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Scripture Reading: John 14:6; Heb. 10:19-20; Matt. 3:13-17; 1 Cor. 1:22-24; 2:1-4; 2 Cor. 4:10-12; Phil. 3:10-11
Christ said, “I am the way and the reality and the life” (John 14:6). In the two preceding chapters we saw how Christ becomes life and reality to us. In this chapter we come to Christ being the way. Christ first becomes life to us, and then He becomes our reality and our way. We must have Christ as our life in order to participate in Him as our reality. When we have Him as our reality, this reality becomes our way. The way to live the Christian life is a person, the all-inclusive Christ. He is our way to contact and serve God, fellowship with other believers, live the church life, preach the gospel, and shepherd the saints.
In 1 Corinthians Paul twice mentions Christ crucified. In 1:22 through 24 he says, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” In the previous chapter we saw that Christ becomes the reality of all things to us by being the power and the wisdom of God. Now we need to see that this One who is the power and the wisdom of God to us is Christ crucified. The crucified Christ is the way.
In 2:1 through 4 Paul says, “I, when I came to you, brothers, came not according to excellence of speech or of wisdom, announcing to you the mystery of God. For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling; and my speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Paul spoke not from his eloquence, keen mind, or burning emotion but from his spirit. His natural being, including his mind and emotion, was crucified with Christ. Because Paul preached only Christ crucified, he had the attitude of one who was crucified. He was with the saints not in his mind but in weakness, fear, and much trembling. His speech was in demonstration of the Spirit. Paul’s example shows the crucified Christ as the way to minister life to others. The way to preach the word is not an exalted way but a crucified way. To rely on human capacity, eloquence, or charisma is to not take the crucified way. The proper way to preach the gospel and minister life to people is the crucified way—the way that puts us to death. This way is a person—the crucified Christ.
The crucified Christ is not only the way to preach the word but also the way to live. In order to live, we must die. The way to live is to die. If we do not know how to die, we do not know how to live. When young saints ask me how to help others, I say, “The way to help others is to die.” Some young husbands have asked me how they can properly love their wives. I say, “You have to die. When you die, you are able to love.” The way to love our spouse is the crucified Christ. A number of times young wives have asked me how to submit to their husbands. They feel that they are able to submit to the Lord and to the church, but it is very difficult for them to submit to their husbands. I tell them, “You have to die. The way is to die.” After listening to this answer, most ask, “How can I die?” It is indeed difficult to die. To live is easy; to die is hard. Although we cannot make ourselves die, within us we have the crucified Christ, who is dying all the time.
When the Lord Jesus came out to minister at thirty years of age, He first went to John the Baptist to be buried through baptism (Matt. 3:13). Only one who has died and been buried is qualified to touch the ministry of God. Even the Lord Jesus, who was holy, pure, sinless, and perfect, had to die and be buried before touching God’s ministry. John the Baptist thought that only the sinners needed to be baptized. According to his natural concept, because Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and was therefore holy, sinless, and perfect, He did not need to be buried but could enter directly into God’s ministry. However, the Lord Jesus knew that no person should touch God’s ministry without having his human nature buried. Therefore, He came to be baptized by John.
When John tried to prevent the Lord from being baptized, the Lord told John, “Permit it for now, for it is fitting for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (vv. 14-15). In the previous chapter we saw that righteousness is to be right with God and man. The highest righteousness is to die and be buried. In order to properly love our spouse, we need to die and be buried. In relating to our spouse, our children, or anyone, the best righteousness is to die and be buried. As long as we are alive, we make trouble for those around us. However, if we die and are buried, we will no longer cause problems for anyone. When we die, our spouse will be at peace, and our home will be calm. The most righteous thing is to die and be buried. When we die and are buried, we are completely righteous before God and man.
When the Lord came out to touch the ministry of God, the first thing He did was to hand Himself over to die and be buried in baptism. Immediately after He went up from the water, the heavens were opened to Him, the Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father spoke (vv. 16-17). These three things signify the enjoyment of the presence of God. The way to enter into the enjoyment of the presence of God is by dying and being buried.
Not only was the Lord put into death when He was baptized, but the four Gospels reveal that His living on the earth was also continually under death. In one sense, after being immersed in baptism, the Lord rose up from the death water. Yet in another sense, He remained under death in His living and walk. Jesus was dying to live. For the entire three and a half years of His earthly ministry, He was dying. In other words, He was always being crucified. Eventually, at the end of the three and a half years of His ministry, He walked to the cross to die physically. Hymns, #481 by A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, says, “All the way to Calvary.” Jesus was going all the way to Calvary during the entire three and a half years of His ministry on the earth. His way to the cross on Calvary began from His baptism. His baptism was His first step on the way to the cross. He always lived by dying. The Lord was powerful, victorious, and full of life because He was dying all the time.
In Christ’s resurrection He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Before His resurrection such a Spirit was not yet (John 7:39). The life-giving Spirit is the Spirit who gives life (2 Cor. 3:6, 17). Now the Spirit of God has been compounded, as typified by the compounding of the holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:22-33. When the tabernacle was built, God commanded that a hin of pure olive oil, typifying the Spirit of God, be compounded with four spices—myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. These spices signify, respectively, Christ’s death, the sweetness of His death, His resurrection, and the power of His resurrection. This type was fulfilled when the Spirit of God was compounded with Christ’s death and resurrection. In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit, and His death and resurrection were compounded into the Spirit. Ingredients such as tea, milk, lemon, and honey may be added to a glass of water. When we take in such a drink, we receive not only the water but also all the other ingredients along with their benefits. Likewise, when we drink the Spirit today, we receive not only the Spirit but also the death and the resurrection of Christ. These elements have been mingled into the compound Spirit, who is the life-giving Spirit, the resurrected Christ.
Today the Spirit who indwells our spirit is a killing One because He has been compounded with the death of Christ and its effectiveness. There is killing in the life-giving Spirit. When we call, “O Lord Jesus,” we experience killing from within. Immediately after calling on the Lord, we may sense that we have been wrong in our conduct or attitude toward our husband or wife. This is a killing. The life-giving Spirit is also the germ-killing Spirit. When we are wrong, rather than hearing an admonishing or rebuking word from someone, we simply need to call, “O Lord Jesus.” The more we call, the more the negative elements within us are killed.
A medical doctor who knows that his patient is sick from certain germs will be at peace once he has given his patient the right antibiotic. The doctor knows that when the antibiotic has been taken, the germs will be killed. In the same way, as long as I minister the crucified Christ into the saints, I am fully at peace. My ministry may be likened to a medical treatment. After the last message in a conference is given, I am at peace because I have the full assurance that I have passed on the necessary antibiotic—Christ crucified.
There is not much recorded of the Lord’s first thirty years on the earth, but we have the full record of His last three and a half years. In those three and a half years He constantly walked, lived, moved, and worked under death. The first step was baptism; the last step was the cross. He was crucified to live. If Christ had not died, He could not have resurrected. Death being the threshold of resurrection is a great principle. Christ’s death ushered Him into resurrection. His dying to be resurrected was His dying to live. Without death He could not have resurrected. Death brings in resurrection.
Today we too need to die to live. We have the Christ who died within us, and His death is one of the ingredients of the life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is constituted with the death of Christ and the resurrected Christ. We do not need to make ourselves die, because we have a dying One within us. We do not need to kill our own “germs,” because we have the antibiotics to do the work. This is the crucified Christ as the way.
The crucified Christ being the way is further revealed in Hebrews 10:19-20, which says, “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.” A new and living way has been opened by Christ’s death on the cross. He was crucified to rend the veil that separates man from God. The way has been opened by Christ’s crucifixion. Therefore, the crucified Christ is the way.
To take Christ as our way in everything, we need to die with Him. In order to shepherd the saints or be a good elder, brother, sister, husband, wife, father, or mother, we do not need to learn certain steps. The way is simply to die with Christ. The way of the Christian life is the crucified Christ.
Christ crucified is the way of my ministry. When I die with Him, I have much to minister. I have learned this secret. Whenever I need to speak, I go to the cross. Then I receive a word from the Lord. A word from the crucified Christ is a word in resurrection, and a word in resurrection is boundless. If we have merely learned something of dead letters, after we speak it, that is the end of it. But if we go to the cross and are willing to die there, our speaking will be in resurrection. Christ crucified is the way of our ministry.
Before a recent turmoil among the local churches, I saw signs of rebellion and signs that the churches were deviating from the way of life. At that time I went to the Lord, and the Lord told me not to do anything outwardly or make an issue of anything but to go to the cross. By the Lord’s mercy and grace I went to the cross. By going to the cross, a living word came. Many messages came by my going to the cross. Now I would never leave the cross. Many things have tempted me to leave the cross, but by the Lord’s mercy I have been preserved on the cross. The more I remain on the cross, the more the messages come. The crucified Christ is the way to carry out the ministry.
In our daily Christian walk the crucified Christ is the prevailing way. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:10-12, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death operates in us, but life in you.” The putting to death of Jesus is the way of our daily walk. If we are identified with the crucified Christ, He becomes our way—our way to live the Christian life, to worship God, to enter into God’s presence, to take care of the church, to shepherd the saints, to preach the gospel, and to be a proper husband, wife, son, or daughter. The crucified Christ is the way to do everything in the Christian life.
The Christ who said that He is the way (John 14:6) constantly lived under death throughout the three and a half years of His earthly ministry. From the first step of His baptism to the last step of the cross, Christ was crucified all the way to Calvary. It is as such a crucified One that He is the way. The way for us to live the Christian life today is to die with Christ.
The arrangement of the tabernacle and its furniture in the Old Testament is a picture showing how we as saved sinners can enter into God’s presence to enjoy God as our everything. Within the Holy of Holies, in the center of the tabernacle, was the Ark (Exo. 40:2-3, 20-21). Upon the Ark was the expiation cover, signifying the throne of grace, where God met and spoke with His people (25:10-22; Heb. 4:16). In front of the Ark, at the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the Holy Place, was the incense altar, the place to which the saved sinners in type could come (Exo. 30:1-10). God met with His people from above the Ark, and the sinners came to the incense altar facing the Ark to hear God speak. In the Holy Place on the north side was the table of the bread of the Presence, and on the south side was the lampstand (25:23-40; 26:35). The table ministered the life supply, and the lampstand gave the light. Outside the Holy Place in the outer court was the laver (30:17-21), and before the laver was the altar of burnt offering (27:1-8; Heb. 13:10), which signifies the cross. All these items in the tabernacle were arranged in the shape of a cross.
When we, as unbelievers, were in the world, we were outside the realm of God’s grace, outside the realm of the cross. But one day we heard the gospel, answered the call, and, in type, entered the gate of the tabernacle. We came to the cross, repented, confessed our sins, and received the Lord Jesus. We were saved, and the blood of Christ washed away our sins. This occurred in type at the altar of burnt offering. From the altar we went on to the laver, where the Spirit washed away the dirt of the world. From there we went to the table of the bread of the Presence to receive nourishment and to the lampstand to receive light. Afterward, we proceeded to the incense altar to offer prayers as a sweet-smelling savor to God. Then we entered into the presence of our God to enjoy Him. This is the way of the cross.
At the burnt offering altar our sins are washed away, and in the laver the world is cleansed away. Then we come to the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, and the incense altar. At the incense altar there is a veil that separates man from God. According to Hebrews 10:20, this veil typifies the flesh. The death of Christ caused this veil to be split from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51). After we are cleansed from our sins and the world, and the flesh is dealt with, there is nothing more to frustrate our enjoying the presence of God—there is no more separation. Through the cross we enter into the presence of God to enjoy all that God is. Thus, the cross is the way.
The whole tabernacle is a type of Christ (John 1:14). Thus, the tabernacle being arranged in the shape of a cross signifies that Christ lived entirely under the cross. This crucified Christ is our way. We need to be crossed out. Under the working of the cross, we enjoy the cleansing of the altar of the burnt offering, the washing of the laver, the food supply of the table of the bread of the Presence, the enlightening of the lampstand, and the sweet-smelling savor of the incense altar. In this way we enter into the presence of God and enjoy all that God is to us. The way of the cross is the way to the Father, the way to the enjoyment of the presence of God. It is also the way to live our Christian life, family life, and church life. The crucified Christ is our way in everything. By and with the indwelling, crucified Christ, we can die to live every day.
Romans 6:3 says, “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death,” and Philippians 3:10 says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” We were baptized into the death of Christ once for all at the beginning of our Christian life. Now we are continuously being conformed to His death; this is the continuation of the Christian life. According to the arrangement of the tabernacle, as soon as we enter into the realm of the Christian life, we are being conformed to the cross. Our entire Christian life is the way to Calvary. When we are on this way, we are being conformed to Christ’s death. This is what it means for Christ to be our way. If we are conformed to His death, we will attain to the out-resurrection from the dead (v. 11). The more we are conformed to His death, the more we will attain to the extraordinary resurrection.
