The Anointing Of The Lord

"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him."-(Mark 1:9-13)

After the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, and then led him out into the wilderness to be tested, the Lord returned to the civilization of Galilee to begin His ministry. "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."-(Luke 4:14-19) And He returned in the POWER of the Spirit. Jesus began His ministry with the empowerment and authority given through the anointing. The glorious witness of every act of grace, power and the miraculous borne of the anointing of the Lord.

Jesus IS the anointed one of God. He is the Messiah. The word "Messiah" (Hebrew 'Mashiach') comes from the verb mashach, which means to smear or anoint with oil, usually for the purpose of dedicating or consecrating something (such as a temple vessel)or someone (such as a prophet, priest or king) for the service of Adonai, the Lord God.

The power of His presence, the very being of His grace was and is surrounded by the substance of the anointing. What is more wonderful, and perhaps most impressive to me, is the revelation that Jesus was anointed by God, the Apostles were anointed by Jesus, we are the recipients of the anointing by way of the sacrifice and substantiation of the new covenant. "He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac,
And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel for an everlasting covenant"-(1 Chronicles 16:14-17) Through the shed blood of the lamb of God, we are heirs to the Abrahamic Covenant, and through the anointing we also gain divine consecration from the Father: " He permitted no man to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, Saying, 'Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.'"-(1 Chronicles 16:22)

"Anointed" renders one to be definitively sanctified, consecrated and set apart for a task or a position by God. We find this same word used for "anointed" in the Old Testament termed for prophets, priests, kings and judges. Their anointings were often temporary, empowering them to accomplish their assignment. These offices were types and shadows which pointed to Jesus, THE anointed one. Jesus is singularly perfect in fulfilling all the offices; He came as a prophet-"The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren."-(Deuteronomy 18:15), He is now functioning as our high priest-"You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek"-(Hebrews 5:5) and when He returns He will become judge and reign as our king-He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."-(Revelation 17:14)
Today, we believers who are purchased by the blood are anointed priests who are able to transport people to be cleansed by the very same blood of Jesus Christ, our high priest by way of the powerfully anointed message of the Gospel.

Perhaps the most dynamic and awe-inspiring attribute of the anointing of the Lord is its supernatural power to shatter bondage. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing."-(Isaiah 10:27) My father-in-law wrote an incredibly powerful song that my wife and I minister with, which proclaims "The Anointing of the Lord breaks the yoke of bondage, The Anointing of the Lord sets the Captives free, The Anointing of the Lord brings rivers to your desert, that Anointing is raining on me, That Anointing is raining on me..." I love that song, because as we minister with it, the Holy Spirit brings explosive breakthrough into the lives of those pressing into the flow of the very power of God. I have witnessed the anointing deliver people from addiction, affliction and every type of sin. God uses His power to accomplish His plans and to increase the current of His will.

But the greatest purpose of our becoming the Anointed of the Lord is definitely NOT self-gratification. It is to fulfill the Great Commission. Jesus said "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father."-(John 14:12) We are given the person of the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us here on earth and the empowerment of the anointing to preach the gospel. "And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following. Amen."-(Mark 16:20)