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In Philippians 3:10 we see that Paul desired to be conformed to Christ’s death. In verse 11 he speaks of the out-resurrection from the dead. In these two verses death and resurrection are covered. The death spoken of in verse 10 is not a negative death, the death of Adam, but a positive, lovable death, the death of Christ the Savior. Furthermore, the resurrection in verse 11 is not the ordinary resurrection but the extraordinary resurrection, the outstanding resurrection. Hence, Paul calls it the out-resurrection. Verses 8 through 11, which are one long sentence in Greek, issue in two things: the lovable death of Christ and the out-resurrection from the dead.
In verse 8 Paul speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. In order to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, we need the vision, the revelation, of Christ. If we have the vision, we will see that there is no comparison between Christ and the law. We will also count all things as loss that we may gain Christ and be found in Him in a condition of not having a righteousness that is out of ourselves, but the righteousness that is God Himself lived out of us. Then we will know Christ experientially, and we will also know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. All this issues in the lovable death of Christ and in the out-resurrection from the dead. Christians today do not know Christ’s lovable death or the extraordinary resurrection in an adequate way. But in order to experience Christ adequately, we must know these things.
In this chapter I would like to share with you concerning the all-accomplishing death of Christ. Christ’s death is lovable because it has accomplished so much for us. Among Christians, mainly the redeeming aspect of Christ’s death is preached. There is hardly any mention of any other aspect of Christ’s death. But according to the New Testament, there is more than one aspect of His death. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This verse indicates that the Lamb of God, our Redeemer, would die on the cross to take away our sins. We believe in this, and we praise the Lord for it. In our hymnal we have many hymns on the subject of Christ’s redeeming death. We believe strongly that Christ, the Lamb of God, died on the cross as our Substitute to take away our sins. However, other aspects of Christ’s death are also found in the Gospel of John.
In John 3:14 the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” The bronze serpent had the form of a serpent but not the poisonous nature of the serpent. According to the Lord’s word, the bronze serpent typified the Lord Himself. This means that He was to be lifted up on the cross just as the bronze serpent was lifted up on the pole (Num. 21:8-9). Thus, the Gospel of John reveals that Christ was to die as the Lamb to take away our sins for redemption and also that He was to die in the form of a serpent to deal with the poison of the serpent in us. This aspect of Christ’s death is related to sin. Having nothing to do with redemption, it deals with the poisonous nature of the serpent, Satan. It deals with the satanic nature in our being.
A third aspect of Christ’s death is found in John 12:24: “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Regarding Christ’s death, John uses three figures: the Lamb, the bronze serpent, and the grain of wheat. The grain of wheat indicates the life-multiplying aspect of Christ’s death. Therefore, we have the aspect of redemption, the aspect of removing the serpentine poison, and the aspect of the multiplication of the divine life. The grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies multiplies the divine life. Because we are sinful, we need Christ as the Lamb. Because we have a serpentine nature, we need Him in the form of a serpent to destroy the nature of Satan in our being. However, if He merely takes away our sins and our serpentine nature without imparting anything into us, we are still empty. Hence, there is the need of the third aspect of Christ’s death, the aspect that releases the life in Him into us. When our sins are taken away, when our serpentine nature is dealt with, and when the divine life is imparted into our being, we are no longer empty, no longer void. All this is the result of Christ’s death. Because the death of Christ has so many aspects, we may describe it as the all-accomplishing death. Now we need to see in detail more of what Christ’s death has accomplished for us.
In addition to the accomplishment of redemption, Christ’s death has accomplished twelve things for us. The first is that Christ’s death releases the divine life. Consider a grain of wheat. If a grain of wheat is kept in a container, it will remain alone; nothing will happen to it. In order for the grain to multiply by having the life within it released, the grain must die. We have pointed out that in John 12 Christ had come to His golden time. He had performed a great miracle in raising Lazarus from the dead, and a large number of Jews believed in Him because of it. When He was about to enter Jerusalem, a huge crowd welcomed Him enthusiastically. Even the Pharisees felt that their opposition of Him had been in vain because the world was following Him (v. 19). Every preacher in Christianity would enjoy having such a great following. However, the Lord Jesus was not excited by the reception given Him by the crowd. When Philip told Him that the Greeks were interested in seeing Him, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (v. 24). The Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, “Philip, I don’t care for this welcome. Instead, I am ready to fall into the ground and die.”
If I had been Philip, I would have been very disappointed, and I probably would have said, “Lord, I’m excited because this is Your golden time. For three and a half years You have been rejected, opposed, despised, and persecuted. Now the crowds are welcoming You. Lazarus is here as a strong testimony, and everyone is convinced and subdued. Even the Greeks want to see You. But You are not excited. Instead, You speak of a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying. What does this mean?”
Yes, although there was a great crowd, the question we must ask is this: Was there anything of life in this crowd, in this great following? No, the life that was in the Lord as the grain of wheat had not yet been released and imparted into them. Thus, the Lord seemed to be saying, “I have life in Me, but it has not yet been released and imparted into them. I am the grain of wheat containing life, but the crowd does not have life. Only through death can the life that is in Me be released and imparted into them. Philip, there is no other way. You are excited by this welcome, by this large following, but I don’t care for the excitement or for the following. I came that these people may have life. What is needed is not excitement or a welcome or a following. What is needed is for Me to die so that the life within Me can be released into them. Philip, even you need My death. Although you have been following Me for three and a half years, you still do not have My life within you. The divine life is concealed and confined in Me. I must fall into the ground and die so that it can be released to produce many grains. I am now the unique grain. But after My death you all will become grains just like Me. Philip, don’t be excited about this situation. What you need is life. You need Me to die so that you may have life.”
In Luke 12:50 the Lord Jesus said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed until it is accomplished!” Very few Christians understand this verse. When the Lord Jesus came out to minister, He was baptized by John. But in this verse He said that He still had a baptism to undergo and that He was pressed until it was accomplished. The word pressed in this verse means constrained. While the Lord Jesus was in His humanity, He was constrained; He was in a strait, in a narrow place. This means that He was restricted and that there was no release for Him. Within Him was something unlimited, immeasurable, and eternal. This was the divine life. The divine life in Him was constrained and confined. In other words, it was limited. This limitation could be removed only by the baptism of dying on the cross. Then the unlimited divine eternal life within the Lord Jesus could be released.
In 1933 Brother Nee gave me a book entitled The Release of the Lord. This book covered John 12:24 and Luke 12:50. I cannot express the great help I received through the reading of this book. The day I read that book, I saw that the death of Christ was not only for redemption but also for the release and the impartation of the divine life that was within Him. Not only did His death release the life of God from within Him; it also imparted it into us, making us grains of wheat just like Him. The Lord Jesus said that if a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will produce many grains. Certainly the many grains are the same as the one grain. Thus, we, the grains produced out of Christ’s death, are the same as Christ. Hallelujah, He was the one grain, and we are the many grains!
One difference between the one grain and the many is that He was willing to fall into the ground, but we are not. Instead of falling into the ground to die, we like to be uplifted. However, if we are lifted up, there will be no multiplication. The only way for a grain to multiply is to fall into the ground and die. Otherwise, it will remain alone, perhaps alone in a high place. All genuine Christians are grains, but not many are willing to fall into the ground and die. Some years ago there were thousands of “Jesus people,” but where are they now? There was a huge crowd, but there was very little life because few experienced the death of Christ.
A stanza of a hymn in our hymnal says,
When we see the ripened harvest
Of the golden countryside,
We may know that many seeds have
Fallen to the earth and died.
(Hymns, #279)
Before there can be a harvest, many grains need to fall into the ground and die. But who is willing to die? Instead of dying, nearly everyone wants to receive glory. Thus, no life is imparted into others. It is easy to have a crowd but difficult to impart life into others. To do this, we need to die. This is my burden in this chapter. In the Lord’s recovery we do not need a crowd; we need the death that releases life. We need to experience this aspect of Christ’s death.
To be conformed to Christ’s death is the real and practical experience of Christ. To experience Christ to the uttermost is to die and be conformed to His death. In the conformity to Christ’s death we experience Christ in the release of His divine life. We should not be content with mere outward increase. We must care for how much life the new ones receive through our impartation, for how much life is infused into others through us. This infusion of life depends not on our ability, strength, or teaching; it depends on our being conformed to the death of Christ. We need to be conformed to His death so that the divine life within us may be released and imparted into others. Time will tell how much life we have imparted into others. We may be able to stir up people or excite them, but what counts is how much life is in them after a number of years.
Life lasts; it is enduring. Anything that does not last is not life. Rather, it is merely something of emotion or excitement. I repeat, the Lord Jesus was not happy to have a large crowd. He preferred to fall into the ground and die so that life could be imparted into others. He had a baptism to undergo, and He was pressed until it was accomplished. The Lord seemed to be saying, “I am pressed, limited, confined. The divine life in Me is eternal and immeasurable. Yet it is confined in the shell of My humanity. I need to pass through baptism to break the shell of My humanity so that the divine life within Me can be released.” The principle is the same with us today. Apart from being conformed to Christ’s death, there is no way to experience Him.
In today’s Christianity there are many big revivals, and thousands, even millions, of people claim to have been saved. But where is the power of today’s so-called church? There is so little power because there is so little life. It is difficult to tell a Christian from someone who is not a Christian. We must not repeat the history of Christianity. The only way for us not to be a part of Christianity is to die. We need to pray, “Lord, grant me the grace to be willing to die. Lord, I want to follow You. You said that wherever You are, there will Your servants be. Lord, since You are in death, we must be in death also.” What a need there is for the release of the divine life from within us! For this, we all need to die. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and I am pressed until it is accomplished. I need to be released by death, by falling into the ground and dying. Hallelujah, Christ died! Through death the one grain has become the many grains.
The Lord’s death not only releases the divine life but also multiplies it. I regret that through the years I have not adequately ministered life to you. Therefore, we are still short of life. This shortage of life is probably due to the fact that I have not died enough. Life comes out of death. The divine life is within us, but how much this life is multiplied depends upon how much death we undergo. The more death we experience, the more life will be released from us. Only death can bring about the multiplication of the divine life; power cannot do it. Today’s Christians devote their attention to power instead of to life, but only the death of Christ can multiply life.
Through the death of Christ, the Father is glorified (John 12:28; 13:31). Christ’s death glorified the Father because it released the divine life. The release of the divine life from within Jesus was the glorification of God. Glory is God released and expressed. Hence, whenever the divine life within us is released, God is glorified. The unique way to glorify God is to die. The more we are conformed to the death of Christ, the more we glorify the Father. Many Christians are taught that the way to glorify God is to behave themselves. However, the more you behave yourself, the more you receive the glory. You do not give any glory to God. The only way to glorify God is to be conformed to the death of Christ. Then spontaneously the divine life within us will be released, and God the Father, the source of this life, will be glorified.
Another thing accomplished by the death of Christ is the saving of our soul (12:25). The only way to save our soul is to die. The more we die with Christ, the more we save our soul.
Through the death of Christ, people are drawn to Christ. After telling Philip that He would die as a grain of wheat falling into the ground, the Lord said, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (v. 32). The words lifted up refer to the Lord’s death on the cross. Through His death the Lord would draw men to Himself. The real attraction is in the dying. When we die the death of Christ and are conformed to His death, we will be a magnet drawing people to Christ. The death of Christ on the cross has a lovable attraction. Such an attracting, the proper attraction, is not a matter of stirring up people emotionally. It is an attraction that comes through the release of life. When people contact us, they should be influenced by the divine life and realize that there is something within us different from anything that is in the worldly people. There is something heavenly and divine within us. This is the crucified life with its attracting power. Every crucified person is a magnet. Wherever we are, we need to experience Christ in this way.
The death of Christ also judges the world. In John 12:31 the Lord Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.” The world is a satanic system, a satanic organization. This satanic system can be judged only by the death of Christ. When Christ died on the cross, His death spontaneously judged the satanic system of the world organization.
Furthermore, according to John 12:31, the death of Christ casts out the ruler of this world. When Christ died on the cross, He cast out Satan. If we exercise our own strength to reject the world or to fight against the ruler of the world, we will fail. The best way to overcome the world and to defeat Satan is to be conformed to the death of Christ. If we are willing to be conformed to His death, we will be victorious over the world and Satan.
Hebrews 2:14 reveals that the death of Christ destroyed the devil. This verse says, “Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil.” Through death Christ destroyed not only the devil but also death. Since the one who held death has been destroyed, death has been destroyed also. This was accomplished through the death of Christ on the cross.
Christ’s death has also wiped out the ordinances (Col. 2:14). It is not an easy matter to give up ordinances. If we drop one ordinance, we immediately make another one. If there were no self or flesh, it would be impossible to have ordinances. Thus, the best way to wipe out the ordinances is to crucify the flesh and the self. Every ordinance is established by the flesh or by the self. This indicates that the problem is not actually with the ordinances but with the self and the flesh. By His death on the cross Christ has wiped out all the ordinances that were according to the law. In order for the one new man to be created, the ordinances had to be wiped out (Eph. 2:15). However, few Christians realize this. That is the reason there are so many ordinances in today’s Christianity. As the years go by, more and more ordinances are created by the self and by the flesh. We need to deal with the flesh and the self so that there will be no more ordinances. If we are conformed to the death of Christ, all the ordinances will be abolished.
By His all-accomplishing death, the Lord Jesus has stripped off the rulers and the authorities (Col. 2:15). The powers of darkness are related to our flesh. We may even say that they are wrapped up with our flesh and self. In the self there is Satan and the power of darkness. Do not argue that the powers of darkness are in the air. Yes, these powers are in the air, but they are also related to our self and our flesh. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, He nailed the flesh and the self on the cross. By doing that, He also stripped off the rulers and the authorities.
Suppose I am wearing a white shirt and that on this shirt are some spots of dirt. The best way to remove the dirt is to strip off the shirt. When the shirt is removed, the dirt is removed also. Our flesh and self are like the white shirt. God created this white shirt, but Satan has caused spots of dirt, the rulers and the authorities, to appear on it. The best way to eliminate these spots is to strip off the “shirt,” that is, to deal with the flesh and the self.
Let us once again use married life as an illustration. Brothers have often come to me with difficulties they are having with their wives. I have said to them, “The only way to deal with the problem is for you to go to the cross. Do not deal with your troublesome wife. Deal with the self that is bothered by her. She has a bothering self, and you have a bothered self. Instead of dealing with your wife’s bothering self, deal with your bothered self. If you are buried in the tomb, you will not be troubled by your wife anymore. The reason you are troubled by her is that your self is still so active. Your self wants to have a wonderful wife who has been dealt with by the Lord. But I will not take sides with you. I take sides with your wife in killing you so that your self might be buried. Brother, if you are willing to be buried, there will be no problems.”
The reason that Satan and the rulers and the authorities trouble you is that you are still wearing the “dirty shirt.” If you strip off the “shirt” and leave it in the tomb, the evil powers will also be stripped off. It is in this way that Christ, by His death on the cross, has stripped off all the rulers and the authorities. When He went to the cross in His flesh, all the rulers and the authorities followed Him. The Lord seemed to say, “Rulers and authorities, follow Me. I am going to the cross. By My death on the cross, I will strip you off.” This is the meaning of Colossians 2:14 and 15.
By His death Christ has also crucified our old man (Rom. 6:6). Christ died not only for our sins but also because of our self, which is our old man, our sinful old man. Sins are the expression of our old man, whereas our old man is the source of our sins. This old man has been crucified on the cross of Christ.
When He was crucified on the cross, Christ also crucified our flesh with its passions and its lusts (Gal. 5:24).
The death of Christ has accomplished so many positive and negative things. Everything negative has been dealt with by the cross of Christ. This is the all-inclusive death, the all-accomplishing death. When we are conformed to such a death and are willing to undergo such a baptism, all the positive aspects of Christ’s death will be realized, and all the negative things will be terminated. If we are willing to live under this death, there will be no problems.
