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Scripture Reading: John 12:24; 2 Cor. 4:10-11
Philippians 3:10 says, “To know...the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” According to the original Greek, these two phrases are two of the hardest phrases to translate because there is no such expression in Chinese. The meaning of the original Greek is “to realize, or to know.” Having fellowship in the Lord’s sufferings is to have fellowship with the Lord in His sufferings and through His sufferings. To be conformed to His death means that His death is like a mold and that we are in this mold to be conformed to His death.
In the previous chapters we saw the obstacles that the life of God encounters in us. Now we need to see how God deals with these problems and how He opens a clear pathway for His life in us. This pathway is called the pathway of life. Although the life of God is in us, His life often cannot come out of us because there are strong hindrances, obstacles, and restrictions in us. Thus, the life of God has a difficult way to get through in us; it is rebuffed at every point and resisted in every matter. A part of God’s work in His salvation is to pave a clear way for His life in us. This work is accomplished through the death of the cross.
In God’s salvation there is life and there is death, and His salvation involves several matters of faith that are not the subject of other “faiths.” For example, no other “faith” speaks of the blood or redemption by the blood. In God’s salvation, however, the blood is an important matter because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). This point is not stressed by other “faiths.” Furthermore, life is also a very special matter in God’s salvation. However, only in God’s salvation is the matter of life considered and emphasized. From beginning to end the Bible is focused on life. The goal of God’s center and purpose is life. In religion there is not much speaking concerning life; instead, self-cultivation, character improvement, and charitable and pious deeds are emphasized. However, in God’s salvation there is blood and life.
Most people do not like to hear about death. The Chinese like to display words in their homes like blessing, wealth, longevity, and happiness, but no one likes the word death. Nevertheless, in God’s salvation there is the matter of death, and it is a great matter. Those who know God’s salvation not only appreciate the preciousness of the blood and the importance of life but also realize the importance of death. In the provisions of God’s salvation, He has prepared blood, life, and death for us. In regard to God’s salvation, we often say that we have received the life of God, a life that is eternal, holy, full, and shining. However, we may not realize that there is also something else that is precious in God’s salvation, which people do not like to hear — the matter of death.
Paul, who knew both God and His salvation, not only pursued His life but also His death. He says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10). The fellowship he desired to know was not in Christ’s life but in His sufferings. Knowing this fellowship meant that Paul participated in this fellowship, which caused him to be conformed to Christ’s death. Paul desired, pursued, and also treasured Christ’s death. Even though many people do not like death, Paul treasured it. Just as the blood is precious and life is important in God’s salvation, so is death. Whoever desires to know God’s salvation must know these three precious things: the blood, life, and death.
We all know the preciousness of the Lord’s blood and how the blood enables our sins to be forgiven. When we fall short before the Lord and cannot come to Him because of condemnation in our conscience, we can look to the blood, trust in the blood, and come to the Lord. Through the blood our sins are forgiven, and through the cleansing of our conscience our fellowship with God is restored (Heb. 10:19; 9:14). In this way we experience the preciousness of the blood.
Many saved ones emphasize life and the experience of the Lord’s life. Nevertheless, very few of us realize that God has prepared another wonderful thing for us in His salvation — the death of Christ. We may have been Christians for many years, but have we ever realized that God has prepared death for us in His salvation? In our Christian experience, how much do we genuinely experience death in the Lord’s salvation? We have ignored this great matter of death in God’s salvation.
In the Bible we can see that God’s salvation and life have been concealed in death. John 12:24 says, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” This means that there is life in a grain of wheat, but unless the grain falls into the ground and dies, the life within the grain will not be released. If, however, the grain dies, the life will be released. This shows that death is the way for life to be released. Since death is an outlet for life, life must pass through death. Regardless of whether it is a grain of wheat or another kind of seed, a seed must pass through death in order to release the life that is in it.
If we love a seed and put it in a very beautiful place or even in a precious box, the life within the seed, that is, all the content and splendor concealed within the seed, will not be expressed. However, if we bury the seed in the earth, the seed will have an opportunity to enter into death so that all of the seed’s content will come out. The life within the seed is released through death. After a short time we will see a green seedling growing up. After more time we will see a leaf sprouting on the seedling, and after still more time the leaf will be full grown and a flower will blossom. Eventually, the seedling will blossom, bear fruit, and be full grown.
This shows that it is only through death that the life in a seed can be released. This is a natural law in the universe, and this law signifies the pathway to release the life of God in us. Both plant and animal life are released through death. For example, the life of a chicken is in an egg, but if the eggshell is not broken, life cannot come out. Those who raise chickens know that in order for the life in an egg to be born, the eggshell must be broken. The breaking of an eggshell is a process of death. Regardless of whether it is plant or animal life, life must pass through the process of death in order to be born. This is a natural law, and it is also a principle. This law signifies that in order for the life of God to come out of us, it must pass through death.
Similarly, in order for the life of God to come out of the Lord Jesus, He had to pass through death. He said that without death there would be no life (v. 24). Without death as the pathway, life cannot be released. The way of life is the way of death; wherever there is death, there is a way for life to come out. If there is no death in us, God’s life will not be able to find a way to be released from us. Paul says, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Cor. 4:10). The expression of the Lord’s life in us is contingent upon one thing: death. The extent to which death has worked in us is the extent to which the Lord’s life has a way to come out of us. For this reason even Paul, who was full of experience and was mature in life, pursued to know Christ’s death; he wanted to be conformed to Christ’s death. He pursued this death because he knew that the extent to which death worked in him would be the extent to which the Lord’s life could be released from him.
Some people may ask, “How can we apply this principle?” First, we need to realize that we have a mistaken concept. When we consider the matter of religion, for example, we spontaneously associate it with self-cultivation. If a person believes in Buddhism and is a devout Buddhist, he surely tries to cultivate and improve himself. If a person believes in Catholicism and is a devout Catholic, he also tries to cultivate himself. Regardless of whether a person is a Muslim or a Christian, as long as he is sincere and not careless, he will have a concept related to cultivation and self-improvement. This is particularly true of those who are saved in a strong way. As soon as they are saved, such ones desire to become good Christians and serve God, and they immediately begin to act according to their concept of cultivation and improvement.
For example, before he is saved, a person may have a bad temper and often lose his temper with his wife. Once he becomes a Christian, however, he feels it is improper to lose his temper with his wife. Consequently, he spontaneously has a thought of correcting and cultivating himself. Truly speaking, among all those who are saved, no one can escape from this concept of cultivation. For example, we may have good fellowship with the Lord in the morning and touch His presence. However, once we come out of our room, someone can provoke us to the point that we speak some impetuous words. As soon as these impetuous words come out of our mouth, we immediately do not feel peaceful. Then we pray and ask the Lord to forgive us, but after asking for forgiveness, we also make up our mind to correct ourselves so that we do not lose our temper again. This comes from our concept of self-cultivation and improvement.
Many saints live a life of spiritual cultivation. Nevertheless, we cannot find the word cultivation in the Bible; spiritual cultivation is not the central thought in the Bible. Christianity has deviated from the course and is short of light and grace; it uplifts self-cultivation according to man’s concept and encourages people to cultivate themselves spiritually. This is a religious concept according to man’s religious view, but it is not the revelation of the Bible or the revelation of God’s light. If someone asks what word in the New Testament should replace cultivation, we would answer death. Death is the real way to change a person’s temper. A brother who loses his temper does not need cultivation but death. Death does not sound good, but in order for a man of the old creation to be transformed, death, rather than cultivation, is required.
Therefore, whether a person is in life does not depend on whether he is fast or slow. Being fast does not necessarily mean that a person is not acting according to life, and being slow does not necessarily mean that a person is acting according to life. Whether we have life and are in life does not depend on whether we are fast or slow but on whether God has been released from us. We may even change from being fast to slow or change our temper from bad to good, but it will not be according to life if God is not manifested from us. At the most, we will express our cultivation. Life is related to God, not cultivation, and when the New Testament speaks of life, it also speaks of death. Life is not a matter of cultivation but of death.
In the entire Bible, no apostle was ever inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach people to cultivate their conduct; on the contrary, the apostle Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). By this he meant that as a person with God’s life and as a person with Christ living in him, he had been crucified with Christ on the cross. He was dead. The cross accomplished a work of death in him so that God’s life would have a way. The New Testament does not teach us to cultivate ourselves; rather, it teaches us to walk in the way of death. When we pass through death and move in death, the life of God will gain an open way in us. We need to know the way of life through death. We need to see that cultivation is not God’s will, because God does not intend that we would improve ourselves. God wants us to see that the cross of His Son comes to us through the Holy Spirit. The cross does a work of death in us so that we may pass through death in order for His life to have an open way in us.
How can the life of God live out of us? First, we need to realize that we have the life of God in us. From the day that we were saved, God’s life came into us to be our life. However, this life is surrounded by our person. The life of God wants to come out of us, but our person hinders and restricts Him. Therefore, it is difficult for Him to come out of us.
Many saints become behavior-improving Christians and take the way of self-improvement because they do not know the life of God that dwells in them or the way of life. They think that they will arrive at the standard of a Christian by improving their temper a little and doing good rather than bad things. The way they take is unrelated to life; it is merely the way of religion and self-improvement. They are Christians in name, but they are not Christians in their actual living. The actual living of a Christian is the living out of God. Our problem depends on the divine life opening up a way in us so that God can live out of us. This is what we need to seek and discover.
Second, we need God to open our eyes to see that we are a hindrance to the life of God. We may be naturally irritable or meek, or we may be naturally quick or slow, but in any case, we are a problem to the life of God. As long as we have a heart for God, sooner or later He will show us that we are a problem to His life. In other words, if we want to let the life of God come out of us and if we want to walk the way of life and live the Christian life, we need to look to God to open our eyes and show us that our very person is a problem to the life of God.
Third, if God has opened our eyes, we will hate our self. When we are enlightened, we will truly hate the way we are. About twenty years ago I was shown mercy and was enlightened to see my actual condition, and I truly hated and abhorred myself. I said, “O God, the problem that You encounter in me is my very self. I truly should be cursed. O God, I hate myself. No matter how I think, how I view things, how I make decisions, how I form opinions, or how I honor my parents, it all is a problem to You. O God, I hate myself. I abhor myself.” When we abhor and hate our self, the Holy Spirit will show us that our self, which restricts and opposes God, has been crucified on the cross (Rom. 6:6).
At such a moment we will see a vision, a revelation, that we are already on the cross. This can be compared to being saved and enlightened by the Holy Spirit to see our sins. At the moment of our grief, sorrow, and repentance for our sins, the Holy Spirit showed us that the Lord Jesus was crucified for us on the cross. When we repented of our sins, the Holy Spirit showed us that the Lord Jesus had borne them on the cross for us. When we saw this, we praised Him immediately, saying, “O Lord, my sins are on the cross. Thank You. The sins that were mine are now on the cross. Lord, Your cross has dealt with my sins.” We were saved at that time, and we clearly knew that we were saved. In the same principle, the Holy Spirit will show us that our self, as an enemy of God, is the real hindrance and restriction to the life of God. We will loathe, hate, abhor, and condemn our self; however, at the same moment, the Holy Spirit will show us that the Lord Jesus bore our person on the cross with Him. We also were crucified on the cross. At such a moment we will see a vision of the cross for the second time.
In our experience we first saw that our sins were crucified on the cross. Now we need to see that our person was crucified on the cross as well. Our self has been crucified on the cross. Everyone who sees this vision will praise, worship, and immediately say, “O Lord, my person has been crucified on the cross. I thank and praise You. Just as my sins have been dealt with on the cross, I also have been dealt with on the cross.” This is our true experience, and this is also the beginning of being on the pathway of life. Christian living starts from this point.
Thus, we need to realize several things. First, we need to realize that we have the life of God in us. Second, we need to realize that we ourselves are a hindrance to the life of God. Regardless of whether we think we are good or bad, fast or slow, eventually the Holy Spirit will show us that the life of God is in us. At the same time, He will show us that our person is a problem to the life of God. Our mind is a problem, our will is a problem, and our emotion is also a problem to the life of God; it is our very person that is a problem to the life of God.
We know this because even though our thoughts are not wrong, our judgments are right, and our emotions are proper, God often is not expressed through our mind, emotion, and will. If God’s life cannot be released from us, there is an obstacle to His life in us. This is the reason we say that the obstacle that the life of God encounters in us is our person. It means nothing to God if we are good or bad, fast or slow. Just as losing our temper is not necessarily related to the life of God, controlling our temper is not necessarily related to the life of God. Every good thing and every bad thing, when measured against the standard of the life of God, are hindrances and obstacles.
Third, we need to realize that we have been crucified on the cross. According to God’s view, reckoning, and judgment, we are already on the cross. The preceding three points are the way of life and the revelation of life. Anyone who wants to take the way of life must see these three points. Such a vision and revelation are clearly shown to us when the Holy Spirit enters into us. In such a vision we see the living and immeasurable God with His eternal and mighty life in us, and in this revelation we see that our very person is a hindrance and restriction to life. However, He also shows us that we are crucified on the cross. This vision is the beginning of our walk on the way of life.
Everyone who is before the Lord and who wants to walk on the way of life must start from this point. We need God’s mercy and the Holy Spirit’s shining to show us that the life of God is in us, that we are a hindrance to the life of God, and that we have been crucified on the cross. Everyone who wants to take the way of God’s life eventually must see this.
When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see that we have been crucified on the cross, the death of the cross will shine into us and become an inward vision. Then wherever we go, this vision will be deeply impressed into us. Once we have seen this vision, we will start on the way of life, and the life of God will begin to be expressed through us.
After we have seen this vision, we will realize that we have died on the cross and have been terminated. Even if it later seems that we have forgotten everything and begin to act according to our old thoughts, decisions, and choices, the vision, as if it is a voice within, will remind us, asking, “Have you not been crucified? Have you not been terminated on the cross?” While we are thinking and deciding to act according to our own choices, a voice, a word, a light will question us within, “Are you not on the cross? Are you not crucified?” At such a time we will practically experience the vision that we have seen. Even though we may try to think according to our way, we will be unable, and even though we try to decide and choose according to our way, we will be unable. We will be like a deflated ball that was once filled with air.
Before we see such a vision, we can be compared to a ball filled with air; however, after we see the vision that we are crucified with Christ, a hole will be punctured in us without our even knowing it. Thus, when we try to think by our self, we will be unable; when we try to decide by our self, we will be unable; and when we try to choose by our self, we will be unable. Once the vision of the cross enters into us, it works in us and “punctures” us. When we see the vision, we will be broken.
Someone may ask, “Is it true that a person who has seen the cross will not lose his temper, and that a person who has not seen the cross will lose his temper?” No. A person who has not seen the cross will lose his temper, and so will a person who has seen the cross, but there is a difference. When a person who has not seen the cross loses his temper, the more he loses his temper, the more he takes pleasure in doing so, and the more he becomes enlivened by it. On the other hand, a person who has seen the cross may still lose his temper, but the more he loses his temper, the more he loses his taste for it, and the more uneasy he feels. A person who has seen the cross does not need to be exhorted by others; after he murmurs for half a sentence, he cannot utter the rest of the sentence. If he quarrels with his wife, he feels deflated after only one sentence and realizes that something is not right. There is no need for others to exhort him. A person who has not seen the vision of the cross and who is unwilling to bear the cross will quarrel in the evening after quarreling in the morning. This shows the difference between the two. Those who have not seen the cross are energized by their quarrels, but those who have seen the cross are deflated by their quarrels. Experiencing the vision of the cross is not a matter of cultivation but a matter of being broken. God’s salvation is not a matter of improvement but a matter of dying.
