God's Promises!  2 Peter 1:4        2 Corinthians 1:20 

                       

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                        Understanding the Anointing of God

Anointing, as described in the Bible, can be defined as "God on flesh doing those things that flesh cannot do." It is God doing those things only He can do, and doing them through a flesh-and-blood, earthly vessel. 2 Corinthians 4:7:  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

The basic meaning of the Bible word "anoint" is "to pour on, smear all over or rub into." In the Old Testament, someone who was anointed by God for special service to God had oil poured or smeared on him. For instance, Saul, and later David, was anointed with oil by the prophet Samuel when God revealed He had chosen him to be king of Israel. When King Saul rebelled against God and tried to kill David, David refused to harm him because Saul was "the Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel 24:6).

To be anointed by God is not only to be picked, but also to be empowered by Him for the task or position to which He has called you. The Hebrew word "Messiah" and the Greek word "Christ" both mean "the Anointed."

Anointing was a sign of Israel's coming Redeemer. The prophet Isaiah, looking forward in time by the Spirit of God, saw One through Whom "the yoke of Satan's oppression shall be destroyed because of the anointing" (Isaiah 10:27). The word destroyed means absolutely corrupted beyond use, destroyed, no good for the devil's use.

Jesus, reading from another Messianic prophecy in Isaiah, said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me.... " What had the Spirit anointed Him to do? "To preach the gospel to the poor... heal the brokenhearted... preach deliverance to the prisoners, and recovering of sight to the blind... set at liberty them that are bruised... " (see Luke 4:18-19). Jesus had the burden-removing, yoke-destroying power of Almighty God all over Him.

News of the Anointed and His Anointing was the "good news" or "gospel" the early Church ministered. When Peter was asked to preach the basic, gospel message to the non-Jews for the very first time, the first thing he told them was "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him" (see Acts 10:38-39). When Philip preached Christ (the Anointed One and His Anointing) in Samaria, "the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed" (see Acts 8:6-8). They received and heard the good news that the Anointed One and His Anointing had come to destroy the yokes from their backs. From the moment they received it, God confirmed it, just as He did in Jesus's ministry.

The anointing is God's presence by the Holy Spirit. The anointing on Jesus was by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38). The anointing we have received from Jesus is by the Holy Spirit. (Compare 1 John 2:20, 26-27; John 14:26.) The anointing is God's Spirit and power for service in this earth. Jesus has provided the same presence of the Holy Spirit for us in our earthly ministries that He had in His earthly ministry!

The word "Christ" is not just another name for Jesus, but a reference to the Anointed and the Anointing that was on Him and in Him. In the same way, the word "Christians" means more than just followers of Jesus. It means "the anointed ones." The same yoke-destroying Anointing that was on Jesus is available to you.

Look again at 1 John 2: "the anointing which you have received of him resides in you, and you do not need  any man teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him" (verse 27). Those last two words could also be translated "in it." In other words, the phrase could either be exhorting believers to abide in the Anointed One, Jesus, or to abide in the anointing itself. Both interpretations are correct because you can't separate the Anointed and the anointing. If you're in the Anointed One, then you're in the anointing.

I encourage you, find every reference that uses the word Christ in the New Testament. Each time Christ is used translate it into "the Anointed and His Anointing." Then meditate on the new revelation of this meaning in each scripture. Start with the verses that say "in Christ" or "through Christ" and translate them "in the Anointed and  His Anointing." It will change your life.

If you're "in Christ," there's an anointing for everything you're called to do, no matter how small or how great the task. That's what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, "I can do all things through Christ (the Anointed and His Anointing) which strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Notice that he didn't say "who strengthens me" but "which strengthens me." He was talking about the anointing. The same anointing that enabled you to be born again will heal your body, help you succeed in business, and empower you to prosper spirit, soul, body and in every aspect of your life. (See Luke 5:20-24.)