(Continued)
The word Christ means Anointed One - so instead of saying, “Jesus Christ”; one could say “Jesus the Anointed One”
The word “Anointed” therefore refers to one’s call to a ministerial office, or the Holy Spirit’s empowerment to perform that specific task.
In light of this, we also know that Jesus came down to Earth and took on the form of a human being:
Philippians 2:
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
And that God sent His Holy Spirit upon Him:
Matthew 12:
18 “ Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
Luke 3:
22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Isaiah 11:
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
Luke 4:
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Acts 10:38
says that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.
So Jesus was born as a normal human being; and we see that God’s Spirit rested upon Him and Anointed Him for the specific call/purpose He had to fulfill with His life, and to carry out God’s will here on the earth …
Now if Jesus needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit in order accomplish those things, then we most certainly do as well if we ever hope to fulfill God’s plan for our lives and be used by Him to carry out His will here on the Earth!
But here’s the thing … once we receive Jesus Christ into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit gives life to our spirit and lives on the inside of us. (Romans 8:9-17, John 16:5-15, John 14:15-17, John 14:25-26) … so we have the same Holy Spirit living on the inside of us! Meaning that through Him we are well able to accomplish those things God requires of us as well!
But even though we have this power and ability dwelling on the inside of us, does it mean we can just carry about as per usual, or do we need to cultivate that anointing? … well what did Jesus do? - seeing He was “thee” Anointed One! … did He just rest in and rely upon that anointing and go about performing miracles without having to nurture that anointing? Or are there certain disciplines that Jesus had in His life to aid in this?