BASIC WORD THE ALL-INCLUSIVE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT AND OUR REGENERATED HUMAN SPIRIT

        THE ALL-INCLUSIVE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT AND

OUR REGENERATED HUMAN SPIRIT

In eternity past God existed outside of creation and time. One day He created the universe and man because He needed man for the carrying out of His economy. In order to have man, God needed to create the earth, and in order to have the earth, He needed to create the heavens. Thus, Zechariah 12:1 says, “Jehovah...stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.” God created the heavens for the earth and the earth for man, and He formed the spirit of man within him for God.

One day God entered into creation by becoming a man (John 1:1, 14). Then as man He went to the cross and was crucified and buried in a tomb. After His crucifixion He resurrected from the dead, and later He entered into ascension. Through His resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit. Now as the life-giving Spirit, He is just like the air; He is available everywhere on the whole earth, and He is waiting and expecting that many will open their being to believe in Him and call upon Him (Rom. 10:9-13). As long as a person will open to the Lord only a little, He as the life-giving Spirit will enter into the innermost part of that person—his spirit. Today the spot in which the Triune God in Christ as the Savior, Redeemer, Lord, and life-giving Spirit dwells within the believers is their regenerated human spirit (8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22).

All that the Triune God is, has, and has passed through is in the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, who is now in the believer’s regenerated spirit. God, our Redeemer, Savior, Lord, and Master, is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Eternity, incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension with Christ’s enthronement and crowning are in this Spirit. Such a Spirit includes many items, such as life, light, love, grace, truth, holiness, righteousness, victory, virtue, and humility. He is every positive thing. This is not a doctrinal teaching but the revelation in the Bible.

The all-inclusive life-giving Spirit indwells the regenerated human spirit, and these two spirits mingle together to be one spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” Even though we may consider ourselves to be nothing, according to Paul’s word in this verse, we who are nothing can be one spirit with the Lord. No matter what our status, age, culture, or race may be, we have the capacity to be one spirit with the Lord. Moreover, as regenerated believers, we are joined to the Lord and are thus one spirit with Him. This is a profound mystery, yet it is a fact.

Our mingled spirit and our union with the Lord must be factors that affect our life spiritually and practically. Sometimes people ask me how I am able to speak vigorously all the time without becoming tired. The answer to this question is that there is a factor within me that always energizes me—the Christ of glory as the life-giving Spirit in my spirit (Phil. 4:13; 1 Tim. 1:12).

The truth concerning the life-giving Spirit indwelling our regenerated spirit is difficult for some Christian leaders to accept. They consider that since Christ has ascended into the heavens, He cannot be the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. Such a concept is wrong. Christ as the Spirit is not limited by space or time. He can be in the heavens and in our spirit at the same time. Just as electricity is at a power plant and at the same time in a home located far from the power plant, so also Christ dwells in the heavens and in our regenerated spirit at the same time (Rom. 8:10, 34; 2 Tim. 4:22). Actually, if Christ were not in the heavens, He would not be as prevailing to us as He is today.

Our Christ is real, living, present, and available. He is also within us (2 Cor. 13:5; Col. 1:27). We need to declare this fact to people. Often we are silent and do not speak these facts to others because we do not pray. If we pray for half an hour, Christ as the factor, the heavenly motor within us, will begin to energize and encourage us to live Him and speak Him to others. Religion is dead, but Christ is living, and we can go to Him and contact Him in our spirit by praying. into death by crucifixion (Gal. 3:1). When He passed through death, He was not merely a man but a God-man, God in man and with man. Thus, when He was crucified on the cross, God passed through death in Him. After His crucifixion He entered into resurrection (Acts 2:23-24). Then from resurrection, in resurrection, and with resurrection He ascended to the third heaven (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9-10) and was crowned, enthroned, and glorified (2:36; Heb. 2:9). Also, through resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). This is fully revealed in the holy Word.

                        Living Christ by Walking according to the Mingled Spirit

God’s economy is just Christ lived out of His chosen, redeemed, and regenerated people. The wonderful Triune God in the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit is now in our regenerated spirit. As we pointed out earlier, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit,” 2 Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit,” and Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit.” It is a wonder in the entire universe that the divine Spirit is one with our regenerated human spirit. Based upon this oneness with the Lord in our spirit, we can live Christ by walking according to our mingled spirit (v. 4).

We should not be distracted to care for anything other than walking according to the mingled spirit. Regrettably, many Christians do not know how to walk according to the spirit. Suppose two brothers who meet in the same locality and who love the Lord and the church begin to quarrel. When they take their problem to a responsible brother in their locality and ask him to judge between them, the responsible brother may begin to evaluate the situation based on the two brothers’ speaking and their countenances in order to discern which brother is right and which is wrong. To deal with the two brothers in this way is to take the human way, that is, to deal with them by living ourselves.

If the responsible brother deals with the two quarreling brothers by living Christ, while he is listening to the brothers, he may begin to pray and inquire of the Lord inwardly, “Lord, what would You speak to these brothers? What is Your realization of the situation? Lord, what would You do? How will You address each of these brothers?” While he is listening to the brothers, he is praying. This is to pray unceasingly and to live not by the self, our natural life, but by another life, Christ Himself. We may have our own strength and discernment, but we need to give these up and pray, “Lord, I do not want to live by myself. I want to live by You, and I want to live You. What would You say? How do You feel? What is Your discernment concerning this situation?” This is to live not by our life but by Christ as our life (Col. 3:4).

After the responsible brother listens to the quarreling brothers, in oneness with the Lord through much prayer, the Lord may lead him to speak a word to both brothers. Then whatever the Lord speaks through this responsible brother will be either light shining over them or life supplying them within. In this way both brothers will receive genuine help in life and will be enlightened and nourished with the life supply.

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