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. Luke 4:18
What is anointing?
One of the hallmarks of a true follower of Christ is being anointed by the Holy Spirit. This allows us to fully embrace the goodness of God, including the power to overcome all forms of evil with His strength. The Bible tells us that if we are in the presence of God, no weapon formed against us will prosper (Isaiah 54:17). No destruction, plague, famine can touch us because we have great confidence that our God is strong; and that in our weakness, God’s strength shines in us.
The anointing from Christ not only gives us the strength we need in times of despair, fear, or trouble, but it also causes us to relentlessly do the work He has commanded us. The anointing is what empowers us to work steadfastly for His own glory.
What anointing causes us to do
Being anointed means that we preach the Gospel to everyone. By everyone, the Bible has never been clearer to say that we should teach all nations (Matthew 28:19). In Christ, there’s no Jew nor Greek; no poor nor rich, no male nor female; for whosoever believes in Him, He will give everlasting life (John 3:16).
Being anointed gives us the power to heal the brokenhearted. This current crisis has given many people reasons to feel hopeless and to groan in pain, anger, and anxiety. As the anointed body of Christ, we are called to be the light of this dying world. To let the light of the Father shine before men so He will be glorified (Matthew 5:16). The good hope we received from Christ is the source of healing that we can share with those reeling from hopelessness and broken-heartedness.
Jesus came. Whatever the hurt is, He came to heal the brokenhearted.
Being anointed causes us to preach deliverance to the captives. Liberty from all worldly lusts is something everyone grapples with. No matter how hard we try to forsake them, we can never win = them over. True deliverance from fear, addiction, lust, anger, or hatred happens when we surrender all our burden to Christ. For what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Being anointed brings forth the revelation of Christ through us. Recovering of the sight to the blind in Luke 4:18 means to heal the blind eye so people may be free from being spiritually blind. True revelation comes after the anointing of Christ. His anointing brings understanding, clarity, and genuine recovery from blindness. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 1 John 2:20
Being anointed frees us from bruises of sins. Christ’s sacrifice is a be-all-end-all remedy to our bruises. He was wounded and suffered death to wash away our sins along with the vile things included in it. Through Christ, we can be confident that we will no longer go through eternal damnation and hardship that causes deep wounds and bruises.
These things are said and done to ultimately glorify God and complete the work He has set forth to accomplish. However, with the anointing also comes great dismissal and rejection from many. The mission of the devil is to kill, steal, and destroy. And when we tell the Truth to the world, and they don’t have the will and heart to repent, we will be hated. But God is exceedingly gracious to give us the strength to overcome hatred and fear with faith. Our anointing comes to set people free, we must be confident that Christ will be with us as we work relentlessly for His glory.
