Attempting to understand the oneness of God, the Trinitarian Father, Son, and Spirit, is a daunting task in itself; moreover, trying to understand how the Spirit relates individually to the Christ while He was on earth seems to press the issue even further.  Within this article the concept of the mono-God will be examined in light of the individual relations between the Spirit and Christ, who are both the “one” God.  How can it be that the Spirit is said to come upon Christ (who is God), when the Spirit, in the Trinitarian sense, is already God Himself?

The idea of the Spirit’s relation to Christ is introduced specifically in the prophetical writings of Isaiah, where it is written that the Spirit would rest upon the Messiah.  The result of this Spirit resting is that the Messiah would receive wisdom, strength, and knowledge for the ministry in which He would partake on earth (Isaiah 42:1-3).  In light of this, the most obvious place to start in understanding the relation of the Spirit to Christ is to first note that it is the Spirit that generated Christ in the incarnation.  Matthew tells us that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary causing her to be with child (Matthew 1:20).  This act of the Spirit initiated the physical life of Christ and also secured the sinless human nature that the Son would receive.

The next major act of the Spirit resting on Christ is the anointing that Jesus received at His baptism (Luke 4:18).  The Spirit coming upon Jesus, as portrayed as a dove, was the fulfilling of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 61:1.  The concept of anointing relates historically in the Old Testament to an act performed upon Kings and Priests (both of which Christ was) to initiate and grant right to their duties; and thus, it is in this act that the Spirit conferred upon Christ power for the ministry.  This act of anointing by the Spirit was meant to signify that the Messiah had come (John 1:31).

Thirdly, the idea of the Spirit filling Christ is taught in Luke 4:1.  This     passage says that Jesus was “…full of the Holy Spirit…[and]…was led about by the Spirit.”  The idea of the verb “led” is that of continuous action.  It was not that Jesus was led once in one act, but that continually throughout His ministry He was guided by the Spirit.

From the birth, anointing, and the continuous filling of the Spirit, Christ met the climax of His earthly role in His death.  Yet this act was not His alone, but as  Hebrews 9:14 tells us, Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God.”  The Spirit that comes upon the Servant in Isaiah 42:1 is the same Spirit who leads the Servant to bear the sins of many in Isaiah 53:1-12.  Furthermore, the death of Christ is not the end of the ministry of the Spirit to Christ.  There are several passages that teach that Christ not only offered Himself through the Spirit but was also raised from the dead “…according to the Spirit of holiness” (Romans 1:4; c.f. 8:11).

Despite the fact that this article did not take into account the role of the    Father, it may be inferred that there is not “any great work of God revealed in the Word of God in which all of the members of the Godhead do not work together to accomplish God’s purpose” (Pentecost, Divine Comforter).

Will Uminn, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer Dana Arledge