The Spirit of the Glorified Jesus

John 7:37  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. 7:39  But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

You'll note that the word "given" is in italics. This indicates that it is not in the original Greek. This is because John is stressing a very important point. That is that the Spirit that we enjoy today is quite different from the Spirit that was before the cross.

The Spirit of God or the Spirit of the Lord mentioned before the cross did not include the humanity of Jesus, His death, His resurrection, ascension and enthronement. That Spirit of God was altogether divine. So this verse says that those who believed on him would receive the Spirit of the glorified Jesus. After His death and resurrection it is not the pre-cross Spirit of God who comes to indwell us but the Spirit of Jesus.

Christ came not only to deliver us from sin but to live an uplifted human life with all its qualities and to bring that life with its nature into us. Now when we receive the Spirit, we receive not only His divine life but also His human life. When we live with the Spirit as our source we live an altogether different life, one that is not only divine but one that includes the uplifted humanity of Jesus.

Andrew Murray says in his book, "The Spirit of Christ," "in virtue of His having perfected in Himself a new holy human nature on our behalf, He could now communicate what previously had no existence--at once human and Divine." (Pg.39)

Many Christians despair of living the life pictured in the Word of God. After much trying and failing to perform and live a righteous life full of peace and joy, many lose hope. But not only is there hope there is the actual entering into a life that is on the highest level, the level of the glorified Jesus. For it is by His life that we live. And this life is in our human spirit.

More in the nest post