1/16/77; Rom 8:11 9/25/78

SUSTAINING MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO INCARNATE CHRIST

A. Definition. During the period of the First Advent, the humanity of Christ was sustained by the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit. The humanity of Christ had to be sustained by God the Holy Spirit, just as the members of the royal family, the Church, would be sustained by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere.

B. The Prophesy of this Ministry, Isa 11:1-3, 42:1, 61:1a.

C. The sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit occurs first at the virgin birth, Mt 1:18-20; Ps 40:6 cf Heb 10:5. The Holy Spirit is the source or agent of conception. The Father planned Christ’s human body. The Holy Spirit was the agent carrying out the mechanics of the virgin birth. He provided the perfect chromosomes which fertilized the female ovum. The Holy Spirit is thus the agent in the execution of the Hypostatic Union.

D. The ministry of the Holy Spirit begins at the Incarnation, Jn 3:34.

1. Not only does the Holy Spirit indwell the body of Christ, but He also filled His soul.

2. This is the total sustaining ministry to royalty. Our Lord, in His humanity, was born into royalty as the son of David.

3. His spiritual royalty is different. His spiritual royalty is being totally sustained by the Holy Spirit.

4. There was no spiritual royalty in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit had no indwelling of the body of any Old Testament believer.

5. Glorification of Christ by means of the session instituted battlefield royalty. This caused the Age of Israel to be interrupted so that the royal family of God, the Church, could be formed. This is accomplished by means of the Baptism of the Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit entering us into union with Christ.

6. Therefore, the Church Age believer is also royalty by being in union with Christ. As royalty we have the privilege of being indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

7. Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords is true royalty. Therefore, His body is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and His soul is filled by the Holy Spirit. This is why Church Age believers have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

8. Thus, the total ministry of the Holy Spirit to the incarnate Christ has been continued in the Church.

E. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit Related to the Baptism of Jesus Christ, Matt 3:13-17. The dove speaks of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit. Water represents the kingdom of God. Converts identified themselves with the kingdom of God by being baptized. They were testifying to the fact that they no longer had any responsibility to Judaism. Our Lord in the water represented the plan of God for the Incarnation. Christ in the water represented to others His dedication to the plan of God.

F. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit Related to the Public Ministry of Christ, Mt 12:18. Jesus quotes the prophesy of the Spirit’s sustaining ministry of Isa 42:1. In the same context, He says that His miracles were performed in the power of the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit. Lk 4:14-21 tells us that the teaching ministry of our Lord was also performed in the power of the Holy Spirit.

G. The Holy Spirit had a part in the resurrection of Christ, Rom 8:11. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of resurrection for the royal family, 1 Pet 3:18-19. The Holy Spirit sustained Christ after His death when He went to the fallen angels imprisoned in Tartarus.

H. The sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit is transferred to the royal family.

1. Just as the Holy Spirit sustained the humanity of Christ during the incarnation, so now the Holy Spirit sustains the believer during his life.

2. Jesus Christ was sustained as perfect royalty; we as Church Age believers are sustained as sinful royalty.

3. The strategic victory of Christ demands the tactical victory of the royal family on earth during the intensified stage of the angelic conflict.

4. The total ministry of the Holy Spirit, which never occurred before Christ, includes both the indwelling of our human body and the filling of our soul. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to royalty only.

5. This ministry to the royal family demands the filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine.

6. This is why Paul wrote in Gal 4:19, “until Christ is formed in you.” This is synonymous with the believer’s spiritual self-esteem, which is the beginning of spiritual adulthood.

7. This is why we are commanded in Eph 5:18; Gal 5:16 to be filled with the Spirit and to walk by means of the Spirit.

8. The sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit is then transferred from the resurrected glorified Christ at the right hand of the Father, to the royal family of God on earth.

9. The believer is commanded to avail himself of the sustaining ministry of the filling of the Holy Spirit, Rom 13:14. The filling of the Holy Spirit sets aside the lust pattern of the old sin nature which distracts from the perception and application of doctrine.

I. The Royal Family’s Glorification of Christ through the Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

1. The purpose of the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age is to glorify Christ, Jn 7:38-39. “Rivers of living water” means the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Compare Jn 16:13-14.

2. It is the present ministry of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ. He accomplishes this through the metabolization of doctrine, and the many expressions of that doctrine that come from maturity.

3. Metabolization of doctrine (operation Z) causes the believer to be a letter of commendation written by the Holy Spirit and read by men of our generation, 2 Cor 3:1-3. The letter of commendation principle is the royal family in maturity.

4. At the point of spiritual self-esteem, there exists in the soul of the believer a balance of residency between the filling of the Holy Spirit and maximum metabolized Bible doctrine resident in the right lobe of the soul.

5. At this point Christ is formed in you, Gal 4:19, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit becomes a reality, Eph 3:16-17.

6. The Holy Spirit accomplishes His ministry of glorifying Christ in the believer through the balance of residency in the soul of the believer.

7. The fulfillment of the transitional ministry of the Spirit and its results in the life of the believer are found in Phil 1:20-21. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

J. Why Christ Could Not Rely on His Deity during the Incarnation.

1. If Christ relied on His deity, then Satan could say, “If you rely on deity, [and obviously Your deity is greater than my creature being], then You aren’t proving the purpose for humanity in the angelic conflict.”

2. So Christ had to rely strictly on the ministry of God the Holy Spirit during the First Advent. Our Lord had to use His free will independently of His deity.

3. This is amplified in the tests of Mt 4. He had to depend on the assets of His humanity: Bible doctrine and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

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