in many aspects. The Bible unveils all this. The Bible unveils who God is. Our God is the Triune God becoming a man to be Christ; Christ in His resurrection became the life-giving Spirit; and the life-giving Spirit is the consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God embodied in a man. Today the life-giving Spirit is everything to us.
God, man, Christ, the life-giving Spirit, the compound Spirit, and the sevenfold intensified Spirit are one thing. They are all resurrection. The reality of resurrection is the life-giving Spirit, the life-giving Spirit is the realization of Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God in man. Today we are in resurrection. When we are in resurrection, we are in the life-giving, compound, sevenfold intensified Spirit. When we are in resurrection, we are in the pneumatic Christ, the pneumatized Christ, Christ Himself. When we are in resurrection, we are in the processed and consummated Triune God.
