SUNESIS MINISTRIES

Written by Stuart Pattico

 

© 2007 Stuart Pattico.  All rights reserved.  No part of this document may be produced or transmitted in any form without permission from the author.

 

This article looks at what really happens to you when you are born again.

 

We know from the Scriptures that there is One God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5v7)

 

The Son, Jesus Christ, is also known as the Word.  The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of God.  He is a person, just as the Father and the Son are.  We know also that man is spirit, soul and body. 

 

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5v23)

 

Man is a living soul (Genesis 2v7), and through his spirit he is conscious of spiritual things, and by his body he is conscious of physical things.  It is important that we understand exactly what our spirit is.  Our spirit is the hidden man of our heart.  In the New Testament Scriptures, it is written:

 

“rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (1 Peter 3v4)

 

Notice that the spirit is here called the hidden person of the heart.  Your spirit is hidden within your heart.  It is hidden within the centre of your being.  Someone once described the heart as “the bank account of our behaviours”.  How true that is!  Your heart is the seat of your true intentions, thoughts and desires.  The prophet Jeremiah said this concerning the human heart:

 

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
 And desperately wicked;
 Who can know it?
 I, the LORD, search the heart,
 I test the mind,
 Even to give every man according to his ways,
 According to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17v9-10)

 

Thus, we see that the heart contains man’s true “way”.  It is what a man truly is.  The book of Proverbs tells us:

 

“Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
‘Eat and drink!’ he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.” (Proverbs 23v6-7)

 

Therefore, the true nature of a man is found in his heart.  Our spirit is in the midst of this, seeing that the spirit is the hidden man of the heart, and therefore it is the only part of us that truly knows us.  That is why the Apostle Paul wrote,

 

“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11)

 

Our spirit is the part of us that knows everything about us.  The spirit of man corresponds to the Spirit of God.  By that, I mean that what the Holy Spirit is to God, our spirits are to us.  Consider what the Apostle Paul wrote:

 

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” (1 Corinthians 2v10-11)

 

The Spirit of God searches God, and thus knows everything about God.  Even so, the spirit of man searches man, and thus knows everything about man.  Hence the book of Proverbs says,

 

^“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart.” (Proverbs 20v27)

 

When God wants to search us, he does so by our spirit, for it knows all things.  I mentioned that the spirit of man corresponds to the Spirit of God.  Even so, the soul of man corresponds to the Father, and the body of man corresponds to the Son.  Because we are created in the image of God, understanding the trinity of man will therefore help us to understand what has been called the ‘Trinity’ of God.

 

Man is a living soul.  This is what the Scripture teaches.  Nowhere does the Bible say that man is a spirit, or that man is a body, but it does declare that,

 

“… man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2v7 KJV)

 

So the Scripture teaches that man is a living soul.  Even so, God is the Father, for it is written:

 

“yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.” (1 Corinthians 8v6)

 

There is only one God - the Father.  Now, although I am a living soul, unless I have a body, you could never see me.  It would be impossible.  In other words, my body is that by which I am seen.  In the same way, God the Father is invisible.  And so it is written by the Apostle John,

 

^“No one has seen God at any time.” (John 1v18)

 

God is invisible, and no one has seen Him at any time.  However, the verse does not stop there.  It continues…

 

^“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (John 1v18)

 

You see, the Son shows us the Father.  If you see the Son, you can say you have seen the Father.   Just as when you see me, you really have seen my body, but you can still say that you have seen me!  Even so, the Son, whilst being distinct and separate from the Father nevertheless shows us the Father.  For this reason, the same Gospel according to John has this following passage:

 

^“Jesus said to him (Thomas), ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.’
Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?’ ” (John 14v6-9)

 

If you see Jesus, you see the Father.  For this reason, the Lord Jesus is also called the Word (John 1v1).  He is the One who communicates the Father to us.  Jesus is also called the ‘express image of His person’ (Hebrews 1v3).

 

So we see that we being spirit, soul and body, have been created in the image of God who is Spirit, Father, and Son.  Our spirits correspond to the Holy Spirit.  Our souls correspond to the Father.  Our bodies correspond to the Son.  We are therefore in His image indeed!  Notice, that our bodies were not created by our spirit, and that our spirit was not created by our souls!  Even so the Son was not created by the Spirit, and the Spirit was not created by the Father!  All Three have just been there from everlasting.  Man differs from God in that man is a created being.  Man has been created by God.  God on the other hand is uncreated, He has always existed.  He is the Source of Himself!  Let us now turn our attention back to the human spirit.

 

When a man is born again something glorious happens to his spirit:

 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3v6)

 

Man’s spirit is what gets born again.  The prophet Ezekiel tells us that we are given a completely NEW spirit.

 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36v26)

 

The “new spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit, but to a new personal spirit.

 

Over the years, there have been lots of books written about the Holy Spirit.  Many of these have been excellent and a great blessing to many.  Many have been gloriously empowered as the Bible truth of the baptism with the Holy Spirit has been restored to the Church.  However, there has been a lack of teaching concerning what happens to the spirit of a man when he is born again.  What is this new spirit that is given to a man?  The purpose of this chapter is to open you up to the truth about your new spirit.  To let you know what you really have, for we cannot operate in what we do not know.    Do not worry if you don’t yet see these things manifested in your life.  As you begin to see yourself as God sees you, they will soon manifest.

 

Everyone who believes in Jesus as the Christ has been born again.  When someone is born again, they are given a new spirit and also a new heart.  And so it is that a new creature comes into existence.  This new creature is a new man, created by God in Christ Jesus:

 

^“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5v16, 17)

 

Although he does not have new flesh, the new man has a completely new spirit and heart, and therefore is a completely new creature.  The new heart of the new man is filled with God’s Love.  This new man is a man that walks in love.  Love is the motivating force and the true way of the new man.  To this end, the Apostle Paul writes,

 

“…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”(Romans 5v5)

 

In order to appreciate the concept of the new man, we must first deal with the concept of the “old man”.  The “old man” is any man that is not a new man.  Any man or woman that has not been born again can be called an “old man”.  The old man is simply the man that has not received a new spirit and a new heart.  Before we met Jesus, we were all “old men”.  Our lives were full of iniquity and sin.  We all descended from Adam and inherited his sinfulness. 

 

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5v12)

 

Thus we all belonged to the race of Adam.  For,

 

“He (God) has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (Acts 17v26)

 

All humanity is from one blood – even that of Adam’s.  All humans have Adam’s blood flowing through them.  Because man has Adam’s blood, man has Adam’s life:

 

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11)

 

Man’s flesh (body) has inherited Adam’s sinful life due to the sameness of our blood.  This law is stated in Scripture as:

 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3v6)

 

When the Lord Jesus came to earth, he came in Adam’s flesh.  He came in the same flesh you and I have.  For it is written,

 

“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8v3)

 

However, let us note this mystery:  Although Jesus had Adam’s flesh; He did not have Adam’s blood!  We know that the sperm is what carries the blood.  However, Jesus was not born by the sperm of any man.  So where did His blood come from?  He was born by the sperm of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1v35)!  Therefore, His blood was Divine.  Although Christ had Adam’s flesh, He did not have Adam’s blood.  Jesus therefore had Adam’s original nature (through His flesh) and God’s nature simultaneously.  He was God and He was Man at the same time. He did not inherit Adam’s sinful life, for this is in the blood, however, He did inherit Adam’s flesh.  He was therefore a Second Adam, an Adam without sin, just like in the beginning.  He was an Adam created all over again. In essence, Jesus was the head of the human race, for He was made like unto the first Adam.  Thus, when Jesus was crucified on the Cross, He represented the entire “Adamic” race. He represented you and me.  Since He was our representative on the Cross, His death represents our death.  Thus, the entire “Adamic” race figuratively died on the Cross.  On the cross, the flesh of Adam, which Jesus had, was destroyed.  Christ put Adam to death.  In actual fact, Jesus came to the earth to be the last Adam.  He came to finish off and destroy Adam’s race.  For this reason, Jesus is called the last Adam:

 

“And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45)

 

On the Cross, Jesus was also made sin (2 Corinthians 5v21), and therefore sin was destroyed on the Cross.  On the Cross, the last Adam died.  He was done away with.  If the last Adam died, that means that the “Adamic” race is non-existent in Christ! When Jesus rose again, He did not rise as another Adam, or even as a new Adam, but He arose as a completely new species.  Christ became the first of a brand new creation of God.  Christ became the first of a new species of being.

 

“But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:23)

 

Christ became the firstfruits of a brand new kind of man!  All those who descend from Adam are therefore an old man.  The old man is anybody who belongs to the “Adamic” race.   However, those who believe on the Lord Jesus are no longer a part of the “Adamic” race.  They are part of a new race called Christ!  Man is either in Adam, or in Christ:

 

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)

 

Naturally, we all descend from Adam.  We are all born “in Adam”.  We are born as the “old man”.  For this reason, Christ taught the necessity of man being ‘born again’.  We need to be born “in Christ”.

 

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” (John 3v7)

 

A man is born again by simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is done by turning away from one’s sins and embracing Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives.  The moment one does this, they are born again.

 

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1)

 

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ?  If you do, then you have been born again.  You are no longer “in Adam”.  You are now “in Christ”.  You are no longer the “old man” who descends from Adam.  Consider what the Apostle Paul wrote:

 

“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6v6)

 

If you believe in Christ Jesus, the old man is dead!  He does not exist anymore, he has been crucified!  That old sinner man has died!  This is a truly amazing verse.  Many of us know that Jesus died for us on the cross.  We know that He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, appeasing the wrath of God.  However, did you know that when Jesus was crucified, you (the old man) were crucified too?  Jesus was not alone on the cross, you were there with Him!

 

“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him” (Romans 6v6)

 

Yes, you were on the cross of Jesus.  How can we understand this?  Well, when you were baptised into Christ Jesus, you were not only baptised into water, but you were baptised into His death!

 

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6v3)

 

Thus, you have become united with Christ’s death!  Christ’s death has become your death!  The old sinful man is dead!  Hallelujah!

 

However, at this, some may say, “But that can’t be so. That can’t have happened to me, for I still struggle sin in my life!”  Friends, in order to partake of this truth, you have to receive it by faith. You must believe it is so.  You must believe that your old man is indeed dead.  Consider what the Apostle Paul said:

 

“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6v11)

 

You see, you have to reckon it to be so!  You have to change the way you view yourself.  You must consider yourself to be dead unto sin.  Only then will you experience its truth in your life.

 

I appreciate that there may be some reading this who have not yet been baptised.  It is important that you are baptised (i.e. immersed) in water as this is a command of Jesus Christ.  Salvation is promised to those who believe and are baptised (Mark 16v16).  However, it is important to note that baptism in itself does not cause the old man to be crucified.  Baptism is described as a burial (Romans 6v4, Colossians 2v12).  The truth is you can only bury somebody who is already dead!  By embracing the burial of baptism, you are accepting the fact that you died with Christ and are thus baptised into His death.

 

So, we reckon our old man to have been crucified with Christ.  The old sinful man no longer exists.  God no longer knows the old man, for he is dead.  But seeing that we died, what becomes of us now?

 

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6v8-11)

 

When Christ was raised from the dead He was raised as a new creature.  In the same way, we being “in Christ” having died, have now been raised up as a completely new creature!  We have not been resurrected as the same “old man” we were before.  We have been resurrected as a completely new man!  This is what it means to be “born again”:

 

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2v4-5)

 

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5v17)

 

Let us note that of course our bodies have yet to be resurrected.  That is still a future hope (Romans 8v23-25).  However, our spirits have been born again!

 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3v6)

 

It is our spirits that have been born again.  Thus, the new man is a spiritual man.  The old man was a natural man:

 

“It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15v44-45)

 

We therefore derive our being from the resurrected Christ – a life-giving spirit.  Let us therefore reckon our bodies to be dead, seeing as the entire old man was crucified.

 

“¹⁰And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8v10)

 

Before moving on, let us summarise what we have discovered so far:

 

• The old man that descends from Adam has been crucified with Christ.
• We have been resurrected (born again) as new creatures.
• We have been given a new spirit and a heart filled with Love.

 

 

The Divine Nature of the New Man

 

This new man is the very image of Jesus Christ.  The new man is the exact likeness of Christ.

 

“…and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” (Colossians 3v10-11)

 

Notice that the above verse not only says that Christ is in all, but it says that “Christ IS all”.  You are a Christ!  You are not a Black man, a White man, or an Asian man; you are a Christ-man!  This is your new race.  You are one of a new species of being called Christ.  We have already seen that Jesus is the firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15v23).  Now, what does a fruit contain in itself?  It contains seeds!  And, what do the seeds do?  They reproduce themselves!  The new man is a reproduction of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The new man possesses all the qualities of the One who is both God and Man.  The new man is thus Divine (2 Peter 1v3-4)!  The new man has inherited even the attributes of God. Thus, we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son of God (Romans 8v29).  Consider what the Apostle Paul wrote:

 

“…and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4v24)

 

You have a Divine nature, and have inherited God’s righteousness and holiness!  You cannot get any more righteous than God, yet the Bible tells you that you have been created with God’s righteousness! Again, if you desire to experience this righteousness in your life you must first believe!  Just believe that you have been created in true righteousness and holiness.  Confess and declare it, for it is through these ‘exceeding and precious promises’ that we become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Peter 1v3-4).  What a statement!  We are partakers of the Divine nature!  But how can this be?  How is this ‘technically’ possible?  The following passage of Scripture gives us great light on this:

 

“Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (1 Corinthians 6v16-17)

 

Even as two people become one flesh when they have sexual intercourse, so we have become one spirit with the Lord Jesus.  Our new spirit has been fused together with the Spirit of the Lord, and so we are one spirit.  Your spirit has been made ONE with that which is Divinity.  Just as two bodies become quite literally one body during intercourse, when you joined yourself to Jesus, your spirits became one!  Now remember what we learnt earlier about the human spirit, and how it is the “hidden person of the heart”.  Your spirit is in the midst of your heart, and so the Holy Spirit had to come into your heart in order to be joined to your spirit.  Hence the Scripture says,

 

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ” (Galatians 4:6)

 

Within your heart is the Holy Spirit, and He is one with your spirit.  Therefore, our spirits have become Divine.  The Divine nature dwells within.  It is in this way that we have partaken of the Divine nature.  All true believers have the Holy Spirit within them, for the Apostle John writes,

 

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)

 

If you have confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, then God dwells in you.  How does he dwell in us?  The Bible tells us that we being built to be a “habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2v22).  God dwells in you by His Spirit. 

 

Not only is your nature transformed, but your knowledge is transformed by the Holy Spirit within.  As we saw before, it is the Spirit who knows the things of God.  The Spirit of God within reveals to us the things that are given to us by God:

 

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

 

Therefore, our spirits now can know not only the things of man, but also the things of God.  Our souls and bodies do not receive this kind of knowledge, but our spirits:

 

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2v14)

 

Not only is our nature and knowledge transformed but our geographical position is radically altered.  You see, God is not limed to one place at a time.  By His Spirit God is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at once.  The Psalmist wrote:

 

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139v7-10)

 

Your spirit is one with the Holy Spirit, which means that you (by your spirit) can be wherever the Holy Spirit is.  In other words, your spirit can be in more than one place at the same time!  Consider this passage of Scripture written by the Apostle Paul, where he is writing to the Corinthian church.  In this church there was a fornicator who had his father’s wife.  It was therefore necessary that the church should meet to make a decision concerning this individual:

 

“For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5v3-5)

 

The Apostle Paul said that he would be present at that meeting by his spirit!  Not only could Paul do this with the church at Corinth, but he could also do this with the Colossian church:

 

“For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” (Colossians 2:5)

 

How amazing!  However, not only is this limited to earthly locations.  We, by our spirits, actually are in heaven right now!  Again, the Apostle Paul wrote:

 

“even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6)

 

Of course, the physical eye can testify to none of this. This reality can only be perceived by our spirits through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.  These things are spiritually discerned.  For example, consider this truth set forth in the epistle to the Hebrews:

 

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

 

The above Scripture declares that you are come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling!  Your physical eye cannot see this reality, but your spirit can!  We need therefore to be spiritually minded.  Because of our new spirit, a whole new dimension has been opened to us in the Holy Spirit.  This is the dimension we are called to walk and operate in.  It is in this dimension that we have every one of our spiritual blessings.

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1v3)

 

We need to train ourselves to be conscious of our own spirit.  It is our spirit that is in the heavenly places and that is able to perceive the reality of these things.  It is as we become spirit-conscious that we realise and experience that we already are new creatures and have every spiritual blessing.

 

We, being in Christ in the heavenly places have access to the very presence of God.  All of this is contained in the Holy Spirit.  Because our spirits are one with the Holy Spirit, we have access to all that is in the Holy Spirit.  All of heaven is contained in the Holy Spirit.  The entire Kingdom of God is contained inside the Holy Spirit:

 

“…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

 

It is only as we become conscious of these spiritual realities that these things and their power become real in our experience.  Let us thank the Lord that we are one spirit with Him!  If you are a believer then you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Romans 8v9) and therefore all this is available to you.  However, the onus is on you to receive these truths by faith. 

 

The Power of the New Man

 

Finally, let me share with you one more thing about your new spirit.  I have already said and shown you from Scripture that the new man is a reproduction of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is called a quickening spirit.  Our new spirit is simple a copy of Jesus Christ – the quickening spirit.  Now, Jesus Christ is anointed with the Holy Spirit, power, and joy.  He is the ‘anointed one’, which is what the word ‘Christ’ means.  We can deduce therefore, that seeing as our new spirit is a copy of Jesus Christ, our new spirit is already ‘anointed’.  Your new spirit has the same power and anointing that Jesus has.  Now, keep that in mind.  The disciples of Jesus Christ were born again in John 20v22, at which point they also received the Holy Spirit. 

 

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”

 

The original Greek suggests that they received the Holy Spirit right there are then.  The new birth was available to them because Jesus had now risen from the dead. 

Seeing Christ, they believed, and became new men.  However, this was not enough.  Forty days later, Jesus instructed them that they were to receive the Holy Spirit AGAIN!

 

“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ ” (Acts 1v4-5)

 

In other words, they were going to receive a double anointing of Christ’s Spirit!  They did exactly this, when on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon and filled 120 of Christ’s disciples. What does this double anointing signify?  The double anointing bares reference to the double portion of Elijah’s spirit that Elisha received.

 

Just before Elijah ascended, Elisha (who was Elijah’s disciple) requested from him a double portion of his spirit (see 2 Kings 2v1-12). This was of great prophetic significance - it foreshadowed a very important event – the Ascension of Christ Jesus.  Elijah was the leader (spiritual father) of the “sons of the prophets”.  Elijah said to Elisha, that if Elisha saw him ascend to heaven, then he would receive the double portion.  The “double portion” is that which denotes the proportion of a father’s property which was the right of an eldest son (Deuteronomy 21:17). For example, if a father had two sons, the inheritance would be split into three parts.  The eldest son would receive by right a double portion (in this case two parts) instead of a single portion of the inheritance. Elisha therefore asked for twice as much of Elijah’s spirit as should be inherited by any other of the “sons of the prophets.”  He wanted to be acknowledged as Elijah’s firstborn spiritual son.  Elisha looked upon himself as the firstborn son of Elijah in relation to the other “sons of the prophets,” inasmuch as Elijah by the command of God had called him to be his successor and to carry on his work.  Elisha did indeed see him ascend and Elijah’s mantle was left as a sign that he was indeed to carry on Elijah’s work.  Even so, as Christ’s disciples, when we are baptised with the Holy Spirit, we have a double portion of the Anointing that was on Christ!  In other words, we are anointed as those who are to carry on His ministry.  That is why Christ said,

 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”  (John 14:12)

 

There is a receiving of the Holy Spirit “since” you believed (see Acts 19v2 KJV)!  After being born again, there is another receiving of the Holy Spirit.  You are to be anointed to do the same (and greater!) works as the Lord Jesus.  How is this possible?  Jesus answered, “Because I go to the Father”.  What happened when Christ went to the Father?  The Holy Spirit fell on the 120 born again disciples that were gathered (Acts 2v1-4) and so they received the double portion of Christ’s Spirit. This same baptism with the Holy Spirit is available to all whom God has given a new spirit.  Yes, to all those who are in Christ Jesus, the children of God.  Hallelujah!  Oh the Awesome Power that is available to us who believe!

 

In closing, let us summarize the main points covered in this article:

 

• Our old man was crucified with Christ.
• Our spirits have been born again as completely new spirits.
• We are therefore new creatures in Christ Jesus.
• Our new spirits are a copy of Jesus Christ.
• Our spirits are one with the Holy Spirit.
• We now have the Divine nature.
• We can now know the things of God.
• We can now be in more than one place at a time by our spirits.
• A whole new dimension ‘in the Spirit’ has been opened up to us.
• We can receive a double portion of Christ’s Spirit through the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

 

You may wish to read over this article several times to ensure that you understand all that has been said.  Once these things are understood and believed, the results are life changing.