Living In and With the Divine Trinity, by Witness Lee

FIRST JOHN 4:13-14

First John 4:13 and 14 show that we are abiding in God [the Father] and He in us, that God the Father has given us of His Spirit, and that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Verse 13 says that God the Father has given us "of" His Spirit. This means He has given us something of the Spirit, which indicates that all the riches of Christ are now the very content of the Spirit. Eventually, what God has given us is the complete, consummated, all-inclusive, compound, life-giving, indwelling, processed Spirit. Our God, the Father, has given us of this all-inclusive Spirit, who is the bountiful supply of Jesus Christ, the Son.

GALATIANS 4:4-6

In Galatians 4:4-6 we see [the Triune] God sending forth His Son to redeem us from law that we might receive the sonship. We also see God [the Father] sending forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father! The Father sent the Son to accomplish redemption for us so that we might have the sonship. This indicates that the Father’s goal is to gain us for His sonship, and the Son’s redemption is also for this. The Father also sent forth the Spirit of His Son. In the Triune God’s salvation, the Son accomplished redemption for us on the cross. Now the Spirit of the Son is within us to bring us into the realization of the sonship. His redemption obtained the sonship, and now His indwelling Spirit is bringing us into the reality of the sonship. This is why we need two "sending forths" by the Father—the sending forth of the Son and the sending forth of the Spirit of the Son. God the Father sent forth God the Son to redeem us from the law that we might receive sonship. He also sent forth God the Spirit to impart His life into us that we might become His sons in reality. The Triune God is producing many sons for the fulfilling of His eternal purpose.

The Father as the source is the Sender. First, He sent forth the Son, and second, He sent forth the Spirit of the Son. We can see that the Three in the Godhead are moving. The first One is the active One, sending forth. The second One is the sent One. The sent One has a third One as His Spirit. The Three of the Godhead are not only omnipotent but also omnipresent. Therefore, the first One can send the second One and still be one with the second One. Furthermore, the first One can send the third One, and the third One is still one with the second One and the first One. This is the divine oneness in the Godhead. There is also a distinction among the Three. All the beauties and all the excellencies exhibited by the Divine Trinity come from this distinction. There is a distinction among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, yet the Three are one.

(Living In and With the Divine Trinity, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)