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In this chapter we will fellowship concerning the cross and the application of the cross. When we speak of the cross, we must be clear about God’s intention related to the cross, because only then can we lead others to have a proper knowledge of the cross. In order to experience the cross, we must have a proper and genuine understanding of it. The cross is what God wants in man; He wants all that is of man to be put to death.
All of God’s purpose for man and all His work related to man are to bring man to the place of death. God fulfilled this purpose through the work that He accomplished on the cross at Golgotha, where He not only dealt with man’s sins but also dealt with man himself. At the cross, at this point in the history of the universe, God dealt with man’s sins, and He also dealt with man. Both man’s sins and man himself were dealt with by the Lord Jesus when He was nailed on the cross at Golgotha. God wanted man to die, and God brought man to the place of death. God’s purpose is for man to die, and God put man into such a place at the cross.
The age of the New Testament began with termination brought in by John the Baptist, and the life of a Christian also begins with termination. When a Christian is baptized after believing, he is put into a place of death. This is how the New Testament age began, and this is how the Christian life begins. Death also marked the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. When the Lord Jesus was ready to carry out His ministry and serve God, He went to the river Jordan to be baptized before preaching any message and doing any work. The humanity that the Lord Jesus put on in His incarnation was buried in the water by John the Baptist. If the Lord Jesus were only God but not also a man, there would have been no need for Him to pass through death by going into the water. However, Jesus was a man, and as such, He needed to die; He needed to be buried.
Without Jesus’ being put into the place of death, the God who indwelt Him could not have been lived out through Him. On the first day of the Lord’s work, He delivered Himself to John the Baptist to be buried in the place of death. From that day onward, He continuously remained in the position of death. This enabled Him to truthfully say, “The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). He also said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me...The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works” (14:10). Because the Father was in Him, He had to die; only then could the Father do His works in Him. If the Lord still lived, the Father would not have been able to do His works in Him. He died so that the Father could live; the Lord remained in the place of death so that the Father could do His works from within Him. The Lord not only worked in this way; He also spoke in this way. He did not do anything or speak anything from Himself. When He spoke, it was the Father who did His works. When the Lord Jesus spoke and preached the word, it was the Father who was speaking and working in Him because He had been buried in the river Jordan. In His ministry of three and a half years and throughout His entire life, the Lord remained in the place of death.
If the Lord Jesus had only one life, His death would have had no meaning. If He only had the human life, His death would have been the same as any other man’s death. If He only had the divine life, He would have been unable to die, because God’s life is eternal. But the Lord Jesus had two lives, the human life and the divine life. His human life needed to die so that the source of His living would be God’s life. Thus, even though His human life was terminated as the source of His living, He still lived because He had another life, God’s life. Because He had two lives, one life could die so that the other life could be lived out. Even though He lived in the place of death in regard to His human life, He was able to live because He had the divine life.
The life that needs to die is our human life, whereas the life that needs to be lived out is God’s life. The need for man’s life to be terminated is not related to its being evil or corrupt. In the human life of Jesus the Nazarene, there was no corruption or evil, but His human life needed to die so that it would not be the source for His living. Only God’s life must be the source of our living. The human life of a man needs to be terminated in order for God’s life to be lived out. If our human life is not terminated, God’s divine life cannot be lived out of us. Hence, our need for termination is not related to corruption. Even if our humanity were not corrupt or evil, it would still need to be terminated in order for God’s life to have the first place in all the things related to our human living. Man’s life must yield to God’s life; man’s life needs to be removed by death so that God’s life can be our source.
Death is part of God’s plan because His heart’s desire is to enter into man and be man’s life. This is His eternal purpose and plan. God’s plan is very profound. He created man with a mind, emotion, and will. However, God wants man to receive His life so that His life becomes the source of man’s innate abilities. Once man receives God’s life, God wants man to yield the source of his living to the operation of His life. This yielding implies death, that is, the termination of man’s life as his source so that God’s life may become the source of his living. God’s plan is not focused on man doing something for God out from his life but on His entering into man so that His life may be lived out of man.
This is the reason that man needs to be terminated and to pass through death. However, in order for man to be terminated and to pass through death, he must have two lives. If a man has only the human life, he will not pass through death when he dies. For example, the famous Chinese philosopher Wang Yang-ming had only one life, and Socrates also had only one life. Wang Yang-ming lived out only the life of Wang Yang-ming, and Socrates lived out only the life of Socrates. Since they had only the human life, their death was an end with no further significance. However, Christ’s human life could be terminated because He had another life, God’s life. His human life needed to be terminated so that God’s life could be lived out. The termination of His human life enabled the divine life to be lived out.
Just as Christ needed to die, Christians need to die. Today we have two lives, the human life and the divine life. These two lives cannot be lived out concurrently; one of them must die. In order for God’s life to live, man’s life must die. Nevertheless, we must realize that even though man’s human life is terminated, he can still live by the divine life. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Paul was crucified with Christ, and it was no longer he who lived. However, he still lived because he had another life. God does not want us to be good and meek or to love others by living out these virtues from our human life; God’s heart’s desire is for man to die so that all that is expressed in our living comes out of His life.
When the Lord Jesus began to fulfill His ministry, He first was baptized; that is, He was put in the place of death. This was His bearing of the cross. Many Christians have a wrong understanding of the cross; they think that bearing the cross means to suffer. Actually, this is a wrong concept. Bearing the cross means to stand in the place of death, to accept death. Even though death can involve suffering, suffering is not necessarily equivalent to death. If we think that the cross is related only to suffering, this concept is not accurate. In the Bible the real meaning of the cross is that it leads people to the place of death. Although crucifixion is not without suffering, the purpose of crucifixion is not suffering but death. The cross is not a place of torture; it is only a place of death. Many Christians, who focus on the cross as a place of pain, are influenced by asceticism, but they do not see that the stress of the cross is not on pain and suffering but on death. Bearing the cross is not mainly related to pain and suffering but to accepting death and standing in the place of death.
For example, a young brother, who has a desire to serve the Lord, may give up his pursuit of a Ph.D. and even forsake the enjoyment of the world. In his being he may truly desire to live a suffering life, but is he bearing the cross? This is not a certainty, even if he suffers. If, while he is serving, he is self-centered and has a bad temper and a strong personality, is he bearing the cross? Rather than bearing the cross, he is simply being a martyr. Many revolutionaries and statesmen have such a thought; they are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to accomplish something related to their idealism and ideology. Similarly, it is possible for some believers to forsake their future and lose everything that they have for the sake of Christ but still not necessarily bear the cross. There may be sacrifice and suffering but not the bearing of the cross. Bearing the cross means to stand in the place of death and to accept death.
If people can see only suffering in a person’s work for the Lord, his work will not have much value. If, however, people can see a person who is standing in the place of death, his work will be valuable. When the Lord Jesus lived on the earth, people did not see a person who was merely suffering; rather, they saw a person who was dead. The Lord said, “The Son can do nothing from Himself” (John 5:19). He was dead to Himself. In all His living and work, the Father who dwelt in Him was doing His works. This was also the case with the apostle Paul. Some people think of Paul merely as one who sacrificed everything for the Lord, passing through all kinds of sufferings and afflictions and eventually being martyred. Actually, Paul was a person who bore the cross, a person who accepted death.
The Lord Jesus bore the cross all His life, and at the end of His life He was actually nailed to a cross. With us, we begin our life as a Christian by being crucified with Him. From the moment we receive Him, we are crucified with Him, and then we must begin to bear the cross. The Lord first bore the cross and then was crucified; with us, we first must be crucified and then bear the cross. The Lord bore the cross and then died on the cross; we first must be crucified on the cross and then walk on the way of the cross. Bearing the cross means to stand and remain in the place of death.
When we see these points, the cross will become a test in our daily life. For example, when we go to have fellowship with a brother, we must first ask, “Am I in the place of death? Am I a person who has died on the cross? Have I passed through the death of the cross for this fellowship? Have I passed through the death of the cross, and am I remaining in this death?” With this kind of consideration it will not be difficult to discover whether our fellowship is out from the Lord’s life or our life. When we are about to speak with another person, whether it is to praise him or to rebuke him, or even to speak concerning our situation, we should test and see if we have passed through the death of the cross and are remaining in the place of death. Such a consideration will open the way for the Lord to enlighten us about our true condition.
When we are seeking the Lord’s will, we should check to see if we have passed through the cross and are standing in the place of death. If we ask in this way, we will know our true condition in regard to our seeking. God’s will can be made known only to those who are on the cross and remain in the place of death. Those who have not passed through the death of the cross do not have a way to know God’s will. This is a principle that we can use to test every matter, whether great or small. When we are going to buy a garment or anything else, we should ask, “Have I passed through the cross? Am I in the death of the cross?” When we make contact with others and even when we negotiate with others, are we standing in the place of death? Have we passed through the cross? When we ask in this way, we will know whether or not we are standing in the place of death. Even when we give a message or lead others, we must ask, “Am I standing in the place of death? Have I passed through death?” This will deliver us not only from sin and the world but also from our natural human life, and not only from evil but also from any form of goodness that does not come from God.
This word may sound simple, but it is not easy to receive. By testing, we can know whether or not we are in the place of death and can receive the cross. If we insist on doing things according to our desire, God will raise up an environment and show us the cross in this environment. Whether we are willing or not, God is always working to put us into the place of death, allowing the cross in our environment to deal with us. Such an operation is not based on our willingness but on His will that He would be lived out through us.
