“Behold My servant, whom I uphold, Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put My Spirit upon him.” Isaiah 42:1
Dear Ones:
What is it that distinguishes the Lord Jesus as a man from every other man who has lived? It is certainly not His outward appearance, as Scripture describes Him: “…He has no form nor comeliess: and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Is. 53:2) As a person, he was undistinguishable from those around Him, except that His life was an exemplary one. That which truly distinguishes Him as very different from all men begins to be seen at His baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. It was with the coming of the Spirit upon Him, His anointing, that Scripture tells us He was “full of the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 4:1) We can rightly say that He was filled with the Spirit of God before He was baptized, but it will be with regard to the magnitude of His ministry, and the increased sphere of His usefulness, that His capacity and opportunity will be expanded, and multiplied exponentially, with regard to the fullness, and enabling of the Spirit. After being led into the wilderness by the Spirit, and being tempted for forty days, Scripture tells us that He returned to Galilee, “…in the power of the Spirit.” (Luke 4:14) His anointing and fullness at the Jordan continued in his confrontation with Satan in the wilderness. Now, that fullness is revealed by the power of God, as He begins his ministry, and pursues the mission for which He is sent. So, what is it that makes Jesus Christ so unique at this time, and through the ordeal of the cross? It is the fullness of the Spirit, the “Spirit of God put upon Him” by the Father. After the resurrection, He would declare to the disciples: “All power (or authority) is given to Me in heaven and earth…” (Matt. 28:18) How could this be? It is because of the Spirit of God, which was given by the Father, anointing and enabling the Lord Jesus to finish perfectly the work of redemption, to save us all.
How does this ministry of the same Spirit that anointed Christ apply to us as believers? We begin by realizing that the Holy Spirit is given by God the Father, and the Son. This act is nothing less than a deliberate act of God with a specific purpose, and certainty of provision. In the same way that Christ’s effective ministry and mission was made possible by the anointing of the Spirit, so for the believer all is provided in Christ by the same Spirit.
In the book of Isaiah, we see some aspects of the presence and power of the Spirit, given to the believer. With respect to the Lord Jesus, and consequently applying to His disciples, the Lord says: “I have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” (Is. 42:6) The first thing we note is that Christ was “called” of, or by, the Father. So is every believer called. Although our calling is not to accomplish salvation, but to live it, we do have the mandate to spread the news of this salvation to all nations. Secondly, we see that this “calling” was in “righteousness.” It was the “right” thing to do in the eyes of God, not only that Christ should be called to accomplish His mission, but that we have been, in the mercy and sovereignty of God, called by the same Father, to live by the same Spirit. The calling of God was the “right” thing to do in His sight, not because of any merit of our own, but only because in His mercy. Thirdly, we see that, according to and by this anointing, He will “…hold our hand,” leading and keeping us. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, and He will guide us until death, enabling us to be His lights in this world.
Dear Father, Anoint and fill us with the same Spirit that filled Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad