X. THE LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT
AS THE RESURRECTED, PNEUMATIC CHRIST
BEING THE REALITY OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
The life-giving Spirit as the resurrected, pneumatic Christ is the reality of Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 8:9-11). In His resurrection, Christ became altogether pneumatic. When Christ was in the flesh, He was visible. But He became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and now He is invisible. The Lord Jesus is in us and in our midst in our gatherings, but He is invisible. He is pneumatic.
I learned what the word pneumatic means by seeing this word on the tire of a car. To be pneumatic is to be full of air. For us to be pneumatic as Christians is for us to be full of the Spirit, full of the divine air. Now in His resurrection the very Christ who was in the flesh is entirely pneumatic and invisible. Even though He is invisible and pneumatic today, He still has a spiritual body, a body of glory (1 Cor. 15:44; Phil. 3:21).
XI. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST BEING AN ELEMENT
OF THE COMPOUNDED ALL-INCLUSIVE SPIRIT
AS THE COMPOUND OINTMENT
The resurrection of Christ is an element of the compounded, all-inclusive Spirit as the compound ointment (Exo. 30:23-25); this makes the resurrection of Christ all-inclusive in the riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). We call the life-giving Spirit the all-inclusive Spirit because He is now the compound Spirit. In Exodus 30:23-25 we see the compound ointment as a type of the compound Spirit. This ointment is composed of oil compounded with four spices: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. Myrrh signifies the death of Christ. Cinnamon signifies the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death. Calamus, a plant that shoots up into the air out of a marshy place, signifies the resurrection of Christ. Cassia was used in ancient times as a repellent to drive away snakes and insects. It signifies the repelling power of Christ’s resurrection. Today the compound Spirit has been compounded with all of the elements of Christ’s death and resurrection.
The numbers related to the compound ointment in Exodus are also full of significance. There is one unit of olive oil and four spices. These four spices are in three units of five hundred shekels each. One indicates the unique God, three refers to the Trinity, and four refers to the creature. In this Spirit is Christ who is God, the divine One, and man, the human one. This Spirit also has all the elements of Christ’s all-inclusive death and all-inclusive resurrection. Thus, this Spirit is an all-inclusive dose.
If we are going to enjoy God, we must enjoy this compound Spirit. Our God today has been consummated to be the compound Spirit. When I was a young Christian, I was told that God is in Christ. You cannot find God outside of Christ because God is in Christ. But what is Christ? Christ today is the all-inclusive Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). In this all-inclusive Spirit, we have all that Christ is. We have the highest humanity, Christ’s resurrected humanity. Christ’s death and resurrection are also in this compound Spirit. The very Spirit working upon us and within us is such an all-inclusive, compound Spirit.
(The Christian Life, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
