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According to the Bible, death and resurrection are vital both to our Christian life and to God’s economy. Apart from death and resurrection, it is impossible for God to accomplish His purpose. Throughout God’s creation we see the principle of death and resurrection. For example, if a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will produce many grains. In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus 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.” For a single grain to die and bear much fruit means that it is multiplied into many other grains. Here we see death and resurrection. We also see death and resurrection illustrated in the hatching of a chicken out from an egg. When the shell is broken, the life within it is released, and a baby chicken comes out. Furthermore, the process of death and resurrection is illustrated by the metabolism that takes place in our body. In metabolism something is always dying, and something else is rising up in resurrection. Hence, metabolism is actually a process of death and resurrection. Within us something is always dying so that we may live. Because this matter of death and resurrection is so important to our Christian life, I am burdened to have still another chapter on the subject of dying to live, a chapter that will help us see how to be conformed to the death of Christ.
Although we may recognize the need to die, we may not know how to die. Recently, a number of saints have testified that although they have tried to die, they have not been successful in doing so. Not only is it difficult to die; it is even difficult to point out the way to die. I have been in the process of dying for more than fifty years, and I am still learning how to do it. Although it is very difficult to explain what is the way to die, in this chapter I shall try my best to present the way to you.
Regarding this matter, the first thing we Christians need to realize is that God wants us to die. Some Christians hold the mistaken concept that God wants us to die because we are sinful. They may say, “I don’t like my sinful old man. Because he is so evil, he must die.” Before we were saved, we loved ourselves a great deal and appreciated ourselves very much. But once our being was exposed to the light, we began to hate ourselves. The more light we receive from the Lord, the more we are exposed; and the more we are exposed, the more we hate our ugly self. Thus, many Christians think that we must die because we are so evil, sinful, and ugly. This concept, however, is not accurate. The Lord Jesus had to die not only on the cross but also daily during His life on earth, and He certainly was not sinful. On the contrary, He was altogether right and lovable in the eyes of God. There was nothing evil about Him. Nevertheless, even such a pure, perfect, lovable, and sinless person had to die. When He came forth to minister, the first thing He did was to present Himself to John the Baptist to be buried. Even the Lord Jesus had to die.
If we would know how to die, we need to see clearly that we must die not because we are sinful but simply because we are human. Since you are a human being, God wants you to die. This has nothing to do with being evil. In fact, the better you are, the more you need to die. Therefore, we need to have a change of concept about the necessity of dying. We must die because God’s economy requires us to die. Even the Lord Jesus, the holy, perfect, sinless, lovable One, had to die. Then what about us? We must die also, not because we are evil but because we are human. Do not think that you must die because you hate others. No, you must die because you love others so much. The more loving we are, the more we need to die. God’s economy requires this.
The second point concerning the way to die is that God wants us to live out not our human life but the divine life. In other words He does not want us to live out ourselves; He wants us to live out Him. In order to live out God, we need to die.
The only part of our being that is useful to God is our will. God wants us to exercise our will to choose Him to be our life. Again, I say, He does not want us to live out ourselves. The more we live out ourselves, the more we offend God and rebel against Him. God’s economy is to have Himself lived out by us. However, we are doing our best to live out ourselves. This is rebellion. Some say, “I will live out myself by loving others and by helping them.” But God says, “Your loving of others and your helping them are rebellion against Me. I don’t want you to love others or to help them. I want you to take Me as your life and to live Me out as your living. If you fail to do this, you are against My economy, and that is rebellion.” How important it is for us all to see that God’s economy is that we must die in order to live out God!
The next thing we need to see about how to die is that nothing pleases God as much as our living by Him. This is the most pleasant thing to the Lord. If we take Him as our life and live Him out, His heart is touched, and He is joyful. Marriage is an illustration of this. Nothing touches a husband’s heart more than having his wife live according to him. How happy a husband is whenever his wife lives according to him! Likewise, the Lord is very pleased when we live by Him.
In 1933 I was invited to a province in southern China where we were served rice to eat three times a day. As a northerner, I was accustomed to eating wheat instead of rice. Realizing that I was exhausted by the strenuous work of ministering in several meetings a day, some sisters decided to prepare some wheat bread for me. Although, they made this bread out of love, it tasted so bad that I could not eat it. I did not say a word to them, but inwardly I thought that I would rather eat their rice. This illustrates the fact that even though we may do something for others in a loving way, what we do may be not at all pleasing to them because it is done according to ourselves. If a wife loves her husband in this way, she will kill him with her love. What is most pleasing to others is that we live according to them. In like manner, the most pleasing thing to God is that we live by Him in order to live Him out.
We have seen that God wants us to die, that He wants us to live Him out, and that the most pleasing thing to Him is that we not only live for Him but live by Him. Now we come to the fourth point concerning how to die. This point is that there is no need for us to die, because we have died already. Romans 6:3 says, “Are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” According to this verse, we should not be ignorant of the fact that we have already been baptized into Christ’s death. This indicates that we are already dead. Since we are dead, why should we try to die? How foolish! Are you ignorant of the fact that you have already been baptized into Christ’s death? No, we are not ignorant. We know that we have been baptized into Christ’s death.
Furthermore, Romans 6:4 says, “We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death.” This verse does not say that we will be buried; it says that we have been buried. Have you been buried? Then why are you still trying to die? How can a buried person die? How ridiculous! The Bible says that we have been buried, and we must believe it.
Notice that Romans 6:4 says that we have been buried with Him through baptism into death. Ordinarily, death comes first and then burial. But here the sequence is burial first and death second, for we are buried into Christ’s death. This indicates that before we were buried, we were living. Thus, the way to die is by being buried into Christ’s death. This is the biblical way. Hallelujah, we have been buried! There is no need for us to be buried, because we have been buried into death already.
According to Romans 6:3, to be baptized into Christ is equal to being baptized into His death. Furthermore, verse 4 says that we have been buried with Christ through baptism into death. Thus, in this portion of the Word, death equals Christ and Christ, death. Whenever I experience the death of Christ to a rich degree, I realize that the Lord Himself is death to me.
If we all remain in the death of Christ, there will be no problems. The reason a husband has difficulties with his wife is that he comes out of the death of Christ. Whenever we come out of the death of Christ, we cause trouble. If everyone in the church life remains in the death of Christ, all the problems will disappear.
Consider both Romans 6 and your experience. The Bible reveals the wonderful all-inclusive and all-accomplishing death of Christ. We all have been baptized into such a death. This is a fact. As many as have been baptized into Christ have been baptized, buried, into His death. In a very real sense, we Christians need to remain in the death of Christ.
The whole of Romans 6:4 says, “We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so also we might walk in newness of life.” The Greek word rendered “in order that” points to a result, an issue. If we are not buried into Christ’s death, we cannot have the result spoken of in this verse. We have been buried into death in order that we may walk in newness of life. The reference to Christ’s being raised from the dead through the glory of the Father indicates a glorious resurrection. As Christ was raised from the dead in a glorious resurrection, even so also we might walk in newness of life.
However, many do not experience the death of Christ; yet they endeavor to walk in newness of life. You were the one buried into death. The one who has been resurrected to walk in newness of life is not the original you, the one who was buried; it is Christ with you. We Christians are too natural. Our thinking and our understanding are so natural. We even understand the Bible according to our natural mentality. Because we are still governed by our natural concepts, we may say, “The Bible tells us that we should walk in newness of life. Therefore, let us walk in newness of life.” But this is not possible if we have not been buried and if we do not remain in death. If we come out of death, how can we walk in newness of life? It is impossible.
These verses in Romans 6 also indicate that death and resurrection are related to Christ. Verse 3 says that we have been baptized into Christ and that we have been baptized into His death. This indicates that we cannot be baptized into death apart from Christ. We must be baptized into Christ so that we may be baptized into His death. Moreover, verse 4 says that we have been buried with Him. Concerning the matter of death, we cannot be apart from Him. This is also true of resurrection.
This may be difficult to understand, but it is easy to experience. For example, we all breathe constantly. Although I would find it hard to write an article about what breathing is, I nonetheless know how to breathe. When I was an infant, I could breathe without having any knowledge of what breathing was. Likewise, it is easy to experience Christ but very difficult to explain what we are experiencing. According to my experience, I have been baptized into Christ and into His death. As long as I remain in Him, I remain in death. When I am in Christ, I am in death. The issue, the effect, of this is that I walk in newness of life. Actually, however, it is not I who walk in newness of life; it is Christ. This is proved by Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live; but it is Christ who lives in me.” In the light of this verse, we can say that it is Christ and not we who walk in newness of life. We know this by our experience.
When we remain in the death of Christ, it is not the end; it is the threshold of resurrection. Whenever I remain in the death of Christ, this death brings me into resurrection, and Christ rises up with me. The problem is that we do not remain in the death of Christ. If we do not stay in His death, Christ cannot rise up in us. Resurrection requires the ground of death. Obviously, Christ could not have been resurrected if He had not died. But because He died, He could be resurrected. The principle is the same with us today. The principle of life is that where there is death, there is resurrection.
After considering all these points, we should no longer try to die. Instead, we should cease from all our striving. The first stanza of Hymns, #483 expresses this very well:
If we try anything, we should try doing what this hymn suggests. We have been buried, and Christ is resurrected with us. Day after day, we need to be reminded that we have already been buried and that our position is in death. For us to remain in death is to be like a seed remaining in the earth. Eventually, the life within the seed will rise up. Likewise, when we remain in His death, Christ who is the life within us will rise up.
We are not stones but grains of wheat. The difference between a stone and a grain of wheat is that the grain of wheat has life in it. When the grain is sown into the soil and remains there, sooner or later the life within the grain will rise up. Likewise, Christ as the life in us will rise up if we stay in His death.
If we would know how to die, we must also see that we have a powerful life within us and that this life is Christ. Second Corinthians 13:3 says, “Since you seek a proof of the Christ who is speaking in me, who is not weak unto you but is powerful in you.” Christ is not weak in us; He is powerful. He is the powerful One. This powerful One is actually the power of resurrection spoken of in Philippians 3:10. Christ Himself is the power of His resurrection. If you take away Christ, resurrection has no power. Hallelujah, today this power of life is in us!
According to Philippians 3:10 and 11, we first have the power of resurrection, second the conformity to Christ’s death, and third the attaining to the out-resurrection. Thus, the sequence is resurrection, death, resurrection. In our experience, which comes first, death or resurrection? We have already pointed out that death is the threshold of resurrection. Therefore, death must be first. But in these verses resurrection comes before death. Romans 6 says that we are baptized into Christ’s death and indicates that the power of resurrection follows death. In Philippians 3 death is implied by the fact that Paul counted all things as loss. Paul’s counting all things as loss was actually his experience of remaining in the death of Christ. Because he remained in death, the power of Christ’s resurrection could rise up in him. This is the way to know the power of resurrection.
The way to know the life power in a grain of wheat is to put that grain into the soil and keep it there. Likewise, in order to know Christ as the power of resurrection life within us, we need to remain in Christ’s death. As we remain in His death, the power of life will rise up. When the power of life rises up, it will bring us into deeper death. This deeper death is the conformity to Christ’s death.
On the day we were baptized, we were merely put into Christ’s death; we were not yet conformed to it. For example, when sisters bake a cake, they put the dough into a mold. But after the dough is put into the mold, it is pressed and processed until it conforms to the mold. Thus, to put the dough into the mold is one thing, and to conform it to the mold is another. When we were baptized, we were put into the death of Christ, but we were not molded to the form of His death. When we are willing to remain in His death, the power of resurrection will rise up within us and bring us deeper and deeper into death. This is not being baptized into His death but being conformed to His death. We need to say, “Lord, how I thank You for Your wonderful death. To stay here is not a suffering. How sweet and pleasant it is to remain in Your death! When someone gives me a difficult time, I would like to remain in this death and sing hymns of praise unto You.” If we remain in Christ’s death in such a way, we will have resurrection. The more resurrection we have, the more death we will experience. Eventually, the out-resurrection, the outstanding resurrection, will be ours.
Many brothers and sisters have been baptized into Christ’s death, but they do not remain in death. I can tell by the expression on their faces that they have come out of death, for it is obvious that they are not at rest. Everyone who remains in death is at rest. If we remain in death, we will be able to say, “I don’t have problems with anyone. I am simply resting here. Whether others appreciate me or rebuke me, I am not disturbed. Rather, I am at rest.” The reason there is conflict between a husband and wife is that they so often come out of death. By leaving death, they lose their rest. Some brothers and sisters may come all the way out of death, whereas others may have one foot in death and one foot outside death. When they go back into death, they are at rest, but when they come out, they lose their rest. Some may remain in death, but instead of lying down in it, they stand up and try to get out. Still others may lie down in death; however, they are only partly at rest because as they lie there, they are desiring to leave death. Only those who fully rest in death actually remain in Christ’s death. These can say, “Praise the Lord that I have been baptized into His death. I am content to stay here.”
Those who remain in death know the power of resurrection. As they lie restfully in death, they have the experience of Philippians 3:10. They know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. They are also conformed to Christ’s death like dough conformed to a mold.
From now on, we should not only be in Christ’s death but also be conformed to His death. The more we are conformed to His death, the more we know the power of His resurrection; and the more we know the power of His resurrection, the more we are conformed to His death. It is in this way that we pass through the process of resurrection that leads to the out-resurrection. The more death there is, the more resurrection; and the more resurrection, the more death. This is a cycle that moves like a wheel. This is the Christian life and also the Christian walk. We live and walk by this cycle.
This cycle begins not with resurrection but with death. Are you ignorant of the fact that as many of us as have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death? Being baptized into the death of Christ is the beginning of the cycle. Through this experience of death, resurrection power rises up within us to bring us into deeper death. After we enter deeper into death, more resurrection power rises up. In this way the cycle continues from death to resurrection and from resurrection to death. Eventually, we will arrive at the outstanding resurrection. That will be the time of our maturity, the time when we are ready for rapture and the redemption of our body. The redemption of the body is the last step of resurrection. When our physical body enters into resurrection, it will be transfigured. That will be the full maturity of our Christian life.
The Christian life is a matter of dying to live. We die so that we may live. If there is no death, there can be no life, no resurrection. The more death we have, the more resurrection we experience; and the more resurrection we have, the more death we experience. This is the cycle that is gradually bringing us to maturity until we arrive at the outstanding resurrection. This is the Christian life.
