The Spirit - God's relationship with men
Daily Nourishment
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John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
Genesis 1:2 ... and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the surface of the waters.
God wants a relationship with us. That’s pretty incredible, that God would want to have a relationship with normal people like us. But what does this relationship look like? What kind of relationship is it that God want to have with us? Do we throw the football in the backyard with God, or do we call God up and ask him for a date or anything like that? It doesn’t work this way. The reason for this is that God is Spirit. The Bible is clear about this. John 4:24 says “God is Spirit.” So this is very clear.
"Spirit" in Genesis 1:2 is Hebrew ruach, variously translated spirit, wind, breath. This is the first mentioning of the Spirit in the Bible. The Spirit of God, as the Spirit of life, came to brood over the waters of death in order to generate life, especially man, for God’s purpose. In spiritual experience, the Spirit’s coming is the first requirement for generating life.
What is God? God is a spiritual substance. In John 4:24 Jesus says that God is Spirit. This table next to me is made of wood; wood is its substance. Likewise, God is Spirit; the substance of the divine being of God is Spirit
God is Spirit for man to contact Him and receive Him into man, and man has a spirit for man to contact God and contain God that God and man may have an organic union If God were not the Spirit, He could not contact us, and we could not contact Him. God the Father is the source; God the Son is the course; and God the Spirit is the flow to reach us. Thus, the Spirit is the reaching of the Divine Trinity to man. God reaches us in the Son as the Spirit. Ephesians 2:18 says, "For through Him we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father." The Spirit is the access for us to contact God, receive God, and contain God. This is so that we and God may have an organic union. Our union with God is not like the union in today's American labor unions. That union is in an organizational and coexisting way, but our union with God is organic. It is a union not only of coexistence but also of coinherence.
Today we are coinhering with God. He lives in us, and we live in Him. In John 15 the Lord said, "Abide in Me and I in you". First John 4:15 and 16 speak of God abiding in us and us in God. This is a mutual abiding, and this mutual abiding is coinherence. It is only after being regenerated to have God in us as our life and nature that we are in union with God organically. This union is a coinherence, a mutual abiding. This is the Bible's revelation concerning God and man. We all have to know Him and know ourselves to such an extent.
Genesis 1:27 And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Romans 9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy; which he had before prepared unto glory.
Psalms 51:10 create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
1 Thess. 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How can you have a relationship with a God who is Spirit? How does it work? The answer is that man is built to have a relationship with God. In Genesis 1:27 we see that God created man in His own image. In Romans 9:23, Paul says that we are vessels to contain God. A vessel is a container. A vessel contains things, and man is built to contain God! This is how we are built. 1 Thess 5:23 says "And the God of peace sanctify you wholly. And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete at the coming of our lord Jesus Christ." This verse reveals that we are made of three parts. We have a spirit, soul and body. We're not just flesh and blood creatures. We have a body, but we also have a soul and a spirit. Our human spirit is the part of us that allows us to have a relationship with God. 1 Cor 6:17 says "He who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit." We are joined to the Lord in spirit. This is the basis of our relationship with God. When you get saved, you are joined to the Lord in spirit. How incredible is this? You can have a relationship with God in spirit!
The spirit of man was specifically formed by God (Zech. 12:1; Job 32:8). Zechariah 12:1 says that God stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him. In this universe are three equally important things: the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man has a spirit for God. God created the heavens for the earth. Without the heavens the earth cannot grow anything. The earth is for man, and man has a spirit within him to contain God. Thus, man is the center of the entire universe, and the center of man is his spirit. This is very important. As far as God is concerned, if there were no spirit within man, man would be an empty shell. If there were no man on this earth, the earth would be a void and the heavens useless. We praise the Lord that the heavens serve the earth, the earth serves man, and man has a spirit to receive God. Praise the Lord that "there is a spirit in man"!
The record in Genesis 1 and 2 tells us about God's creation. It says God created the heavens and then the earth with the plant life and animal life. But when the record comes to the creation of man, it gives us a particular point. This point is that within man, God created a spirit out of His breath of life. This is something particular in the completion of God's purpose in the creation of the heavens and the earth. God created the heavens and the earth because He wants to have man as His expression. In order for man to be God's expression, this man needs a spirit to contact God and to contain God. God created the heavens for the earth, God created the earth for man, and God created a spirit for man so that man can contact Him to be one with Him organically
In His creation God made three crucial, equally important items—the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man was created by God with a spirit that he may contact God, receive God, worship God, live God, fulfill God’s purpose for God, and be one with God. In His economy God planned to have Christ as the centrality and universality of His move on earth. For His chosen people, who would care for Him as the Creator and as the Redeemer, there was the need for Him to create a receiving organ so that they would have the capacity to receive all that God had planned for Christ to be.
New Testament
1 Cor. 6:17 he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
John 14:16-18 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.
Old Testament
1 Samuel 16:13-14 And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and Spirit of Jehovah rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul...
Psalms 51:11 Do not cast me from Your presence, and do not take the Spirit of Your holiness away from me.
The way man is built is that we’re like a cup, and God is like the water. To fulfill your purpose in life is just to have this water. This is our whole purpose as people - we’re just built to be containers of God. John 14:16-18 says “I will ask the Father and give you another comforter that He may be with you forever. Even the spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. But you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you. God says that He’s giving us Himself as the Spirit, and will be with us forever. He’s not going to leave! In the Old Testament, God did put Himself into people but it was only a select few, and soon after God was done doing what He wanted with those people, He would leave. He left those people, but now God offers us something different. He wants us to be with Him forever in our spirit and to be joined to Him. This is incredible! And this is the purpose of our lives. A lot of Christians are sometimes confused about what their purpose in life is. I have known so many who are thinking “should I feed the poor? Should I go to another country and preach the gospel?” Those are secondary to man’s first purpose in life, which is just to contain God.
What is God? God is a spiritual substance. In John 4:24 Jesus says that God is Spirit. This table next to me is made of wood; wood is its substance. Likewise, God is Spirit; the substance of the divine being of God is Spirit. The organ by which we can substantiate such a divine being is our human spirit. If we try to experience God without exercising our spirit, it will be like attempting to substantiate colors without exercising our sight. If we use the wrong organ, it is impossible to substantiate God. We praise God that in His creation He formed a spirit within us. Since we were made as vessels to contain God, we do need our spirit as the proper receiver.
The receiver in our physical body is our stomach. If we had a mouth without a stomach, it would be impossible to receive food for the supply of the whole body. The stomach is not only a receiver but also a digestive organ which assimilates food and dispenses it into the blood cells. Eventually, the substance of the digested and assimilated food becomes our very organic tissues. God has the intention of dispensing Himself into us. How can He do this? He does it by being food to us. The Lord Jesus Himself told us that He came as the bread of life (John 6:35). He also said, "He who eats Me shall also live because of Me" (John 6:57). This means that Jesus is not only our Savior, Redeemer, and life, but also our life supply. He is the bread of life. God desires to dispense Himself into us by being food for us to receive. What organ do we use to take God into us? Our human spirit.
Matthew 1:23 "behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel" (which is translated, God with us).
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
2 Cor. 3:17 And the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
So what's the whole point of Jesus? Why don't we just call ourselves "spiritual God people" and not Christians? The reason for this is that Jesus is the unique way to have a spiritual relationship with God. Without Jesus you can’t have a spiritual relationship with God. In the New Testament and in the Old Testament, Jesus is called Immanuel, which means “God with us”. He is God with us today. He didn’t just come down to be a man, live and die, and go back to leave us. He is still with us today. The most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into Him would not perish but would have eternal life.” God gave us His Son! He didn’t just give Him to the people in 0 Ad to 33 AD. He gave Him to everyone, for everyone to have and possess. Colossians 1:27 says “to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ is in us. Through His living on earth, death and resurrection, He was able to impart Himself into us as the Spirit. Christ is the only way to have a spiritual relationship with God, because Christ is the Spirit. You can’t approach God apart from Christ because He is the Spirit. He’s the One who has come to us and has been joined to us.
The Spirit, who is the ultimate expression of the Triune God, was not yet in John 7:39 because at that time Jesus had not yet been glorified. He had not yet finished the process that He, as the embodiment of God, had to pass through. After his resurrection, that is, after the finishing of all the processes, such as incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, that the Triune God had to pass through in man for his redemptive economy, He became a life-giving Spirit. In the New Testament, this life-giving Spirit is called “the Spirit”, the Spirit who gives us divine life and frees us from the bondage of the law.
Through creation Adam became a living soul with a soulish body. Through resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit with a spiritual body. Adam as a living soul is natural; Christ as a life-giving Spirit is resurrected. First, in incarnation He became flesh for redemption; then, in resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit for the imparting of life. Through incarnation He had a soulish body, as Adam had; through resurrection He has a spiritual body. His soulish body has become a spiritual one through resurrection. Now He is a life-giving Spirit in resurrection, with a spiritual body, ready to be received by His believers. When we believe into Him, He enters our spirit, and we are joined to Him as the life-giving Spirit. Hence, we become one spirit with Him. Our spirit is made alive and is resurrected with Him. Eventually, our present soulish body will become a spiritual body in resurrection, just like His.
John 14:19-20 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold me; because I live, you also shall live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Romans 8:9-10 But if you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
1 Cor 15:45 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul"; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Christ is the center of our Christian life, because without Him we cannot have God. Why is this important? For a long time I loved the Lord. But I didn’t know that He was the Spirit, and that He was in me. We all go through hard times in our life, uncertain times. I myself have. What’s more loving and comforting? A God who is in heaven doing a miracle here and there and helping us out, or a God who is truly with us, who is joined to us, who has given us His son, even the Spirit of His Son, to be with us forever? To me, this is much more incredible than a God sitting in heaven saving us at the end of our lives. He’s with us our whole lives and He’s not finished with us!
We have died with Christ through His death, but now He lives in us through His resurrection. His living in us is entirely by His being the life-giving Spirit… The “I”, the natural person, inclines to keep the law that it might be perfect, but God wants us to live Christ that God might be expressed in us through Him. Hence, God’s economy is that the “I” be crucified in Christ’s death and that Christ lives in us in His resurrection.
When the believers believe into Christ, they receive the Spirit. It is a serious misunderstanding to consider Christ as separate from the Spirit. At the time of regeneration we believed into Christ, and we also received the Spirit and were sealed with the Spirit. At that very moment an organic union took place – we were grafted in to the Triune God, and the Spirit as the pledge became the ultimate blessing of the gospel to us. After this, receiving the Spirit is a lifelong continuous matter. God is supplying the Spirit to us continuously.
The “Spirit of God” and the “Spirit of Christ” are not two Spirits but one… “The Spirit of God” implies that this Spirit is of the One who was from eternity past, who created the universe and is the origin of all things. “The Spirit of Christ” implies that this Spirit is the embodiment and reality of Christ, the incarnated One. This Christ accomplished everything necessary to fulfill God’s plan. He includes not only divinity, which He possessed from eternity, but also humanity, which He obtained through incarnation. He also includes human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This is the Spirit of Christ in resurrection, that is, Christ Himself dwelling in our spirit to impart Himself, the embodiment of the processed Triune God, into us as resurrection life to deal with the death that is in our nature. Thus we may live today in Christ’s resurrection, in Christ Himself, by living in the mingled spirit.
Christ, who dwells in our spirit to be our life and person, is our hope of glory. When he comes we will be glorified in Him. This indicates that the indwelling Christ will saturate our entire being that our physical body may be transformed and conformed to the body of His glory.
2 Cor. 5:17 so then, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old things have passed away, behold, they have become new.
The result of our having a spiritual relationship with Christ is that we are new creations in Christ. A lot of people have used the term “born again”, and this is what that means. If you have Christ, you are born again. You’re a new creation because your whole makeup is entirely different. You’re not the same person – God has been added to your being!
So what does it mean to be a Christian? Does it mean that you go to a certain place on Sundays? Does it mean that you have a certain political agenda? Does it mean that you’re following a certain set of rules and regulations to be a good person? Being a Christian is just being joined to God in one spirit!
In 2 Cor. 5:17 The apostles would no longer know anyone according to the flesh, because anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old things of the flesh have passed away through the death of Christ, and all has become new in Christ’s resurrection.
The old creation does not have the divine life and nature, but the new creation, constituted of the believers, who are born again of God, does. Hence, the believers are a new creation, not according to the old nature of the flesh but according to the new nature of the divine life.
The old creation is our old man is Adam, our natural being by birth, without God’s life and the divine nature. The new creation is the new man in Christ, our being regenerated by the Spirit, having God’s life and the divine nature wrought into it, having Christ as its constituent, and having become a new constitution. This refers to the nature, the inward and intrinsic organic constituent, of the church. Thus, the new creation is composed of sons; it is a corporate, divine sonship brought forth through Christ’s redemption, the Spirit’s regeneration, and God’s dispensing Himself into us, and through our entering collectively as this new man into an organic union with the Triune God.
The old creation was old because it did not have God’s element; the new creation is new because it has God as its element. Although we are still the old creation, we experience the reality of the new creation when we walk according to the Spirit…This new creation fulfills God’s purpose which is to express Himself in His sonship.