The Life-giving Spirit
Paul says that the last Adam, through His resurrection and in His resurrection, became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). He became not only a Spirit but specifically a life-giving Spirit. Life-giving shows what kind of Spirit He is. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says that the Spirit gives life. John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life.” Darby’s New Translation has a parenthesis from verse 7 through verse 16 of 2 Corinthians 3. If we consider this section as parenthetical, verse 17 continues verse 6. The Spirit gives life (v. 6), and the Lord is the Spirit (v. 17).
Many writers agree that in Paul’s Epistles the resurrected Christ is identical to the Spirit. However, this does not annul the distinction between Christ and the Spirit. There is always a twofoldness to truth. In 2 Corinthians 3:17 the Lord and the Spirit are one. In 2 Corinthians 13:14 we have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Here it can be seen that Christ and the Spirit are distinct.
The Spirit of Life
First Corinthians 15:45 refers to Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Surely there cannot be two Spirits who give life. Christ, the life-giving Spirit, is also the Spirit of life. This term is revealed in Romans 8:2. Romans 8 speaks of the Spirit of life (v. 2), the Spirit of God (v. 9), and the Spirit of Christ (v. 9), who is Christ Himself (v. 10). In this same chapter the Spirit is also spoken of as the firstfruits (v. 23).
The Seven Spirits of God
In the last book of the Bible the seven Spirits of God are revealed (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). The Nicene Creed does not mention the seven Spirits. In A.D. 325, when the Nicene Creed was made, the book of Revelation was not recognized as part of the Bible. The final recognition of the books to be included in the Bible took place in A.D. 397 at the Council of Carthage.
Also, in Revelation 1 the sequence of the Trinity is changed. Matthew 28 shows us the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 1:4-5, however, the Father as the eternal One is first, the seven Spirits are second, and the Son is third.
Furthermore, Revelation 5:6 says that the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb. This means that the third of the Trinity is the eyes of the second.
All these points indicate that in the last book of the divine revelation the Spirit of God, for the building up of the churches in a dark age, becomes the sevenfold intensified Spirit, who carries out God’s universal administration for the fulfilling of God’s eternal purpose and fully expresses Christ as God’s universal Administrator to bring in God’s kingdom in the millennium (20:4, 6) and to bring the kingdom to its ultimate consummation as the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth (21:1-2).