From Life-study of Luke, Message 62.
THE REPRODUCTION OF THE GOD-MAN (1)
In this message and in the message following we shall consider the reproduction of the God-man. As we shall see, the reproduction of the God-man requires that we be reborn of the pneumatic Christ in our spirit, that we be transformed by the pneumatic Christ in our soul, and that we live Christ as the God-man.
HOW THE LORD BECOMES THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT
After living a wonderful and excellent life, the Man-Savior went to the cross and died. Then in His resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). How did Christ become a life-giving Spirit in His resurrection? Notice that we are not asking why He became a life-giving Spirit, but how, in what way, He became a Spirit. The answer to this question is that the Man-Savior became a life-giving Spirit with a wonderful, all-inclusive qualification. The Lord Jesus was both God and man. For thirty-three and a half years He lived the life of a God-man; that is, He lived a human life by the divine life for the expression of God. After living this kind of life, He died on the cross as the all-inclusive One….
THE EXTRACT OF THE ALL-INCLUSIVE CHRIST
The life-giving Spirit is actually an extract of the all-inclusive Christ….An extract may be defined as liquid extracted from a plant or other organic matter and that contains its essence in concentrated form. A synonym for extract is “spirit,” which is the essence of a substance extracted in liquid form. Wine, for example, may be regarded as an extract, or spirit, of grapes. Whenever we extract the essence of a particular substance, we get the spirit of that substance. Furthermore, an extract of something will always include the essence, elements, and substance of that thing. Suppose, for instance, that we have the extract of an orange. This extract will comprise the essence, the elements, the nature, and the substance of that orange. In a similar way, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit comprises all that Christ is, all that He went through, and all that He accomplished, attained, and obtained.
Many Christians do not realize that the Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit. In Philippians 1:19 Paul speaks of “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Here Paul does not speak of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of God, but of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In Philippians 1:19 the Spirit of God has become the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This 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 humanity, human living under the cross, crucifixion, and resurrection….
REGENERATION—THE FIRST STEP
OF THE REPRODUCTION OF THE GOD-MAN
BY THE ALL-INCLUSIVE SPIRIT
The first step of the reproduction of the God-man by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is regeneration. The Lord Jesus spoke about regeneration to Nicodemus in John 3. To this ethical, cultured, and religious gentleman, He said, “You must be born anew” (John 3:7). To be born anew, or again, is to be born of another essence, the divine essence. The Lord seemed to be saying to Nicodemus, “You were born of the human essence, and now you need to be born of another essence—the essence of God. Nicodemus, you must be born of God.”
Born of the Spirit
To be born of God is to be born of the Spirit. What is the Spirit? The Spirit is the extract of God. Actually, this extract is not merely of God; it is also of Jesus Christ. The regenerating Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
If we compare John 3:6 with John 3:14 and 15, we shall see that the Spirit here is the extract of Jesus Christ. In John 3:6 the Lord Jesus says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” If we would have the divine life, we must be born of the Spirit. In John 3:14 and 15 the Lord Jesus goes on to say, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that every one who believes in Him may have eternal life.” Here the Lord refers to Himself as the crucified and resurrected Christ. Whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Having eternal life is equal to being reborn. In other words, to be reborn is to have the divine life.
What does it mean to be born again, to be born of the Spirit? To be born of the Spirit is to receive the divine life. In these verses from John 3 we first have the Spirit and then the crucified and resurrected Son of Man. As we compare these verses we see that here the Spirit is the extract of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of whom we are born to have eternal life is the extract of the crucified and resurrected Christ. Crucifixion is a “pressing” that produces an extract. When pressure is applied to an orange, we get the juice as the extract of the orange. We may compare the crucifixion of Christ to the pressing of an orange. When Christ was on the cross, He was “pressed.” After being pressed on the cross, He came forth as the “juice” of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Furthermore, just as the essence, elements, nature, and substance of an orange are in the extract, so the essence, elements, nature, and substance of Christ are in the all-inclusive Spirit. It is by this Spirit that Christ, the God-man, is reproduced.
Receiving the Spirit
by Calling on the Name of the Lord
In our preaching of the gospel we need to tell others that Christ is the life-giving Spirit. We need to tell them that Christ was pressed on the cross to become the Spirit. Now if sinners repent, believe in Him, and call on Him, they will receive the Spirit. Whenever a person calls on the Lord Jesus, he receives the Spirit. This Spirit is actually the reality of Jesus Christ as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
In Acts 2 we have the outpouring of the Spirit. In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes Joel’s word about the pouring out of God’s Spirit upon all flesh and his word that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Since God has poured out His Spirit, what people need to do in order to be saved is to call on the name of the Lord. Whoever calls on the Lord’s name will be saved, and to be saved is actually to receive the Spirit.
As we have pointed out a number of times, the name denotes the person. Jesus is the name of the Lord, and the Spirit is His person. Therefore, when we call on the Lord’s name, we receive His person, the Spirit. This is what it means to be saved.
Some Christians oppose this matter of calling on the Lord. They say falsely that this is mere shouting or vain repetition. However, calling on the Lord’s name is not vain. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we call on the name of the dear, all-inclusive One, the One who is above all. God has given this One a name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9). We can testify that when we call on the name of Jesus, the Spirit comes. Jesus is His name, and the Spirit is His person, the extract of His being.
The reality of a person’s name is the person himself. For this reason, when we call the name of a particular person who is present, the person responds. The principle is the same with calling on the name of Jesus. Whenever we call on this name, we get the person. Since the person is the Spirit, when we call on the name of Jesus, we receive the Spirit. From experience we know that when we believe in Jesus and call on His name, the Spirit comes as the all-inclusive Person to be our life….
Born of the Pneumatic Christ in Our Spirit
The first step in the reproduction of the God-man is that we be reborn of the pneumatic Christ in our spirit with His divine life and nature. I like the term “pneumatic Christ.” Since the Spirit in John 3:6 is the extract of the all-inclusive Christ, He is actually the pneumatic Christ. In this verse the Lord Jesus does not speak of being born of the Spirit of God or of the Holy Spirit; He speaks of being born of the Spirit. The Spirit introduces us to the pneumatic Christ.
What is the pneumatic Christ? The pneumatic Christ is Christ after resurrection being the life-giving Spirit. We have been born of the pneumatic Christ in our spirit with His divine life and nature.
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