ANOINTING FOR THE SUPERNATURAL

“I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have ANOINTED him” – Psalm 89:20

The ANOINTING is the second dimension of the SUPERNATURAL that we need to understand and walk in: “I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have ANOINTED him” (Psa.89:20). David moved in the Supernatural, first as a man of Faith, but also by learning to operate in the Anointing. The anointing refers to the marking out of someone or something, in order to denote the presence and purpose of God. The Hebrew and Greek words in scripture, used for the word anointing, mean to rub on oil. This was the physical way by which the kings, priests and prophets of the Old Testament were frequently marked out as coming under the delegated spiritual authority of God, for the purpose of ruling over, or ministering to, His people. The anointing with oil was a means of sealing the consecration of God on such individuals (Exo.28:41; 29:7).

Anointing in the Old Testament was but a shadow of what it is through the new covenant in Jesus Christ.  The Anointing is for Divine Announcement! Jesus was announced by the Anointing (Lk.4:14). Jesus read from Isaiah 61 about the Year of the Lord, which was fulfilled in His ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me…” (Lk.4:18a). He fulfilled these prophecies: set the oppressed free, gave sight to the blind, proclaimed liberty from sin as He purchased by His own blood those who believed in Him and proclaimed the “Lord’s favor” in His work at Calvary. This clarifies Acts 10:38 where Peter says that “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

Anointing with oil is also referred to in the New Testament as a powerful way of declaring the presence of God operating in people’s lives, particularly in healing (Jam. 5:14). However, it’s not the oil which imparts supernatural authority, power and presence. It’s the Holy Spirit. Since the coming of the Holy Spirit, the anointing has been the ability God gives the believer to accomplish the work of ministering in His name and serving Him. Though a spiritual endowment, the physical act symbolising the anointing still often involves the application of oil on the person for the purpose of consecrating the work of God in his or her life.

The Anointing is God doing His work through our humanity! It is therefore critical that we understand the Anointing if we truly seek to represent our Lord in this world. To minister in any capacity, without the anointing of God through the Holy Spirit, is simply to bring human wisdom and natural ability into play. Such ministry may be well-intentioned and may even be helpful, but it’s not the supernatural intervention into this needy world that God purposed through the Body of Christ. Jesus warns His disciples that it’s only a wholly submitted relationship with God which will ensure that He’ll truly be the source of spiritual authority for our ministering to those in need (Mt. 7:21). The Anointing is God’s Unction to Function for His Glory!

There are two levels of the Anointing, both of which are crucial in God’s Kingdom: personal and corporate anointing. Personal anointing is the measure of supernatural grace from God to each believer to enable us to fulfil our unique callings. Our callings vary, which may require: anointing to administer, to govern, to restore families, for business, to perform miracles or to minister in the evangelistic, teaching or prophetic. Corporate anointing is that which is poured out when believers present at a meeting or other gathering become one in Christ (Eph.4:13). When this happens, we see Christ operating through the Church with miracles, signs, and wonders. This anointing is multiple times stronger and more powerful than personal anointing!

Jesus Christ is revealed in Scripture as the Anointed One, the One to whom all authority has been given in heaven and on earth. Only in Him can we receive and express true anointing.