“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek: He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isaiah 61:1
In the latter chapters of the book of Isaiah is found one of the most powerful, encompassing declarations of the mission of Christ, and the means by which He was to accomplish His task and work. The passage goes straight to the point of the essential character of Christ’s mission, that being His ministry to sinful, fallen men, to bring them to the knowledge of eternal truth by which the eternal God can and will meet their eternal need. Also, in this passage is revealed the essential power and provision of God to the Son, and through Him, to bring about the accomplishment of this mission, a mission that would stretch throughout the world, from the beginning of time until this very day, until the moment when time shall be no more. That essential power and provision of God is not a thing, nor a part of this creation, but God Himself, by the Holy Spirit. It will only be as the living Christ, anointed with the authority and power given by the Father, that the mission in all of its dimensions will be fulfilled. The words simply put to Zerubbabel, at the impossible occasion of the reconstruction of the temple, both a spiritual edifice, and a place of eternal, and acceptable, worship of God, would be realized: “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6) In our present day of methods, and men’s means, and the origins of endeavors formulated in men’s minds, relying on the resources of men, God declares by this passage in Isaiah, that there is but ONE means by which His work will be done and accomplished, for there is but ONE means by which God, and God alone, will be glorified. It is by the Spirit. The Lord Jesus confirmed this when He said, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth (communicates life and power); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
When God called creation into being by the word of His power, it was the Spirit of God, moving upon the face of the waters which brought order out of chaos, and even matter out of nothing. Matter was created by God and is maintained by God. This is why Charles Wesley applies God’s power in his hymn, “Jesus, the Name High Over All.” The power and authority of the Spirit, given to Christ would accomplish the following: “Jesus, the prisoner’s fetters breaks, And bruises Satan’s head; Power into strengthless souls He speaks, And life into the dead.” The power of creation, by the Spirit, was communicated to the Son as He came up out of the waters of Jordan, being baptized by John the Baptist. The gentle coming of the Spirit in the form of a dove, at that moment, when he alighted upon Christ, declared the power and authority of the Father now communicated to the Son. Thus, “Christ could not fail; Christ would prevail.” He would finish that for which He came, to accomplish as the most remarkable, divinely proven demonstration of the glory of God, that could ever be expressed, declared, and seen of men. Why? It is so that fallen man, conscious of his desperate need, depravity, and desolation, might look upwards, and cry out to the God of mercy, that He would again, in a very real way, though much more limited in scope, give the Spirit of God to the lost soul that it may live. With the knowledge of the eternally powerful, and precious blood of Christ which was shed for the forgiveness of sins, comes the revelation of ones’ absolute dependence upon the Spirit.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to receive. In Jesus’ name, Amen.