10.2 Drinking One Spirit
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
For just as the body is one, but has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Indeed, we also inside of one Spirit were immersed into one body… and have all been made to drink one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
James pointed out that “The body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26). Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that gives life” (John 6:63). And Paul added, “He who is joined [glued together] with the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17).
What does it mean that all believers drink one Spirit together?
The Metaphor of Water. God uses this metaphor of “drinking” as one of many to enable us to know Spirit. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37).
Scientists say that our physical bodies are about 80% water. Drinking is how we replenish the water that constitutes much of our form. It’s not that we “lose” some of the Holy Spirit and thus have to “get more”; it’s that God wants us to understand the Spirit of Christ by which we are one body together as a living and dynamic connection, always fresh and new. Christ as a connecting Spirit of life is never stale or stagnant.
New Every Morning. Here is how Jeremiah described this renewing quality of the Spirit of Christ. “His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). It is this same Spirit, then, which we drink together, that is Christ Jesus as a Spirit of power connecting us together as His body and by which He lives, not just in each one of us, but also in the entire Church together.
Think of the Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, as a large swimming pool of water. Think of your own spirit as a small cup of water. Not only does this Holy Spirit fill your own spirit, but your spirit is poured out into that far larger pool, a pool which you share with all other believers in Jesus as one Spirit together.
What Is the Church? But what is the Church, and with whom are you drinking one Spirit together?
Let’s begin with all who call upon Jesus in some way, followed with all who will call upon Him, but haven’t yet, and including all who have died believing in Jesus. Now, you could go into an assembly where you think that all of these people love the Lord and belong to Him. Then you could go into an assembly where you think that everyone is connected to outward form and ritual and none know the Lord. You would be wrong on both counts. And God will NEVER tell you who in either assembly are connecting with Jesus Himself. Rather, He simply says to you, “Love them.”
Part of Each Other. If the Lord Jesus lives inside your heart, then that same Jesus lives also inside the heart of every individual who belongs to Him. And it’s not just that you are brothers and sisters together, but you are members of one another, part of each other and part of the visible expression of the Lord Jesus together.
Even more than that, this same Holy Spirit whom Paul said is GIVEN TO US as the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham (Galatians 3), this same Holy Spirit that IS the love of God poured out inside of your heart, is also poured out inside of the heart of every believer in Jesus. And this poured-out Love among all of you together is that same One Spirit.
True of All Others. Because you say to God, “Let it be to me according to Your word,” and because you believe God has given you all that you ask, you KNOW that the love of God fills your heart always, regardless of what you feel, think, say, or do.
Here is an absolute. The same is true of all others who drink of that same Spirit with you. All who believe in Jesus love you more than you can know, all think of you more highly than they do of themselves, all lay down their lives for you. Because the love of God is shed abroad in all of our hearts together through the same One Spirit given to each one of us and to all, we love one another with a pure heart fervently.
A Spirit of Power. I was with you in weakness… in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should be… in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:3-5 – condensed). The Spirit of Christ connecting us together as one body is a Spirit of dynamic power and life.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul describes many of the ways by which the Spirit gives differing gifts of service inside the Church. But in the middle of that, Paul places Love as the rule of all our sharing of the life and power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not about what is visible, it’s about Him who is invisible, Father God Himself in our midst, rejoicing as we, by our kindness and tender regard for one another, make Him visible.
Wanting to Be Loved. Why do you keep all other Christians “at arm’s length,” so to speak? There are two reasons, both of which were seized by Adam in the garden. The first reason is that you, by your former way of thinking, consider yourself superior and them inferior. Out from this self-exaltation, you secretly despise all others and judge them as false and insincere. And the second reason is that you are afraid and do not trust them. Often, you have good reason for your mistrust, for others have manipulated and abused you, just as you have done to them.
Yet the deepest ache of your heart is to be loved and honored by others, that is, to BELONG; you were made just like God.
The Same One Spirit. Think about all the Christians with whom you have an ongoing relationship. Think about all the Christians you know. Think about all Christians across the earth and through the heavens.
It does not matter what they think or feel or do in any present moment. You drink the same One Spirit with them; the same One Spirit is poured out in their hearts and yours. And that One Spirit is Christ Jesus as a Spirit of power, causing all of you together to be the embodiment of Love. They LOVE you, whether they know it or not. You LOVE them, whether you feel that you do or not. All of them, Christ as them, lay down their lives for you.
Free to Love. We also inside of one Spirit were immersed into one body… and have all been made to drink one Spirit. – The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5). Notice the “we,” the “our,” and the “us.” We together, all who belong to Jesus share together that same One Love.
When you KNOW that all believers in Jesus, the entire Church of Christ, loves you beyond what you can know – and you them. When you KNOW that all believers in Jesus think more highly of you than they do of themselves – and you them. Then you know Love; you know that you belong. And now you are free to love one another as Jesus loves you.
Committed to Love. In your freedom to love one another as Jesus loves you, understand two things. First, know that, regardless of any outward doing or speaking, all who belong to Jesus are the same as you, longing to belong, afraid of being hurt. And second, know that the Love of God poured out inside the One Spirit you drink together is the only thing real.
When other Christians say, think, feel, and do unkind things to or about you, see Christ, even inside the hurt. See that Jesus shares heart with them just as He does with you.
And we also are committed to setting forth our souls, laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters.