To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 1:21 “God . . . has anointed us. . .”

Throughout the Bible we read about the rite of anointing.  Priests were anointed for service. They were set apart and designated before all the people by this holy ceremony. Kings were anointed as well.  For example, the prophet Samuel, after being directed by God to select the boy David as the next king of Israel, anointed him. This was to be God’s specially chosen ruler to serve on the throne and from whose line the Messiah would one day come.  Other things that were anointed were the sacrifices of the tabernacle, the tabernacle itself, and all the sacred implements and furnishings of the tabernacle.  It was by this mark that these people and these items were set apart for service to God. 

Once the anointing had occurred, things were different.  These men and these articles had been set apart as different than the common and ordinary.  Anything that was anointed with the holy anointing oil was, from that time, wholly given to God.   It’s that very idea that is being conveyed by Paul to all believers in the verse above, which tells us that God has anointed us. 

Throughout the Scriptures oil is a type or shadow of the Holy Spirit.  That anointing that we have is the hand of God touching us with His Holy Spirit.  The same Holy Spirit Who came down on Jesus like a dove at His baptism designating Him as the chosen one of God to bring salvation to the world has also come down on all those who have put their faith in Him.  Jesus’ sole purpose while he walked on this earth was to bring glory to God.   We see it expressed early on as He sat in the temple conversing with the scribes at the age of 12. After Mary and Joseph found Him there after having been frantically looking for Him, Jesus simple message to them was “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house (or as some versions of the Bible render it “about my Father’s business”)”? (Luke 2:49).  In a the very same way, every believer has been anointed by God, set apart for a sacred purpose.  His or her body is a sacred thing, the very temple of the Holy Spirit.  That’s the message from Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, where he says “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

So if you know the Lord, does this describe you? Do you wake up each day asking God what He would have you to do? Do you see every thought, every action, every reaction, every word, and every decision as a means to glorify the God Who has anointed you?   Are you about the Master’s work, adorning the gospel message by living a life that makes that message attractive to those around you?  Do you view your possessions as sacred implements that God can use to bring glory to himself?  Do you see yourself as a member of “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)?  Well, if not, you and I should, for that’s exactly why has God anointed us.  He has anointed every believer, setting them apart and giving them the wonderful admonition and privilege to be those who “whether (we) eat or drink, or whatever (we) do, (we) do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).